Guelders Wars
Guelders Wars | |||||||
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| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Habsburg Netherlands | Duchy of Guelders | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
House of Habsburg |
Charles, Duke of Guelders | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
The Guelders Wars (
on the other side.The wars lasted from 1502 till 1543 and ended with a Burgundian victory. With this outcome, all of the Low Countries were now under the control of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The conflicts were characterised by the absence of large battles between the armies of both parties. Instead small hit and run actions, raids, and ambushes were common practices. Regardless, the impact on civilians was large with hostilities and incidents occurring throughout the Low Countries.
The wars included the sack of The Hague in 1528 and the failed siege of Antwerp in 1542 under the command of the Guelderian field marshal Maarten van Rossum. The war ended with the total destruction and death of nearly all inhabitants of the town of Düren after which the other Gueldrian towns surrendered to Habsburg rule by the Treaty of Venlo.
The latter portion of the wars intersected with the larger conflict between France and Spain known as the Italian Wars.
Background
The origins of the Guelders Wars is traced back to 1471, when Charles the Bold lent 300,000 gold guilders to Arnold, Duke of Guelders.[1] As a "bail", in order to protect himself in case he would not be repaid, Charles chose the title of the Duchy of Guelders.[1] Arnold did not pay the sum back, and thus, when he died in 1473, Charles the Bold assumed the title to the duchy.[1] Arnold's son Adolf and subsequently grandson Charles, decided to take back the duchy by military means.[1]
1502-1514
Between 1502 and 1515, the Habsburgs tried without success to reconquer the
1514-1517
In this period, the
In the meantime, the
1522-1528
In 1522, the Habsburg force under Georg Schenck van Toutenburg resumed the offensive and pushed the Guelders forces the following year out of Frisia. Furthermore, the Frisians rebels, whose charismatic leader Pier Gerlofs Donia had died from illness in 1520, were also defeated. Their leader Wijerd Jelckama and what was left of the Frisian army were captured in 1523, taken to the city of Leeuwarden and publicly beheaded. Jancko Douwama was also taken prisoner and died in captivity in Vilvoorde.
By December 1524, Frisia was firmly in the hands of the Habsburg. It was renamed into the
Schenck van Toutenburg moved his army into Overijssel and Utrecht and easily chased the Guelders troops, who had already become very unpopular amongst the population. On 21 October 1528 Bishop Henry handed over power to Charles of Habsburg. The Bishopric of Utrecht came to an end and was divided into the Lordship of Utrecht and the Lordship of Overijssel, both ruled by a Habsburg Stadtholder.
A daring raid through Holland, culminating in the sack of The Hague by Maarten van Rossum, Field Marshal of Guelders, didn't prevent Schenk van Toutenburg to attack some cities in Guelders, after which Charles of Guelders agreed to sign the Treaty of Gorinchem on 3 October 1528.
1534-1536
In 1534, the Danish
In May 1536, Meindert van Ham, supported by Denmark and Guelders, invaded Groningen and threatened Holland. As a reaction, Holland gathered a fleet to lift the siege of Copenhagen, and Habsburg sent Schenck van Toutenburg to chase the enemy troops from Groningen.
Schenck van Toutenburg was allowed to occupy the City of Groningen and defeated Meindert van Ham in the Battle of Heiligerlee (1536). Before the Dutch fleet was ready to sail, Copenhagen fell in the hands of Christian III of Denmark, and peace was concluded.
Habsburg became master of Groningen and Drenthe, which was renamed Lordship of Groningen and County of Drenthe. Charles of Guelders was forced to sign the Treaty of Grave.
1538-1543
When
As a reaction, Mary of Hungary sent an army toward Guelders and Jülich, which were conquered in 1543, after two failed earlier attempts. In the Treaty of Venlo, William of Jülich was forced to cede the Duchy of Guelders and the County of Zutphen to Charles V, but was allowed to keep Jülich.
This treaty concluded the formation of the Seventeen Provinces.
Maps
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May 1515
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December 1522
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July 1538
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1542-1543
Citations
References
- ISBN 978-1843837473.
- Ward, James P. (2012). "Security and Insecurity, Spies and Informers in Holland during the Guelders War (1506-1515)". Journal of Medieval Military History. 10.