The siege of Bredevoort in 1597 was a

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

Bredevoort Bredevoort ( Low Saxon: ) is a small city with city privileges of about 1600 inhabitants in the municipality of Aalten, Netherlands. It is between the towns of Aalten and Winterswijk. Bredevoort has presented itself as ''Bredevoort boekenstad'' ...

by the military forces led by

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince o ...

, 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 siege lasted from 1 October until 9 October; after that day Bredevoort was occupied by the besiegers. The siege was part of a campaign during which Maurice conquered the cities

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgian municipality and city located in the Flemish province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. In 2021, Turnhout had a total population of 45,874. The total area is . The agglomeration, ho ...

, Alphen, Rijnberk,

Meurs Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; archaic Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel. History Known earliest from 1186, the county of Moe ...

, Bredevoort,

Groenlo Groenlo () is a city in the municipality of Oost Gelre, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, on the German border, within a region in the province of Gelderland called the Achterhoek (literally: "back corner"). Groenlo was a municipalit ...

Goor Goor () is a city about 20 km west of Enschede in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It received city rights in 1263. Goor was a separate municipality until 2001, when it became a part of Hof van Twente. Goor was the site of a statue of the r ...

, Enschede,

Oldenzaal Oldenzaal (; Tweants: ''Oldnzel'') is a municipality and a city in the eastern province of Overijssel in the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Twente and is close to the German border. It received city rights in 1249. Historically, the city ...

Ootmarsum Ootmarsum is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is a part of the municipality of Dinkelland, and lies about 10 km north of Oldenzaal. In 2001, the city of Ootmarsum had 4227 inhabitants. The built-up area of the city was 1.5 ...

, and

Lingen Lingen (), officially Lingen (Ems), is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 2008, its population was 52,353, and in addition there were about 5,000 people who registered the city as their secondary residence. Lingen, specifically "Lingen (Ems)" is ...

Events

Bredevoort was defended by only two companies of soldiers (200), led by a French captain Damien Gardot and his lieutenant ''Van Broeckhuysen'', as Count Hendrik van den Bergh and his supporting troops were absent. Bredevoort was considered impregnable, the city was surrounded by swamps which made it very difficult to get guns within shooting range. Maurice was advancing towards the city with 6,000 troops and 1,200 cavalry which included 13 companies of English troops under

Horace Vere Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury (1565 – 2 May 1635) (also ''Horatio Vere'' or ''Horatio de Vere'') was an English military leader during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War, a brother of Francis Vere. He was sent to the ...

. To tackle the swamps Maurice had brought a new invention: a bridge of cork. These bridges were light and mobile and had not been previously used. The bridge proved successful and made it possible to get the guns nearby to fire successfully at the walls. Finally, a large breach in the wall was made which meant that Maurice's troops could storm the city. A bloody battle ensued and the defenders retreated to the castle. Maurice's soldiers ransacked the town for two days, which was followed by negotiations to surrender. The defenders under Gardot agreed to the terms and were allowed on payment of ransom to leave the city. One of Maurice's troops looking for loot in the night knocked a candle which then ignited a bundle of hay which then set fire to the building. What followed was a huge fire which engulfed much of the city - only twenty houses were spared. Citizens fled to the castle while many soldiers fled the city. Maurice was angry about the incident but used the burning as a message, it was thought that it would be a deterrent to other cities on the approach of Maurice. Following the consolidation of the town, Maurice then went on to take Enschede and this time the city was spared destruction.

Sources

* H.A. Hauer: in ''Breevoort can ick vergeten niet'' page 25-28, Publicer: De Graafschap, 1956
''De Opstand in de Nederlanden''
* Staring Instituut: ''Bredevoort een Heerlijkheid", (first edition 1988)
''Staatkundige historie van Holland: Benevens de Maandelijksche ..., Volumes 24-27''
Amsterdam, Holland : Bernardus Mourik {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017

1597 in the Dutch Republic 1597 in the Habsburg Netherlands 16th-century military history of the Kingdom of England 16th-century military history of Spain Eighty Years' War (1566–1609) Bredevoort (1597) Bredevoort (1597) Bredevoort (1597) Bredevoort (1597)

Bredevoort