Fall of Antwerp
gigatos | May 27, 2022
Summary
The Siege of Antwerp during the Eighty Years” War began on July 3, 1584, lasted fourteen months and ended on August 17, 1585 with what is called the Fall of Antwerp, which brought an end to Antwerp”s Golden Age. Antwerp was led during the siege by Philip of Marnix of Sint-Aldegonde in fighting the regular army led by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma.
In 1576 Antwerp joined the Pacification of Ghent. The following year, a strong Calvinist regime came to power in the city that called itself the Antwerp Republic, it was led by outside mayor Philip of Marnix of Sint-Aldegonde. During this period of radicalization, Catholicism was officially banned. On July 29, 1579, the city also became part of the Union of Utrecht. This made the largest Dutch city, with more than 100,000 inhabitants at the time, the capital of the Dutch revolt. In 1583 William of Orange temporarily stayed in Antwerp with his court.
In 1582, the Duke of Parma, Alexander Farnese, had become governor of the Seventeen Provinces as successor to Juan of Austria. Farnese”s mother, Margaret of Parma, had also been made governor, from 1559-1567. Farnese was an excellent strategist and had devised a plan to cut off the Flemish and Brabant cities from their export territory. He wanted to achieve this by conquering the coastal areas and the Scheldt estuary. He had already regained control of many cities in the years 1583-1584. On July 3, 1584, the encirclement of Antwerp began.
In early summer William of Orange had received advance knowledge from his spies of an imminent siege of Antwerp. It was important to him that Antwerp be preserved for the States. He invited Philip of Marnix of Sint-Aldegonde and clerk Martine to supposedly attend the baptism of his youngest son. During the meeting, he assured the people of Antwerp that he would come to relieve the city within two months should it be under siege. William of Orange also gave orders to breach the Blauwgaren and Kouwensteinsedijk so that the state fleet could reach Antwerp via the flooded areas, Parma would thus be prevented from building his entrenchments, and it would keep the army of Flanders outside the dikes. Despite the fact that Aldegonde stressed the necessity of this plan, there was great opposition to the plans of the Meat Harvesters Guild, because pastures would be lost on which as many as twelve thousand oxen were fattened annually. Meanwhile, the defense works had begun. Several entrenchments were erected along the Scheldt: the St. Antheune entrenchment on the Flemish head, in Burcht, at the Melkhuis and at the Tolhuis, and on the south side under the city the Austruweelseschans and the Boerenschans. However, the protest against this was great, so much so that T”Serraets had to leave the city and he went to seek refuge with Parma and offered him his services. Parma later rewarded him with the Margrave”s office upon the surrender of the city. To nip conspiracy with Spain in the bud, the Prince of Orange issued an edict on June 22 threatening severe punishment for anyone who collaborated or negotiated with the (Spanish) king or the royalist.
First of all, the route between Antwerp and Dendermonde was closed off; Antonio Olivera was ordered to build a new fortress at the height of a bridge, so that the trade between Ghent, Dendermonde and Antwerp would be cut off. In order to control the navigation in Brussels, Parma sent another division to Willebroek to take an entrenchment on the Scheldt. Beveren was reinforced, the village of Kallo was evacuated and occupied.
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Containment
Parma, meanwhile, had figured out the best way to seize Antwerp: cut off the supply and starve the city. On July 3, the closing of Antwerp began. The army was split. Five thousand men under the marquis of Rijsburg took position against Liefkenshoek, seven thousand men led by Mansfeld and Mondragon against the fortress. (According to Strada, it was four thousand and five hundred men of footsoldiers and eight companies of horsemen who were added to Mondragon, at Rubaes three thousand men of footsoldiers and four companies of horsemen.) Mansfeld and Mondragon crossed the Scheldt at Kruibeke, although the Zeeland admiral”s ship tried in vain to prevent this. A part had to conquer the entrenchments of Lillo and Liefkenshoek. The first storming of Liefkenshoek was repulsed by the defenders, in the second attempt a stratagem was used. On July 10, some hay wagons were brought under the ramparts and set on fire. Due to the smoke, the defenders were unable to move on the ramparts and the entrenchment could be taken. everyone inside the ramparts was beaten to death. On the same day, William of Orange was shot. Because his eldest son was in Spanish hands, Prince Maurice was appointed as his successor. The next day Doel was also occupied, 15 July Zwijndrecht, on 17 July Herentals. Meanwhile, the part of the army led by Mondragon had advanced to Lillo. Within this entrenchment there was a French contingent with about a hundred Antwerp guild members, later reinforced with four Scottish contingents under Henry Balfour. The royalists had made a breach. They were about to begin their assault, when the defenders inside the entrenchment detonated a mine too soon. They suffered many losses due to this accident, from which the royals gained an advantage. In spite of this, they defended so fiercely that it took Mondragon three more weeks to take the entrenchment.
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Piercing of dikes, arrival Frederico Gianibelli
The meatcutters changed their minds and finally gave their permission to flood the polders, however, Mondragon had already occupied the roads around the dikes. On July 26, many citizens left for Zeeland. On August 10, Oorderen was taken and shortly thereafter the Boerenschans. On 17 August Dendermonde fell, on 19 August two blockhouses around Willebroek, on 20 August the castle of Grimbergen, on 4 September Vilvoorde, on 17 September Ghent. Earlier, since April, Ypres, Bruges and other Flemish cities had surrendered. Antwerp became more and more closed off. Despite the edict that had been in effect since July 17, dozens of families left Antwerp daily to seek happiness elsewhere. However, the edict prohibited leaving the city without permission under penalty of expropriation of property and high fines. Meanwhile, Parma had gathered the big guns in Beveren. At Antwerp, Frederico Gianibelli, an Italian inventor, came to the city to offer his help. He came up with all kinds of inventions such as burners, a floating castle, but also unmanned vessels that had to be resilient on the road if Spanish attackers wanted to attack them. A construction with powder kegs hanging around the unmanned ship was meant to ensure that one keg exploded every half hour: enough of a deterrent to keep anyone from approaching the ship. Another idea was the introduction of a hundredth penny, with the proceeds of which (thirty-six tons of gold) food could then be bought in Holland for the benefit of all. However, another option was taken: every inhabitant had to have two years” worth of supplies for himself. Unfortunately, wealthy citizens bought too sparsely, for they feared that in times of need the supplies would be taken away from them. Van Meteren is convinced that things could have gone differently and that the city should not have fallen into the hands of the Spaniards. The city council had in fact imposed a maximum price for grain, which was so low that it had deterred many supply ships. Without a maximum price of grain, more grain would have come to the city, and with a larger food supply, the population would have held out much longer. Farnese would not have had enough money or enough food to sustain the encirclement much longer. This, then, is what Van Meteren sees as the Antwerp people”s biggest mistake: not stockpiling enough food when it had the chance.
Also read, biographies – Arnold Palmer
Parma”s bridge
In October Parma established his headquarters at Beveren, the encirclement of Antwerp was almost complete with the taking of all the surrounding towns and villages. Except for the water. Within Antwerp, the option of a bridge was not considered. It would even be impossible was thought. One hundred carpenters, six hundred sappeurs, had to rebuild twenty-two confiscated pleats from Dendermonde into a bridge. The bridge would come between two forts, called Philips- and Mariaschans. A third entrenchment under Lillo covered the Kouwensteinsedijk. On 10 October Aldegonde personally tried in vain to prevent this, it cost Captain Peter de Bakker his life. Some distinguished citizens in Antwerp wanted to negotiate with Parma. These were imprisoned as traitors. They were tried and, as a deterrent to others with similar thoughts, had to pay high fines. Farnese had learned from his spies about the difficult atmosphere within the city, and considered the time ripe to claim the city. On November 13, he sent a polite letter to the alderman. It was answered just as politely that hostilities would cease if Parma would do the same, and promise “freedom of conscience. Parma sent another letter on December 10, but received no further reply.The Spaniards laid a 730-meter bridge of ships across the Scheldt. It barricaded the Scheldt. After its completion in February 1585, the starvation of the city could begin. All attempts from the city itself (with gunpowder loaded so-called mines) and from Zeeland to break through the ship bridge on the river failed. On May 28, the monster ship Finis Bellis or Fin de la guerre (the Spanish gave it the name “Carantamaula”) crashed against the dike instead of destroying the ship bridge, although other sources report that the ship ran aground. All kinds of attempts were made to break through the barricade, but to no avail. In the end, Statesmen together with the people of Antwerp undertook several more unsuccessful attacks on the Kouwensteinsedijk in a final attempt to relieve it.
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Attack on Parma”s bridge
The city was blocked for shipping by a large ship bridge (Parma”s bridge). In April the people of Antwerp had made another attempt to blow up that bridge, for which the ships “Fortune” and “Hope” had been equipped. Thirteen hundred people (friend and foe) died in the huge explosions. Parma”s bridge, royals looked mesmerized at the brilliant lights, the bridge flooded with spectators who watched with a mixture of wonder, joy and fear. The Scheldt was beautifully illuminated by the burners, the glow of armor and banners gave a beautiful effect, when the soldiers saw that the burners extinguished one by one, the fear disappeared, they marveled at the undertaking, some even taunted the statesmen, there were soldiers joking about the failed venture. Strada writes: “Since in memory of all ages nothing more terrible has been heard” and continues: “The deadly ship burst with such a hideous bang that it seemed as if the heavens were falling down, the lower was mixed with the upper. Even the globe seemed to tremble. After the lightning and thunder, a torrential rain of bullets fell, an eccentric precipitation followed that no one would believe could happen, if it had not happened.” he continues with: “The Scheldt, miraculously swelling, first seemed to bare the depths of its soil, then slammed over the dikes, the movement of the leaping earth stretching out 9,000 steps.” Large stones, deeply embedded in the ground, were still found up to ten kilometers away, which had come from the explosion. Victims had flown through the air “like light chaff”. A scoutmaster from the Marias entrenchment miraculously survived: he was blown out of his entrenchment, remained in the air for a while, fell into the Scheldt, managed to free himself of his armor in the water and managed to swim to the shore alive and well. A young soldier serving with Parma”s bodyguards was blown from Flanders to Brabant. He suffered only minor injuries to his shoulder. He declared: “Lifted up, then flown over the stream like a bullet shot out of a big cannon”. The royalists generally agreed: this weapon could not have been made by men, but had to be the work of the devil. The deadly fire could not be anything other than hellfire. One sergeant reported eight hundred dead, not counting the wounded, many of whom lost their limbs. Despite the huge explosion, the bridge was not badly damaged. Parma”s workmen managed to repair the damage in three days.
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Battle of the Kouwensteinsedijk
Meanwhile, in Flushing, Hohenlohe had determined to take up the relief of Antwerp. On December 24, the statesmen sent one hundred ships with grain to get through the winter. By January 1585, four new colonels had been appointed in Antwerp to defuse the confusion that existed within the city. In early February, Parma sent another letter, exhorting them to surrender and promising to treat the citizens well. Meanwhile, Parma”s workmen had been working relentlessly on the ship bridge for six months. As early as February 25, traffic could pass over the bridge. The bridge and the surrounding entrenchments would become a battleground in May. The last hope for a relief was now focused on the capture of the Kouwensteinsedijk. If the Statesmen succeeded in capturing the Kouwensteinsedijk, Parma”s bridge would even be useless. Parma”s troops would then be drowned, or at least forced to break the siege. Both the attack on Parma”s bridge and the battle on the Kouwensteinsedijk failed.
In Antwerp, the losses had been a serious setback. There had even been riots when news got out in Antwerp of the Spanish recapture and restoration of the dike. In addition to the Catholics in the city, it was now the Calvinists, who wanted to discuss peace negotiations with Parma. Meanwhile, the grain stocks had shrunk drastically, many citizens, especially the rich left the city. There were even people who saw the loss on the dike as God”s punishment. In Holland, reactions and help were slow in coming, despite the fierce insistence of Maurice and his Council of State.
Now the Catholics in particular demanded negotiations with Farnese. These were conducted by Marnix in the Spanish headquarters on the Singelberg in Beveren and on August 17 he signed the surrender of the city. The Peis (peace) was proclaimed on the Grand Place. The peace terms were sealed in the so-called Acte van Reconciliatie. The mayor had obtained that opponents of the king were given the opportunity to leave the city. Many Protestant merchants and intellectuals took advantage of this and left for the North. A total of twenty-four conditions were drawn up, including: the Catholic faith had to be reestablished, churches rebuilt, expelled Catholic families and clergymen had to be received again. The king was to forgive the people of Antwerp for their crimes against the Spanish Empire and allow the heretics to live in the city for another four years. As compensation for the expenses of the Spanish siege, four hundred thousand guilders were charged. This fine was so large that a separate city treasury was established, the abatement fund, to organize income for payment. Prisoners of war (from both sides) were to be released, provided they had not previously determined a ransom.
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Order of the Golden Fleece
During the setting of the conditions, shots of joy sounded from Parma”s bridge and the dikes. For a moment Parma thought that the English and French had come to relieve the statesmen; his tired army would not have been able to withstand the assistance of fresh troops. A Spanish fleet had approached. Parma was knighted in the Order of the Golden Fleece on behalf of the king in the chapel of the entrenchment of St. Philip, on the Brabant side of Parma”s bridge, as a reward for conquering the city of Antwerp, so that he could make an entrance with the jewel around his neck. After a ceremony by the Archbishop of Cambrai, Louis of Berlaymont, the Count of Mansfeld offered the jewel to Parma the badge of honor on August 11.
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Parma”s entry
On August 17, an agreement to surrender was made, Antwerp and its surroundings were opened to Parma”s officers so that they could inspect the city to ensure security for Parma”s entry. Parma”s officers were joyfully received in the city. However, Parma delayed his entry (for unknown reasons) for ten days. In the meantime, Antwerpers went en masse to see Parma”s bridge, the port of Peerle, and all the constructed Spanish fortifications. The Antwerp people praised the wonder of all the works. Except for the Kouwensteinsedijk, there was only sighing. The dike still looked terrible. Drenched in blood, torsos of bodies, scattered limbs lay on the spot where so much hard fighting had taken place in the last attempt at dismemberment. Silently the scene was viewed.
More exuberant was Parma”s entrance on August 27, he was festively received in the city, with Parma receiving a golden key. He then went to the church for a worship service. Parma then made a speech and then moved to the citadel. The Spaniards and Italians held a state ceremony on Parma”s bridge in Parma”s honor. A few days later, Parma went to his bridge to eat his breakfast in the middle on the bridge. The bridge was decorated with ribbons and flowers. After breakfast, Parma gave orders to dismantle the bridge again. This was started the very next day, Parma donated the wood to the workmen Plaet and Baroc.
The fall of Antwerp is said to have been precipitated or facilitated by a decision of the city council on a maximum price for grain. Until this decision came, grain was easily smuggled into the city. A risk premium had to be paid. By prohibiting this risk premium, not enough smugglers were willing to smuggle grain into the city. Thus, famine broke out, increasing the resistance of the population.
Some argue that the Northerners waited too long to send reinforcements, including English support that did not arrive in Flushing until December 1585. The fleet that had been poised on the Scheldt to liberate Antwerp remained in place to cut off the now Spanish-owned city from overseas trade. The Protestant inhabitants were given four years to return to the Catholic Church or else leave with their goods and chattels. In the end only 40,000 inhabitants remained in the city and with that the golden age of Antwerp as a port and trading city came to an end. After the fall of Antwerp, several more attempts were made to recapture the city and to involve the South in the revolt again: in 1605, 1620, 1624, 1638 (Battle of Kallo) and 1646 (see Siege of Antwerp (1646)). However, these were all unsuccessful and Antwerp remained part of the (Catholic) Southern Netherlands. Under Spanish rule, the city experienced a certain revival with, for example, the painting of Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Antoon van Dyck and David Teniers the Younger. Aldegonde had fallen into disfavor with his northern Dutch compatriots after the surrender of Antwerp.
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