page_title: Eighty Years' War (1566–1609)
section_title: Rebellion (1572–1576)
hierarchical_section_title: Eighty Years' War (1566–1609) / Rebellion (1572–1576)
caption_attribution_description: English: A rare and beautiful 1606 map of Holland ( Netherlands ) by Gerard Mercator. Amsterdam appears at the center and the map extends south as far as Harderwyck and west as far as Rhenen and Rotterdam. The Zuyder Zee, now a damned inland waterway, occupied the lower center of the map and a sea monster lying in wait for unwary ships – one of which sails in at the top right of the map. Elaborate title cartouche top center.
context_page_description: In Dutch and English historiography the Dutch struggle for independence from the Spanish Crown in the 16th and 17th century was long known as the Eighty Years' War. More recently, the initial part of this period has become known as the Dutch Revolt. This concept covers the period between the initial insurrection of Netherlandish Calvinists against the regime of the Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, Margaret of Parma, in 1566, and the conclusion of the so-called Twelve Years' Truce in 1609 between the Spanish Crown and the Dutch Republic. The historiography of this period covers both political and diplomatic developments, and events in military history. But the period of the Truce, and the military events that followed after the Truce had ended and the war was resumed, until the conclusion of the Peace of Münster in 1648, still form one continuous whole with the Dutch Revolt, and this continuous narrative, spanning the period 1566–1648, is still known as the Eighty Years' War.
context_section_description: With the potential threat of invasions from France, Alba concentrated his force in the Southern Netherlands, in some cases removing troops from garrisons in the North.
  This left the port of Brill almost undefended. Sea Beggars expelled from England captured the city on 1 April 1572. An attempt by Count Boussu, the royalist stadtholder of Holland, to recapture the city failed. The news of the capture of Brill led the cities of Flushing and Veere to go over to the rebels on 3 May. Orange quickly responded to this new development, by sending a number of emissaries to Holland and Zeeland with commissions to take over local government on his behalf, in his old capacity of stadtholder, which he now re-assumed. Diederik Sonoy persuaded the cities of Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Medemblik, Edam, Haarlem, and Alkmaar to defect to Orange. The cities of Oudewater, Gouda, Gorinchem, and Dordrecht yielded to Lumey. Leiden declared itself for Orange in a spontaneous revolt. The States of Holland, with a rebel majority,  convened in the rebel city of Dordrecht, and by 18 July, only the important cities of Amsterdam and Schoonhoven openly remained loyalist. Rotterdam went to the rebels soon after the first meetings in Dordrecht. Delft remained neutral for the time being. Count Willem IV van den Bergh, Orange's brother-in-law, captured the city of Zutphen, followed by other cities in Gelderland and neighbouring Overijssel. In Friesland rebels had seized several cities. The royalist stadtholder, Caspar de Robles sacked Dokkum in reprisal, killing many citizens Louis of Nassau captured Mons by surprise on 24 May. Orange marched to Mons to support him, but was forced to withdraw through Mechelen, where he left a garrison. Alba had troops sack Mechelen, after which many cities hastened to pledge renewed loyalty to Alba.
  To understand the nature of Alba's subsequent campaign to reconquer the Rebel northern provinces a short digression on the military terrain in Holland is in order. It is well-known that Holland is one of the few inhabited areas in the world that are "below sea level." This does not mean that Holland would fill up like a bath tub if the sea gained entry. As a matter of fact, the sea is only a serious threat during severe hurricanes when the tides reach extraordinary heights. In normal times, the real danger comes from above: the low-lying areas have difficulty draining precipitation. In the 16th century, when the technology to efficiently drain those areas was still lacking, Holland was therefore covered with extensive shallow lakes, while the slightly-higher land in between consisted of waterlogged bogs. Difficult terrain for an army to maneuver in, in other words. In practice, a marching army had to use the elevated dike roads along water courses to get around in this country, and these narrow venues were easy to choke off by a determined enemy. Both the royalist and the rebel army therefore made extensive use of 
  sconces, often apparently in the middle of nowhere, to deny their opponents freedom of movement.
  On the other hand, though an obstacle to a land army, a watercourse may be a transport route  for one equipped with (shallow-draft) vessels. Both sides therefore tried to use water craft to circumvent each other, often while at the same time blocking the other side with new water impediments. It is important to understand, that in this war at least the rebel side did not passively accept the terrain, but actively tried to change it dynamically by inundating large areas. This was possible, because of the fact that the area has lots of subdivisions of varying depth (so-called polders), surrounded by dikes that enabled the inhabitants to manage the water table. Breaching a dike would allow water from higher areas to fill up adjoining lower areas, in theory. In practice much depended on the time of year, as water was lacking in Summer, and also the direction of the prevailing wind often frustrated attempts to speedily inundate areas.
  Finally it is important to remember that even in the 16th century Holland was already highly urbanized
caption: A map of Holland in 1606 by Gerardus Mercator. Note the many lakes, especially in the northern region of the province.[Note 4]
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