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| Battle of Heiligerlee | |||||||||||||||||
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| Conflict | Eighty Years' War | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | 23 May, 1568 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Heiligerlee, Friesland | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Dutch rebel victory | ||||||||||||||||
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The Battle of Heiligerlee in Friesland on 23 May, 1568 was part of the Eighty Years' War.
The province Friesland was invaded by an army consisting of 3900 infantry led by Louis of Nassau and 200 cavalry led by Adolf of Nassau. Both were brothers of William I of Orange.
The Stadtholder of Friesland and also Duke of Aremberg, Johan de Ligne, had an army of 3200 infantry and 20 cavalry.
Aremberg initially avoided confrontation, awaiting reinforcements. However on 23 May 1568 Adolf lured him to an ambush by Louis' at the monastery of Heiligerlee. The ambush worked. The defending force lost 1500-2000 men, while the invading force lost 50 men, including Adolf of Nassau. The rebels captured 7 cannons.
The invading force did not capture any cities and was defeated at the Battle of Jemmingen.
Adolf of Nassau is mentioned in the Dutch national anthem:
Graef Adolff is ghebleven, In Vriesland in den slaech,