This is a list of wars that occurred in the Low Countries until 1560.
| Start | Finish | Name of conflict | Belligerents | Outcome | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | ||||
| 58 BCE | 50 BCE | Gallic Wars | Roman Republic | Gallic tribes Germanic tribes Celtic Britons Iberian tribes | Decisive Roman victory
|
| 54 BCE | 53 BCE | Ambiorix's revolt (part of the Gallic Wars) | Roman Republic | Eburones | Roman victory
|
| 12 BCE | 16 CE | Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16) (including the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest) | Roman Empire | Germanic tribes | Strategic Germanic victory
|
| 28 | 28 | Battle of Baduhenna Wood | Roman Empire | Frisii | Indecisive; tactical Frisian victory
|
| 47 | 47 | Gannascus' revolt | Roman Empire | Cananefates Chauci Frisii | Roman victory
|
| 69 | 70 | Revolt of the Batavi | Roman Empire | Batavi Cananefates Frisii Lingones Treveri | Roman victory
|
| 286 | 296 | Carausian Revolt | Roman Empire |  Carausius Franks | Roman victory
|
| c.445 | c.450 | Frankish conquest of Turnacum and Cameracum [2] | Roman Empire | Salian Franks | Frankish victory |
| 448 | 448 | Battle of Vicus Helena | Roman Empire | Salian Franks | Roman victory |
| c.450 | c.450 | Battle of Finnsburg? | Frisii | Danes | Danish victory |
| c.525 | c.525 | Battle on the Rhine ? | Frankish Empire Frisii? | Danes | Frankish victory |
| 600 | 793 | Frisian–Frankish wars | Frankish Empire | Frisian Kingdom | Frankish victory
|
| 715 | 718 | Frankish Civil War (715–718) | Carolingian faction(Austrasian) Charles Martel Chlothar IV (717–718) Pippinid faction(Austrasian) | Neustrian faction Ragenfrid Dagobert III (†715) Chilperic II Redbad of Frisia (716–718) Odo of Aquitaine (independent until 718) | Carolingian victory
|
| 772 | 804 | Saxon Wars | Frankish Empire Obotrite Confederacy | Saxons Frisians | Frankish victory
|
| 834 | 891 | Viking raids in the Rhineland | Vikings | Frankish Empire, splitting into: | Frankish victory
|
| 978 | 980 | Franco-German war of 978–980 | Holy Roman Empire | West Francia | Status quo ante bellum |
| 987 | 991 | Charles-Hugh Capet war [ citation needed ] | Lower Lotharingia | Kingdom of France | French victory |
| 1012 | 1018 | Lower Lorrainian war of succession [3] | County of Verdun  Prince-Bishopric of Liège |  County of Leuven & Brussels  County of Namur  County of Hainaut  County of Flanders | Verdun victory
|
| 1018 | 1018 | Battle of Vlaardingen | West Frisia (later County of Holland) |  Holy Roman Empire | West Frisian victory
|
| 1037 | 1037 | Odo II invasion of Lotharingia [ citation needed ] | County of Champagne | Lower and Upper Lotharingia under Gothelo I | ●Battle of Bar-le-Duc : death of Odo ●Holy Roman Empire victory |
| 1044 | 1056 | Revolts of Godfrey the Bearded |  Upper Lorraine  Pro-Godfrey Lower Lorraine County of Flanders County of Leuven & Brussels | Holy Roman Empire Pro-Gothelo II Lower Lorraine Pro-Frederick Lower Lorraine  Bishopric of Metz | Compromise
|
| 1070 | 1071 | War of the Flemish succession (1070–1071) | Pro-Robert Flanders West Frisia (later County of Holland) | Pro-Arnulf Flanders  Kingdom of France County of Hainaut  County of Boulogne  Duchy of Normandy | West Frisian victory
|
| 1076 | 1076 | Battle of IJsselmonde | West Frisia (later County of Holland) |  Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht | West Frisian victory
|
| 1101 | 1115 | Wars of Henry of Lower Lorraine [ citation needed ] | Pro Henry Lower Lotharingia Holy Roman empire (1104-1106) | Pro Godfrey Lower Lotharingia Holy Roman empire (1101-1104 and 1006-1115) | Godfrey I, Count of Louvain remain Duke of Lower Lotharingia and Henry became count of Limburg |
| 1102 | 1105 | German-Flemish war | County of Flanders | Holy Roman Empire | Status quo ante bellum |
| 1127 | 1128 | War of the Flemish succession (1127–1128) | Pro-William Clito Flanders | Pro-Theoderic of Alsace Flanders | Theoderican victory
|
| 1128 | 1131 | Godfrey-Waleran war [ citation needed ] | Pro Godfrey Lower Lotharingia | Pro Waleran Lower Lotharingia | •Battle of Wilderen : Waleran victory•Waleran became duke of Lower Lotharingia •Godfrey renonce his title and went to the abbey of Affligem |
| 1132 | 1297 | West Frisian Wars [4] [5] [6] |  County of Holland | West Frisians | Hollandic victory
|
| 1139 | 1140 | Rebellion of Henry II of Limburg [ citation needed ] | Pro Henry Lower Lotharingia | Pro Godfrey Lower Lotharingia | •Godfrey victory, he remain duke of Lower lotharingia |
| 1139 | 1159 | Grimbergen Wars | County of Leuven & Brussels |  House of Berthout | Leuven victory
|
| 1142 | 1142 | Limburg-Fauquemont war [ citation needed ] | County of Limburg | Lordship of Fauquemont | Limburg victory |
| 1165 | 1323 | Flemish–Hollandic conflict over Zeeland Bewestenschelde [7] | County of Flanders | County of Holland | Hollandic victory: Treaty of Paris (1323)
|
| 1182 | 1194 | War of Lembeek [fr] | Lower Lotharingia | County of Hainaut County of Luxembourg County of Namur County of Flanders | Compromise : Battle of Noville Treaty of Hal |
| 1186 | 1263/5 | War of the Namurois–Luxemburgish succession [8] [9] | House of Namur (Ermesinde) Limburg-Luxemburg dynasty County of Namur (contested) County of Luxemburg (contested until 1199) | House of Flanders (Baldwins) County of Hainaut County of Namur (contested) County of Flanders | Compromise
|
| 1202 | 1378 | Liégeois–Brabantian Wars |  Prince-Bishopric of Liège  County of Loon |  Duchy of Brabant  Dual Lordship of Maastricht | Compromise: Truce of Booienhoven |
| 1203 | 1206 | Loon War | Ada and Louis II Loon Supported by: | William Holland Supported by:  England  House of Welf | Military and long-term political victory for William
|
| 1212 | 1213 | War of the Moha succession (part of the Liégeois–Brabantian Wars) | Duchy of Brabant |  Prince-Bishopric of Liège | Liégeois victory
|
| 1213 | 1214 | Anglo-French War (1213–1214) | Kingdom of France  Duchy of Burgundy  County of Champagne  County of Dreux  County of Ponthieu  County of Saint-Pol  Duchy of Normandy  Duchy of Bretagne  Prince-Bishopric of Liège | Angevin Empire (England, Anjou, Normandy, Aquitaine) Holy Roman Empire  Flanders-Namur County of Boulogne   Hainaut-Holland   Brabant-Leuven  Duchy of Lorraine  Duchy of Limburg  Duchy of Saxony  Palatinate | French victory
|
| 1225 | 1227 | Drenthe–Groningen war |  Burgraviate of Groningen Bishopric of Utrecht |  Burgraviate of Coevorden ("Drenthe")Gelkingen | Drenther victory
|
| 1228 | 1232 | Drenther Crusade | Bishopric of Utrecht  Frisian crusaders | Burgraviate of Coevorden ("Drenthe") Ommelander rebels | Inconclusive
|
| 1226/8 | 1231/2 | War of the Succession of Breda [10] | |||
| 1244 | 1254 | War of the Flemish Succession | House of Flanders House of Dampierre Supported by:  Anjou (3rd conflict) |  House of Avesnes Supported by: Holland (2nd conflict) Zeeland (2nd conflict) | Compromise
|
| 1245/50 | 1273/5 | Great Interregnum |  Hohenstaufen party
|  Welf party
| Compromise
|
| 1256 | 1422 | Friso-Hollandic Wars | County of Holland | Upstalsboom League Various other Frisian factions | Holland conquers West Frisia, but makes no substantial gains in Middle Frisia |
| 1272 | 1278 | War of the Cow | Prince-Bishopric of Liège | County of Namur | Indecisive
|
| 1283 | 1289 | War of the Limburg Succession | Duchy of Brabant County of Loon  City of Cologne |  County of Guelders County of Luxemburg  Electorate of Cologne | Brabantian victory
|
| 1296 | 1335 | Awans and Waroux War [11] |  Awans |  Waroux | Stalemate
|
| 1297 | 1305 | Franco-Flemish War | Kingdom of France Flemish patricians | County of Flanders County of Namur | French victory
|
| 1303 | 1306 | Brussels Revolt | Brabantian artisan guilds | Brabantian patrician class Duke of Brabant | Patrician–ducal victory
|
| 1322 | 1326 | Bredevoorter Feud |  Prince-Bishopric of Münster | County of Guelders | Compromise: Peace of Wesel
|
| 1323 | 1328 | Peasant revolt in Flanders 1323–1328 | Kingdom of France Flemish count and loyalists | Flemish rebels | French victory
|
| 1336 | 1366 | Wars of the Loon Succession (part of the Liégeois–Brabantian Wars) | County of Loon [12] Supported by: Duchy of Brabant (1337–1363) Duchy of Luxemburg (1361–1366) | Prince-Bishopric of Liège Supported by:  Avignon Papacy | Liégeois victory |
| 1337 | 1453 | Hundred Years' War | Valois victory
| ||
| 1350 | 1361 | Guelderian Fratricidal War | Reginald III, Duke of Guelders  Heeckeren faction | Edward, Duke of Guelders  Bronckhorst faction | Edwardian victory
|
| 1350 | 1490 | Hook and Cod wars | Hook league (anti-Burgundy) | Cod league (pro-Burgundy) | Cod victory
|
| 1352 | 1365 | War of the Valkenburg succession [13] |  Reginald of Schönforst |  Waleran of Valkenburg | Brabantian victory
|
| 1356 | 1357 | War of the Brabantian Succession | Duchy of Brabant  Duchy of Limburg Lordship of Mechelen Duchy of Luxemburg | County of Flanders County of Namur (Jun. '56–Feb. '57) | Flemish–Guelderian victory
|
| 1364 | 1368 | First war of Guelders [14] | Duchy of Brabant Heeckeren faction County of Holland County of Hainaut | Duchy of Guelders Bronckhorst faction  County of Zutphen Bishopric of Utrecht | Military stalemate, diplomatic Brabantian victory
|
| 1371 | 1371 | Battle of Baesweiler |  Duchy of Jülich Duchy of Guelders County of Zutphen | Duchy of Brabant County of Namur  County of Ligny | Jülich–Guelderian victory
|
| 1371 | 1379 | First War of the Guelderian Succession | Duchy of Jülich Bronckhorst faction | Blois Heeckeren faction | Jülich victory
|
| 1379 | 1385 | Revolt of Ghent (1379–1385) (part of the Hundred Years' War) |  Kingdom of France County of Flanders  Duchy of Burgundy (1384–5) |  Ghent rebels  Kingdom of England (1383–5) | Franco–Burgundian victory
|
| 1382 | 1383 | Despenser's Crusade (part of the Hundred Years' War, Revolt of Ghent and Western Schism) | Kingdom of France County of Flanders Avignon Papacy | Kingdom of England Ghent rebels  Papal States | Truce
|
| 1385 | 1390 | Second war of Guelders [15] [16] | Duchy of Brabant  Duchy of Limburg Duchy of Burgundy Kingdom of France |  Duchy of Guelders County of Zutphen  Land of Cuijk Duchy of Jülich | Guelderian victory
|
| 1397 | 1399 | Third war of Guelders [17] [18] | Duchy of Brabant Prince-Bishopric of Liège (1397–98) [19] | Duchy of Guelders Duchy of Jülich | Peace of Ravenstein, 15 August 1399 [20] |
| 1401 | 1412 | Arkel Wars [21] | County of Holland  Gorinchem (1406–7) |  Land van Arkel Duchy of Guelders (1409–12) | Hollandic victory
|
| 1413 | 1422 | Great Frisian War | Vetkopers | Schieringers | Stalemate
|
| 1423 | 1449 | Utrecht Schism [22] | Pro-Rudolf Utrecht Lichtenbergers Hook league Proysen Papal States (1432–1449) | Anti-Rudolf Utrecht Lokhorsten Cod league Duchy of Burgundy Duchy of Guelders (1423–29) Papal States (1423–32)Council of Basel (1431–49) Antipope Felix V (1439–49) | Lichtenberger victory
|
| 1438 | 1441 | Dutch–Hanseatic War (part of the Sound Wars) | Duchy of Burgundy  Burgundian Netherlands |  Hanseatic League | Stalemate; compromise |
| 1442 | 1446 | Hollandic–Bremer war | County of Holland County of Zeeland County of Flanders Frisian lands |  Bremen | Peace of Harderwijk (1446) |
| 1449 | 1453 | Revolt of Ghent (1449–1453) | Duchy of Burgundy Burgundian Netherlands | Ghent rebels | Burgundian victory
|
| 1456 | 1458 | Utrecht war (1456–1458) | Duchy of Burgundy Burgundian Netherlands Graauwerts Cod league |  Van Brederode  Van Montfoort Lichtenbergers Hook league | Burgundian victory
|
| 1458 | 1464 | Donia War [23] | Harinxmas (Schieringers) | Donias (Vetkopers) | Successive reconciliations between warring clans |
| 1459 | 1459 | Revolt against Arnold [24] |  Pro-Adolf Guelders Duchy of Burgundy Burgundian Netherlands | Pro-Arnold Guelders | Arnoldian victory
|
| 1465 | 1468 | Wars of Liège | Prince-Bishopric of Liège Duchy of Burgundy Burgundian Netherlands |  Liégeois rebels Green Tent Companions Kingdom of France | Burgundian victory
|
| 1465 | 1468 | War in Guelders [24] | Pro-Adolf Guelders Duchy of Burgundy Burgundian Netherlands Electorate of Cologne | Pro-Arnold Guelders  Duchy of Cleves  County of Mark | Adolfian victory (Battle of Straelen )
|
| 1473 | 1473 | Burgundian conquest of Guelders [25] | Duchy of Burgundy Burgundian Netherlands Duchy of Cleves County of Mark | Duchy of Guelders County of Zutphen | Burgundian victory
|
| 1474 | 1477 | Burgundian Wars | Duchy of Burgundy Burgundian Netherlands  Duchy of Savoy |  Duchy of Lorraine  Swiss Confederates | Franco–Swiss victory
|
| 1477 | 1482 | War of the Burgundian Succession | Habsburg : Habsburg Monarchy Duchy of Burgundy Burgundian Netherlands | Valois-Orléans : Kingdom of France Swiss Confederates Duchy of Guelders | Treaty of Arras (1482), Treaty of Senlis (1493)
|
| 1477 | 1499 | Guelderian War of Independence (1477–82, 1494–9) (part of the War of the Burgundian Succession) | Habsburg: Habsburg Monarchy Duchy of Burgundy (1477–82) Burgundian Netherlands  Duchy of Cleves (1498–9) Duchy of Jülich (1498–9) | Guelders: Duchy of Guelders Supported by: Kingdom of France | Guelderian victory
|
| 1481 | 1483 | Utrecht war of 1481–83 (part of the Hook and Cod Wars) | Cod league Duchy of Burgundy | Hook league Duchy of Cleves | Cod victory
|
| 1483 | 1492 | Flemish revolts against Maximilian | Habsburg Monarchy Habsburg Netherlands | County of Flanders | Habsburg victory
|
| 1488 | 1490 | Squire Francis War (part of the Hook and Cod Wars) | Cod league (pro-Habsburg) Habsburg Monarchy Habsburg Netherlands | Hook league (anti-Habsburg) | Cod–Habsburg victory
|
| 1491 | 1492 | Bread and Cheese Revolt | Habsburg Monarchy Habsburg Netherlands |   Bread and Cheese folk | Habsburg victory
|
| 1502 | 1543 | Guelders Wars | Habsburg: Habsburg Monarchy  Spanish Empire (incl. Netherlands) | Guelders: Duchy of Guelders  Groningen & Ommelanden (1514–36) Frisian rebels (1514–23) Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1538–43)Supported by: | Habsburg victory
|
| 1514 | 1517 | Saxon feud (part of the Guelders Wars) |  Imperial Frisia (Saxony) (1514–15) 24 German princes | | Compromise
|
| 1531 | 1534 | Guelderian feud (part of the Guelders Wars) |  County of East Frisia | Duchy of Guelders  Harlingerland | Guelderian victory; Peace of Logum
|
| 1539 | 1540 | Revolt of Ghent (1539) | Habsburg Monarchy Spanish Empire (incl. Netherlands) | Ghent rebels | Habsburg victory
|
| 1542 | 1546 | Italian War of 1542–1546 | Holy Roman Empire |  Kingdom of France | Inconclusive
|
| 1551 | 1559 | Italian War of 1551–1559 | Spanish and Imperial (Habsburg) victory | ||
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, excessive taxation, and the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities.
A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the plain of Campania, a place of annual wartime operations by the armies of the Roman Republic.
The Winkler Prins is a Dutch-language encyclopedia, founded by the Dutch poet and clergyman Anthony Winkler Prins (1817–1908) and published by Elsevier. It has run through nine printed editions; the first, issued in 16 volumes from 1870 to 1882, and the last, numbering 26 volumes, from 1990 to 1993. Winkler Prins has been the most distinguished printed encyclopedia in the Dutch language. Publisher Elsevier collaborated with the Microsoft Corporation to put the 1993 version plus any new additions onto CD-ROM in 1997 as the Dutch-language version of Encarta.
Cambrésis is a former pagus, county and prince-bishopric of the medieval Holy Roman Empire that was annexed to the Kingdom of France in 1679. It is now regarded as one of the "natural regions" of France, and roughly equivalent to the Arrondissement of Cambrai in department Nord. The capital of Cambrésis was Cambrai. Originally ruled by a dynasty of counts, Cambrésis became a prince-bishopric in 1007, comparable to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht. It encompassed the territory in which the bishop of Cambrai had secular authority.
A cloth hall or linen hall is a historic building located in the centre of the main marketplace of a European town. Cloth halls were built from medieval times into the 18th century.
The Utrecht war of 1481–83 was a diocesan feud in the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht between 1481 and 1483, influenced by the ongoing Hook and Cod wars in the neighbouring County of Holland. It was also a battle for control over Utrecht between the Dukes of Burgundy in the person of ruling Bishop David of Burgundy, and the Duchy of Cleves, which sought to replace him with Engelbert of Cleves.
The War of the Burgundian Succession took place from 1477 to 1482, immediately following the Burgundian Wars. At stake was the partition of the Burgundian hereditary lands between the Kingdom of France and the House of Habsburg, after Duke Charles the Bold had perished in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477.
A diocesan feud is either a warlike conflict between two contenders for the election of a prince-bishop, ruler of a bishopric or archbishopric in the Holy Roman Empire, or an armed conflict between two parties within such a territory. The introduction of the Imperial Church System in the 10th century had intended the position of prince-bishops to be non-hereditary, as all Catholic clergymen were required to be celibate and thus could not produce legitimate offspring to inherit their possessions. Instead, the Holy Roman Emperor would appoint one of his confidants as prince-bishop, upon whose death he could choose a successor himself. However, after the decline of imperial authority over clerical appointments due to the Investiture Controversy (1076–1122), ending with the Concordat of Worms, the cathedral chapters started electing the bishops, and their choice had to be confirmed by the metropolitan bishop. In the 14th century, the Holy See began to reserve the appointment of certain bishops to itself, after which the pope gradually laid claim to the exclusive right to appoint all bishops everywhere.
The Act of Guarantee of the hereditary stadtholderate was a document from 1788, in which the seven provinces of the States General and the representative of Drenthe declared, amongst other things, that the admiralty and captain-generalship were hereditary, and together with the hereditary stadtholderate would henceforth be an integrated part of the constitution of the Dutch Republic. Moreover, members of the House of Orange-Nassau would have the exclusive privilege to hold the office. The Act was in force until the Batavian Republic was established in 1795.
The Loon War was a war of succession over the County of Holland from 1203 until 1206, brought on by the death of count Dirk VII. The war was waged between Dirk's brother William of Frisia, and Dirk's daughter Ada who had quickly married count Louis II of Loon.
The Javanese Wars of Succession were three military confrontations between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Mataram Sultanate on central Java between 1703 and 1755. The hereditary succession in Maratam was at stake, prompting the VOC to field its own candidates in an attempt to gain more influence in central and eastern Java. At the end of the Javanese Wars of Succession, Mataram was carved into three weak Vorstenlanden, independent in name only, as a consequence of the divide and rule policy of the VOC.
The Battle of Jutphaas, also known as the Battle of the Vaart or the Battle of Vreeswijk, occurred on 9 May 1787 on the banks of the Vaartsche Rijn canal near Jutphaas and Vreeswijk between Orangists and Patriots.
The Manifesto of the Province of Flanders was the declaration of independence of the county of Flanders on 4 January 1790, during the Brabantine Revolution. On this day, the States of Flanders "solemnly declare[d] in the name of the People, the province of Flanders to be an independent State, and definitively withdrawn from its loyalty and obedience to emperor Joseph II, count of Flanders, and from the House of Austria." The States also declared "all officials, lieges and other servants, whoever they may be, free and absolved from all concluded and indebted contracts, and discharged from every oath done to the fallen count of Flanders."
The War of the Brabantian Succession was a war of succession triggered by the death of John III, Duke of Brabant. He had no sons, and as the Duchy of Brabant had a tradition of male (agnatic) primogeniture, his three daughters and their three husbands, namely the dukes of Luxemburg and Guelders and the count of Flanders, claimed the inheritance.
The imperial church system was a governance policy by the early Holy Roman emperors and other medieval European rulers to entrust the secular governance of the state to as many celibate members of the clergy of the Catholic Church as possible instead of to the non-celibate laity. Rulers did this because celibate clergymen could not produce legitimate heirs who could claim their inheritance at death, and thus not establish regional dynasties that could threaten the power of the ruling family. Upon their deaths, the areas governed by celibate clerics automatically reverted to the ruler, who could then appoint their own new confidants to the position and thus retain control of all parts of the realm. A bishop thus bestowed with temporal (secular) power of a prince, on top of his spiritual (religious) power as a bishop, was known as a prince-bishop, and his domain as a prince-bishopric.
The Utrecht Schism was a diocesan feud in the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht from 1423 to 1449. The legitimate prince-bishop of Utrecht was at issue. The war of succession was fought by Zweder van Culemborg and his brother Walraven van Meurs against Rudolf van Diepholt. The conflict mixed with the existing Utrecht factionalism between the Lichtenbergers and Lokhorsten and with the Hook and Cod wars raging in the County of Holland. Some scholars consider the Utrecht Schism to have ended in 1429.
The historiography of the Eighty Years' War examines how the Eighty Years' War has been viewed or interpreted throughout the centuries. Some of the main issues of contention between scholars include the name of the war, the periodisation of the war, the origins or causes of the war and thus its nature, the meaning of its historical documents such as the Act of Abjuration, and the role of its central characters such as Philip II of Spain, William "the Silent" of Orange, Margaret of Parma, the Duke of Alba, the Duke of Parma, Maurice of Orange, and Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. It has been theorised that Protestant Reformation propaganda has given rise to the Spanish Black Legend in order to portray the actions of the Spanish Empire, the Army of Flanders and the Catholic Church in an exaggerated extremely negative light, while other scholars maintain that the atrocities committed by the Spanish military in order to preserve the Habsburg Netherlands for the Empire have historically been portrayed fairly accurately. Controversy also rages about the importance of the war for the emergence of the Dutch Republic as the predecessor of the current Kingdom of the Netherlands and the role of the House of Orange's stadtholders in it, as well as the development of Dutch and Belgian national identities as a result of the split of the Northern and Southern Netherlands.
The period between the start of the Beeldenstorm in August 1566 until early 1572 contained the first events of a series that would later be known as the Eighty Years' War between the Spanish Empire and disparate groups of rebels in the Habsburg Netherlands. Some of the first pitched battles and sieges between radical Calvinists and Habsburg governmental forces took place in the years 1566–1567, followed by the arrival and government takeover by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba with an army of 10,000 Spanish and Italian soldiers. Next, an ill-fated invasion by the most powerful nobleman of the Low Countries, the exiled but still-Catholic William "the Silent" of Orange, failed to inspire a general anti-government revolt. Although the war seemed over before it got underway, in the years 1569–1571, Alba's repression grew severe, and opposition against his regime mounted to new heights and became susceptible to rebellion.
Factionalism in the medieval Low Countries, in Dutch historiography known as partijstrijd or (partij)twisten, comprises several political, military and socio-economic conflicts in the Low Countries during the Middle Ages, especially the Late Middle Ages. The so-called 'parties' usually behaved like factions, which were formed ad hoc, could rapidly change in composition, and usually did not have strong ideological underpinnings. They were not officially organised political parties as would emerge in the 19th century. The parties were normally led by an aristocratic clan, followed by patrician families, and eventually several groups from the bourgeoisie, generally organised by guilds. These groups could often switch allegiances, names and goals, secede or defect, depending on how situations and interests evolved. Usually there were long-term tensions and only brief military confrontations, which either resulted in a new balance of power, or confirmed the status quo. The ruling dynasties or bishops could be dependent on the support from the strongest faction in order to govern, and in case of a war of succession, pretenders were compelled to ally themselves with one party or the other to stand a chance as seizing power. Foreign powers could interfere in factionalist struggles by providing financial or military support, and sometimes take over control of a province with the help of a local party.
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