Second Utrecht Civil War

Second Utrecht Civil War
Part of Hook and Cod wars
Utrecht in the 15th century
Date 1481 - 1483 Location the Bishopric of Utrecht Result Burgundy remains in power in the Bishopric
Belligerents
Burgundy Cods	Hooks Duchy of Cleves
Commanders and leaders
David of Burgundy Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Joost de Lalaing	Engelbert of Cleves Jan III van Montfoort

The Second Utrecht Civil War took place between 1481 and 1483. It was a war between factions of the population of the Bishopric of Utrecht, influenced by the ongoing Hook and Cod wars in Holland. It was also a battle for control over Utrecht between the Dukes of Burgundy in the person of ruling Bishop David of Burgundy, and the Duchy of Cleves who wanted to replace him by Engelbert of Cleves.

The First Utrecht Civil War had been decided in favour of ruling Bishop David of Burgundy.
The unexpected death of Burgundian Duke Charles the Bold in 1477, who was succeeded by his young and inexperienced daughter Mary of Burgundy, opened the floodgates of latent anti-Burgundian sentiments in the Netherlands. Jan III van Montfoort declared David of Burgundy no longer welcome in the city of Utrecht or in the other cities of the Bishopric and he retired with his partisans to his favourite castle in Wijk bij Duurstede.

Simultaneous to this battle of wills in the Sticht, civil war broke out in Holland between the anti-Burgundian Hook and the pro-Burgundian Cod parties. Archduke Maximilian I of Habsburg, who had married the Burgundian heiress, Mary of Burgundy, shortly after her father's death, faced threats to the Burgundian heritage from all sides and was initially unable to intervene decisively in Holland. The Hook party in Holland was led by Reinier van Broeckhuysen, a nephew of the former Bishop-Elect Gijsbrecht van Brederode. In 1481 Reinier managed to shortly capture Leiden with an army of Hook exiles but was ultimately forced to abandon the city to the more powerful Habsburg forces. He and his army then sought refuge in the Sticht where they stood under the protection of the energetic and ferocious Viscount Jan of Montfoort, leader of the anti-Burgundian forces in the bishopric. The Viscount, with the support of the Zoudenbalchs and other anti-Burgundian notables, then effectively staged a coup in the city government of Utrecht, ejecting the pro-Burgundian regents from their offices and thus ensuring that the council was fully committed to the Hook cause. War between the Burgundian's Habsburg heirs and the Hooks of Holland and Utrecht became inevitable.

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