Battle of Ane

Otto II of Lippe goes down fighting in the battle of Ane (Frederik Zürcher, 1825-1876)

Date

July 28, 1227

Location

Ane, (Overijssel, Netherlands)

Result

Victory for Drenthe

Death of Otto II of Lippe

Belligerents

Bishopric of Utrecht

Drenthe

Commanders and leaders

Otto II of Lippe †

Rudolph van Coevorden

Casualties and losses

Over 400 deaths

Unknown

Victory for Drenthe

The Battle of Ane (Dutch Low Saxon:Slag bi'j Aone, Dutch:Slag bij Ane), was fought in 1227 between Otto II of Lippe, Bishop of Utrecht, and Rudolf II van Coevorden with his army of Drenths. The account of the battle comes from Quedam narracio de Groninghe de Trentis de Covordia et diversis aliis sub episcopis traiectensibus ("A narrative of Groningen and Drenthe and various other things under the Bishops of Utrecht"), a manuscript from the early 13th century.

From the middle of the 11th century the Bishops of Utrecht were given the lands of Groningen, Overijssel and Drenthe as a fief by the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1141 Hartbert van Bierum, the Bishop of Utrecht gave Groningen and Drente as fiefdoms to the brothers Leffard and Ludolf, his vassals. Rivalry amongst the respective heirs, prefect Egbert of Groningen and burgrave Rudolf II of Coevorden lead to conflicts between Drenthe and Groningen in which the Drenths fought both with and against the troops of the bishop. This came to a head in the Battle of Ane.

On 28 July 1227 the armies of the Bishop of Utrecht Otto II of Lippe and a large group of rebellious Drenths led by Rudolph van Coevorden met on a field near the present-day village of Ane.

The Bishop had traveled to the valley of the Overijsselse Vecht to call the rebellious province of Drenthe to order and teach the local peasants a lesson. He was accompanied by many nobles, famous knights and troops supplied by the Bishops of Munster and Cologne. The bishop and his troops met in Ommen and travelled via in Hardenberg (then Nienstede) and Gramsbergen to "that disastrous and cursed place" Ane. Rudolf positioned his troops, mainly peasants, behind the Mommeriete, a quagmire approximately half a mile wide, without bushes or trees, with vegetation covering the treacherous peat. As soon as the heavily armoured knights charged, they sank into the quagmire and were easy prey for the lightly armed, but mobile troops of Rudolf, accustomed to the local circumstances.

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