Dutch Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648) // The Siege of Middelburg

Sale: Triton X, Lot: 907. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $2300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LOW COUNTRIES, Middelburg. AR 36 Stuivers Klippe (29.19 g). Siege coinage. Dated 1572. + / • D • R • P • / • F • MIDD / • 1 • 5 • 7 • 2 in four lines within pearl border; coats of arms of Zeeland and Middelburg flanking / Blank. Delmonte, Argent 165; Mailliet 2.2. EF, toned.

In 1559, William the Silent, Prince of Orange, was given the governorship of several Dutch provinces by the Spanish king Philip II. However, William’s good relationship with the Spanish Habsburgs did not last long. William’s frustration with the Spanish arose from several issues. He, along with many Catholic Dutch, was unhappy with the persecutions of non-Catholics. He also felt that the Spanish were undermining the influence of the native Dutch noblemen. Finally, taxation was a contentious issue; the rich merchants of the Netherlands felt that they were funding an unfairly large share of the Habsburgs’ costly wars. In response to these perceived injustices, William arose as a very popular supporter of the Dutch resistance, helping to form a confederacy dedicated to reducing Spain’s power in the region. When Philip II discovered William’s role in the rebellion, the Prince was stripped of his holdings in the Netherlands. In response, William raised an army and began attacking coastal towns held by the Spanish. In 1572, he besieged Middelburg, a town in the province of Zeeland. The city eventually surrendered in 1574 and was occupied. These events marked the opening phases of the Eighty Years’ War, a long struggle by the Dutch to gain independence from Spain.