[MR] Siege of Leiden and the Watergeuzen

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1574, the besieged Dutch city of Leiden was relieved by the
watergeuzen. What is a watergeuzen? you ask. Geuzen means "begger" in
Dutch, a name taken by a confederacy of largely-Protestant rebels against
Spanish occupation. The Low Countries were ruled harshly by Habsburg Spain,
represented by the brutal and hated Duke of Alba. Many of the geuzen were
sailors/marines/pirates operating small ships and flat-bottomed boats, thus
"watergeuzen".

Under the leadership of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, nearly all
Dutch cities were in rebellion against Spain, and Leiden was besieged (for
the second time) by the Spanish in May 1574. With supplies dwindling,
disease out of control, and no help in sight, Leiden's citizens considered
surrender. That would have meant death as certain as the starvation they
faced. As a terror tactic, the Spanish massacred everyone in towns they
retook. Communicating by carrier pigeon, William promised that help was on
the way and urged the citizens to hold out. (Question: How do you
communicate with a besieged city when your supply of birds that fly home to
that city runs out?)

William's attack involved breaching various dykes to flood the low areas
around the town where the Spanish were encamped. It took some time, and the
Spanish still held a number of strong points on higher ground that had to
be taken by assault. Because the wind blew in the wrong direction, the
flooded areas were still too shallow for the watergeuzen's flat-bottom
boats. Finally at the end of September the wind shifted, the water
deepened, and William's flotilla was finally able to reach Leiden with food
and supplies on 3 October 1574.

Here is the Wikipedia article on the siege:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Leiden .

More on the geuzen is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geuzen .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆