Fall of Antwerp (1584–1585)

Siege of Antwerp

Dutch Finis Bellis, a fortified ship meant to break the Spanish blockade.

Date	July 1584 – 17 August 1585
Location	Antwerp (present-day Belgium)
Result	Decisive Spanish victory

Belligerents

Estates General
Supported by:

England

Spain

Commanders and leaders

Philips van Marnix

Alessandro Farnese

Strength

80,000 men
(Inhabitants)

40,000 men

Casualties and losses

8,000

Unknown

The Siege of Antwerp took place during the Eighty Years' War from July 1584 until August 1585. At the time Antwerp, in modern Belgium, was not only the largest Dutch city, but was also the cultural, economic and financial centre of the Seventeen Provinces and of north-western Europe. On 4 November 1576, unpaid Spanish soldiery mutinied: they plundered and burnt the city during what was called the Spanish Fury. Thousands of citizens were massacred and hundreds of houses were burnt down. As a result, Antwerp became even more engaged in the rebellion against the rule of Habsburg Spain. The city joined the Union of Utrecht (1579) and became the capital of the Dutch Revolt, which no longer was merely a Protestant rebellion but had become a revolt of all Dutch provinces.

Relieved from the great battles with the Ottomans in the Mediterranean, Philip II of Spain turned his attention back to the uprising in the Low Countries and in 1579 sent Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma to head his army in Flanders to regain control over Flanders, Brabant and the United Provinces. When the siege of Antwerp began (1585) most of the County of Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant, including Brussels, had been recaptured in the preceding year. The army of Flanders had been reinforced in the previous years, both in quantity and quality, and in 1585 it had 61,000 men under arms.

During the recapture of Flanders and Brabant, Parma improved the logistics of the Spanish army in Flanders by further investing in what is dubbed the "Spanish Route." It was a main road leading north from Habsburg holdings in Northern Italy into the Low Countries, protected by forts built at strategic intervals, to provide the army with a reliable flow of supplies. When the siege of Antwerp began Parma's army was well supplied. The first stage of the siege saw encirclement lines constructed around Antwerp and forts built along the Scheldt estuary.

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