Siege of Leiden

At the siege of Leiden in the Netherlands in the years 1573 and 1574 the insurgent population withstood the pressure of the Spanish governor and his troops stood.

History

The Netherlands fought in the Eighty Years' War of independence from Spain; In 1572, suffering joined the revolt. The Duke of Alba, the Spanish governor of the Netherlands, had taken in a long siege the city of Haarlem.

At the end of 1573 he marched against Zeeland and graduated with his troops from 31 October suffering a. Don Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens continued the siege in the sense of Alba. After Louis of Nassau heranzog with a relieving army, the Spaniards abandoned the siege, to attack the troops of Nassau. After losing the battle insurgents on the Mook Heath on April 14, 1574 the siege was continued by Francisco de Valdez in May 1574.

The inhabitants had created in the meantime by the destruction in advance of the city a clear shot. But they had the Spanish entrenchments only partially destroyed. Also, it had not succeeded enough food heranzuschaffen. Citizens had also refused to accept the offered to William of Orange English soldiers.

The Spaniards withdrew their siege lines ever closer to the city approach and cut suffering from any supply from. The bread prices rose rapidly, and the rations had to be cut soon already. The besiegers were determined to starve the city and avoiding lossy attacks. The request to transfer the end of July rejected the citizens. All attempts at relief failed, as the supply of the city. 6,000 people, a third of the population died there.

William of Orange, called the Estates of the province of Holland together. This decided the area to Flood suffering. In September, the Beggars damaged the dikes along the Meuse River estuary in Rotterdam, whereby the polder was flooded and was driven on the night of October 3 water through a storm to Leiden. The Spanish troops were forced to flee, so that the siege ended. The 3rd of October is still celebrated in Leiden today.

Prince William of Orange thanked the city of Leiden for the perseverance in the struggle for independence. He gave her the first university in the Netherlands free.

Reception

A street, a park and is a statue in Leiden remember to Mayor van der Werff. In addition, the Hutspot is served on 3 October in all suffering. The University runs its founding year, by pointing to the freedom of the Netherlands, today in the coat of arms.