The wars lasted from 1502 till 1543 and ended with a Burgundian victory. With this outcome, all of the Low Countries were now under the control of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The conflicts were characterised by the absence of large battles between the armies of both parties. Instead small hit and run actions, raids, and ambushes were common practices. Regardless, the impact on civilians was large with hostilities and incidents occurring throughout the Low Countries.
The wars included the sack of The Hague in 1528 and the failed siege of Antwerp in 1542 under the command of the Guelderian field marshal Maarten van Rossum. The war ended with the total destruction and death of nearly all inhabitants of the town of Düren after which the other Gueldrian towns surrendered to Habsburg rule by the Treaty of Venlo.
The latter portion of the wars intersected with the larger conflict between France and Spain known as the Italian Wars.
Background
The origins of the Guelders Wars is traced back to 1471, when Charles the Bold lent 300,000 gold guilders to Arnold, Duke of Guelders.[1] As a "bail", in order to protect himself in case he would not be repaid, Charles chose the title of the Duchy of Guelders.[1] Arnold did not pay the sum back, and thus, when he died in 1473, Charles the Bold assumed the title to the duchy.[1] Arnold's son Adolf and subsequently grandson Charles, decided to take back the duchy by military means.[1]
1502–1514
Between 1502 and 1515, the Habsburgs tried without success to reconquer the Duchy of Guelders, which had belonged to the House of Burgundy between 1473 and 1492.[2] On the other hand, Charles, Duke of Guelders, tried to conquer Overijssel which belonged to the Bishopric of Utrecht, also without success.
In the meantime, the Frisian rebels, led by the legendary Pier Gerlofs Donia and Wijerd Jelckama, won many battles at sea and raided through Holland at the head of the Arumer Zwarte Hoop. Because Charles of Habsburg needed to consolidate the Spanish throne and manoeuver to become Holy Roman Emperor in Germany, he concluded peace with Edzard I, recognizing him as Count of East-Frisia and with Charles, Duke of Guelders, leaving him in control of most of Frisia, the Ommelanden, and Groningen. Charles of Guelders consequently conquered Overijssel in 1521–1522, with the support of Zwolle.
1522–1528
In 1522, the Habsburg force under Georg Schenck van Toutenburg resumed the offensive and pushed the Guelders forces the following year out of Frisia. Furthermore, the Frisians rebels, whose charismatic leader Pier Gerlofs Donia had died from illness in 1520, were also defeated. Their leader Wijerd Jelckama and what was left of the Frisian army were captured in 1523, taken to the city of Leeuwarden and publicly beheaded. Jancko Douwama was also taken prisoner and died in captivity in Vilvoorde. By December 1524, Frisia was firmly in the hands of the Habsburg. It was renamed into the Lordship of Frisia and ruled by a Stadtholder.
Henry of the Palatinate, the new Prince-Bishop of Utrecht, was in conflict with his own Utrecht citizens, who invited troops from Guelders to occupy the city. Henry had no choice but to ask Charles of Habsburg for help. The States of Overijssel also asked Charles to liberate their lands from Guelders. Charles of Habsburg demanded a price, namely that they recognized him as Lord, to which they agreed.
Schenck van Toutenburg moved his army into Overijssel and Utrecht and easily chased the Guelders troops, who had already become very unpopular amongst the population. On 21 October 1528 Bishop Henry handed over power to Charles of Habsburg. The Bishopric of Utrecht came to an end and was divided into the Lordship of Utrecht and the Lordship of Overijssel, both ruled by a Habsburg Stadtholder.
A daring raid through Holland, culminating in the sack of The Hague by Maarten van Rossum, Field Marshal of Guelders, didn't prevent Schenk van Toutenburg to attack some cities in Guelders, after which Charles of Guelders agreed to sign the Treaty of Gorinchem on 3 October 1528.
In May 1536, Meindert van Ham, supported by Denmark and Guelders, invaded Groningen and threatened Holland. As a reaction, Holland gathered a fleet to lift the siege of Copenhagen, and Habsburg sent Schenck van Toutenburg to chase the enemy troops from Groningen.
Schenck van Toutenburg was allowed to occupy the City of Groningen and defeated Meindert van Ham in the Battle of Heiligerlee (1536). Before the Dutch fleet was ready to sail, Copenhagen fell in the hands of Christian III of Denmark, and peace was concluded. Habsburg became master of Groningen and Drenthe, which was renamed Lordship of Groningen and County of Drenthe. Charles of Guelders was forced to sign the Treaty of Grave.
1538–1543
When Charles of Guelders died without an heir on 30 June 1538, he had done everything he could to find another successor than Emperor Charles V. He had appointed William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, related through his great-grandfather Reinald IV, Duke of Guelders and Jülich (1365–1423), as his successor. William allied himself with the King of France and married Jeanne d'Albret. When the Low Countries were at war with France, he sent in 1542 Maarten van Rossum on a raid through Brabant, plundering the countryside and besieging Antwerp and Leuven. These attacks were countered by Mary of Hungary (governor of the Netherlands) and Louis of Praet. As a reaction, Mary of Hungary sent an army toward Guelders and Jülich, which were conquered in 1543, after two failed earlier attempts. In the Treaty of Venlo, William of Jülich was forced to cede the Duchy of Guelders and the County of Zutphen to Charles V, but was allowed to keep Jülich.
Friesland, historically and traditionally known as Frisia, named after the Frisians, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of Flevoland, northeast of North Holland, and south of the Wadden Sea. As of January 2023, the province had a population of about 660,000, and a total area of 5,753 km2 (2,221 sq mi).
The Duchy of Guelders is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries.
The Seventeen Provinces were the Imperial states of the Habsburg Netherlands in the 16th century. They roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e., what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the French departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais (Artois). Also within this area were semi-independent fiefdoms, mainly ecclesiastical ones, such as Liège, Cambrai and Stavelot-Malmedy.
Charles II was a member of the House of Egmond who ruled as Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen from 1492 until his death. He had a principal role in the Frisian peasant rebellion and the Guelders Wars.
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 was an edict, promulgated by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, reorganising the Seventeen Provinces of the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg into one indivisible territory, while retaining existing customs, laws, and forms of government within the provinces.
The Burgundian Circle was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire created in 1512 and significantly enlarged in 1548. In addition to the Free County of Burgundy, the Burgundian Circle roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e., the areas now known as the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and adjacent parts in the French administrative region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais. For most of its history, its lands were coterminous with the holdings of the Spanish Habsburgs in the Empire.
The Treaty of Venlo of 7 September 1543 concluded the Guelders Wars (1502–1543), and the definitive acquisition of the Duchy of Guelders and the adjoining County of Zutphen by the House of Habsburg, adding them to the Habsburg Netherlands. William V, Duke of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg had to relinquish his claims to Guelders and Zutphen in favour of the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, Charles V of Habsburg.
Jancko Douwama was a Frisian nobleman who fought to free Friesland from foreign rule during the Vetkopers and Schieringers conflict, the Saxon feud and the Guelders Wars.
Wijerd Jelckama was a Frisian military commander, warlord and member of the Arumer Zwarte Hoop. He was the lieutenant of Pier Gerlofs Donia and fought along his side against the Saxon and Hollandic invaders. Jelckama took Donia's place as freedom fighter after Donia retired in 1519.
The Vetkopers and Schieringers were two opposing Frisian factional parties from the medieval period. They were responsible for a civil war that lasted for over a century (1350–1498) and which eventually led to the end of the so-called "Frisian freedom".
Georg Schenck van Toutenburg was Stadhouder of Friesland (1521-1540). Later he was also Stadholder of Overijssel, Drenthe and Groningen. His son Frederick was the first archbishop of Utrecht.
The Arumer Zwarte Hoop, meaning "Black Army of Arum" was an army of peasant rebels and mercenaries in Friesland fighting against the Habsburg authorities from 1515 to 1523. For four years they were successful under the former farmer Pier Gerlofs Donia. Led by his Lieutenant Wijerd Jelckama from 1519 they slowly lost ground and were captured and executed in 1523.
The County of East Frisia was a county in the region of East Frisia in the northwest of the present-day German state of Lower Saxony.
The Saxon feud was a military conflict in the years 1514–1517 between the East Frisian Count Edzard I, 'West Frisian' rebels, the city of Groningen, and Charles II, Duke of Guelders on the one hand and the Imperial Frisian hereditary governor George, Duke of Saxony – replaced by Charles V of Habsburg in 1515 – and 24 German princes. The war took place predominantly on East Frisian soil and destroyed large parts of the region.
The Lordship of Frisia or Lordship of Friesland was a feudal dominion in the Netherlands. It was formed in 1498 by King Maximilian I and reformed in 1524 when Emperor Charles V conquered Frisia.
Meindert van Ham was an army commander from Hamm in Westphalia.
The Battle of Heiligerlee was a battle during the Guelders Wars, in which the Danish allies of Charles of Guelders, under command of Meindert van Ham, were defeated by Habsburg forces under Georg Schenck van Toutenburg.
The Lordship of Overijssel or Overissel is a former division of the Netherlands named for its position along the river IJssel. It corresponds to the modern day province of Overijssel.
The Lordship of Utrecht was formed in 1528 when Charles V of Habsburg conquered the Bishopric of Utrecht, during the Guelders Wars.
Ward, James P. (2012). "Security and Insecurity, Spies and Informers in Holland during the Guelders War (1506-1515)". Journal of Medieval Military History. 10.
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