“Dutch Swamp Dragon” - The (Staggering) Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch 1629
303,597
Published 2022-07-24
In 1629, the Dutch Republic was on the brink of financial ruin and hard-pressed from all sides. Amidst a strategical encirclement of fortresses and the threatening presence of the Spanish field army, Frederik Hendrik, called the Conqueror of Cities, was marching to the south of the Republic. He wanted to capture the strongest fortress of the Spanish encirclement: 's-Hertogenbosch. This fortress-town was deemed impregnable and was affectionately called the Swamp Dragon by contemporaries. Its pantries were full, its powder chambers stuffed and its defenders ready to throw anyone back that would come close to their wall. It looked like the conqueror of cities had choose his target poorly...
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Bibliography:
Cauwer, Peter, Tranen van bloed: het beleg van 's-Hertogenbosch en de oorlog in de Nederlanden, 1629, Amsterdam 2007. amzn.to/3z6LZXO
Duffy, C., The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660, London 1979. amzn.to/3cCxL9N
Geyl, P., The Revolt of the Netherlands (1555-1609), New York 1958. amzn.to/3cCnw5k
Israel, Jonathan Irvine, De Republiek 1477-1806, Franeker 1996. amzn.to/3S18xBV
Israel, J., The Dutch Republic. It’s Rise, Greatness and Fall, Oxford 1995. amzn.to/3IZuoWs
Townsend Brady, Sirus, Great Sieges of History: The Sacking of Haarlem, in: The Cosmopolitan 39 (Aug. 1905), p. 447-453.
Reading list:
Warfare:
Duffy, C., Siege Warfare: The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660, Vol. 1, 1979. amzn.to/32dvvwM
Devries, K., Douglas, R., Medieval Military Technology, 1992, amzn.to/3IazYoC.
Rogers, C.J., The military revolution debate. Readings on the military transformation of early modern Europe, 1995. amzn.to/3geVDMM
Rogers, C.J., Soldiers' Lives through History - The Middle Ages, 2006. amzn.to/3j2kQvG
Parker, C., The Cambridge History of Warfare, 2005. amzn.to/32ggn1L
Van Nimwegen, O., The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688, 2010. amzn.to/2E3Fc95
Fiction related to the Early modern period:
Alexandre Dumas,The Three Musketeers amzn.to/2CJVAuu
Alexandre Dumas, 20 Years After amzn.to/32g82Lv
Alexandre Dumas, The Vicomte de Bragelonne amzn.to/2EnIOCB
Markus Heitz, The Dark Lands amzn.to/3ntZgEu
Military Si-Fi recommendations:
Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe (Series of 22 books on the Napoleonic Wars), amzn.to/3RZyty0
Dan Abnett, The Founding: A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Gaunt’s Ghosts) amzn.to/3vdGxkZ
Dan Abnett, The Lost: A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Gaunt’s Ghosts) amzn.to/3osvFvA
Dan Abnett, The Saint A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Gaunt’s Ghosts) amzn.to/3orikUk
Glen Cook, Chronicles of the Black Company (Chronicles of the Black Company Series Book 1) amzn.to/3PVgyGV
Historiography:
Neville Morley, Writing Ancient History 1999. amzn.to/3NCyoNl
Albeit focused on ancient history, it's a brilliant book for anybody who is interested in what history actually is. Is it a story? How does it work in practise? Can writing history be objective? Is it "scientific"? What makes it a proper discipline at university?
Chapters:
00:00-00:57 Intro
00:57-04:41 Chapter 1: In a Stranglehold
04:41-07:41 Chapter 2: The Swamp Dragon
07:41-12:21 Chapter 3: Like a Fish Out of Water
12:21-15:27 Chapter 4: Five Trenches
15:27-17:45 Chapter 5: Despair
17:45-21:42 Chapter 6: Relief
21:42:-26:20 Chapter 7: The Dragon's Shell
All Comments (21)
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We updated our merch store with a bunch of new posters but also new designs for shirts and hoodies! Find it here: sandrhoman.creator-spring.com/
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Imagine being so Dutch your siege plans involve building a windmill
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Babe wake up, the guy with the funny accent that owns a Star Fortress is back with another video!
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Everybody gangsta... till the Dutch use poldering as a military weapon.
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I just knew the Dutch would employ Battle-Windmills…
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The Dutch: You Spanish have merely adopted the swamp. We were born in it, molded by it.
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fun fact: in a recent drought, the outlines and locations of the trenches became visible again the farm fields next to the city. Truly amazing that something that happened in 1629 became visible again.
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I had a feeling from the moment the water was established as an important defense that the attackers were going to do something very Dutch.
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Fun Fact: Many English soldiers who participated in this siege eventually found themselves on the opposing sides in the English Civil War between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians.
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Draining a whole swamp to attack a fortress is some Dynasty Warriors/Kessen levels of tactics. This period of history would make a cool game honestly. Open world Holland, being a mercenary running around the dikes with your gang, shooting your arquebus at dudes. Robbing villages. That's the life.
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As a Dutch person I'm VERY proud of your pronunciation of 's-Hertogenbosch it was PERFECT. Honestly nothing could be improved on it, very well done!
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Brother your pronunciation of Dutch words like Groenlo is incredible, well done. The effort you put into pronouncing German, French and other more foreign to you languages is one of two things (the other being the clothing illustrations) that really sets your channel apart for me. All those languages can be beautiful and from you I get to learn how they're pronounced myself.
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"You'll never break this city, Dutchman! We're protected on all sides by huge tracts of flooded land!" "You dare to use my own spells against me, Spaniard?!"
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These siege episodes are one of the most interesting things I have ever seen. The scale and complexity of these things is truly staggering!
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I had always found the early modern period of history to be uninteresting when compared to other periods. However, your videos have gone a long way in revitalizing that period and showing that I was wrong.
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As a Dutch wondering why allot of streets, squares, and lanes are named Frederik Hendrik, this explains a lot.
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Ah yes, Sunday. The day you finally upload. And I'm more than pleased to see the eighty years' war being the topic of today's video. and even more happy to see a siege video. GG man... GG.
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Being a Boschenaar (native to 's-hertogenbosch), as a young lad i got told stories of brave defenders going out at night with knive to protect the city during our siege. Watching this reminded me of those stories from my grandfather. Thanks SandRhoman!
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Swamp Dragon. That's my new nickname for my mother in law.
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its great to see a video about the place where I live. Its always very impressive to walk around the city and see the fortifications from back then still being there.
