The siege of Oudewater was an event during the Eighty Years' War that took place in the Dutch town of Oudewater, culminating in the Oudewater Massacre ((in Dutch) Oudewaterse moord).^[1][2] The siege by Spanish troops started on 19 July 1575 and ended on 7 August 1575, when the town was taken by storm and plundered.^[3]

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Quick Facts Date, Location ...

Siege of Oudewater (1575)
Part of the Eighty Years' War
Depiction of the siege of Oudewater
Date 19 July – 7 August 1575 Location Oudewater, Utrecht (present-day the Netherlands) Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Dutch Rebels	Spain
Commanders and leaders
	Gillis van Berlaymont

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In 1568 a garrison of the Spanish Army was stationed in Oudewater. On 19 June 1572 Adriaen van Swieten, a nobleman and deputy of William of Orange, entered the town with a small number of troops and convinced it to join the Dutch Revolt against Philip II of Spain.^[4][5]

The siege by Spanish troops under command of stadtholder Gillis van Berlaymont started on 19 July 1575 and ended in a bloodbath on 7 August 1575. Many of the inhabitants were put to the sword, and some citizens set their own houses on fire to spite looters, leading to a major conflagration. In total, as many as half the inhabitants of the town may have died.^[6]

In 1615 the States of Holland authorised pensions to the 300 survivors of the massacre then still living, the last payments on which were made in 1664.^[7] An annual commemoration of the massacre was instituted in 1608. It is now held each year on the first Sunday on or after 7 August.^[8]