Siege of Grave (1586)

Siege of Grave (1586)
Part of the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

The Siege of Grave in 1586 by Don Alejandro Farnesio. Engraving by Michelangelo Cerquozzi.
DateEarly April - 7 June 1586
LocationGrave, North Brabant, Low Countries
(present-day the Netherlands)
Result Spanish victory[1][2]
Belligerents
Dutch Republic United Provinces
 England
 Spain
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of England Earl of Leicester
Dutch Republic Philip of Hohenlohe
Dutch Republic Maarten Schenck
Spain Alexander Farnese
Spain Count of Mansfeld
Spain Juan del Águila

The Siege of Grave, also known as the Capture of Grave of 1586, took place from mid-February – 7 June 1586 at Grave, Duchy of Brabant, Low Countries (present-day the Netherlands), between the Spanish army led by Governor-General Don Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, and the Dutch-States and English forces under Baron Peter van Hemart, Governor of Grave, during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).[1][2]

In early spring of 1586, the Count Peter Ernst of Mansfeld, by order of Alexander Farnese, laid siege to the town of Grave.[3][4] After little more than a month, and the impossibility of the English and Dutch forces for relieving the city, Grave surrendered to the Spaniards on 7 June.[1][2] The capture of the strategically important town of Grave by Parma, and the impotence of the English commander Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to relieve the town, in a time where England had raised hopes to the Dutch rebels thanks to the Treaty of Nonsuch, was a complete military and political success for the Spanish authorities, and a severe blow for the Protestant cause, provoking the start of the disagreements of the States-General of the Netherlands with the Earl of Leicester.[1][2][5]

A few days later, the Spanish army, commanded by the Prince of Parma, laid siege to Venlo, garrisoned and supported by Dutch and English troops led by Maarten Schenck and Sir Roger Williams.[6] On 28 June 1586 the garrison was forced to capitulation to the Spaniards.[6][7]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Graham Darby p.190
  2. 1 2 3 4 Giménez Martín p.189
  3. Giménez Martín p.188
  4. Martín p. 189
  5. J.D. Tracy. The Founding of the Dutch Republic (2008)
  6. 1 2 John Lothrop Motley. History of the United Netherlands: from the death of William the Silent to the Synod of Dort. p.326
  7. Hume & Lingard p.52

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.