Battle of Wattrelos
| Battle of Wattrelos | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Eighty Years’ War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Dutch rebels |
 Spanish Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Jan Denys |
Maximilian Vilain | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 200 infantry[2] |
150 infantry[2] 50 cavalry[2] | ||||||
The Battle of Wattrelos[1] at the Flemish (now French) town of Wattrelos on 27 December 1566 between a Calvinist rebel army[3] (sometimes described as "Geuzen"[1]) and troops of the Spanish Netherlands government. It is sometimes considered as one of the first battles of the Eighty Years' War.[4]
Battle
[edit]The rebel army was composed of about 200 men from the sayetterie centre of Hondschoote and its surroundings in West Flanders.[2] They were Calvinists,[3] and their goal was to intervene in the Siege of Valenciennes,[1] where their fellow Calvinists were beleaguered by governmental troops under Philip of Noircarmes.[3]
Maximilian Vilain, baron of Rassenghien and since 1 June 1566 stadtholder of Walloon Flanders,[5] learned that the rebels had arrived at Wattrelos, about fifteen kilometres northeast of Lille.[2] He sent 50 light cavalry and 150 infantry in response.[2] On 27 December, these governmental forces surprised the rebels.[2] The rebels fled into a parish church, which Rassenghien's forces set on fire, so that many rebels burnt to death.[2]
Two days later, on 29 December 1566, Noircarmes defeated another rebel force in the Battle of Lannoy, also north of Lille.[1] In the night of 1 to 2 January 1567, Noircarmes' troops occupied Tournai and expelled the Calvinists there.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Anton van der Lem. "Wattrelos". dutchrevolt.leiden.edu (in Dutch). Leiden University. Retrieved 31 July 2022.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h DuPlessis 2002, p. 228.
- ^ a b c Anton van der Lem. "Noircarmes, Filips van Sint-Aldegonde, heer van". dutchrevolt.leiden.edu (in Dutch). Leiden University. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
- ^ Van der Wee 1969, p. 15.
- ^ DuPlessis 2002, p. 37.
- ^ Anton van der Lem. "Wille, Ambrosius". dutchrevolt.leiden.edu (in Dutch). Leiden University. Retrieved 31 July 2022.[permanent dead link]
Bibliography
[edit]- DuPlessis, Robert S. (2002). Lille and the Dutch Revolt: Urban Stability in an Era of Revolution, 1500–1582. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 392. ISBN 9780521894173. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
- Anton van der Lem. "Wattrelos". dutchrevolt.leiden.edu (in Dutch). Universiteit Leiden. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
- Van der Wee, Herman (1969). "De economie als factor bij het begin van de opstand in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden door Herman van der Wee". BMGN: Low Countries Historical Review (in Dutch). 83. Royal Netherlands Historical Society: 15–32. Retrieved 31 July 2022.