Siege of Haarlem - Under Siege

Under Siege

On 11 December 1572 the Spanish army put Haarlem under siege. The city was not very strong, militarily speaking. Although the city was completely surrounded by citywalls, they were not in good shape. The area around the city could not be inundated, and offered the enemy many places to set up camp. However, the existence of the Haarlemmermeer (a great lake) nearby made it difficult for the enemy to cut off the transportation of food into the city completely.

In the Middle Ages it was unusual to fight in the winter, but the city of Haarlem was crucial and Don Fadrique stayed and put the town under siege. During the first two months of the siege, the situation was in balance. The Spanish army dug two tunnels to reach the city walls and collapse them. The defenders made tunnels to blow up the Spanish tunnels. The situation became worse for Haarlem on 29 March 1573. The Amsterdam army, faithful to the Spanish king, occupied the Haarlemmermeer and effectively blocked Haarlem from the outside world. The hunger in the city grew, and the situation became so tense that on 27 May many (Spanish-loyal) prisoners were taken from the prison and murdered. On 19 December no less than 625 shots were fired at the defensive wall between the Janspoort to the Catherijnebridge. This forced the defenders to put up a completely new wall.

Two city gates, the Kruispoort and the Janspoort collapsed from the fighting.

Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer, a very strong woman, helped defending the city.

In the beginning of July William I of Orange put together an army of 5000 soldiers near Leiden, to rescue Haarlem. However, the Spanish trapped them at the Manpad and defeated the army.