The siege of 's-Hertogenbosch of 1601 ''(Sitio de Bolduque de 1601 in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

)'' was an unsuccessful Dutch attempt led by

Prince Maurice of Nassau Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was '' stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince ...

and

William Louis of Nassau-Dillenburg William Louis of Nassau-Dillenburg ( nl, Willem Lodewijk; fry, Willem Loadewyk; 13 March 1560, Dillenburg, Hesse – 13 July 1620, Leeuwarden, Netherlands) was Count of Nassau-Dillenburg from 1606 to 1620, and stadtholder of Friesland ...

to capture the city of

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the we ...

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

, garrisoned by about 1,500–2,000 Spanish soldiers (2

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

companies and 2

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

companies) led by Governor Anthonie Schetz, Baron of Grobbendonck, between 1 and 27 November 1601, during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

and the

Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between the Habsburg Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of England. It was never formally declared. The war included much English privateering against Spanish ships, and several wid ...

, in the context of the long and bloodiest

siege of Ostend The siege of Ostend was a three-year siege of the city of Ostend during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War. A Spanish force under Archduke Albrecht besieged the fortress being held initially by a Dutch force which was reinforc ...

.Peter Burke p.204 After having captured Rheinberg in July 1601, Prince Maurice in October mobilized seventy-three companies of infantry and thirty-three companies of cavalry, including several pieces of artillery. The city was virtually impregnable due to the great defensive fortifications, the continuous arrival of fresh Spanish reinforcements, and the deep loyalty of the population to the Catholic cause. The fierce cold was another important point. The siege ended when the Archduke Albert, Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands, sent a Spanish relief force under Count Frederik van den Bergh from

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, who on 27 November had reached the town of

Oirschot Oirschot (; ''Orskot'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is situated from the city of Eindhoven and from the city of Tilburg in the province North Brabant (Noord-Brabant). The municipality ha ...

, some 25 km south of 's-Hertogenbosch. A day before, on 26 November, Prince Maurice, according with his cousin William Louis about the threat and danger to facing the Spaniards in open field, started the withdrawal.Van Nimwegen p.179 This Dutch failure was also an attempt to weaken the Spanish attacks in Ostend, where Sir

Francis Vere Sir Francis Vere (1560/6128 August 1609) was a prominent English soldier serving under Queen Elizabeth I fighting mainly in the Low Countries during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Eighty Years' War. He was a sergeant major-genera ...

(the commander of the garrison of Ostend at that time) was by now close to despair. In 1603, Maurice of Nassau again tried to conquer 's-Hertogenbosch, but again was forced to withdraw.Michiel Verweij p.32Daniel Coetzee p.118

Notes

References

* Van Nimwegen, Olaf. ''The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions 1588–1688''. First published 2010. The Boydell Press, Woodbridge. * Michiel Verweij. ''Petrus Vladeraccus, Tobias (1598)''. Leuven University Press 2001. Belgium. * Tracy, James. ''The Founding of the Dutch Republic: War, Finance, and Politics in Holland 1572–1588.'' Oxford University Press. First published 2008. * Daniel Coetzee/ Lee W. Eysturlid. ''Philosophers of War: The Evolution of History's Greatest Military Thinkers''. * Williams, Penry (1998). ''The Later Tudors: England, 1547-1603''. Oxford University Press. . * John Lothrop Motley. ''History of the Netherlands, 1595''. Chapter XXXI. HardPress Publishing. * Peter Burke. ''The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume 13, Companion Volume''. Cambridge University Press 1979.

External links

''Campaña de 1601'' by Juan L. Sánchez
{{in lang, es Hertogenbosch 1601 in the Dutch Republic 1601 in the Habsburg Netherlands 17th-century military history of the Kingdom of England 17th-century military history of Spain Hertogenbosch (1601) Eighty Years' War (1566–1609) Hertogenbosch (1601) Hertogenbosch (1601) Hertogenbosch (1601) Hertogenbosch (1601) Hertogenbosch 's-Hertogenbosch

See also

Notes

References

External links