The (Staggering) Siege of Antwerpen 1584/85 | Eighty Years' War
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- čas přidán 3. 08. 2024
- On the 3rd of July 1584 during the Eighty Years' War, a Spanish army under the Duke of Parma arrived in the region of Antwerpen. This was the beginning of a siege, so spectacular that the famous German poet Friedrich Schiller wrote a historical account about it. It was a siege characterized by a monstrous warship, the flooding of an entire region and ingenious siege craft such as huge fireships and a pontoon bridge spanning more than 700 meters across the River Schelde. This is how contemporary historiography tells the story of the staggering siege of Antwerpen:
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Bibliography:
Primary Sources:
Emanuel van Meteren, Belgische ofte Nederlantsche historie van onsen tijden, Delft 1599.
Secondary Literature:
Duffy, C., The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660, London 1979.
Geyl, P., The Revolt of the Netherlands (1555-1609), New York 1958.
Nimwegen, O. van, The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688, Woodbridge 2010.
Schiller, F., Merkwürdige Belagerung von Antwerpen 1584-1585, in: Schiller, F. (Hg.), Die Horen 5 (1795).
Always bring a big meat leg to the discussion with the aldermen!
SandRhoman History Where is your accent from if I may ask?
Can you do a video on the Dunkirkers and the havoc and destruction they inflicted on the Dutch and English shipping? I read that the Dutch were losing at a minimum 300 commercial ships and warships per year during the height of the Dunkirkers offensive.
You have to make more Eighty Years' War videos. Please! This conflict is so often forgotten.
nvm, it was parma ham
@@BikingVikingHH i am pretty sure he is Dutch
I don't know much about Dutch warfare through the ages, but one thing is clear even to me:
When confronted with the question "To flood or not to flood?" the answer will always be to flood.
If it isn't Dutch, flood it.
He bought?
Flood it
They tried it in WW2, but it didn't help because the Luftwaffe simply flew over it to bomb cities.
@@robertdegroot8302
If the Dutch Government hadn't left the country defenseless with its poorly funded army they could have resisted better.
Even with the army in the state it was in thet could have held out much longer, but they made the decision to surrender as Rotterdam was burned to the ground already and they thought all cities and villages would turn out this way and not with a victory.
Dutch flooding defensive works were still in use during the Cold War.
I thought they had abandoned the principle following the German invasion in May 1940 but during the 1950s there were still some works in strategic places.
>flemish deathstar
>gravestone grenade fireships
>reverse psychology amphibious assault fireships
reminds me of warhammer tbh
Brabantian
@@TobyIKanoby I'm not generalizing for those who already know better, you know...
@@Inyourfafner It is just Brabantian not Flemish, no discussion about it.
Antwerpen was not Flemish. And if it was up to me, never will be. Brabant for the win baby! Keep you'r Flemish nonsense on the other side of ' t Scheld.
Most other historical youtube channels focus on big battles, but that always leaves this period (16th, 17th century) with too little attention, since so much was about siege warfare in this period. Really glad you are covering these sieges. Much appreciated.
Sieges were pretty much always more common and so I think that there is a large gap in which videos get made
BazBattles mainly does obscure battles, but mostly from an earlier time period. So, I also really appreciate that this channel covers this era - it's actually more interesting when you see the whole campaign, instead of just the battle.
Stfu nooob u think you are so smart huh??? Lol no , sieges were real get over it
Because neither France nor England were the superpower. It was Spain, and I don't know why it's always so forgotten
or with such a bad reputation or that hate.
It's a pretty disgusting period that should have never happened.
This siege was most definitely not for non-swimmers
lol
I wonder if one could swim with a heavy cuirass anyway.
@@seneca983 Yes, they had special cuirasses that you can take off via a clips. So that you would be able to take it off fast in case you have to swim, Or at least the Venetians did, so I guess other peoples could also manufacture such armors. Thought I doubt infantrymen would have such a cuirass, since it was more useful for a Venetian sailor than an average infantryman and I don't know what disadvantages it might bring to one.
Funnily enough most sailors didnt know how to swim.
No looting, no pillaging, the losing armies were given safe conduct, and the civilian population was given four years to convert or leave the city. For the time, those seem like incredibly generous terms.
CanadaMMA If I remember well , the siege of Haarlem ended with the massacre of the entire garnison by the spaniards ,about 1500 people
@@cruscante That was the exception, not the norm, take for example the siege of Breda (1624).
To take a large bastion fortication by assult was close to impossible, widout extreme losses, and a siege was extreme time consuming. Hence the attacker was willing to offer very generous terms of capitulation to the defender. There was a exception, if the bastion fortication was reduse (no longer worked as a effective defence) but the defender still insist to resist (then its pointless) and forced the attacker to make a final bloody assult, it was fair game in "civilized warfare" to put the defender to the sword.
Seems like good terms by modern standards too. Based Spaniards chivalrous as frick.
Trying to keep the profit of the Antwerp port going probably.
"Nobody believed Parma would be able to bar the Schelde."
Parma: Hold my ham and watch this.
*Alessandro farnese. Parma it's a city not the person :)
and this is the origin of the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, and the religious divide (Catholic/Protestant)... so even though we basically speak the same language, we have been running different courses for more than 500 years now.
belgium is just an artificial state but not a real nation
Still, people bled for it and England vowed to protect its soverinity. It also houses a lot of European institutions. So what if its artificial. Ask Catalonia if they find Spain a nation or artificial...
@@miliba every nation is artificial
@@andreascovano7742 every religion is artificial
Wouter Victor Spain does not call itself ‘nation’, rather all parts of the Spanish state have status of ‘nacion’ - most European countries were created in 19th century: Belgium, Germany, Italy...
Alessandro Farnese Duke of Parma, is one of the most underrated military commanders in history.
He was the grandson of Emperor Charles V of Habsburg from his mother side and great-grandson of Pope Paul the third from his father side.
Beside being a brilliant tactician and a skilled engineer (both military and civil) he was also a fearsome warrior and a true master of single combat.
He fought valiantly at the battle of Lepanto: according to the account of one of his biographers (Strada): "he launched himself on board of the enemy flagship without waiting for his men and started slaughtering several Turks by swinging his great-sword like a demon".
He was also a great diplomat: Sint-Aldegonde, when meeting with him to discuss the terms for the surrender of Antwerp, recounted to have been feeling literally mesmerized by the charisma of this Italian Prince.
As a military strategist his masterpiece was perhaps the relief of the siege of Paris in 1591, where he outsmarted Henry of Navarre (the future King Henry IV of France) which was one the best generals of this era.
As a military engineer, besides the brilliant display at Antwerp, he designed the walls of the Italian city of Lucca, which you can still admire in their entirety nowadays, standing as one of the finest example of late 16th century architecture.
What you said is offensive, filled with bigotry & racist.
You've been reported. Bleep, boop, bleep, bleep, boop, bleep..
Thank you for the info
Ah thank you! I immediately recognized that he was of royal blood due to his title Duke of Parma (made the connection to Margarat of Parma who acted as Philips the second place holder) and I was wondering how he was connected.
Let's say he was a smart mass murderer. I'm a bit angered really by anyone calling any conquistador "brilliant". The consequences of these conquests we're horrible for our area. That like celebrating the awesome nazi architecture. Your post is a touch insensitive at best, and shamelessly nationalistic at worst. I defend all freedom of expression, but I am also offended that you are that inconsiderate.
@@melanieenmats keep crying
One bridge to rule them all...
"You shall not pass!"
So it begins..
@@andreattafabio And so it did
One bridge to hold them..
@@backalleycqc4790 i imagined gandalf slammed his staff on the spainish forces
As a spaniard i grant you they tell us nothing in school about the 80 years war, it would be great to know more about this war and his effects
As a Belgian, I also never learned about this war
I think it should be a source of pride for both our countries. It's impressive to say the least.
@@v1ncent111 Then you must've gone to a shitty school, because I learned about it.
@@v1ncent111 Than you were asleep in History Class.... If you were Flemish you would have known...
@@HansLandaNaranja Probably just briefly. Honestly modern western education disregards history to a large extent. You mostly learn about slave trade, "white man bad" and some art history. That's about it unless you study it later in university.
one of the absolute best channels covering this period (and one of the only ones). criminally underrated.
So fucking glad I found this channel
Wait there is other channels
I thought Late Medieval history was ignored
Aleksa Petrovic yup seen all his vids too lmao
Such an amazing and underrated channel. You're doing an awesome job
I am from Belgium and I ignored this part of our history entirely. Thanks, great research, great respect for accurate details, great respect for actual names, well-described strategies, and baffling military genius from both sides, great and correct visual and geographical presentation great job! Is there actually y Prize for such well-made videos?? Congratulations!
Its not your history, its dutch history.
@@maozedong44 Hello Mao..Are you still trapped the Cultural Revolution times?...hihihi...It is history of the Low Countries, as Holland and Flanders were basically twin identities..Actually the cultural kinship was even broader...Back in the early crusades: Flemish crusaders, with lots originating now-Holland territories, fought together with Cologn (East Germany) crusaders as they shared the same lower-Germanic dialect. They were cruising to the Holy Land , shipped by Flemish fleet from the Dunkirk harbour, then full Flemish territory.. which later would be annexed by France. We still await official apologies, repair payments, institutions, and return of all lost territories to the Low Countries from Macron... History is as fascinating as grey, we need a real time-machin to flash back to understand the then-reigning time-spirit. Thanks for reply!
@@jphalsberghe1 when you say holland do you mean the netherlands or holland holland? /0
@@maozedong44 oh dear....I should have known, I was informed that education in Nederland has lost a lot of quality...I had no idea... I'm sorry...
@@alterego3590 informed by?
Keep up the good work. I am Dutch. I never heard anything about the Siege and battle of Antwerpen. The only thing we learnt during history lessons was that the Dutch blokkade the harbor of Antwerpen and that therefore a lot of merchants moved from Antwerpen to Amsterdam and that therefore Amsterdam became so wealthy. I really appreciate your videos. Keep up the good work.
..the spaniards punished the heretic protestant (and Hugenots) AND jews in Antwerp..that led to the move of wealth/capital to Amsterdam.
(and 100 years later ..to London via the Glorious Revolution).
@@oddballsok yeah you are right, that is maybe even a bigger reason. Now you say it, I remember that was also a cause we had to learn.
Loving your content! Hugely informative and captivating to watch, thank you.
appreciate it, thanks!
So many ingenious tactics, thanks for covering this event!
Dutch: We have to defend the city! Lets do all the necessary preparations to thwart the Spaniards...
Butchers Guild: Yes, but actually no.
*One Spaniard attack later*
Butchers Guild: No, but actually yes.
*But it was too late.*
Must be one of the oldest cases of corporate lobbies screwing over their countrymen!
Actually this was actually not a war against between Spain and the Netherlands. This was a war of the King of the Netherlands against his own people, who had sent Spanish forces against them. When those Spanish forces wheren't paid they started plundering and causing a lot of violence, wich made the people hate their King even more.
Dutch: Okay, we have to prepare for a siege. We need to start laying in supplies.
Also the Dutch: But that's expensive, so let's have the citizenry pay for it.
*Citizens either can't pay or refuse to on account of being Dutch and knowing a bad investment when they see it*
Dutch: _Uhoh!_
What a crazy siege. Awesome content, keep it up!
Man, those fakeout fireships were the wildest twist. Absolutely loved listening to this! Kept me on the edge of my seat.
Amazing. Love this great battles of history
Amazing production quality, thank you sir! This channel is still so underrated
Another well done video thank you. You bring history to life.
This vid was as allways a masterpiece. keep up the great work man.
Thanks bud, will do!
Wow love your content. Keep up the great work. Thank you
I misread this as "The (Staggering) Eighty Years Siege of Antwerpen" and I hurriedly clicked on it. 🤦♂️ Wasn't disappointed. Excellent presentation 🤓
Your vids are SOOOOOOO wonderful. Thank you!!!
Thank you for covering so many sieges.
As an inhabitant of Antwerp I can say we are proud, if not the proudest, citizens of our country (and maybe even the Netherlands included). We lost our near monopoly of the Western-European economy that day but we haven’t lost a bit of ambition. Our beloved city has seen many wars but we’re still here. Thanks for this quality piece as usual, thank you very much.
and continues to be one of the most important harbours in Europe
Thanks for sending us all your protestant merchants, greetings from Amsterdam!
The people of antwerp packed their shit and moved north after this, the people who are in antwerp now have nothing to do with this dutch history.
Mao Zedong and afterwards they all moved to London.
@@LeFreud pijnlijk maar waar, wel fijn dat je weet waar je rijke geschiedenis begint.
Well visualised, great explanation and a remarkable video! Beautifull!
Remember boys: Antwerp is the City and the rest is parking space
Fout, stilstaan doe je in de stad, met dank aan geestelijk armlastige politici.
i prefer a parking place than the hellhole that is Antwerp
@@Johan-tq3fk +1
Boere buite
This channel is quickly becoming my favourite historical channel. The animation style is unique and attractive
Same for me!
Keep up the amazing work sand
As a Flemish person, I'm impressed with your pronunciation! Most other people would just use the English names out of laziness.
Ja , zijn uitspraak is vrij onberispelijk , vergeleken met Antwaaaarps
He's European so he might have had some influences ^^
Aahhh op zet antwerpse.
I think he is Dutch or German a cause of his accent speaking English.
@@fraperlop7583 he is definitely not Dutch
This was really good video. Sometimes, videos about siege warfare feel vague and discontinuous, but you did a great job.
Excellent Video! - Thanks!
Love the animations y'all do
Thank you for a most excellent video
Your channel is way too underrated and deserve much more
Thanks so much for this video, it was really amazing, please make a continuous series out of this the whole...Spanish - Dutch wars .....
Most of of them went to Amsterdam. Which city replaced Antwerp until the 19thC as the main port of the Low Countries. The Dutch controlled the mouth of the Scheldte and with the English prevented Habsburg Antwerp recovering its former position as a major trade port.
Another great Episode!
As someone born and raised in Antwerpen, I have to say it's great to hear about our history in such a clear way, and I love the way you pronounce our cities
Parma was a great leader. Shame that Phillip couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to conquer the dutch, the english, the french or the world.
What do you mean?
@taniths 1st and only sgt iron on duty As a spaniard, i can confirm that yes, it was a great mess up by Phillip II
Honestly, if Spain was organized enough and wasn't picking up fights with everything that crawls then perhaps the Netherlands would have stayed Spanish for a longer period of time, like Flanders.
Chickens have been named after Philipi.
@@Linduine the problem are the pirates and corsairs
This was my first video of yours i've watched. Im impressed! You have a new subscriber
this is by far my favourite military channel in CZcams
Quite a story. Thanks for posting.
Excellent video
Top notch!! Keep it coming
Great video, Well done on the pronunciation of the Dutch city names.👍
Voor een Zwitser! Zijn uitspraak klinkt te Duits. Luister naar de uitspraak van Zwijndrecht.
Love Your Channel !
First thing I noticed: astonishingly good pronunciation of Dutch names by a non-Dutchman. Really extremely well done.
40 warships? Wow, most impressive page of history, and most beautiful video as usual, greetings from France!
Great video.
A cool detail to add is that,while this siege was going on, the spanish soldiers hadnt recieved their pay in quite some time,as a result of the bankrupcy situation the Empire was in at the time. When the city fell, Alejandro Farnesio chose those veteran soldiers to accompany him in a triumphant march as a reward for their discipline in such conditions. Once the siege was over,the crown was finally able to pay these soldiers, and as a final gesture of recognition for their bravery, a feast was held on top of the bridge for the soldiers, in which Alejandro and his officers served as the "waiters"
Imagine what fellas like this guy and the historacrat could do if they had the budget that the history channel did
What an epic scenes. And that ending gave me shivers. I hope that at some point you will I do videos on the more provincial wars when the all the sieges have been covered.
An spectacular siege and great narration. I would make a great movie if there is not one already.
What a nice content quality video you made my day sir greetings from Turkey
Geez! Each siege of the 80 years war is basically a mini war.
This video real like a fun epic. I liked it. Great job.
Your name fits the video ;)
@@SandRhomanHistory---I think your right. It does in a way.
awesome work :)
Another great video. As a dutchman (with Dutch/Belgian ancestors) i especially enjoyed it!
I live near Antwerp and I never heard about the siege. Thanks for making this docu
Great! I love this channel. Now we NEED the siege of Leiden.
It's on the list, we have troubles finding quality books in English / German/ French though. We usually translate some dutch stuff with deepl and the help of friends / family but that takes so much time.
@@SandRhomanHistory I see, if you could make it happen tho it would be cool. The relieve of the siege was crazy(no pressure xD)
@Cathalyne Batavian thank you so much, this looks promising! I already ordered it via my library =)
Just wanted to say: You have a really good voice for these videos.
Great content, graphics and even made a nice effort of pronunciation of the Dutch names. May I suggest covering the siege of Malta one day?
I always like your videos from the 16th and 17th centuries. The Spanish wars in Europe were the most interesting moment of its time.
Also the most brutal, horrific, vulgar, inhumane and desastrous for the most prosperous and culturaly advanced region in Nord/West Europe. And when all the fighting was done, when all the blood was shed, when no more buildings but only the people were still standing.... the Spanish brought us the Holy Inquisition, then ... the horror reached another level. We havn't forgotten..............we never will..........
@@alterego3590 Advanced, you say? Prosperous, maybe. If is true, what you say, tell me... Does the renaissance begin in central Europe? tell me if this region had a great worldwide writer like Shakespeare or Cervantes in thats centuries? A great artist or sculptor like the italians and Spanish? I thinked that the Black Legend is superated in Europe and is was only in American continent where continued. But i remmeber that, this fakes news are started in protestand kingdoms of europe. All the things you say of brutality is the same shit of every armys in this period of history, Spanish not was the only one and the hount of witch in Protestand contries was much more bloody that all the inquisition historial, see the numbers and tell me if i have a mistake.
6:47 ... and then winter came and the river froze ...
The Schelde froze in October, early November ? Well that's the Little Ice Age in full effect.
nice work.
Fascinating account; quality content, as customary.
Incredible video
Interesting video. Classic Dutch historiography deals with the siege of Antwerp, but usually with the political and economical consequences, not with the actual nature of the siege. It's good to learn something about that, too.
This is my favorite video of yours
Really great animations.
Excellent research work. Only one comment: the war was not between Dutch and Spanish but between the party of the empire and the that of the rebel princes. There were Dutch on both sides as well as Germans and others nationalities.
Does it really matter?
@@htoodoh5770 Yes
@@acusticamenteconvusional9936 They are all serving the Spanish king.
Although this is true, this was often the case because of the vast usage of mercenaries. Though this piece of history shouldn't be confused with the 30 years war. There are many differences between the causes for the 30years war and the 80years war.
The English word "Dutch" is really a confusing word. On the one hand, the Protestant side in the 80 years war is referred to as "Dutch", things related to the modern nation of Netherlands are designated as Dutch, yet, the language spoken in Flanders and Brabant ("Nederlandse taal") is also called "Dutch". Moreover, "Dutch" is usually associated more specifically with the country/province of Holland; yet, Holland was only a part of the "Dutch Republic": Utrecht, Groningen and Leeuwarden are not, technically, "Holland".
Yes more 80 years war please!
woah easy there satan.
it s great to learn about some history that happened right on my back door. There is a area of my town that is actually named after the Spanish camp that was once there
As a dutchie i really enjoy this video, thanks!
Great stuff, very interesting. Keep the Dutch stuff coming! :P
thank you sir
man your pronunciation is damn good. those Spanish and Dutch words are really great
What is the music playing in the background? It is pretty good. Keep up the good work!
These siege vidoes are so intresting my fav
Giambelli, Paesanu, say it isn't so? Hhaha Great stuff! Best channel ever
What a (Staggering) great history video! I want more!11 I will look at itttt! And so will my friends, who I wage siege warfare against if they refuse!
It was already impressive but now I just had to subscribe
You guys should do the Siege of Leiden! Thats an interesting one
As someone from Antwerpen, loved watching this. Had no idea about the flooding! By the way, when pronouncing it, the emphasis is on the A!
Which A though. (Antwaaarpe...)
Relatively good pronunciation of Dutch and Belgian words! It's a difficult language if you haven't been raised with it
As a Dutchie I must applaud you on you pronounciation of names and cities. Very hard for a foreighner.
Chanced on this today - 437 years after the siege began on this day. [When I was a child, my grandmother gave me a book, "Shut in: a Tale of the Wonderful Siege of Antwerp" - she worked in a field hospital during WWI, in Flanders. Perhaps it was an unseen nudge.]
a good siege which i must admit i hadnt heard about....the only one in this area..i had knowledge of was the operational cinderella, the storming of the island of Walcheren on the river so that the port of antewerp could be free to receive a clear route of supply...this was a great siege that i was enthusiastic to learn about..so thanks [winks] :)
Immer wieder Sonntags 😍
Immer wieder gerne ;)
I really wish I could see this bridge, or at least imagine it. It's right there next to Tenochtitlan, two things i can't even imagine...
Awesome. Try and find an RTS that could simulate this scenario. Water really added an interesting element in the low countries.
4:03 By an Spanish assassin who wasn't very good at his job. He succeeded in his mission, but got caught soon after.
Frederico had to do it to 'em.
The fireships were also referred to as Rock- or Hell-Burners, and made one of the biggest pre-industrial era explosions in history.
Grand content as per usual, but would you be able to add (vague) scales to your maps?
Well, I tried that, the problem is that it the old drawings on which my maps are based on usually are quite distorted, so I couldn't add the scales always. In addition, the troops / ships are very very oversized in some cases. Otherwise viewers would simply not be able to properly see what happens. In this video, for example, the supply ship that passes the Schelde (which is 900 meters wide) would be about 500 meters in width, which of course wasn't the case.
@@SandRhomanHistory Fantastic work your video's!!! Same remark from my side. Adding a map from that time, distorted or not, in-between your well done scenery's, would give at least an impression of scale.
I never even knew about this battle. I'm probably not alone either.