The siege of Lier of 1582, also known as the capture of Lier or betrayal of Lier, took place between 1 and 2 August 1582 at Lier, near Antwerp (present-day in the Belgian province of Antwerp,

Flemish Region The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and t ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

), during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).George Daniel Ramsay p.189''European Warfare 1494-1660''
Jeremy Black p.110 On 2 August the Spanish army commanded by Governor-General Don

Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma Alessandro Farnese (10 January 1635 – 18 February 1689) was an Italian military leader, who was Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1678 until 1682. He is not to be confused with his better known great-grandfather Alexander Farnese, ...

(''

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: Alejandro Farnesio''), supported by part of the States garrison (a discontent group of Scottish troops led by Captain William Semple), captured and seized the town, defeating the rest of the Dutch,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

troops under Governor of Lier. The entire garrison was killed or captured.''The Road to Rocroi: Class, Culture and Command in the Spanish Army of Flanders 1567-1659''
Fernando González de León p.115 The news of the Spanish victory at Lier was a shock to the States-General at Antwerp, where the sense of insecurity was obvious, and many of the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

citizens sold their houses and fled to northern

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

.Ramsay p.189 Farnese piacenza 02

The consequences of Semple's action were considerable because Liere was a strategic position, regarded as "the bulwark of Antwerp and the key of the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

". The betrayal of

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

in the following year by Colonel Boyd was probably prompted by his countryman's example. After a short visit to Prince Alexander Farnese at Namur, Belgium, Namur, Semple was sent to Spain with a strong recommendation to Philip II of Spain, King Philip II of Spain, who according to the Italian people, Italian Jesuit Famiano Strada, handsomely rewarded him.s:Sempill, William (DNB00), Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 51. The next Spanish success was on 17 November, when the Spaniards led by Johann Baptista von Taxis (''

: Juan Baptista de Taxis'') captured Steenwijk (Siege of Steenwijk (1580–1581), taken by Dutch States forces on 23 February 1581)Tony Jaques p.969 Capture of Steenwijk (1582), forcing the Protestant troops to surrender.Tracy pp.83–84

Notes

References

* Jeremy Black (historian), Black, Jeremy
''European Warfare 1494-1660''
Routledge Publishing 2002. * Black, Jeremy. ''War in the World: A Comparative History, 1450-1600''. First published 2011 by Palgrave MacMillan. * Jane Hathaway
''Rebellion, Repression, Reinvention: Mutiny in Comparative Perspective''
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. USA. * D. C. Worthington. ''Scots in Habsburg Service: 1618 - 1648''. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Printed in the Netherlands. * George Daniel Ramsay. ''The Queen's Merchants and the Revolt of the Netherlands: The End of the Antwerp mart, Vol II.'' Manchester University Press. * James Donald Tracy, Tracy, James. ''The Founding of the Dutch Republic:War, Finance, and Politics in Holland, 1572–1588''. Oxford University Press. 2008. . * Jaques, Tony. ''Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-first Century''. Greenwood Press. 2006.

External links

Engraving of the ''Siege of Lier of 1582''
by Frans Hogenberg. Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lier 1582, Siege of Sieges of the Eighty Years' War Sieges involving Spain Sieges involving England Sieges involving the Dutch Republic 1582 in the Habsburg Netherlands Conflicts in 1582

See also

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External links