The Battle of Westbroek was a battle that occurred on 26 December 1481 between the armies of the prince-bishopric of Utrecht and the

county of Holland The County of Holland was a State of the Holy Roman Empire and from 1433 part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands and from 1581 onward the leading province of the Dutch Republic, of which it remained a par ...

. It was one of the last battles of the

Hook and Cod wars The Hook and Cod wars ( nl, Hoekse en Kabeljauwse twisten) comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland, but some have argued that the un ...

. That war had already been won by the Cods and their Burgundian allies. In Utrecht, however, the Hooks revolted and seized the bishop,

David of Burgundy David of Burgundy (c. February 142616 April 1494) was Bishop of Utrecht. The illegitimate son of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, David was made bishop of Utrecht by his father in 1456 in an attempt to enforce more centralised Burgundian contr ...

at the outbreak of the Second Utrecht Civil War. Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I then won the bishop's freedom. On 26 December 1481, Bishop David sent an army of 4,000 to 5,000 men to retake Utrecht. When his forces reached the village of

Westbroek Westbroek is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of De Bilt, and lies about 6 km northwest of Bilthoven Bilthoven is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of ...

on the northern edge of Utrecht, they burned the village to the ground and killed the inhabitants. An armed mob formed in Utrecht and headed toward Westbroek to take revenge. When the mob saw the size of David's army, it tried to flee back to the city. Bishop David's army pursued them and killed everybody they could. Sources vary widely on the number of deaths, from 50 prisoners and 100 dead to 500 dead to 1,500 dead.

References

Conflicts in 1481 1481 in Europe

Battles in Utrecht (province) De Bilt Hook and Cod wars {{Netherlands-hist-stub