[2][4] In 1598, under the mediation of the papal legate Cardinal Alessandro de'Medici (the future Pope Leo XI), Spain and France concluded the Peace of Vervins on 2 May.

[5] On 5 September, following the orders of the Archduke Albert of Austria, Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands, Francisco de Mendoza at the head of the army, captured Orsoy from the Dutch defenders, a passage-town on the banks of the Lower Rhine.

[10] In the spring of 1599, the Spanish army renewed the advance, and on May 15 the Spaniards besieged Zaltbommel, on the Waal river, but Maurice of Nassau, was able to keep a supply line open by means of a ship-bridge.

On 13 June Mendoza retreated to the Fort San Andrés, a strategic place built by the Spaniards to control the rivers Meuse and Waal west of Heerewaarden.

[9] In early September 1599, the Protestant-Dutch forces, supported by a German-mercenary army of 25,000 men led by Count Simon of Lippe advanced over Rees and laid siege to the town.