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Siege of Grave (1586)

1586 siege during the Eighty Years' War

Siege of Grave (1586)
Part of the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)
The Siege of Grave in 1586 by Don Alejandro Farnesio – engraving by Michelangelo Cerquozzi
Date Early April – 7 June 1586 Location Grave, North Brabant, Low Countries (present-day the Netherlands) 51°45′33.120″N 5°44′17.880″E / 51.75920000°N 5.73830000°E / 51.75920000; 5.73830000 Result Spanish victory[1][2]
Belligerents
United Provinces  England	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Robert Dudley Philip of Hohenlohe Maarten Schenck	Alexander Farnese Peter of Mansfeld Juan del Águila
class=notpageimage| Location within Netherlands Show map of Netherlands Siege of Grave (1586) (North Sea) Show map of North Sea

The siege of Grave, also known as the capture of Grave of 1586, took place from mid-February to 7 June 1586 at Grave, Duchy of Brabant, Low Countries (present-day the Netherlands), between the Spanish army led by Governor-General Don Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, and the Dutch-States and English forces under Baron Peter van Hemart, Governor of Grave, during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).^[1][2]

In February of 1586, the Count Peter Ernst of Mansfeld, by order of Alexander Farnese, laid siege to the town of Grave.^[3][4] After three months, and faced with the failure of the English and Dutch forces to relieve the city, Grave surrendered to the Spaniards on 7 June.^[1][2] The capture of the strategically important town of Grave by Parma, and the impotence of the English commander Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to relieve the town, in a time where England had raised hopes to the Dutch rebels thanks to the Treaty of Nonsuch, was a complete military and political success for the Spanish authorities, and a severe blow for the Protestant cause, provoking the start of the disagreements of the States-General of the Netherlands with the Earl of Leicester.^[1][2][5]

A few days later, the Spanish army, commanded by the Prince of Parma, laid siege to Venlo, garrisoned and supported by Dutch and English troops led by Maarten Schenck and Sir Roger Williams.^[6] On 28 June 1586 the garrison was forced to capitulate to the Spaniards.^[6][7]

• Battle of Empel
• Battle of Boksum
• Siege of Venlo (1586)
• Destruction of Neuss
• Treaty of Nonsuch

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• Black, Jeremy. European Warfare 1494-1660. Routledge Publishing 2002. ISBN 978-0-415-27531-6
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• Marek y Villarino de Brugge, André (2020e). Alessandro Farnese: Prince of Parma: Governor-General of the Netherlands (1545-1592): v. V. Los Angeles: MJV Enterprises, ltd., inc. ISBN 979-8689560397.
• Giménez Martín, Juan. Tercios de Flandes. Ediciones Falcata Ibérica. First edition 1999, Madrid. ISBN 84-930446-0-1 (in Spanish)
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• Tercios de Flandes by Juan Giménez Martín (in Spanish)