Sack of Antwerp

The sack of Antwerp or the Spanish Fury at Antwerp was an episode of the Eighty Years' War.

On 4 November 1576, Spanish tercios began the sack of Antwerp, leading to three days of horror among the population of the city, which was the cultural, economic and financial center of the Netherlands. The principal cause of the sack was the delay in payment due the soldiers by Philip II. Spain had recently declared bankruptcy, and 400,000 florins intended as payment to the troops were seized by the government of Elizabeth I when ships containing the florins sought shelter from a storm in English ports.

The Spanish soldiers, angry at fighting without rest or pay against the Dutch rebels, had already sacked Zierikzee and Aalst, causing the fifteen loyal provinces (Holland and Zeeland were in the hands of the rebels) to come together in States-General with the purpose of removing the mercenaries from the Netherlands. With no payment in sight, the Spanish soldiers decided to pay themselves by looting Antwerp. Some 7,000 lives and a great deal of property were lost. The cruelty and destruction of these three days of rage became known as the Spanish Fury.

This shocking event stiffened many in the Netherlands, even many Catholics, against the Spanish Habsburg monarchy; and further tarnished Philip's declining reputation. The States General, influenced by the sack, signed the Pacification of Ghent only 4 days later, unifying the rebellious provinces with the loyal provinces with the goal of removing all Spanish soldiers from the Netherlands, as well as stopping the persecution of heretics. This effectively destroyed every accomplishment the Spanish had made in the past 10 years, since the start of the Dutch Revolt.

Furthermore, it brought about the ruin of the Antwerp Cloth Market. English traders, not wishing to risk visiting a town that now resembled a war zone, sought out new commercial links. By 1582, all English trade to Antwerp had ceased. The city's large Jewish population was especially hard hit and Antwerp subsequently lost its status as one of the richest, most influential cities in Europe; it recovered but was never to recapture its former glory.

The sack led to Antwerp's decline from the economic, financial and cultural center of the Netherlands and paved the way for Amsterdam's rise.

This event also added to Spain's Black Legend.