Guelders Wars

The wars included the sack of The Hague in 1528 and the failed siege of Antwerp in 1542 under the command of the Guelderian field marshal Maarten van Rossum.

In this period, the Saxon feud was fought, in which George, Duke of Saxony, allied with the Habsburgs, tried to subdue Frisia, the Ommelanden, and Groningen.

The Frisians under the leadership of Jancko Douwama resisted and were supported by Edzard I, Count of East Frisia, and the inimitable Charles, Duke of Guelders.

When he held only a handful of cities (Leeuwarden, Harlingen en Franeker), he sold his rights to Charles of Habsburg in May 1515.

In the meantime, the Frisian rebels, led by the legendary Pier Gerlofs Donia and Wijerd Jelckama, won many battles at sea and raided through Holland at the head of the Arumer Zwarte Hoop.

Schenck van Toutenburg moved his army into Overijssel and Utrecht and easily chased the Guelders troops, who had already become very unpopular amongst the population.

In 1534, the Danish Count's Feud spilled over into the Low Countries when Habsburg supported Enno II, Count of East Frisia, ally of Christopher of Oldenburg and Charles, Duke of Guelders, supported Balthasar Oomkens von Esens, ally of Christian III of Denmark.

As a reaction, Holland gathered a fleet to lift the siege of Copenhagen, and Habsburg sent Schenck van Toutenburg to chase the enemy troops from Groningen.

Before the Dutch fleet was ready to sail, Copenhagen fell in the hands of Christian III of Denmark, and peace was concluded.

When the Low Countries were at war with France, he sent in 1542 Maarten van Rossum on a raid through Brabant, plundering the countryside and besieging Antwerp and Leuven.