Battle of Mookerheyde

The Battle of Mook Heath took place on April 14, 1574 between the Spanish army under Sancho d' Avila and Bernardino de Mendoza on the one hand and a mercenary army under Louis and Henry of Nassau- Dillenburg instead of the other.

Course

Ludwig's army consisted of 5500 infantry and 2600 cavalry. The Spanish army had 5,000 infantry and 800 cavalry.

The battle was fought in the bog near the village of Mook the River Maas. The Mook Heath extended in the 16th century over a larger area than today, south of Nijmegen.

Ludwig and Henry wanted to lead their troops along the eastern shore opposite the Betuwe where her brother William of Orange was staying. The Spaniard broke off the siege of Leyden, to prevent the troops from invading Holland. On April 13, 1574 troops of Nassau arrived at Mook. They were not aware that the Spanish troops had already crossed at Grave on a pontoon bridge, the river Meuse. The Spaniards then camped in Heumen and Overasselt.

There was a confrontation between the cavalry divisions, which ended in favor of the cavalry of the two brothers. But Ludwig and Heinrich overestimated the Spanish troops and the terrain. Therefore, they decided the tired troops not to move and to open up the battle the next day early in the morning. Although at the beginning and Heinrich Ludwig designed the battle with their troops low, the course of the battle changed by Spanish reinforcements. The ramparts were destroyed and the horsemen fought the decisive battle of.

The survivors fled toward Gennep, but remained stuck in a swamp.

The two commanders Louis and Henry of Nassau were killed along with about 3,000 men of their army. On the Spanish side, only about 150 men were killed. As Ludwig and Heinrich died, is unknown. It is likely that their corpses in a mass grave or that the two were sunk in the swamp. In the church of Heumen a memorial for them was unveiled on 14 April 1891.

At the Mook Heath is still a Lady Chapel. A locally well-known Roman Catholic legend has it that after the battle many lights wandered on Mook Heath. They were the souls of the dead who could find no peace. After the Lady Chapel was built, the lights disappeared.

Follow

Luis de Requesens, Governor of the Netherlands, this victory could not exploit that made the rebellious provinces virtually no defense, as the Spanish troops mutinied after the battle due to lack of payment. For the House of Nassau and allied houses the battle was a fiasco. Besides the two brothers Christoph Nassauer lost from the Palatinate, son of Frederick III. of the Palatinate, and two brothers of Donop life. The Count of Lippe Simon VI. , Who actually wanted to go into the battle, the participation was previously banned because he was the only son and successor of his father.