Fort Crèvecoeur

Fort Crèvecoeur was a Dutch fortress near 's-Hertogenbosch. It is now used as a military exercise terrain.

Fort Crèvecoeur was founded during the Eighty Years' War. In 1587 the main campaign was centered around the Siege of Sluis in Zeeland. A smaller part of the States' army under Philip of Hohenlohe came in action near 's-Hertogenbosch. Hohenlohe first took the Loon op Zand Castle, and plundered some villages. He then made a ship bridge over the Meuse and started to besiege the Sconce of Engelen. The Spanish Netherlands therefore sent Claude de Berlaymont lord of Haultpenne to the area with 42 companies of foot and 25 squadrons of cavalry. He attacked Hohenlohe in order to lift the siege, but was defeated. Haultpenne himself was wounded, and on 14 July he died from his wounds in 's-Hertogenbosch.

Hohenlohe then conquered the Sconce of Engelen, and razed it. On the place 'where the battle was fought' Hohenlohe somewhat later constructed a new strong fortification that was named Crèvecoeur. The logic behind it was simple. The Dutch wanted to block any action from 's-Hertogenbosch to the Meuse, and in general the Republic was stronger on water. This made supplying a fortress on the Meuse easier than supplying a fortress on the Dieze at Engelen, where river transport could be blocked. The Spanish side reacted by rebuilding Fort Engelen. It seems that later the Spanish side reconquered Crèvecoeur.

In 1590 the Dutch army reconquered Fort Crèvecoeur. On 29 June 1593 a Spanish army under Count Mansfeld appeared before Crëvecoeur. Somewhat before that, Floris van Brederode, lord of Cloetingen, had marched into the fort with reinforcements. Now the Dutch built a dam across the Dieze, causing all the surrounding lands to flood, and Mansfeld broke off the siege. 1594 started with the Dutch Republic attempting to surprise 's-Hertogenbosch, The attempt failed, but the subsequent Siege of Groningen (1594) succeeded.

On 4 May 1599 a Spanish army under La Barlotta crossed the Meuse between Kessel and Maren (east of Crèvecoeur) and invaded the Bommelerwaard. On 5 May a Dutch army under Prince Maurice moved to Zaltbommel. The Spanish then took Crèvecoeur after a short siege, and made a bridge over the Meuse. The Spanish then started a siege of Zaltbommel, which they abandoned on 3 June.

Text adapted from “Fort Crèvecoeur (Netherlands)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fort Crèvecoeur ranks #6,168 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #86 of the 201 mapped in Netherlands. 13 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Tilburg, 23 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗