Siege of Zutphen (1591)

Part of the Eighty Years' War & the Anglo–Spanish War

The Capture of Zutphen in 1591 - print by Jan Janssonius

Date	19 to 30 May 1591
Location	Zutphen, Guelders (present-day the Netherlands)
Result	Dutch & English victory

Belligerents

Dutch Republic

England

Spain

Commanders and leaders

Maurice of Orange

Francis Vere

Jarich Georges Van Liauckema

Strength

9000 soldiers
1,600 cavalry

1,000 (Spanish and Walloons)

Casualties and losses

Light

Heavy
Most captured

The Siege of Zutphen was an eleven-day siege of the city of Zutphen by Dutch and English troops led by Maurice of Nassau, during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War. The siege began on 19 May 1591 after a clever ruse by the besiegers, the city was then subjected to an eleven-day siege after which the Spanish garrison surrendered.

Zutphen was a Hanseatic city on the east bank of the River IJssel. In 1572, with the resurgence of the Dutch rebellion against Philip II of Spain, Zutphen was first conquered by State troops led by Willem IV van den Bergh. The city was later recaptured by the Spaniards led by Don Frederick, and the population was punished and then slaughtered for the surrender earlier that year.

In 1586 the English under the Earl of Leicester took Zutphen's important outlying sconce but not long after English turncoat Rowland York handed the sconce over to the Spaniards leaving Zutphen in their complete control. York subsequently died there of smallpox a year later although he may have been poisoned by the Spanish to keep him from betraying again. As a consequence the nearby town of Deventer soon followed, handed over to the Spaniards by William Stanley.

In 1590 Maurice had taken Breda by hiding soldiers within a peat barge and was thus able to use Breda as a base for further operations. The Dutch army could then launch an offensive at three points; to the South, to the East and to the North. Maurice chose the East with the towns along the River Ijssel heading towards Nijmegen.

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