Spanish Fury at Antwerp
November 4, 1576
Unpaid Spanish troops mutinied and sacked Antwerp, the richest city in Europe, killing seven thousand citizens and looting for three days. The Spanish Fury drove the southern Netherlands into alliance with the rebellious north at the Pacification of Ghent, briefly uniting all seventeen provinces against Madrid. The sack destroyed Antwerp's commercial preeminence and triggered the merchant exodus to Amsterdam that initiated the Dutch Golden Age.
In context
Also in 1576 (3 other events on record)
- Titian Dies in Venice · Europe · Culture
- Bodin Publishes Les Six Livres · Europe · Politics
- Frobisher Sails for the Northwest Passage · North America · Exploration
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in War
Era
Renaissance (1501–1650), one of 715 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources