[1][4] The Thirty Years' War began in 1618 with the Bohemian Revolt, when the authorities of Bohemia offered the throne of their kingdom to the Protestant Frederick V of the Palatinate.

[5] In August 1620, Spinola and 25,000 soldiers from the Army of Flanders began their march from Brussels, and in early September they entered the Lower Palatinate, taking Bad Kreuznach, Oppenheim, and the Bergstrasse district, and on 1 October Bacharach.

[1] Don Carlos Coloma arrived with his troops at the gates of the town on the evening of 10 September, and sent emissaries to the authorities saying that if they surrendered to the obedience of Emperor Ferdinand II they would be well treated.

Faced with an ambiguous response from the defenders, Coloma ordered the placement of four cannons and moved his troops to the foot of the walls and the gate of the town to launch the assault.

[7] Four days after, on 14 September, Spinola, with a great maneuver of distraction over Worms, captured Oppenheim, without too much difficulty, causing a severe blow to the Protestant forces.