Battle of Gembloux (1578)

Battle of Gembloux
Part of the Eighty Years' War
Engraving of the Battle of Gembloux by Georg Braun
Date 31 January 1578 Location Gembloux, Brabant, Spanish Netherlands (present-day Belgium) Result Spanish victory[1][2]
Belligerents
States-General	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Antoine de Goignies  (POW) Count of Boussu William de La Marck Martin Schenck Emanuel Philibert de Lalaing Count of Egmont Marquis d’Havré Henry Balfour	John of Austria Alexander Farnese Cristóbal de Mondragón Ottavio Gonzaga Count of Mansfeld Francisco Verdugo
Strength
25,000 men	17,000–20,000[2] (Only engaged 1,200 cavalry in the first phase of the battle)[3]
Casualties and losses
10,000 killed ,prisoners or wounded[2] [2]	25 dead or wounded (12 dead in action)[3]

The Battle of Gembloux took place at Gembloux, near Namur, Low Countries, between the Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria (Spanish: Don Juan de Austria),^[4] Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands, and a rebel army composed of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French, and Walloon soldiers under Antoine de Goignies,^[5] during the Eighty Years' War.^[1][2]

On 31 January 1578 the Spanish cavalry commanded by John's nephew, Don Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma (Italian: Alessandro Farnese, Spanish: Alejandro Farnesio), after pushing back the Netherlandish cavalry, attacked the Netherlandish army, causing an enormous panic amongst the rebel troops.^[3] The result was a crushing victory for the Spanish forces.^[1][2] The battle hastened the disintegration of the unity of the rebel provinces, and meant the end of the Union of Brussels.^[6][7]