'New Troy': The (Staggering) Siege Of Ostende 1601-1604 | Eighty Years War

On the 5th of July 1601, a Spanish force of about 12’000 men and 50 siege guns arrived at the Dutch town of Ostend. This was the beginning of a war of attrition which was to last for more than three years. Because of its long duration and high rate of casualties this siege became known as New Troy. It was a siege characterized by curious Spectators that were shipped in and out of the city and by ingenious siege craft never seen before, and rarely after. It was also a siege that proved the importance of bookworms. This is how Contemporary historiography tells the story of the staggering siege of Ostend.
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Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Haestens, H., La Nouvelle Troye, Leyden, 1615.
Hexham, H., The Principles of the Art Militarie practised in the Warres of the United Netherlands,’ London, 1637; dedicated on 5 September 1637 to Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland. A second and enlarged edition was published in three parts: the first two at Delft in 1642, and the third at Rotterdam in 1643; Dutch editions appeared at the same time, dedicated to William of Orange and Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine.
Literature:
Duffy, C., The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660, London 1979.
Lynn, J. A., States in Conflict 1661-1763, in: Parker, G. (Ed.), The Cambridge History of Warfare, Cambridge 2005.Ortenburg, G., Waffe und Waffengebrauch im Zeitalter der Landsknechte (Heerwesen der Neuzeit, Abt. 1, Bd. 1) Koblenz 1984.
Nimwegen, O. van, The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688, Woodbridge 2010.
Parker, G., The Limits to Revolutions in Military Affairs: Maurice of Nassau, the Battle of Nieuwpoort (1600), and the Legacy, in The Journal of Military History, 71;2, 2007; S. 331 - 372.
Rogers, C.J. / Tallet F. (editors), European Warfare, 1350-1750, 2010.

[@benjamindover2601]

If during your siege the enemy has a booming tourist economy you're not doing it right.

[@olliefoxx7165]

They had to be cutting a cut of that tourism money. No way they would have let them through otherwise.

[@feekalphabeet9217]

@@olliefoxx7165 The dutch controlled the sea, they couldn't do shit.

[@pr0chszy]

​@@olliefoxx7165 And besides, the spanish should've seen as unwise the prospect of opressing the Dutch citizenry too much, as it would only further the revolutionaries's agenda, not quite sure of this, but it's only common sense that if you're trying to quell a rebellion, the last thing you want is an increasingly angry people.

[@MrDwarfpitcher]

@@pr0chszy thing is The Spanish looked at the numbers and noted that the majority of the rebellious folk were Catholic. The King did not think that they would be as rebellious as they were because the whole idea of restricting religious freedoms did not affect them. Would these catholics really go far all out war to stand up for their fellow country mens rights? The King did not count on it, but he should've

[@jaro551]

@Neil Knox aint nobody going to try shit

[@Thraim.]

people today: "I think video games are too brutal. They shouldn't be a pastime for anyone." people in the 17th century: "I'll go on vacation in the besieged city to watch the war. It's fun for the whole family!"

[@midshipman8654]

AdalRoderick tbf it was a common thing throughout much of history for more wealthy civilians to come and watch a battle for entertainment if it wasn’t too grueling. I know it happened in the Crimean war and a few during Roman times as well. I mean, to be frank, it was probably an amazing spectacle compared to the usual means of entertainment.

[@tiely13]

GROND!

[@proof4469]

The first few battles of the American Civil War were known to have a good amount of spectators having a picnic on the side because they expected a swift end to the war, and no one took the conflict seriously.

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

They did the same thing in the 20th century. Up till the just after the outbreak of ww1. In fact the horrors of ww1 is what stopped battlefield tourism. One thing that is not often realized classical war tempo was usually pretty low key with fairly sporadic fighting. It wasn't until the 20th century that the tempo was increased rapidly

[@garyhewitt489]

Battle tourism, public excecutions, hanging, drawn quartered, burn at the stake, guillotine, bear bating, cock fighting, duelling, flogging. The Enlightenment.

[@TheNinjaDC]

Ostend Soldier: Sir, the Spanish left a giant wooden Tulip bulb outside the city. Ostend General: What are you waiting for, drag it in. Wooden Tulip Bulb: *Spanish mumbling*

[@ignacio4159]

😂👌

[@patriciusvonkempen9810]

This one Got me xD

[@chubbymoth5810]

Actually a similar thing did happen with the town of Breda, with Dutch soldiers hiding in a ship with peat bricks for the Spanish garrison. Tulips are of a much later era and were more associated with Turkey at that time. Peat bricks was a source of cheap energy of huge importance to the region.

[@eh7602]

Laughs in Dutch

[@HispaniaGothorum]

Spanish Soldier: We just clean and tidy the city

[@noemiekramer7699]

Those engines of war show how crazy and innovative those engineers were... A siege was basically an immense construction project...

[@Scott-zi7xv]

Yeah imagine being tasked with manning that thing, hoping you didn't get blasted to pieces

[@dpeasehead]

My contract promised that the engines would be built on time and on or under budget, to your exact specifications, not that they would actually breach the walls or that they would enable you to take the city by a specific date.

[@sethreynolds8520]

As a past soldier, you do two things through out the day. March, and dig. so much digging so much so.....much.....digging........

[@ls200076]

@@sethreynolds8520 Does it also include hostile artillery fire on your position?

[@mellon4251]

And with a lower mortality rate than contemporary construction projects in the Middle East

[@gfleurbaey13]

Dude I live around 30 km (around 18.6 miles) from Oostende and knew nothing about this siege, other then the fact that it happened... Awesome work man!

[@SandRhomanHistory]

How they do not tell you about this is beyond my understanding. It's such an incredible piece of history.

[@freekmulder3662]

I can't speak for Belgian schools but in the Netherlands we only learn the broad strokes of history. We focus on the main themes, important events and historical figures while the individual sieges, battles and general populace gets skimmed over. So some might know about this battle but many don't know exactly how it went down other than the end result

[@sdssdds8415]

I live in Oostende and there are texts spread across the outskirts telling about the siege. There are still some hills and ridges built by the Spanish and polders flooded by the dutch. My grandma also found a Spanish copper coin from 1604 in her yard.

[@AudieHolland]

In Holland, we only read about sieges and battles that happened within the current borders of The Netherlands. Even then, such an important battle as 1600: Battle of Nieuwpoort only gets a brief mention because 'Maurits intended to root out the Dunkirk Pirates but on the way he was surprised to find a large Spanish force so that battle happened. And most people only remember it because it's the easiest year to remember: 1600 Battle of Nieuwpoort.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

@@sdssdds8415 I have to come visit then! Btw, is it called Oostende now? We figured it would be Ostende in Flemish and Oostende in Dutch. Didn't know how to call it correctly.

[@Arcaryon]

You have to give the Spinola credit where credit is due. In so many wars we read about incompetent commanders WITH sigificanf frontline experience. This guy "just read some books" and became THE expert on sieges and field warfare of his day and age. He was also a member of my favorite nobility club of the time, as a knight in the famous order of the golden fleece. His biggest military triumph of taking the city of Breda in 1625 was immortalized by the painter Diego Velàzquez in a picture you probably have seen before; "La rendición de Breda" (the surrender of Breda) also known as "Las lanzas". If you haven't, I highly recommend looking it up, it is definetly one of a kind.

[@avinfor]

Couldn’t agree more. He obviously had great intelligence, charisma and I would say common sense compounded with being born in the right family. A very rare find. Today that is also a very good start but then it was basically the only start.

[@codynasty7511]

While the Siege of La Rochelle was going on, Spinola was on his way back to Spain, and after examining Cardinal Richelieu’s siege works, Spinola reportedly said to the Cardinal, “The city is already taken”.

[@istoppedcaring6209]

also immortalized in "merck toch hoe sterck"

[@onanthebarbarian4842]

Ironic he should take Breda. In 1590 the city had been taken from the Spanish with a trick inspired by the Iliad: Soldiers hid in a shipment of peat and opened the gates. Making it a proper New Troy in its own right.

[@vicentgalvan70]

Sadly, the only book about Spinola that I could find was writen in archaic Spanish... I speak Portuguese, so it was not impossible. Even so...

[@1987MartinT]

It's nice to see that Vere and Mauritz were professional enough not to let their rivalry sabotage their ability to work together.

[@ImperialGuardsman74]

Rather love the 80 years war for it's focus on sieges and engineering. It was a rather methodical and mathematical war for the most part, and the fact it went on for so long(with truces and intermissions), makes it all the more fascinating.

[@ArtilleryAffictionado1648]

i just wonder what the flying fuck was so valuable in the Netherlands that the spanish gave their legs and arms to take it back. And its so funny. a HUGE TRILIONAIRY empire not being able to conquer a small nation, and said small nation then going on to become a major power. It's like the vietnam war but if vietnam was a 21 century superpower

[@ValliPlays]

antonio Well, the Netherlands was and is today one of the most important trading hubs in the world, so there’s the importance for you. And it’s completely understandable that such a large empire has difficulties to fight such a small nation as the Spanish forces had to be spread out all over the world and supplying a force large enough to easily overwhelm the Dutch would have been logistically impossible. Also the Dutch military was one of the best fighting forces at that time. Another reason is the topography of the Netherlands as its very difficult terrain. So there you have it :)

[@TheEvertw]

A lot of firsts were made in that war. The first (modern) republic was born, the first declaration of independence, the first real instance of religious freedom, etc. It was a very hard-won victory: the spaniards destroyed the land, and were extremely brutal. We were saved by our navy, which whipped the spaniards all over the globe--including intercepting the silver fleets that should have paid the war for the spanish. Also we finally had some breaks in land battles under the leadership of Maurits of Orange. That's where the Oranjes gained the right to rule the land.

[@TheEvertw]

​@@ArtilleryAffictionado1648 This war started as a religious war, to persecute the protestant christians in the Netherlands. But it was also due to the wounded pride of the monarch, who could not accept his subjects were making demands on how they wished to be ruled. While part of the Burgundian dukedom, the Dutch cities had much freedom. The spaniards got that dukedom through marriage, but were not used to give their subjects such freedom. In latter half, it became a fight of survival for the spaniards. The Dutch navy was whipping the spaniards around the globe, taking over their empire. The spaniards hoped to stop that by re-conquering the ports those ships sailed from. The importance of Oostende for the spanish was in denying its port to the Dutch. After the 80-years war, the spanish empire was effectively finished, and the Dutch had their golden age. Served them right, arrogant murderous catholic pricks.

[@shadower3833]

@@ValliPlays and @antonio Moreover, the Dutch Republic was very, very wealthy, mainly thanks to the Hanze trade.

[@sahhaf1234]

This was very intresting. Pre-modern non-british european history is very little covered on youtube.. Please make more of such videos..

[@NathanielWinkelmann]

I feel like 1601is firmly moder. By most standards

[@BeatMonkeyV5]

If you can’t find non-British European history you’re clearly not looking in the right place. Check out Kings & Generals, they cover almost any historical point you could think of

[@ksanbahlyngwa1998]

@@BeatMonkeyV5 I watch them too

[@hedgehog3180]

This is actually part of what is considered the modern era just fyi. The modern era is generally said to start with the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople and is marked by the rise of gunpowder focused warfare and the engineering developments of the Renaissance. Pre-modern would be the medieval and ancient era. Obviously the exact dates are a bit hard to pin down but generally we recognize these developments as being what led directly to our world.

[@sahhaf1234]

@@hedgehog3180 You're right, I should have said early modern.. I think this covers the period from 1453 to 1789. I guess modernity starts with the french revolution..

[@thomasbeauprez00]

As a citizen of Ostend, I highly appreciate this video.

[@VivaLegolastef90]

Are you okay???

[@martijnb5887]

The defence works look extremely impressive! How much of it is left? Judging by Wikipedia's the list of sights in Oostende and the map, all of those bulwarks are gone.

[@thomasbeauprez00]

@@martijnb5887 There are no defenses left. They were torn down in the 19th century to make way for tourism. There is a fort, called Fort Napoleon, but as the name indicates, it's from a later age.

[@mrmoth26]

@@thomasbeauprez00 They tore down something that definately could've been a tourist attraction for tourism?

[@ls200076]

@@mrmoth26 The construction hampered the growing potential of the city, I think.

[@leeboi222]

The defenders are absolute lads for refusing to surrender until it got to that point. Sounds awful in there.

[@FuckGoogle2]

There was no Geneva Convention back then, them being allowed to live upon surrender wasn't something you could count on.

[@fitrianhidayat]

@@FuckGoogle2 they could (and did) evacuated the whole city.. The defenders are routinely replenished, so it was very likely they weren't the same people that defended the city from start to finish. They probably couldn't get out of the besieged city unless they were dead or injured, and trying to do so will get them treated as deserter, which most probably means death penalty

[@asdfomfglol]

Over 3000 ships came in and out of the city during the siege. It´s understandable to think that they were not the same defenders and that they were constantly replenished and evacuated.

[@ArtilleryAffictionado1648]

Man i remember stumbling on this while studying dutch history and i eneded up rreading the whole wikipedia article on this battle and it blew my fucking mind. Thank you for bringing this somewhat obscure siege to a larger audience, and double thank you for bringing the 17th century to a larger audience. Most people don't know this period because there is almost no type of media produced about it. You'd figure the transition from medieval warfare to gun warfare would be more popular. Nope, most people don't know the missing link between the two. Keep up the good work man!

[@jeffreytoman5202]

Niflgaardian Embassador - not only that, but it's a hard topic to fully understand. There was great turmoil in society, military, finance, religion, and structures of nations. In addition to that, the amount of writing and sources and their conflicting ideas and accounts require an immense amount of energy, intelligence, and persistence to be able to understand and then effectively communicate in an entertaining fashion.

[@ArtilleryAffictionado1648]

@@jeffreytoman5202 i've read peter h wilson's Thirty Years War - Europe's Tragedy. 1,000 pages. I won't lie it was hard as fuck. I agree in that the era is complicated, but the thing is, so are periods like the super recent ww2 for example. All historical periods are incredibly messy and they can all be portrayed in a simple manner, just like ww2 is portrayed as good vs evil. Hell back then the religious wars were "good vs evil" in the minds of the people. If something as much as exists, movies can be made about it. I see no excuse to make an epic set on ths era. it steams from a lack of awareness (and if you ask me a lack "wokeness" potential)

[@ArtilleryAffictionado1648]

@Joshua Mills when you get to 400 years old tell me how good your memory is. Fun fact: you can play as spinola dynasty in crusader kings 2. They are a family in Genoa (the same family)

[@mengo0456]

14:44 an armchair general that became a real field commander, thats impressive

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

A wall made by corpses..... :shaking handbell: BRING OUT YOUR DEAD!

[@arthas640]

Can I donate dead it they're not mine? I've got oodles around here and honestly I dont even know where half of them come from. Every few minutes a fresh one pops out of a crypt and I'm afraid to ask my necromancers how they keep fishing fresh corpses.

[@thecocktailian2091]

Yeah, Im not fighting behind that defensive work, I surrender at that point.

[@santamaria7733]

I"m a spanish dude from california. I once met a dutch guy from netherlands, who kept giving me looks like he didn't trust me. I never knew just how ferocious the dutch spanish wars were, it was brutal.

[@Sikke_Kok]

Literally nobody from the Netherlands holds a grudge against the Spanish over what happened 400 years ago... We only have bad memories about something that happened in the summer of 2010 that we don't like to talk about... He probably just didnt like your face or something silly like that

[@chubbymoth5810]

I read some contemporary Spanish text about the Dutch. It roughly translates as starting off with; "Two pale blue eyes, stare out from a flax coloured gizzard with murderous intent,.." I'm pretty sure at that period the feeling was mutual as the Dutch had the habit of capturing any Spanish ships they could expect a small profit on. And that went on till well into the 18th century with Dutch traders happily looting towns in the South America's as well. In 1992 we found out that one state of the Netherlands had never made peace with Spain as piracy was so profitable for it. In order for the treaty of Maastricht to be valid, they finally had to concede to peace. But to the Dutch, the Spanish are a bit like the French are to the English and vice versa. Only recently the Germans took over that role and to Spain it is more our legacy as pirates than the rebellion against the Habsburg which was the birth of the Dutch nation. Initially a republic, it was actually Napoleon who made it into a monarchy. That insult to injury is still present to this day.

[@sergioserobcam]

@@Sikke_Kok I supose world cup final was maybe a bad memory for you, but great memory for us... It is what it is, we conquered you 400 years ago and we did it again!!! hahaha just a joke man, dont get salty

[@roodborstkalf9664]

It was extremely brutal. I recently read a eye witness report of the fighting in 1574 around Leiden and Rotterdam. I remember thinking. Jesus this makes ISIS looks like amateurs.

[@5thMilitia]

@@sergioserobcam When did you conquer us?

[@thorrin]

Cool to see a video about this on youtube, i'm from Oostende and rather proud that we were able to hold out that long against an empire as great as the Spanish.

[@robertomorsink2014]

I'am interessed in Dutch history, but I never read this in Dutch history books. (School books I mean). It's all about the seige of .s Herthogenbosch and Breda. Every country has his blind spots! Thanks for this. well done !!!

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

That's because the educational system sucks balls.

[@marcroelse9517]

@@KapiteinKrentebol only history in the netherlands is a bit legleted in lage en middelbare school

[@Lttlemoi]

Similar thing in Flanders, where most of the 80 years war is summed up as _"The Spanjards were cunts and they sacked Antwerp. Also catholics, protestants and Dutch independence."_

[@Klikoderat]

I don't know how it is now, but 20 years ago when I went to school Dutch history lessons where atrociously bad, and the tests for history where made so everybody could pass with minimal effort. Dutch school system sucks, Mauritz is rolling in his grave!

[@chubbymoth5810]

Recent nationalist influence has dumbed down history telling. Baltasar Gerards is now promoted as a hired assassin rather than the Catholic Jihadi he was. Instead of pointing at the complexities of history, it has all become a Chinese televison version of history with the good Dutch burgher fighting the nameless masses of barbarians. Even the slave trade is neatly divided in the East India Company and the West India Company, with the latter getting the blame for slave trade. The good guys of the East India company wreaked their own havoc on the natives, but that is only discussed during the Indonesian anti colonial revolt. Never saw much mention in the books of van Heust committing genocide in Atjeh for instance, but a 80% population decline in some areas really should count as such. Only when reading Multatuli and getting information on the reasons for his book to be such an influence do you get some of that sorry era. I guess people don;'t want to remember the bad deeds of their ancestors that much and only look at the bright side.

[@jamesashley9127]

I love your stuff! You do a great job bringing us material that’s not seen much on KZbin channels. I consider myself decently versed in military history and I’ve definitely learned plenty I previously had little knowledge of while really enjoying your stuff. So thanks again. I’ll spread the word about your channel and I can’t wait for the next one. 🤙

[@5thMilitia]

This channel is great, love it. The 80 year war has so much intresting stuff but outside the Netherlands much is unknown. If you ever do one again on the 80 years war I recommend the siege of Leiden and Antwerp. Especially the former

[@richardd8433]

Well the burcht is a intresting story to tell. And we hold and got saves by the water geuzen

[@1987MartinT]

The Dutch strategy was pretty smart. Continuously send in reinforcements to the city in order to hold it, while attacking elsewhere to draw Spanish troops away from the siege or even force them to abandon it. The problems were that the Spanish garrisons they were attacking elsewhere could be really tough, the Dutch sometimes didn't send enough reinforcements to Ostende, and they made the mistake of removing the talented Vere from command. And of course they hadn't expected the Spanish to send military geniuses like Spinola and Targone to the siege.

[@marcusfranconium3392]

Its such a shame that only a few of the battles during the 80 year war are publicly known , while there are so many note worthy battles and events they got forgotten overtime.

[@tobago3679]

Great video, I love this theatrical format. Keep up the excellent work!

[@Nich-ib7xv]

5:32 Damn what a dope painting with Spanish cross of Burgundy flags and Castilla y León symbols

[@delarkaBCN]

Me gusta cuando confunden españa con castilla y los castellanos ni os immutais. porque serà?

[@Sam-xd9xt]

Pretty dope, though I believe they are captured from the field or ships (the teared up flags) but that's just my interpretation

[@cocopuffs5561]

these videos are really good, probably some of the best history content on youtube. I think a few more minutes of surrounding context for a battle like this both what was going on before and after might help a little.

[@midshipman8654]

Thanks for the vid, love your early modern stuff!

[@spoolofflarn8760]

One of the few history YT channels where the creator does their own narration and does it wonderfully. Nice.

[@chriswade8949]

I just phone you and I’m already hooked! I don’t consider myself a master historian By any means but it seems like everyone covers the same historical battles! Refreshing to see one I don’t already know about. keep up the good work!

[@bartsamaey2837]

This is the best explanation i've ever seen about the siege of Ostend and I've lived here my whole life.

[@sussurus]

Thank you for another well-researched documentary!

[@SJ23982398]

Really like the visuals, simple and clear yet they still look good. Just the right mix!

[@humo89]

The best Eid al Fitr gift a man could ask for. Awesome work🔥

[@tomvanuytsel3465]

I really loved this video. It's a part of Dutch/Flemish history that isn't well known in my country. Because of these kind of video's my intrest is growing for these hidden parts of history.

[@sullivannix4509]

absolutely love this channel, especially the siege videos!

[@tdoge]

So 'New Troy' was basically a wall of dead bodies? must have smelled awful

[@DKNkmFrvr]

and holy fuck, the disease hazard

[@utubrGaming]

​@@DKNkmFrvr If the Spanish and starvation didn't kill the defenders, their own defenses just might have done the job given a week.

[@hannibalburgers477]

Depends on which side you are.

[@alexanderkomosa9134]

Thank you for these incredibly informative videos

[@khyberw]

I love your videos, especially the ones about early modern warfare. Keep making content!

[@wladyslawderstreiter9078]

Finally became Patreon today to support your awesome content.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Very much appreciated!

[@philRminiatures]

Another gorgeous work to watch, fantastic illustrations and animations as always, ans great explanations...Thanks for this new masterpiece!🙏🙏

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@fr33w33d]

i am seriusly impressed by your pronounciation of Grave, well done. And the rest of course, but grave caught me off guard

[@mrvitrants8789]

great vid , one thing though you mention that the canister canon shot was loaded with musket balls , that's incorrect , it was actually loaded with steel balls whereas musket balls where made out of lead , lead has a tenancy to stick together which would be very problematic as you can assume

[@kaloarepo288]

This siege was quite short compared to the siege of Candia,Crete 1648-1669 during the Ottoman-Venetian wars and the even longer siege of Ceuta between Morocco and Spain!

[@riograndedosulball248]

By the siege of Ceuta, you mean, Spanyards sieging it or the Moroccans sieging it? After the portuguese conquest of Ceuta i basically didn't heared anything more about the region

[@enriquepascual8767]

Morrocoans sieging the spanish city of Ceuta in north Africa, the longest siege in history

[@thecocktailian2091]

@@enriquepascual8767 Shouldn't you people be putting numbers to these!!!! Come on man FACTS!!!!!!!

[@viking8781]

Love the animations and content. Definitely subscribed

[@esterzine6561]

Man watching these videos about early modern sieges really shows you just how underwhelming the siege mechanics are in EU IV...

[@paladinbob1236]

a siege i had not heard of...which i thank you for enlightening me :)

[@ted1045]

A staggering siege of which I knew nothing about before watching this. Quite informative.

[@DolanOk]

Love the videos, keep it up!

[@JurAAlexander]

I like the Face That you make Videos about That unpopular war. Everybody has his waterloo video but Siege of ostende is new

[@su_morenito_1948]

Great video keep up the good work 👏👏👏👏

[@Mr67Stanger]

Awesome graphics! Great story too. Thank you.

[@daanvanderrol5627]

Interesting video! I'm Dutch myself and a bit of an amateur historian, but I hadn't heard of this siege before today. Thanks.

[@5thMilitia]

Moet je weten he Daan ;)

[@asadattayyem2637]

This proves: (1) Either you aren't Dutch (Most unprobable because of your name!); (2) Or you aren't a great historian (Most probable); (3) Or both! 😂🤣😀 Just joking with you man! Best Regards! 😀😀😀 🌻🌹🌷

[@brokenbridge6316]

Nice video. This siege was very much like the siege of ancient Troy alright. It had everything. Except a Trojan horse maneuver. Nice job.

[@LordOceanus]

What i love about this channel is that anything occurring after 1800 has been covered to death by countless creators and the medieval period (we will generously call it Year 1000 to 1500) is well covered by a smaller but still large group of creators. But if i want to learn about an event occurring between 1500 and 1700 or learn something that is not just about building or military and political action in ancient Rome there are far fewer options. What i am saying Shandrhoman is that you are not just another source for the topics of your videos you are THE source. Keep it up! I would say something to you in German but at least to my ear Swiss German is very difficult to understand much less speak.

[@xavierpetit9759]

I didn't know this battle, it was a great video thank you !

[@kristofantal8801]

Siege, not a battle! Battle and siege is technically not the same.

[@prof.yurivaldesalvarezarza3998]

Thank you very much, actually learned this from reading Charles R Boxer, Cornelis Goslinga, John Lothrop Motley and Menendez Pinal around 1987

[@delarkaBCN]

what about historians who didnt live in the shadow of francoism?

[@edi9892]

Such a big battle and I've never heard of it... Just imagine being a veteran of it and know that after all that happened, everything has been forgotten...

[@manueldelafuente9806]

Verás , hubo muchas , pero si estaban los españoles por medio, tanto ingleses, como franceses NO LO RECUERDAN!!! Qué raro!!! Solo nos nombran cuando perdían 🙄🤏.de las batallas navales, solo Trafalgar...... donde les partimos el culo,no esas no me acuerdo 🫣🫣ya va siendo hora que rectifiquen!!

[@donshufflah]

Very detailed documentary, thank you for sharing. Never knew it was that bloody. Can you make one of the siege of Antwerp (also by the Spaniards), which ended its golden age and heralded in the Dutch one.

[@edumorera7427]

It didnt ended, and the Spanish won that battle en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Antwerp

[@donshufflah]

@@edumorera7427 Even on wiki it's mentioned that the golden age of Antwerp ended after the siege. 40% of the world trade passed Antwerp during its primetime, reduced to practically zero due to the Dutch blockade. But if you see the port of Antwerp today, it's certainly not just your ordinary port. Even having higher growth percentages than Rotterdam.

[@istoppedcaring6209]

@@donshufflah antwerp is huge, largely because the americans decided it would be better to invest in antwerp after ww2 than to give the dutch a near monopoly, it was allready a big port before that ofcourse, the city did not become some backwater town after losing, but yeah you know the story honestly i sometimes think how much better things would be for us if we just reunified, and formed a new country, new name, new constitution, new army, new taks system, exetra we allready have the most industrious population of europe, asside from maybe the germans, a dutch Union is the way forward

[@wouterberings6535]

@@istoppedcaring6209 why the fuck do I see you everywhere

[@dylan__dog]

@@istoppedcaring6209 the Spanish victory devastated Antwerp as the Spanish deported all non Catholics out of the city and drastically reduced its population

[@Marcusjnmc]

thank you for this. very interesting

[@stormxlr2377]

This was a really cool video 🙂, very entertaining and well presented.

[@vicentgalvan70]

OUTSTANDING work! Subscribed! You MUUUUST do the Siege of Breda!

[@davidcunningham2074]

a very good channel. extremely well researched.

[@MaxSluiman]

Again a very interesting video. Subscribed.

[@AdamBechtol]

Thanks for crafting this video. :)

[@orphydianhistory7822]

There is a room indeed for this kind of channel. I like how you are kind of specialised. Can you find and use actual depictions of the time and factions you are talking about as well as imagery like actual Dutch defences from that century. Or that is too much hassle ?

[@kauemoura]

When going to Oostende, don't forget to wear your mask on the train, and take advantage of your ticket between Brussels and the coast to visit Bruges and Ghent. :p

[@Sandwich13455]

I played in a school football team,we went to Bruges by the ferry,if my memory serves me right, the town square was cobbled streets and there was an amazing town clock!

[@geraldillo]

Excellent video!

[@monkeyddizze]

Amazing vid good job thats a Like + Sub

[@nicholasspangler7049]

What was the violin playing for the video? Also keep up the great work! I just discovered your channel and now endeavor on the arduous task of binge watching your videos!

[@bari4007]

Imagine how crazy it is to just „inspect“ the siege. I’d probably shit my pants if I see a Cannon firing.

[@johnivan9672]

You should make a video about siege of Candia (1648-1669) and sieges of Ceuta (1694-1727).The longest sieges in history.

[@nice4615]

i love your videos man

[@T33K3SS3LCH3N]

Dutch rebels: "This siege is killing us, it takes 1,000 soldiers a month to replace the injured and fallen." WW1 generals: "Ah that must be the quiet part of the front."

[@Sam-xd9xt]

Mercenaries don't come cheap :p

[@thecocktailian2091]

Of course one is a city and the other his hundreds of KM of front line.

[@duncandl910]

I mean by ww1 the population was almost 10 times larger, so proportionally speaking..

[@niepowaznyczlowiek]

@@duncandl910 You are right, people often forget to take proportions into mind.

[@jeanduneverssanspeur8042]

WW1 generals: Ah that must be the “Feldpost" regiments

[@timdebie6427]

Great Video!!

[@andreattafabio]

Awesome Content

[@tehgankerer]

Out of curiosity, why don't you consider any Spanish sources for your bibliographical material? There were plenty of Spanish records and accounts during the 80 years war for this particular siege and others.

[@thebirdmapper357]

Everyone: How such an amazing video and a siege,keep up the good work! Me: Why this Olaf van Nimwegen guy looks like Doc. Emmett Brown from Back to the Fature?

[@morbiusv5857]

You know too much mister «The bird Watcher»

[@vanivanov9571]

Great video. I still recommend adding subtitles, though. It would likely help to grow the audience.

[@SandRhomanHistory]

Thanks for the reminder. I added our transcript. It'll take a few hours then it will be visible publicly.

[@vanivanov9571]

@@SandRhomanHistory Great! You may've done this already, but I recommend adding transcripts to some of the older videos, as people who find the channel but have trouble keeping up may be turned away by that. This episode was pretty easy to follow for me, though even I couldn't recognize a couple of the names.

[@lmaozedong2259]

Top notch animations! Wow

[@Alejojojo6]

In Spanish, you would not say "Estoy sorprendido" (That's a literal translation of the english 'Im surprised') you will say "Qué sorpresa" or "Menuda sorpresa"

[@benderrodriguez5425]

Great content, just a little note 's Hertogenbosch is pronounced more with the S then the H. The S is hard while the H is pretty soft. Keep up the good work.

[@boendal2529]

Very Very Very GOOD !! Pls bring more xd Greetings from Germany

[@vasilijestevanovic5142]

This sounded like a fantasy horror story, especially the New Troy part. Very gruesome.

[@freyrds8870]

It's rare to see Oostende being relevant for once, fascinating.

[@jesusseoane2296]

It was a civil war based on religion, with Dutch’s fighting on both sides, catholic Dutch’s where the biggest part of the Spanish tercios on the 80 year war

[@gabrielvanhauten4169]

Such a cool channel, also a cool dude

[@TimDutch]

A like anything about the Dutch 🙌 much appreciated!

[@AstrumEspanol]

Amazing video! Love the animation style

[@SNOUPS4]

15:56 in such sequences it would be nice to have the approximate date written in a corner

[@Daketnietweet]

I go to school there. Also the way you say Oostende sounds almost 👌.

[@janscheldeman56]

I live in Bredene literally 100 meters away from Oostende and go to school in Oostende and never knew this happend.

[@dawnmaster68]

Actually you touched on the city of 's-Hertogenbosch ... it eventually fell to Maurits's son Frederik Hendrik. And was the first time draining massive swamplands was done succesfully (untill then it's defences had never been breached even once. That is where throughout the darkages the city had gotten the nickname "swampdragon") . It also resulted in the building of an inverted citadel. That still exists today.

[@seansantos5493]

Very good video.

[@beeldpuntXVI]

Nice vid

[@bypyros1933]

Please, do a video about the battle of Empel.

[@saxo9266]

Is there a possible source for the amazing music you use?

[@TheRealMozes]

I am from Ostende and have learned about this In school when I was little.

[@chubbymoth5810]

Excellent detailed history video. The casualty figures need some grain of salt though as the fighting wasn't that intense all the time. In all though having to lay siege to a city in a swamp was very costly for the attacker and the main reason why they often didn't last that long. Ostende was a prestige object as well,.. a bit like Stalingrad, with both sides pouring in resources. In all it will have been costly in loss of life also due to attrition and disease. If you ever have been camping in a peat bog in winter, you'll get the idea of widespread misery.

[@selvoselvo1]

the more I am watching your vieos I become more fascinated how Dutch rebels managed to fight off gold fed Spanish empire.

[@robertdegroot8302]

The Spaniards were overstretched: they were fighting the English, Dutch and Ottomans all at the same time, while also trying to consolidate their power in America. If they had only bet on 2 horses, rather than 4, they may very well have remained the world's super power for much longer. Apparently they were so adamant to not give up the Netherlands because they saw themselves as the protectors of the Catholic faith, but also because the wealthy Netherlands were a big source of tax revenue.

[@jonathanrecinos5894]

@@robertdegroot8302 real talk the Spanish where fighting non-stop for over 400 year!! English,French,Dutch, Ottomans even Japanese pirates.

[@cermiosi]

can one find the music you are using anywhere? i love the track that you used for example at 7:50

[@Jim58223]

Please do a video on Ambrosio Spinola. Thank you.

[@22vx]

Excellent 👍❤