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Spanish Fury at Antwerp

Type Event Region Europe Time 1576

On November 4, 1576, Spanish Habsburg troops in the Netherlands, long unpaid, launched a massive sack of Antwerp known as the Spanish Fury, killing s…

Timeline

  1. 1576Netherlands · NetherlandsThe exhaustion of Spanish royal finances led to long-overdue pay for the garrison in the Netherlands, with frequent mutinies. The situation remained unresolved after the arrival of the new governor Don Juan, and the mixed Spanish forces near Antwerp were low in morale and discipline.
  2. 1576Antwerp · BrabantMixed Spanish forces burst through Antwerp's gates, carrying out large-scale looting, rape, and killing of citizens, and burning the commercial district and warehouses. The city's defenses were powerless to stop them; some six to seven thousand people were killed, and the loss of wealth was incalculable.
  3. 1576–1585Antwerp · NetherlandsThe Spanish Fury destroyed Antwerp's reputation as a northern European trading hub; large numbers of merchants, bankers, and craftsmen relocated to safer ports such as Amsterdam, the European financial center shifted eastward, and Antwerp's golden age came to an end.

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