Siege of Rheinberg (1586–1590)

1590 siege

Siege of Rheinberg (1586–1590)

Part of the Eighty Years' War and the Cologne War

The Siege of Rheinberg of 1590 by Peter Ernst von Mansfeld.
| Date| 13 August 1586 – 3 February 1590

|

Location|

Rheinberg (present-day Germany)

Result|  Spanish victory[1][2]
Belligerents
United Provinces
England
Electorate of Cologne
(Gebhard Truchsess)|  Spain
Commanders and leaders
Maarten Schenck
Francis Vere
(From 1590)|  Duke of Parma
Count of Mansfeld

* v
* t
* e

Eighty Years' War

Origins – List of battles

* * *

1566–1572

Western Europe

* Beeldenstorm
* Valenciennes
* Wattrelos
* Lannoy
* Oosterweel
* Dahlen
* Heiligerlee
* Jemmingen
* Jodoigne
* Le Quesnoy

* * *

1572–1576

Western Europe

* Brielle
* Mons
* 1st Mechelen
* Goes
* Naarden
* Middelburg
* Haarlem
* IJsselmeer
* Alkmaar
* 1st Geertruidenberg
* Leiden
* Delft
* Valkenburg
* Mookerheyde
* Oudewater
* Schoonhoven
* Zierikzee

European waters

* Flushing
* Borsele
* Haarlemmermeer
* Zuiderzee
* Reimerswaal
* Lillo

* * *

1576–1579

Western Europe

* 1st Antwerp
* Gembloux
* Rijmenam
* 1st Deventer
* Borgerhout

* * *

1579–1588

Western Europe

* 1st Maastricht
* 2nd Mechelen
* Diest
* 1st Steenwijk
* Kollum
* 1st Breda
* Noordhorn
* Niezijl
* Lochem
* 1st Lier
* 2nd Antwerp
* Eindhoven
* Steenbergen
* Ghent
* Aalst
* 3rd Antwerp
* Arnhem
* Empel
* Boksum
* 1st Grave
* 1st Venlo
* Axel
* Neuss
* 1st Rheinberg
* 1st Zutphen
* 1st Sluis

European waters

* Ponta Delgada

* * *

Ten Years, 1588–1598

Western Europe

* 1st Bergen op Zoom
* 2nd Geertruidenberg
* 2nd Breda
* 2nd Zutphen
* 2nd Deventer
* Delfzijl
* Knodsenburg
* 1st Hulst
* Nijmegen
* Rouen
* Caudebec
* 2nd Steenwijk
* 1st Coevorden
* 1st Luxemburg
* 3rd Geertruidenberg
* 2nd Coevorden
* Groningen
* 2nd Luxemburg
* Huy
* 1st Groenlo
* Lippe
* 2nd Lier
* Calais
* 2nd Hulst
* Turnhout
* 2nd Rheinberg
* 1st Meurs
* 2nd Groenlo
* Bredevoort
* Enschede
* Ootmarsum
* 1st Oldenzaal
* 1st Lingen

European waters

* 1st English Channel · Flanders
* Bayona Islands
* Gulf of Almería
* 1st Cádiz
* Azores

* * *

1599–1609

Western Europe

* 1st Schenckenschans
* Zaltbommel
* Rees
* San Andreas
* Lekkerbeetje
* Nieuwpoort
* 3rd Rheinberg
* Ostend
* 1st 's-Hertogenbosch
* 2nd Grave
* Hoogstraaten
* 3rd Sluis
* 2nd Lingen
* 3rd Groenlo

European waters

* Dover Strait
* 2nd Sluis
* 1st Cape St. Vincent
* 1st Gibraltar

* * *

Twelve Years' Truce, 1609–1621

Western Europe

* Aachen

East Indies

* Playa Honda

* * *

1621–1648

Western Europe

* Jülich
* 2nd Bergen op Zoom
* Fleurus
* 3rd Breda
* 2nd Oldenzaal
* 4th Groenlo
* 2nd 's-Hertogenbosch
* Meuse (2nd Maastricht)
* Leuven
* 2nd Schenkenschans
* 3rd Schenkenschans
* 4th Breda
* 2nd Venlo
* Roermond
* Kallo
* 3rd Hulst
* 4th Hulst

European waters

* 2nd Gibraltar
* 2nd Cádiz
* Slaak
* Lizard Point
* Dunkirk
* 2nd English Channel
* The Downs
* 2nd Cape St. Vincent

Americas

* 1st Salvador
* Puerto Rico
* Bay of Matanzas
* Abrolhos
* Trujillo · Campeche
* 1st Saint Martin
* 2nd Salvador
* Itamaracá
* Southern Chile
* 2nd Saint Martin

East Indies

* Mormugão
* Galle
* Malacca
* 1st San Salvador
* 2nd San Salvador
* Manila
* Cavite

* * *

Peace – Aftermath – Historiography

* v
* t
* e

Cologne War

* Oberstift
* Godesberg
* 1st Bonn
* 1st Rheinberg
* Gelsenkirchen
* Cologne Riot
* 1st Neuss
* Werl
* Poppersdorf
* 2nd Neuss
* 2nd Bonn
* Nijmegen
* 2nd Rheinberg

* v
* t
* e

Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

Caribbean and South America

* San Juan de Ulúa
* Drake's 1572-73 expedition
* Drake's circumnavigation
* São Vicente
* Santo Domingo
* Cartagena
* St. Augustine
* Cavendish's circumnavigation
* Spanish West Indies
* Havana
* Hispaniola · Bay of Honduras
* 1st Puerto Caballos
* San Mateo
* Recife
* Trinidad · Orinoco
* La Guaira · Caracas · Coro
* Guadalupe
* 1st San Juan
* Panama
* Pinos
* 2nd San Juan
* Tabasco
* Portobello
* 2nd Puerto Caballos
* Santiago de Cuba

Atlantic

* Vila Franca do Campo
* Terceira
* Newfoundland
* Bermuda
* Santiago
* 1st Azores
* 1st Flores
* 2nd Flores
* Faial
* Las Palmas
* 2nd Azores

European waters

* Scheldt
* Pantelleria
* 1st Cádiz ·Algarve
* Spanish Armada (1st Calais · Gravelines)
* English Armada (Corunna · Lisbon)
* Bayona
* 1st Gibraltar Strait
* 2nd Gibraltar Strait
* Berlengas
* Gulf of Almería
* Barbary Coast
* Bay of Biscay
* Mount's Bay
* Cawsand
* 2nd Cádiz
* Cape Finisterre
* Cornwall · West Wales
* Sesimbra
* Dover Strait
* Gulf of Cádiz

Low Countries and Germany

* Mons
* Goes
* Middelburg
* Haarlem
* 1st Geertruidenberg
* Leiden
* Delft
* Valkenburg
* Schoonhoven
* Gembloux
* Rijmenam
* Borgerhout
* Mechelen
* 1st Steenwijk
* Kollum
* Noordhorn
* Niezijl
* Lochem
* Lier
* Eindhoven
* Steenbergen
* Aalst
* Antwerp
* Arnhem
* 1st Grave
* Venlo
* Axel
* 1st Rheinberg
* 1st Zutphen
* 1st Sluis
* Bergen op Zoom
* 2nd Geertruidenberg
* Breda
* 2nd Zutphen
* Deventer
* Delfzijl
* Knodsenburg
* 1st Hulst
* Nijmegen
* 2nd Steenwijk
* 1st Coevorden
* 3rd Geertruidenberg
* 2nd Coevorden
* Groningen
* Huy
* 1st Groenlo
* Lippe
* 2nd Hulst
* Turnhout
* 2nd Rheinberg
* Meurs
* 2nd Groenlo
* Bredevoort
* Enschede
* Ootmarsum
* Oldenzaal
* Lingen
* Schenckenschans
* Zaltbommel
* Rees
* San Andreas
* Nieuwpoort
* 3rd Rheinberg · 2nd Meurs
* Ostend
* 's-Hertogenbosch
* 2nd Grave
* Hoogstraten
* Ardenburg · Oostberg · 2nd Sluis

France

* Arques
* Ivry
* Paris
* Château-Laudran
* Rouen
* Caudebec
* Craon
* Blaye
* Morlaix
* Crozon
* 2nd Calais
* Amiens

Ireland

* Carrigafoyle
* Smerwick
* Irish West Coast
* Kinsale
* Castlehaven

The siege of Rheinberg 1586–1590, also known as the capture of Rheinberg of 1590, took place at the strategic Cologne enclave of Rheinberg (present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany), one of the principal crossing-points over the Rhine on the stretch between the Electorate of Cologne and the Dutch border,[3] between 13 August 1586 and 3 February 1590, during the Eighty Years' War, the Cologne War, and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).[1][2] After an initial siege in 1586, and a long blocking by the Spanish forces until September 1589, Don Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (Spanish: Alejandro Farnesio), commander-in-chief of the Spanish army, sent a substantial force, under Peter Ernst, Count of Mansfeld, to besiege Rheinberg.[2][4] Despite the efforts by Maarten Schenck van Nydeggen (until his death at the Assault on Nijmegen on 10 August 1589),[5] and Sir Francis Vere (from 1590), to relieve the fortress city, the Protestant garrison finally surrendered to the Spaniards on 3 February 1590.[5][6][7]

On 19 August 1597 the Dutch army led by Maurice of Nassau captured Rheinberg for the States in his successful campaign of 1597,[8] but the following year the Spanish Army of Flanders led by Don Francisco de Mendoza retook the strategic place, forcing the garrison to surrender.[9]

## See also

[edit]

* Cologne War
* Army of Flanders
* Destruction of Neuss
* Assault on Nijmegen (1589)
* List of Archbishop-Electors of Cologne

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b Wilson p.210
2. ^ a b c Israel p.29
3. ^ He (Duke of Parma) then moved north to capture Rheinberg in February 1590, a Cologne enclave that provided access across the Rhine and facilitated the subsequent campaigns to outflank the Dutch Republic from the east. Wilson p.210
4. ^ Hennes pp.177–179
5. ^ a b Brodek pp.400–401
6. ^ It was the occupation of Rheinberg by Spanish troops in that month which marked the inauguration of the fixed network of Spanish garrisons in north-west Germany. Israel p.29
7. ^ Luc Duerloo p.46
8. ^ Israel pp.29–30
9. ^ Juan Valera p.521

## References

[edit]

* Hennes, Johann Heinrich. Der Kampf um das Erzstift Köln zur Zeit der Kurfürsten. Köln: DuMont-Schauberg. 1878. (in German)
* Benians, Ernest Alfred, et al. The Cambridge Modern History. New York: MacMillan. 1905.
* Hamish Wilson, Peter. The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy. First published 2009 by Penguin Group. ISBN 978-0-674-03634-5
* Brodek, Theodor V. Socio-Political Realities of the Holy Roman Empire. Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 1971.
* Luc Duerloo. Dynasty and Piety: Archduke Albert (1598–1621) and Habsburg Political Culture in an Age of Religious Wars. MPG Books Group. UK.
* Parker, Geoffrey. The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road, 1567–1659. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2004. ISBN 978-0521543927
* Juan Valera. Homenaje a Menéndez Pelayo. Estudios de Erudición Española. Madrid, 1899. (in Spanish)
* Jonathan I. Israel. Conflicts of Empires: Spain, the Low Countries and the Struggle for World Supremacy 1585–1713. London. 1997. ISBN 1-85285-161-9

## External links

[edit]

* Conflicts of Empires: Spain, the Low Countries and the Struggle for World Supremacy 1585–1713

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