Siege of Alkmaar

1573 battle of the Eighty Years' War
Siege of Alkmaar
Part of the Eighty Years' War

The siege of Alkmaar by Frans Hogenberg
Date21 August – 8 October 1573
Location
Alkmaar (present-day Holland)
Result

Dutch victory[1]

  • Spanish advance through Holland is halted
Belligerents

Dutch Republic Dutch Rebels

  • Scots Brigade
 Spain Spain
Commanders and leaders
Dutch Republic Jacob Cabeliau Spain Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo
Strength
2000 (Geuzen and Civilians)[2] 16,000 troops (estimated)[3]
Casualties and losses
24+ geuzen, 13 civilians over 500
  • v
  • t
  • e
Eighty Years' War
Origins – List of battles
1566–1572

Western Europe

  • Beeldenstorm
  • Valenciennes
  • Wattrelos
  • Lannoy
  • Oosterweel
  • Dahlen
  • Heiligerlee
  • Jemmingen
  • Jodoigne
  • Le Quesnoy
1572–1576

Western Europe

European waters
1576–1579

Western Europe

1579–1588

Western Europe

European waters
Ten Years, 1588–1598

Western Europe

  • 1st Bergen op Zoom
  • 2nd Geertruidenberg
  • 2nd Breda
  • 2nd Zutphen
  • 2nd Deventer
  • Delfzijl
  • Knodsenburg
  • 1st Hulst
  • Nijmegen
  • Rouen
  • Caudebec
  • 2nd Steenwijk
  • 1st Coevorden
  • 1st Luxemburg
  • 3rd Geertruidenberg
  • 2nd Coevorden
  • Groningen
  • 2nd Luxemburg
  • Huy
  • 1st Groenlo
  • Lippe
  • 2nd Lier
  • Calais
  • 2nd Hulst
  • Turnhout
  • 2nd Rheinberg
  • 1st Meurs
  • 2nd Groenlo
  • Bredevoort
  • Enschede
  • Ootmarsum
  • 1st Oldenzaal
  • 1st Lingen
European waters
  • 1st English Channel · Flanders
  • Bayona Islands
  • Gulf of Almería
  • 1st Cádiz
  • Azores
1599–1609

Western Europe

European waters
Twelve Years' Truce, 1609–1621

Western Europe

  • Aachen

East Indies

1621–1648

Western Europe

European waters

Americas

East Indies

Peace – Aftermath – Historiography

The siege of Alkmaar (1573) was a turning point in the Eighty Years' War. The burghers of the Dutch city of Alkmaar held off the Spanish (who had set up their camp in Oudorp) between 21 August and 8 October 1573, with boiling tar and burning branches from their renewed city walls. On 23 September William the Silent followed up on a request by Cabeliau dating from the beginning of the siege and ordered the dikes surrounding Alkmaar to be breached, thereby flooding the polders in which the Spanish troops were camped, like the Achtermeer polder. This forced the Spanish commander, Don Fadrique, the son of the hated Alva himself, to retreat and the last Spanish soldiers left on 8 October 1573.[4]

The end of the siege is considered a turning point in the Eighty Years' War as Alkmaar was the first city to overcome a siege by the Spanish army.

The garrison included a detachment of Scots soldiers who had previously tried to defend Haarlem.[5]

A first-hand account of the siege exists in the diary of Nanning van Foreest [nl], a local city councillor. Several archaeological examinations have uncovered remains of the battle.[1]

  • A painting showing unfinished fortifications
    A painting showing unfinished fortifications

References

Citations
  1. ^ a b Knüsel & Smith p 456
  2. ^ Beets, 1873, p. 86
  3. ^ Beets, 1873, p. 86
  4. ^ Nolan p 12
  5. ^ Knight, Charles Raleigh: Historical records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot) formerly designated the Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment. Vol I. London, Gale & Polden, 1905, p. 11
Bibliography
  • Nolan, Cathal J. (2006). The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000–1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0313330452.
  • Knüsel, Christopher; Smith, Martin (2013). The Routledge Handbook of the Bioarchaeology of Human Conflict. Routledge. ISBN 978-1134677979.
  • Beets, Pieter (1873). Strijd en zegepraal, of De belegering en het ontzet van Alkmaar, in het jaar 1573. Herm. Coster & Zoon.

52°38′N 4°45′E / 52.63°N 4.75°E / 52.63; 4.75