Zoudenbalch - The Zoudenbalchs and The Outbreak of The Utrecht Civil War

The Zoudenbalchs and The Outbreak of The Utrecht Civil War

The unexpected death of Duke Charles the Bold in 1477, who was succeeded by his young and inexperienced daughter Maria, opened the floodgates of latent anti-Burgundian sentiments in the Netherlands. In the Sticht a vicious civil war broke out between the States and Bishop David regarding the Episcopal High Court which had replaced the various local courts, in contravention of the traditional rights of the States. David of Burgundy was no longer welcome in the city of Utrecht or in the other cities of the Sticht and he retired with his partisans to his favourite castle in Wijk bij Duurstede.

Simultaneous to this battle of wills in the Sticht, civil war broke out in Holland between the anti-Burgundian Hook and the pro-Burgundian Cod parties. Archduke Maximilian I of Habsburg, who had married the Burgundian heiress, Mary of Burgundy, shortly after her father's death, faced threats to the Burgundian heritage from all sides and was initially unable to intervene decisively in Holland. The Hook party in Holland was led by Reinier van Broeckhuysen, a nephew of the former Bishop-Elect Gijsbrecht van Brederode. In 1481 Reinier managed to shortly capture Leiden with an army of Hook exiles but was ultimately forced to abandon the city to the more powerful Habsburg forces. He and his army then sought refuge in the Sticht where they stood under the protection of the energetic and ferocious Viscount January of Montfoort, leader of the anti-Burgundian forces in the bishopric. The Viscount, with the support of the Zoudenbalchs and other anti-Burgundian notables, then effectively staged a coup in the city government of Utrecht, ejecting the pro-Burgundian regents from their offices and thus ensuring that the council was fully committed to the Hook cause. War between the Burgundian's Habsburg heirs and the Hooks of Holland and Utrecht became inevitable.

Gerrit Zoudenbalch (died 3 December 1483) had played an active role from 1459 in the civic life of Utrecht as Mayor, Alderman and Councillor. Like many noblemen in Utrecht he complemented his revenues by commerce, trading in wine with his cousin Floris van Pallaes. As the conflict with Prince-Bishop David of Burgundy worsened, he became an ever more outspoken leader of the anti-Burgundian faction. Prior to and during the Civil War he was Mayor of Utrecht and at the height of the Civil War he occupied the powerful and critical post of Sheriff of Utrecht. Gerrit's brother, the Dom Canon Evert Zoudenbalch, had become the most powerful clergyman in Utrecht following the death of his friend Gijsbrecht van Brederode, and he shared his brother's fierce Sticht patriotism. The two brothers stood side by side with Viscount January of Montfoort in the struggle for the Sticht's autonomy.

In late 1481 the forces of Archduke Maximilian, under the leadership of Frederik van Egmond, Lord of Egmond and IJsselstein, began to ravage the Sticht and the countryside around Utrecht in particular. In order to secure finances to fund Hook mercenaries to counter the Habsburg forces, Gerrit Zoudenbalch barricaded all monasteries, convents and religious institutions in Utrecht and refused to allow any clergy to leave until they had handed over their treasures. This heavy-handed action led to loud protests from the clergy and he was forced to back off.

The Hooks of Utrecht realized that they stood little chance against Maximilian's might and so decided to search for a compromise with the Archduke. In September 1481 Gerrit Zoudenbalch led a delegation of the Sticht to Antwerp to meet with Maximilian. He was accompanied by his brother, Evert Zoudenbalch, who came as ambassador of the First Estate of the Sticht. Gerrit Zoudenbalch presented a long list of grievances against Prince-Bishop David, which were later countered by David's plenipotentiary, Jacob van Amerongen. Maximilian chose to believe Van Amerongen and refused to accommodate the requests of the Sticht's delegation.

Despite some initial military successes under Viscount January of Montfoort (most notably at the Vaart) the Hooks of Utrecht were well aware of the weakness of their position and they thus sought an alliance with King Louis XI of France, the arch-enemy of Maximilian - but ultimately all to no avail. The Hooks also sought to draw John I, the ambitious Duke of Cleves into the conflict. The Duke supported the cause of the Utrecht Hooks cautiously but not outrightly, sending his younger son, Engelbert, to join the Hook forces as a figurehead generalissimo.