Battle of Empel 1585
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1585 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Netherlands | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Eighty Years' War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 51.7311, 5.3272 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Miracle of Empel (Milagro de Empel in Spanish) was a Spanish victory on December 8, 1585, near Empel, in the Netherlands during the Eighty Years' War. A Dutch force under Philip of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein had trapped several thousand Spanish soldiers of the Army of Flanders under Francisco Arias de Bobadilla on an island between the Meuse and Waal rivers by breaching dikes and using naval patrols. The waters around the island unexpectedly froze one night after a Spanish soldier digging a trench found a painting of Mary, mother of Jesus, allowing the Spanish to drive the Dutch ships away before defeating the Dutch army.
Remembered as an unexpected victory, In 1892, the Queen Regent of Spain, Maria Christina of Austria, proclaimed Mary of the Immaculate Conception the patron of Spanish infantry.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Empel (revision 1370110103), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Eighty Years' War
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- Siege of Ghent (1583–1584) 1583
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- Battle of Werl 1585
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- Battle of Boksum 1586
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- Siege of Grave (1586) 1586
All 110 battles of the Eighty Years' War →
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