The siege of Hulst was a siege of the city of

Hulst Hulst () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and city in southwestern Netherlands in the east of Zeelandic Flanders. History Hulst received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in the 12th century. Hulst Siege of Hulst ...

that took place between 20 and 24 September 1591 by a Dutch and English army under the leadership of Maurice of Orange during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

and the Anglo–Spanish War. The siege was part of Maurice's famous campaign of 1591.

Background

In early 1591 Maurice with his army had launched a campaign against the cities of

Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river IJssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the 11th centur ...

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

, and

Delfzijl Delfzijl (; ) is a city and former municipality (which now belongs to the municipality of Eemsdelta) with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf and the Em ...

having forced the Spanish garrisons there to surrender. The army included sixteen English ensigns under Sir

Francis Vere Sir Francis Vere (1560/6128 August 1609) was a prominent England, English soldier serving under Queen Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth I fighting mainly in the Low Countries during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Eighty Years' War. ...

and ten Scots ensigns under Colonel Balfour. The combined army then faced the Spanish of the

Duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a List of historic states of Italy, historical state of Northern Italy. It was created by Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese) for his son Pier Luigi Farnese, Du ...

at the fort of Knodsenburg just north of

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

and defeated them during the siege there. Afterwards Maurice gave the appearance he was going into winter quarters by late September 1591 Maurice however landed with his army at Kreverwille, and from there marched to Hulst. The ruse worked; nearly half of the Spanish garrison that normally would have been stationed there had been sent elsewhere, leaving only 400 troops in the city.

Siege and aftermath

Maurice arrived at Hulst as planned on 19 September, and took advantage of the situation and went ahead with the siege. Maurice was hoping for a quick siege and therefore ordered a massive continual bombardment. The Spanish garrison commander Colonel Castillo was completely surprised by the Anglo-Dutch force that surrounded him and could offer only slight resistance. After five days of a continuous bombardment, Castillo and with no help from outside coming, asked for terms which was accepted.(French) The Spanish garrison was given the honours of war and marched out with their arms. Close by in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, which was honouring the

's son Ranuccio, the surrender of Hulst was totally unexpected and shocked the Spanish high command. Parma was angered and ordered that Castillo be immediately beheaded for his negligence. Maurice put up defences around the region to consolidate his hold and then made secret plans to besiege Nijmegen rather than Geertruidenberg which was expected from the Spanish point of view to be the next target. After a weeks siege, Maurice captured Nijmegen and thus ended the victorious campaign for him in 1591. After five years in Dutch hands, the city was retaken by Spanish forces under

Archduke of Austria Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank within ...

and remained in their hands until 1645 in one of the last sieges of the war.van Nimwegen p. 277

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hulst 1591, Siege of Sieges of the Eighty Years' War 1591 in Europe Conflicts in 1591 Sieges involving the Dutch Republic Sieges involving England Sieges involving Spain 1591 in the Dutch Republic Hulst History of Zeeland 16th-century military history of the Kingdom of England