Siege of Deventer in 1578
1578 CE.
Shown on the map at 52.250°, 6.150°.
The siege of Deventer was a siege of the city of Deventer in Overijssel during the Eighty Years' War. Troops of the States-General, under George van Lalaing, Count of Rennenberg, besieged Deventer from 3 August 1578. Rennenberg had overall command of the States forces, while Diederik Sonoy commanded the besieging troops. The city was defended by about 900 High German soldiers of the Polweiler regiment in royal service. The garrison's command structure included Nicolaus Polweiler, Augustyn van Rychenstein and the governor Havincourt. The city ultimately passed into States control after the garrison's surrender and evacuation. The siege followed the capture of Kampen by the States forces and formed part of the campaign to eliminate royalist strongpoints in Overijssel. Deventer was strategically important because it was a garrison city and the IJssel could be crossed there relatively easily. The States-General sought to capture such positions north of the major rivers in order to protect Utrecht and Holland against raids, plundering and forced contributions. A royalist garrison had been stationed in Deventer since 1568.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Deventer (1578), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.