Willem Adriaan Van Der Stel, and Other Historical Sketches

by George McCall Theal

The relief of Leyden gave renewed hope to the patriot cause. On the 12th of November 1574 the estates of Holland, assembled at Delft, conferred almost dictatorial power upon the prince of Orange, and voted him as large a sum of money as they could raise to carry on the war. That amount was only £45,000 a year, but it was a very considerable sum for one small province to contribute, especially when it is considered that the cities of Amsterdam and Haarlem were in the hands of the Spaniards, and Leyden, with the territory adjoining it, was too impoverished to give any aid. On the 4th of June 1575 the province of Zeeland united with Holland in a kind of loose confederation, the principal bond being that the prince of Orange was the head of both.

Siege of Zierikzee.

An attempt to bring about a state of peace was made again, and commissioners from both sides sat at Breda from the 3rd of March to the 13th of July 1575; but as Philippe would only allow those of the reformed religion to sell their property and leave the country, the negotiations came to nothing. Bigotry and intolerance were not confined to one side, however. Some revolting cruelties practised by Diederik Sonoy, governor of North Holland, upon Roman Catholics at Alkmaar, equalled, if they did not surpass, the most fiendish tortures of the inquisition. The prince of Orange did everything in his power to suppress such barbarities, while Philippe countenanced them: otherwise one party was as vindictive as the other.

On the 19th of July 1575 the little town of Oudewater in South Holland, close to the border of Utrecht, was besieged by a Spanish force, and was taken by assault on the 7th of August. The men were all butchered, the women met with a worse fate, and the houses, after being pillaged, were burned to the ground.

The memorable siege of Zierikzee, the principal town on the island of Schouwen, in Zeeland, followed. The island of Tholen was the only part of Zeeland held by the Spaniards, and there a force of three thousand men was got together, who during the night of the 27th of September 1575 actually waded across the channel that separates Tholen from Duiveland. There were some French, English, and Scotch troops in the service of Orange at Duiveland, but they retreated at once, and threw themselves into Zierikzee. The invaders, consisting of Spanish, German, and Walloon soldiers, followed quickly, and laid siege to the town. The villages of Brouwershaven and Bommenede on the same island of Schouwen were also attacked, and for a time were wiped out of existence. Then the whole force, under Colonel Mondragon, sat down and pressed the siege of Zierikzee.

Historical Sketches.

Requesens had no money with which to raise more troops, and Orange was in the same position, so the siege dragged on month after month. On the 15th of June 1576 Admiral Louis Boisot with a few ships tried to force a passage through a barrier into the harbour, but his own vessel, that was leading the way, ran aground, and the others drew off. The ship was got afloat again, but was sunk by a Spanish battery, when three hundred of her crew went down.[24] The admiral and the remainder of the crew jumped overboard, and tried to escape by swimming. Some of them succeeded in doing so, but the gallant Boisot, to the great loss of the patriot cause, was drowned. Zierikzee held out until the 21st of June 1576, when it capitulated on honourable terms, and escaped being sacked and burned by the payment of a ransom of £16,666. The Spaniards did not long remain in possession of it.

To the prince of Orange it had now become apparent that the only chance of securing constitutional government and freedom of conscience was the renunciation of Philippe and the choice of some other sovereign able to protect the country. The farce of fighting against the count of Holland and at the same time of transacting all business in his name could no longer be carried on. On the 1st of October 1575 the estates of Holland and Zeeland met at Rotterdam, when the prince laid a proposal to this effect before them. They adjourned for a few days in order to consult the cities, and then assembled again at Delft and unanimously adopted the prince’s proposal. Then commenced a long series of negotiations with Elizabeth of England and a brother of the king of France, but all failed, because it was generally believed that if either accepted, he or she would at once have the other, combined with Spain, as an enemy. So the struggle had to be carried on unaided, except with a little secret assistance given now and then.

Mutiny of the Spanish Troops.

On the 5th of March 1576 the Grand Commander Requesens died after only four days’ illness, and the Council of State, a weak and vacillating body, assumed the administration until a successor should be appointed. This Council was at the head of affairs when a fresh disaster fell upon the country.