Siege of Leiden The Siege of Leiden occurred during the Eighty Years ' War and the Anglo – Spanish War in 1573 and 1574 , when the Spanish under Francisco de Valdez attempted to capture the rebellious city of Leiden , South Holland , the Netherlands . In the end the siege failed when the city was successfully relieved in October 1574 . Background . In the war ( eventually called the Eighty Years ' War ) that had broken out , Dutch rebels took up arms against the king of Spain , whose family had inherited the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands . Most of the counties of Holland and Zeeland were occupied by rebels in 1572 , who sought to end the harsh rule of the Spanish Duke of Alba , governor - general of the Netherlands . This territory had a very high density of cities , which were protected by huge defenseworks and by the boglands , which could easily be put under water . The Duke of Alba tried to break resistance using brute force . He used Amsterdam as a base , as this was the only city in the county of Holland that had remained loyal to the Spanish government . Alba ' s cruel treatment of the population of Naarden and Haarlem was notorious . The rebels learned that no mercy was shown there and were determined to hold out as long as possible . The county of Holland was split in two when Haarlem was conquered by the Spaniards after a costly seven - month siege . Thereafter , Alba attempted to conquer Alkmaar in the north , but the city withstood the Spanish attack . Alba then sent his officer Francisco de Valdez to attack the southern rebel territory , starting with Leiden . In the meantime , Alba had realised he failed to quell the rebellion as quickly as he had intended , and requested his resignation , which king Philip accepted in December . The less harsh Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens replaced him as governor - general . First siege of Leiden . The city of Leiden had plenty of food stored for the siege when it started in October 1573 . The siege was very difficult for the Spanish , because the soil was too loose to dig holes , and the city defense works were hard to break . Defending the Leiden was a Dutch States rebel army which consisted of English , Scottish and Huguenot French troops . The leader of the Dutch rebels , William the Silent , Prince of Orange , tried to relieve Leiden by sending an army into the Netherlands . Valdez halted the siege in April 1574 to face the invading rebel troops , but Sancho d ' Avila reached them first and defeated the army of Orange in the Battle of Mookerheyde . Second siege , and relief , of Leiden . Valdez ' army returned to continue the siege on May 26 , 1574 . The city considered surrendering , because there was nearly no chance of relief and supplies were dwindling . The rebel army was defeated and the rebel territory was very small compared to the huge Spanish empire . The Prince of Orange , however , was determined to relieve the city . Therefore he sent a carrier pigeon into the city pleading for it to hold out for three months . To fulfill this promise , he wished to break the dikes , allow the sea to flood the low lying land ( in the same fashion Alkmaar was saved ) , so that the siege could be lifted using the rebel fleet . But the damage to the surrounding countryside would be enormous , and therefore the population of this area resisted the cutting of the dikes . However , in the end , the Prince prevailed and the dikes were cut on August 3 . Previously , two hundred small ships and a large store of provisions had been collected in preparation to lift the siege . Unfortunately , soon after the dikes were broken , the Prince of Orange , the heart , soul and energy of the rebel cause , came down with a violent fever and the relief of the besieged city came to a grinding halt . More important , the flooding of the outskirts took longer than expected because the wind was not favourable . During this time , on August 21 , the inhabitants of Leiden sent a message to the Prince saying that they had held out for three months , two with food and one without food . The Prince then sent a response saying that the dikes were all pierced and relief would come soon . However , only by the first day of September , when the Prince had recovered from his ailment , that the expedition continued in earnest . Over 15 miles lay between the rebel relieving fleet and Leiden , but ten miles were covered without difficulty . On September 10 , the fleet came upon the Land - scheiding , which blocked their path to Leiden and captured it in a night surprise attack which was successful . The next morning , the Spaniards counterattacked to try to regain the important position but were repulsed with the loss of several hundred men . The dike was cut through , and the fleet proceeded to Leiden . But again , another barrier blocked the way . This time , the dike of Greenway halted the water , but this was seized and cut . But as the water spread over the countryside , it also grew shallower to such an extremity that the only way the fleet could proceed was by a canal leading to a large inland lake called " Zoetermeer " ( Fresh Water Lake ) . This canal , however was thoroughly guarded by 3 , 000 Spaniards and the rebels failed to take the canal . Soon , the water was so shallow that most of the Dutch ships ran aground . Meanwhile , in the city , the inhabitants clamoured for surrender when they saw that their countrymen had run aground . But Mayor van der Werff inspired his citizens to hold on by offering his arm as food . Thousands of inhabitants died of starvation . They held on because they knew that the Spanish would kill them all to set an example , as had happened in Naarden . Only on October 1 did the wind , which previously blew from the east pushing the water out of the countryside , shift to the west which blew the sea water into the countryside . Then the rebel fleet was afloat again and they advanced . Now only two forts blocked the way of the relieving force : the forts of Zoeterwoude and Lammen , both of which were strongly garrisoned . The garrison of Zoeterwoude , however , when they saw the Dutch fleet , fled their fort which was occupied by the Dutch . The last for Lammen still blocked the way to the rebels , but on the night of October 2 / 3 , the Spanish retreated from their fort and lifted the siege . Ironically , the same night , part of the wall of Leiden , eroded by the sea water , fell , leaving the city completely vulnerable . The next day , the relieving rebels arrived at the city , feeding the citizens with herring and white bread . The people also feasted on ' Hutspot ' ( carrot and onion stew ) in the evening . According to legend , a little orphan boy named Cornelis Joppenszoon found a cooking pot full with ' Hutspot ' that the Spaniards had had to leave behind when they left their camp , the Lammenschans , in a hurry to escape from the rising waters . Aftermath . In 1575 , the Spanish treasury ran dry , so that the Spanish army could not be paid anymore and it mutinied . After the pillaging of Antwerp , the whole of the Netherlands rebelled against Spain . Leiden was once again safe . The Leiden University was founded by William of Orange in recognition of the city ' s sacrifice in the siege . The 3 October Festival is celebrated every year in Leiden . It is a huge festival , with an enormous funfair and a dozen open air discos in the night . The municipality gives free herring and white bread to the citizens of Leiden .