Introduction The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718-1720) was caused by Spanish attempts to recover territorial losses agreed by the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Conducted primarily in Italy, it included minor engagements in the Americas and Northern Europe as well as the Spanish-backed 1719 Jacobite Rising. Spain recaptured Sardinia in 1717 without opposition, followed by… Read More
Introduction The Cologne War (1583-1588) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire, within present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, in Germany. The war occurred within the context of the Protestant Reformation in Germany and the subsequent Counter-Reformation, and concurrently with the Dutch… Read More
Introduction The Siege of Godesberg, 18 November to 17 December 1583, was the first major siege of the Cologne War (1583 to 1589). Seeking to wrest control of an important fortification, Bavarian and mercenary soldiers surrounded the Godesberg, and the village then of the same name, now Bad Godesberg, located at its foot. On top… Read More
Introduction The Destruction of Neuss occurred in July 1586, during the Cologne War (1583 to 1588). Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma’s troops surrounded the city of Neuss, an important Protestant garrison in the Electorate of Cologne. After the city refused to capitulate, Parma’s army reduced the city to rubble through a combination of artillery fire,… Read More
Introduction The Battle of Werl occurred between 03 to 08 March 1586, during a month-long campaign in the Duchy of Westphalia by mercenaries fighting for the Protestant (Calvinist) Archbishop-Prince Elector of Cologne, Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg. The action at Werl had been preceded by a general plundering of Vest and Recklinghausen by troops of Hermann… Read More
Introduction The Sack of Rome in 546 was carried out by the Gothic king Totila during the Gothic War of 535-554 between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantine Empire. Totila was based at Tivoli and, in pursuit of his quest to reconquer the region of Latium, he moved against Rome. The city endured a siege lasting… Read More
Events 546 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under king Totila plunder the city, by bribing the Byzantine garrison. 942 – Assassination of William I of Normandy. 1398 – Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud’s armies in Delhi are defeated by Timur. 1583 – Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeat troops under Gebhard Truchsess von… Read More
