| Conflict: | Siege of Oudewater (1575) |
| Partof: | the Eighty Years' War |
| Date: | 19 July – 7 August 1575 |
| Place: | Oudewater, Utrecht (present-day the Netherlands) |
| Result: | Spanish victory |
| Combatant1: | Dutch Rebels |
| Combatant2: |  Spain |
| Commander2: | Gillis van Berlaymont |
The siege of Oudewater was an event during the Eighty Years' War that took place in the Dutch town of Oudewater, culminating in the Oudewater Massacre (Oudewaterse moord).[1] [2] The siege by Spanish troops started on 19 July 1575 and ended on 7 August 1575, when the town was taken by storm and plundered.[3]
In 1568 a garrison of the Spanish Army was stationed in Oudewater. On 19 June 1572 Adriaen van Swieten, a nobleman and deputy of William of Orange, entered the town with a small number of troops and convinced it to join the Dutch Revolt against Philip II of Spain.[4] [5]
The siege by Spanish troops under command of stadtholder Gillis van Berlaymont started on 19 July 1575 and ended in a bloodbath on 7 August 1575. Many of the inhabitants were put to the sword, and some citizens set their own houses on fire to spite looters, leading to a major conflagration. In total, as many as half the inhabitants of the town may have died.[6]
In 1615 the States of Holland authorised pensions to the 300 survivors of the massacre then still living, the last payments on which were made in 1664.[7] An annual commemoration of the massacre was instituted in 1608. It is now held each year on the first Sunday on or after 7 August.[8]