Siege of Middelburg (1572–1574)

Part of the Eighty Years' War & the Anglo-Spanish War (1585)

Map of the Siege of Middelburg by Frans Hogenberg

Date	November 4, 1572 – February 18, 1574
Location	Middelburg (Present-day Netherlands)
Result	Dutch & English victory

Belligerents

United Provinces

England

Spain

Commanders and leaders

William of Orange

Jerome Tseraerts

Thomas Morgan

Cristóbal de Mondragón

Antoine of Burgundy

Strength

5,000

3,000

Casualties and losses

Unknown
Many to disease

Heavy
Surrender of garrison

The Siege of Middelburg (1572–1574) was a siege that lasted two years and took place in the years between 1572 and 1574 during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604). A Dutch rebel army with the support of English laid siege to Middelburg which was being held by Spanish forces under Cristóbal de Mondragón. The Spanish held out and only capitulated when news of the relief effort to save Middelburg was defeated at Rimmerswiel.

By 1566, the king of Spain's family had inherited the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands and was ruled by the Spanish Monarchy. In 1568, William I of Orange, stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, and other noblemen were dissatisfied with Spanish rule in the Netherlands. A series of revolts emerged against the Spanish authorities, mainly caused by religious and economic impositions on the Dutch population who also sought to end the harsh rule of the Spanish Duke of Alba, governor-general of the Netherlands. The Dutch rebels hoped to expel Alba and his Spanish troops from the country and as a result hostilities increased, leading to the Eighty Years' War. In April 1572, the Sea Beggars, Dutch rebels captured Brielle which caused a sensation, and a chain reaction of events took place especially on Walcheren island. After Brielle had been captured this soon led to the seizure of the town of Flushing. Other cities in the province of Zeeland soon joined the rebels, and by mid-1572 only Arnemuiden and Middelburg, on the island of Walcheren, and Goes, on the island of Zuid-Beveland, remained under Spanish control, all of them besieged and threatened by the Dutch forces under Stadtholder William of Orange with the support of English troops sent by Elizabeth I.

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Wikipedia