The siege of IJsseloord or the capture of Arnhem was a siege that took place between the 6 and 15 October 1585 at

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

(

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604). The Dutch and English were victorious when the sconce of IJsseloord after seven days capitulated and Arnhem fell into their hands. The English under

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

had just signed the

treaty of Nonsuch The Treaty of Nonsuch was signed on 10 August 1585 by Elizabeth I of England and the Dutch rebels fighting against Spanish rule. It was the first international treaty signed by what would become the Dutch Republic. It was signed at Nonsuch Pala ...

in August and as such the English contingent was enlarged and put under temporary command of John Norreys. After crossing the

English channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

they joined the States troops of Adolf van Nieuwenaar then headed towards

with 2,500 men where they intended to retake a sconce called IJsseloord.Abraham pg. 95 In the 16th century IJsseloord was a point that connected the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and the

IJssel The IJssel (; nds-nl, Iessel(t) ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour. ...

and as such it was a strategic point running towards

Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in th ...

and Deventer.

Siege

In 1585, the Spanish commander Francisco Verdugo had taken the sconce, so Adolf van Nieuwenaar with John Norreys appeared on 6 October that year with eighteen companies of English and German soldiers that soon surrounded the area and began their siege. Almost immediately the besiegers began a bombardment with nine guns from two directions from the sides of Betuwe and the forested hill of

Veluwe The Veluwe () is a forest-rich ridge of hills (1100 km2) in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The Veluwe features many different landscapes, including woodland, heath, some small lakes and Europe's largest sand drifts. The Ve ...

. However, the besieged recovered quickly from this shelling and managed to repel an attack killing Captain Willem van Doorn but the Spanish success was short-lived. On 15 October the Dutch and English had received reinforcements of three ships which included 500 soldiers. They bombarded the sconce again and left two ships adrift, to cause some distraction and it was here Thomas Vavasour distinguished himself. When the besiegers were preparing for an assault, the Spaniards realized that their position was hopeless and decided to negotiate a surrender to which Nieuwenaar and Norreys agreed. Francisco Verdrugo managed to get near the siege positions hoping to save the situation but it was too late and with the siege over the Spanish garrison were allowed to leave with their colors, arms, and full armor.Anderson pg 207 With the sconce captured Arnhem ultimately fell into the Dutch and English hands and the following day the magistrate of Arnhem donated Nieuwenaar a silver chalice for the service rendered. Norreys however continued forward despite the weather and headed towards Nijmegen with no more than 3,000 men but Alexander Farnese, the Duke of Parma, intercepted him with 9,000 infantry and eight or nine cornets of cavalry, hence Norreys was forced to withdraw then both returned to winter quarters. The sconce remained in Dutch hands until August 1626 when Count Van den Bergh took it again for Spain after his failed attempt at relief during the

siege of 's-Hertogenbosch The siege of 's-Hertogenbosch also known as the ''siege of Bois-Le-Duc''Markham pp. 435-38 was an action in 1629, during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War in which a Dutch and English army captured the city of 's-Hertogenbosch. ...

.Nijhof pg 384 Today the sconce at Arnhem is in ruins and very little remains as a main road and rail line intercede it.

Notes

References

* (Dutch) * * * * * (Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:IJsseloord, Siege of Sieges involving the Dutch Republic Sieges involving Spain Sieges involving England 1585 in Europe 1585 in the Dutch Republic Conflicts in 1585