Siege of Niezijl 1581
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1581 | Wikidata P585 (point in 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 | 53.2667, 6.3403 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Niezijl was a siege of the town of Niezijl that took place between 3 and 24 October 1581 in the Dutch States, during the Eighty Years' War. The Spanish under Colonel Francisco Verdugo laid siege to the place after his victory at the battle of Noordhorn but the siege failed and Verdrugo retreated leaving the English and Dutch under John Norreys and William Louis respectively the victors.
Count Rennenberg, Stadtholder of Friesland, had betrayed the cities of Groningen, Oldenzaal, Coevorden, and Delfzijl to Spanish control and himself became a turncoat. As a result Catholics would no longer be trusted with high posts in the States army. The Spanish Army of Flanders led by Francisco Verdugo, was succeeded as governor of the Northern Provinces, advanced south of the Lauwerszee to invade Friesland and to force the Republic into signing a negotiation. After their defeat at Noordhorn on 30 September the Dutch and English retreated to Niezijl where they established themselves behind the defensive fortifications. Verdugo's army, although delayed by mutinies, were in pursuit and then began to besiege Niezijl.
Niezijl was the only place barring Friesland and its capture would be important to the Catholic and Spanish cause.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Niezijl (revision 1370744008), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Eighty Years' War
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