The siege of Deventer was a siege of the city of

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...

from 1 to 10 June 1591 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 ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

troops under

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 ...

in an attempt to retake it from its

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 ...

garrison, commanded by

Herman van den Bergh Herman, Count van den Bergh (2 August 1558 in Huis Bergh, 's-Heerenberg, Gelderland – 12 August 1611 in Spa) was a Dutch soldier in the Eighty Years' War, knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece and stadtholder of Spanish Guelders. Life In 15 ...

on behalf of the Spanish.

Background

The city had first been captured by the States in 1579 but regained by the Spanish in the meantime after its betrayal by English

turncoat A turncoat is a person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party. In political and social history, this is distinct from being a traitor, as the ...

governor William Stanley. After the capture of Zutphen which surrendered on 30 May 1591 Maurice of Orange with his Anglo-Dutch army marched towards Deventer on the right bank of the river

IJssel The IJssel (; nds-nl, Iessel(t) ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour ...

. Maurice's force numbered 9,000 infantry and 1,200 cavalry, half of the force came from the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

- fourteen English companies under Sir Francis Vere and the ten Scots companies under Colonel William Balfour.Knight, Charles Raleigh: ''Historical records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot) formerly designated the Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment''. Vol I. London, Gale & Polden, 1905
p. 39
/ref>

Siege

On 1 June the Anglo-Dutch force surrounded the town and began entrenching. Eight days later a breach was made and Maurice allowed the honour of the assault to be made by the English. As they attacked they came across a bridge of boats but found it was too short and were unable to advance any further and withdrew after some loss. Maurice was desirous of giving up the siege for fears of a Spanish relief army. Vere induced him to persist and the same evening the Spanish garrison sallied to destroy the bridge but they were repulsed by the English

pikemen A pike is a very long thrusting spear formerly used in European warfare from the Late Middle Ages and most of the Early Modern Period, and were wielded by foot soldiers deployed in pike square formation, until it was largely replaced by bayon ...

. On June 10 Van den Burgh having been wounded realised that no help was forthcoming, so he and the town capitulated - the garrison marched out on the following day.

Aftermath

For the English the capture of both Zutphen and Deventer were important in recovering the losses caused by the mistaken confidence which the

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. Early creations ...

had placed in traitors William Stanley and

Rowland York Rowland York or Yorke (died 1588) was an English soldier of fortune and defector to Spain. Early life Rowland York was the ninth of eleven sons of Sir John York. He volunteered for the Netherlands under Thomas Morgan of Llantarnam in 1572. He em ...

. Maurice decided to strike at

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

held by

Francisco Verdugo Francisco Verdugo, Spanish military commander in the Dutch Revolt, (born in 1537 in Talavera de la Reina, province of Toledo, died in Luxembourg, 1595), became ''Maestre de Campo General,'' in the Spanish Netherlands. He was also the last Spanish ...

, but reports reached him that the

Duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, except ...

was preparing to move to reinforce that place with 20,000 men. Maurice realising he would be outnumbered withdrew to the north and marched to

Delfzijl Delfzijl (; gos, Delfsiel) is a city and former municipality with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen (province), Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf (canal), Delf and the Ems (riv ...

and took the place July 2.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{coord missing, Netherlands

1591 in the Dutch Republic 1591 in the Habsburg Netherlands 16th-century military history of the Kingdom of England 16th-century military history of Spain Deventer (1591) Eighty Years' War (1566–1609) Deventer (1591) Deventer (1591) Deventer (1591) Deventer (1591)

History of Deventer