Habsburg forces under Georg Schenck van Toutenburg defeated Danish-Guelders troops, helping to secure Habsburg control over Groningen during the Guelders Wars.
Key Facts
- Date
- 5 August 1536
- Habsburg fleet size
- 45 ships (Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese)
- Fleet sailors
- 3,000 sailors
- Fleet troops
- 4,500 troops
- Defeated commander
- Meindert van Ham
- Victorious commander
- Georg Schenck van Toutenburg
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Danish Count's Feud overlapped with the Guelders Wars after 1534, drawing competing powers into the Low Countries. In May 1536, Meindert van Ham, backed by Denmark and Guelders, invaded Groningen and threatened Holland if the Habsburgs assembled a fleet to relieve the siege of Copenhagen, escalating the regional conflict.
Mary of Hungary ordered a fleet of 45 ships and sent Georg Schenck van Toutenburg with soldiers to Groningen. Schenck van Toutenburg occupied the city of Groningen with citizen cooperation, advanced toward Appingedam, and met Meindert van Ham's forces near Heiligerlee, where he defeated them on 5 August 1536.
The defeat of Meindert van Ham eliminated the Danish-Guelders threat to Groningen and the surrounding region. Habsburg forces under Schenck van Toutenburg consolidated control over Groningen, reducing the ability of Charles of Guelders and his Danish allies to threaten the Habsburg Netherlands from the northeast.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Georg Schenck van Toutenburg, Frederick II, Elector Palatine.
Side B
1 belligerent
Meindert van Ham.