Fall of Antwerp

Timeline

1. 1584Antwerp · BrabantAfter recovering most of Flanders and Brabant, Parma in July 1584 built an encircling line and riverside forts around Antwerp, severing its land links with Ghent and elsewhere. The assassination of William of Orange impaired defensive coordination. The city, defended by Marnix and others, still had Scheldt and northern communications, so Parma turned to blocking the river.
2. 1585Antwerp reach of the Scheldt · BrabantBecause Lillo fort could not be taken, Parma built a bridge of about 2,400 feet between Fort Santa Maria and Fort San Felipe, mounting guns to blockade the channel. The defenders sent out fireships loaded with powder, briefly destroying a section and heavily damaging the Spanish forces; they then contested the Kowensteyn dyke, attempting to breach it to flood the area and restore supplies, but Parma recaptured and repaired it, and the city fell into famine.
3. 1585–1589Antwerp · BrabantMarnix signed the surrender on August 17 on behalf of the city. Parma strictly forbade a massacre, but Protestants had to convert or leave within about four years. Large numbers of merchants moved north to Amsterdam and elsewhere; the United Provinces fleet continued to blockade the Scheldt estuary, depriving Antwerp of sea access. The south was re-Catholicized under Spanish rule, fixing the political and religious division between north and south.