Send Gift Baskets to Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands

The city of Bergen op Zoom received city status probably in 1212. As a result of its separation from the lordship of Breda in 1287, the city and its surroundings became a lordship. A margraviate was created from the lordship in 1559. Bergen op Zoom was ruled in succession by several noble families, including the House of Glymes, until 1795, although the title was nominal until that time.

As one of the main armories and arsenals of the United Provinces, Bergen op Zoom was a mighty fortress during the early modern period. It was surrounded by marshes and quickly flooded polders, so it had a tremendous natural defensive site. In addition, if the besieging army did not possess a fleet to blockade its port, it could receive reinforcements and supplies by sea.

This made the city an important strategic point for the Dutch during the Eighty Years War, beginning in the late sixteenth century. In 1588, Alessandro Farnese besieged it, and in 1622, Ambrosio Spinola besieged it a second time. Neither siege was successful, and Bergen op Zoom was nicknamed La Pucelle or The Virgin because it was never conquered.

When the French army laid siege to the city in 1747 as part of the War of Austrian Succession, the city was under siege by the French army. As a result of new works built by Menno van Coehoorn in the early 17th century, Bergen op Zoom was fortified with three forts surrounding it and a canalized diversion of the Scheldt, forming a ditch around it. Despite this, it did not possess a second line of fortifications or a fortress. The city was taken and thoroughly sacked after seventy days of siege; the garrison was slaughtered.

The town was again besieged by the British in March 1814 in an attempt to dislodge the French garrison during the War of the Sixth Coalition.