The Battle of Kollum was a military engagement that took place on 16 July 1581 during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Ref ...

and the Anglo–Spanish War. The battle was fought between an English and Dutch force under John Norreys and Diederik Sonoy respectively, and a Spanish force under George van Lalaing, the Count of Rennenberg. The Dutch and English were victorious, and as a result of the defeat Rennenberg, already ill, died two days later.Nolan p. 46 In March 1580 George van Lalaing, the Count Rennenberg had turned against

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

, and then declared for Spain. This caused outrage amongst the Dutch with many even coming over to the side of the rebels. Rennenberg led an army to lay siege at Steenwijk but was defeated when an Anglo-Dutch relief army under John Norreys arrived. Many of Rennenberg's army were sick and in a mutinous mood; they fled east towards

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

and with Norreys in pursuit not too far behind. Rennenberg, hoping to catch his pursuers off guard, turned and faced them at Kollum. Norreys attacked almost at once sweeping away the Spanish forces from the field who then fled all the way to Groningen itself. The battle was one sided and a heavy defeat; Spanish casualties were heavy with 700 killed, wounded, or captured and in addition the loss of all their military baggage and all four of their field guns. Rennenberg, who had been too ill to take command, died four days later at Groningen. Rennenberg's successor

Francisco Verdugo Francisco Verdugo, Spanish military commander in the Dutch Revolt, (born in 1537 in Talavera de la Reina, province of Toledo, died in Luxembourg, 1595), became ''Maestre de Campo General,'' in the Spanish Netherlands. He was also the last Spanish ...

soon attacked again at

Noordhorn Noordhorn (Gronings: ''Noordhörn'') is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is part of the municipality of Westerkwartier and is separated from Zuidhorn by the . History Noordhorn is located on a sandy ridge. The settlement on the ...

; this time Norreys was defeated in the pitched battle.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * {{coord missing, Netherlands

Kollum Kollum ( Low Saxon: ''Kölm'') is a village in Noardeast-Fryslân municipality in the province Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 5529 in January 2017. There is a restored windmill, ''Tochmaland'' in the village. History Th ...

1581 in the Dutch Republic 1581 in the Habsburg Netherlands 16th-century military history of the Kingdom of England 16th-century military history of Spain Eighty Years' War (1566–1609)

Noardeast-Fryslân