During the Cologne War (1583–1589), Vest Recklinghausen was occupied and sacked several times by troops from both sides of the conflict. In 1583, although much of the territory was already Protestant, the Calvinist Elector of Cologne, Gebhard, Truchsess von Waldburg and his wife, Agnes, ordered the destruction of the icons and decorative elements of the churches. In 1584, the territory was sacked again, this time by the competing archbishop, Ernst of Bavaria. In 1586, the territory was invaded by Martin Schenck and Hermann Cloedt, who caused great damage to the farms and small villages, and were besieged by Claude de Berlaymont, also known as Haultpenne, in the city of Werl.