Battle of Warns

Battle of Warns
The monument of the battle of Warns in Friesland. It says, in Frisian, "Better to be dead than a slave".
Date 26 September 1345 Location Stavoren, Warns, Friesland Result Victory for the Frisians, West Frisia not under Hollandic subjugation.
Belligerents
Holland	Frisia
Commanders and leaders
Willem IV of Holland	Frisians
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Battle of Warns (Frisian: Slach by Warns, Dutch: Slag bij Warns) was a battle from the Frisian-Hollandic War between count Willem IV of Holland and the Frisians which took place on 26 September 1345. The annual commemoration of the battle is important for many nationalist Frisians.

After the Hollandic counts completed their conquest of West Frisia they planned the conquest of Middle Frisia, most of the present province of Friesland.

In 1345 William IV, count of Holland, prepared a military action to conquer Middle Frisia, crossing the Zuiderzee with a large fleet and with the help of French and Flemish knights, some of whom had just returned from a crusade.

He set sail in Enkhuizen to cross the Zuiderzee, together with his uncle John of Beaumont, and landed near Stavoren and Laaxum. They planned to use the Sint-Odulphus monastery near Stavoren as a fortification. The Hollandic knights wore armour, but had no horses as there wasn't enough room in the ships, which were full of building materials and supplies. William's troops set fire to the abandoned villages of Laaxum and Warns and started to advance towards Stavoren.

In the countryside around Warns the Hollandic count was attacked by the local inhabitants. With their heavy armor the knights were no match for the furious Frisian farmers and fishermen. The path the Hollandic knights choose to flee led straight to the Red Cliffs.

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