The siege of Oudewater was an event during the
Eighty Years' War that took place in the Dutch town of
Oudewater
Oudewater () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands.
History
The origin of the town of Oudewater is obscure and no information has been found concerning the first settlement of citizens. It is also difficult to recover the name of Oud ...
, culminating in the Oudewater Massacre ( ''Oudewaterse moord''). The siege by Spanish troops started on 19 July 1575 and ended on 7 August 1575, when the town was taken by storm and plundered.
Background
In 1568 a
garrison of the Spanish Army was stationed in Oudewater. On 19 June 1572 Adriaen van Swieten, a nobleman and deputy of
William of Orange, entered the town with a small number of troops and convinced it to join the
Dutch Revolt against
Philip II of Spain.
Siege and massacre
The siege by Spanish troops under command of
stadtholder Gillis van Berlaymont started on 19 July 1575 and ended in a bloodbath on 7 August 1575. Many of the inhabitants were put to the sword, and some citizens set their own houses on fire to spite looters, leading to a major conflagration. In total, as many as half the inhabitants of the town may have died.
Commemoration
In 1615 the
States of Holland The States of Holland and West Frisia ( nl, Staten van Holland en West-Friesland) were the representation of the two Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a c ...
authorised pensions to the 300 survivors of the massacre then still living, the last payments on which were made in 1664. An annual commemoration of the massacre was instituted in 1608. It is now held each year on the first Sunday on or after 7 August.
Oudewaterse Moord wordt herdacht
Zenderstreeknieuws, Nieuws uit Montfoort/Oudewater, 24 July 2015. Accessed 2 April 2016.
References
External links
* Ronald de Graaf, Oorlog mijn arme schapen
Sieges of the Eighty Years' War
1570s in the Habsburg Netherlands
Oudewater 1575
1575 in the Holy Roman Empire
History of South Holland
Oudewater
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