Martin Schenck von Nydeggen

Maarten Schenck van Nydegen
Martin Schenck, soldier of fortune, 1540–1589.
Born	circa 1543 Goch
Died	† 11–August 1589 Nijmegen
Buried	beheaded and quartered, no burial
Years of service	circa 1555–-63, page to Christoffel van IJsselstein ca.1563–ca. 1570 Dutch Service, under William the Silent Spanish Service, circa 1570-85; Dutch Service, 1585–86.
Rank	Knight and Marshall of the Camp
Battles/wars	Battle of Gembloux 1578; Battle of Hardenburg Heath 1580; Sack of Westphalia and Battle of Werl 1586; Siege of Rheinberg 1588; Assault on Nijmegen 1589;

Maarten (Martin) Schenck van Nydeggen, (1540?, – 11 August 1589) was a noted military commander in the Netherlands.

He first served with William of Orange in the fight for Dutch independence from Spain then switched to serve with distinction in the Spanish army. In 1580 he changed his allegiance to the Dutch Republic and was declared Lord of Toutenburg in Gelderland, Knight and Marshall of the Camp by the Dutch States General.

He then served on the Protestant side in the Cologne War with some success until he drowned in the Waal in a failed attack on Nijmegen in 1588.

Born at Goch in the Duchy of Cleves, as a child he served as a page for Christoffel van IJsselstein (or Ysselstein), and when he came of age, he joined the banner of William of Orange at the head of twenty–two men at arms, fighting in the Eighty Years' War.

By right of descent, he claimed a castle in Bleijenbeek, currently in northern Limburg, which was then a possession of his cousin. Although he took physical possession of the castle, the judiciary supported the cousin, and Schenck was forcibly dispossessed. He became unpopular in William's court and after the crushing defeat in the Battle of Gembloux in 1578, he made overtures to the Spanish, who enlisted him as a soldier in the Army of Flanders.
In the wars against the Dutch, he became known, and notorious, as the most daring and formidable Netherlander that wore Philip’s colors. On 15 June 1580, at the Battle of Hardenburg Heath (), while still in the service of the Spanish, he outgeneralled and defeated Count Philip Hohenlohe, who lost 1500 soldiers, to 300 lost by Schenck. This battle preserved the city of Groningen for Philip. In the course of this campaign, he was captured twice, and held for ransom, and each time he escaped. Reportedly, he could eat, drink and sleep in the saddle, and his men followed him like dogs.