Spanish Fury
A Spanish Fury (or the Spanish Terror) was a number of violent sackings of cities in the Low Countries or Benelux, mostly by Spanish Habsburg armies, that happened in the years 1572–1579 during the Dutch Revolt. In some cases, the sack did not follow the taking of a city. In others, the sack was ordered, or at least not restrained, by Spanish commanders after the fall of a city. The most notorious Spanish Fury was the sack of Antwerp in November 1576. In English, this, and the mutinous campaign of 1576 in general, tends to be what is meant by "Spanish Fury". In Dutch, the term includes a wider range of sackings, in particular the city punishments of 1572. The events of the Spanish Fury contributed to the creation of anti-Spanish sentiment in many parts of Europe. Background Several requests for relaxation of religious coercion in the Low Countries, including a rejected petition by a covenant of noblemen in the winter of 1565–66. The summer brought renewed violent outbursts of iconoclasm, in which 'Beeldenstorm' Calvinists destroyed religious images in Catholic monasteries and churches. The Battle of Oosterweel in March 1567 was the first Spanish military response to the many riots