Siege of Haarlem Ends

July 3, 1573

After seven months of starvation and bombardment, the Dutch city of Haarlem surrendered to Spanish besiegers. The Duke of Alba executed the garrison and more than a thousand citizens. Dutch resistance, far from collapsing, stiffened. Spanish terror had lost the strategic payoff Alba had counted on. The seven-month resistance became a founding legend of the Dutch Republic, demonstrating that civilians could withstand professional armies.