Pacification of Ghent - Background

Background

In 1567 king Philip II of Spain, the overlord of the Habsburg Netherlands, sent Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba as governor general to the Netherlands with an army of Spanish mercenaries to restore order after the political upheavals of 1566 that culminated in the Iconoclastic fury of that year. He soon replaced the most important advisors of the former Regent Margaret of Parma by summarily executing them, such as the counts of Egmont and Hoorn, or by driving them into exile, such as William the Silent, the Prince of Orange. Philipe de Croÿ, Duke of Aerschot, however, remained in his favor as leader of the royalist faction.

At first, Alba had little difficulty in repelling the rebel military incursions, led by Orange. However, maintaining a large military presence put a severe strain on the royal finances, especially as Spain at the same time fought expensive wars against the Ottoman Sultan and in Italy. Alba's attempts to finance these expenses by new taxes also estranged previously loyal subjects from the cause of the royalists. Then, in 1572, an incursion of privateers with letters of marque from Orange (known as watergeuzen) into Holland and Zeeland met with unexpected success. Orange was able to take over the government in these two provinces, under the guise of his old post of royal Stadtholder, and bring them in open revolt against the government in Brussels. This brought about a formal state of war between Holland and Zeeland and the fifteen loyalist provinces.

This civil war was mostly fought with mercenary troops on both sides, with Spanish Tercios playing a preponderant role on the royalist side. Because of the dire state of the royalist finances, these Spanish mercenaries went often unpaid. They frequently mutinied, especially after victories, and during such actions they often pillaged nearby towns. This eventually brought disaffection with the Brussels government to a boil in the summer of 1576.