[citation needed] On 4 November 1576, mutinying Spanish tercios of the Army of Flanders began the sack of Antwerp, leading to three days of horror among the population of the city, which was the cultural, economic and financial center of the Low Countries.

The principal cause of the sack was the delay in payment due to the soldiers by Philip II of Spain, who had recently declared bankruptcy.

Case in point, the transfer of the troops' salary from Spain could not be performed by letter of exchange (the 16th-century equivalent of a money order).

Without breaking their celebrated discipline, they would choose a new leader, or Eletto, from their number and march in perfect order under him to whatever their target was.

D'Avila had also prepared his attack and contacted other Spanish mutinous troops in Aalst, Lier, Breda and Maastricht, which converged on the city.

This shocking event stiffened many in the Netherlands, even many Catholics, against the Spanish Habsburg monarchy and further tarnished Philip's declining reputation.

English traders, not wishing to risk visiting a town that now resembled a war zone, sought out new commercial links.

The sack led to Antwerp's decline from the Netherlands' economic, financial, and cultural center and paved the way for Amsterdam's rise.