Sack of Antwerp

51°12′48″N 4°24′10″E / 51.21333°N 4.40278°E / 51.21333; 4.40278

Sack of Antwerp
Part of the Eighty Years' War

Anonymous contemporary depiction of the "Spanish Fury" in Antwerp (Museum Aan de Stroom)
Date4 November 1576
Location
Result Dutch rebels unite against Spanish crown
Decline of Antwerp as commercial hub
Belligerents
Spain Mutinying Spanish Tercios (Army of Flanders) People of Antwerp
German and Walloon troops
Commanders and leaders
Spain Sancho d'Avila
Spain Julian Romero
Spain Juan del Águila
Count Eberstein  
Governor Compagny
Marquis d’Havré
Strength
6,000 20,000 (civilians included)
Casualties and losses
Unknown 7,000–18,000[1][2]

The sack of Antwerp, often known as the Spanish Fury at Antwerp, was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. It is the greatest massacre in the history of the Low Countries.[citation needed]

On 4 November 1576, mutinying Spanish tercios of the Army of Flanders began the sack of Antwerp, leading to three days of horror among the population of the city, which was the cultural, economic and financial center of the Low Countries. The savagery of the sack led the provinces of the Low Countries to unite against the Spanish crown. The devastation also caused Antwerp's decline as the leading city in the region and paved the way for Amsterdam's rise.

  1. ^ Nolan, Cathal (2006). The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000–1650: Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization, Volume 2. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 799.
  2. ^ Ireland: 1641: Contexts and Reactions. Oxford University Press. 2013. p. 179.