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49-466: The house was rebuilt for Nicolaas II Rockox , lord Mayor of Antwerp. He had different houses united in 1603, and restored in Renaissance style. It was his principal residence which he used for business and it was built in baroque style. A few of Rubens ' most famous artworks were specially designed for this residence, among them Samson and Delilah . The Rockox family sold the estate in 1715 to benefit

98-474: A Samson and Delilah painted for him by his friend Rubens . After 1608 the friendship between them was very close. Rockox commissioned several paintings from him, including The Rockox Triptych . Other friends of Rockox included Abraham Ortelius , who taught him the art of numismatics , and the young Anthony van Dyck , who painted several portraits for him. Rockox served several terms as mayor of Antwerp . He held other important posts including Justice of

147-522: A few meters into the Scheldt, beyond the main line of the estacade, so as to form a kind of ravelin with parapet. On this ravelin, which projected out from the estacade, the Prince in-stalled a battery of three demi-cannons, for the defense of the bulwark against an attack by enemy ships, and stationed fifty soldiers there. A little bit beyond each side of the bridge along its length, between the fort of Saint-Mary and

196-535: A flash that lit up both riverbanks for an instant followed by a column of smoke. The other ship managed to avoid the floating rafts and came to rest against the estacade on the Flemish side where it detonated. The river's water was sent over the dikes flooding everything in its path, stones were hurled nearly a mile away, the earth in Antwerp trembled, 800 Spaniards are said to have been killed , Caspar de Robles being one of

245-556: A group of Antwerpian ships stationed around one enormous vessel which turned out to be a floating battery, intended to attack the Spanish forts and the bridge over the Scheldt. It had four masts, three of which were topped with bullet-proof crow's nests where musketeers were stationed, its flanks were equipped with 20 large cannons and numerous small and medium pieces, and its hull was encased in cork and empty barrels wrapped in oakum to make it unsinkable. It could accommodate 500 musketeers. This

294-569: A high proportion of its middle class and mercantile population, Antwerp's trade suffered for two centuries afterwards as Dutch forts blockaded the River Scheldt until 1795. At the time Antwerp, in modern Belgium , was not only the largest Dutch city, but was also the cultural, economic, and financial centre of the Seventeen Provinces and of Northwestern Europe . On 4 November 1576, unpaid Spanish soldiery mutinied: they plundered and burnt

343-565: A lost cause. Being cut off as they were and with supplies running low, famine was taking its toll. The city's Catholics energetically demanded that negotiations with Farnese commence. These lengthy negotiations were conducted by Marnix in the Spanish headquarters at the Singelberg  [ nl ] in Beveren and on 17 August he signed the surrender of the city. After the siege, the Dutch fleet on

392-855: Is put permanently on display, like the paintings would be presented in the 17th century. However, this collection is not the historic collection as owned by the Rockox family. Besides paintings the current KBC collection includes important engravings, sculptures and textiles. Artists whose works are on display include Jan Fyt , Cornelis Massijs , Peter Paul Rubens , Jan Sanders van Hemessen , Hans III Jordaens , Jacob Jordaens , Maerten de Vos , David Teniers , Quentin Matsys , Joachim Patinir , Frans Snyders , Lucas Faydherbe , Paulus Pontius and Lambert Lombard . 51°13′18″N 4°24′22″E  /  51.2217°N 4.4061°E  / 51.2217; 4.4061 Nicolaas II Rockox Nicolaas Rockox (1560–1640),

441-643: The Eighty Years' War , after a siege lasting over a year from July 1584 until August 1585. The city of Antwerp was the focal point of the Protestant-dominated Dutch Revolt , but was forced to surrender to the Spanish forces under the command of Alessandro Farnese . Under the terms agreed, all the Protestants of Antwerp were given four years to settle their affairs and leave the city. Many migrated north, especially to Amsterdam . Apart from losing

490-722: The Dutch using these floodplains to try to regain control over the Scheldt (using low draft oar and sail boats with small cannon emplacements on them), the Spanish position largely held firm, as many of the Spanish forts had been equipped with cannon and high quality troops. Several attempts were made by the Dutch to steer " fire ships " into the Spanish pontoon bridge with the first and most spectacular of which being Federigo Giambelli 's "infernal machines". The cargo hold of each of two ships were converted into masonry lined blast chambers filled with gunpowder and heaped over with old gravestones, pieces of marble, iron hooks, stone balls, nails, and scrap metal then covered with planks and brush to give

539-552: The Flemish riverbank and twenty near the Brabantian riverbank, ready to intervene at any moment. The entire span of this gigantic structure was no less than 2,400 feet in length from one bank to the other. It was completed on February 25, 1585. In response to the closure of the Scheldt by this bridge, the Dutch flooded the lowlands adjacent to the Scheldt, effectively submerging most roads in scattered areas and leaving Spanish forts either flooded or isolated on small islands. Despite

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588-526: The Low Countries, protected by forts built at strategic intervals, to provide the army with a reliable flow of supplies. When the siege of Antwerp began Parma's army was well supplied. The first stage of the siege saw encirclement lines constructed around Antwerp and forts built along the Scheldt estuary so as to cut off trade with Ghent and Dendermonde. The purpose of capturing the strongholds along both banks of

637-704: The Peace, guild master of the Cloth Hall, head of the Arquebusiers’ Guild, chief treasurer and head of the civic guard. He died in the Gulden Rinck and was buried in the church of the Recollect convent , where he had a private chapel built for his deceased wife in 1619. Because he had no children, his property was given to the poor, in devotion. During his life Rockox spent an important part of his private fortune to benefit

686-507: The Scandinavian countries. Each of these masts was fitted at the tip with a large iron point, in the form of a lance, and was to be used to keep at some distance the boats, the ships, and the machines that the enemy would probably not fail to send toward the estacade with the intention of destroying it. The soldiers called these two barriers, which resembled rafts, “the floaters.” To complete this defense system, twenty vessels were stationed near

735-399: The Scheldt would have allowed Parma to control the passage of vessels trying to deliver relief supplies to Antwerp. Unfortunately, Fort Lillo wasn't captured so an alternative plan to control river traffic had to be devised; the construction of a bridge to blockade the Scheldt. So as to negate any effects from not possessing Lillo, it was decided to build the bridge in a spot upstream from

784-585: The Spanish Netherlands and Captain-General of the army of Flanders . In mid-June, 1584, Alexander Farnese had decided the time was right to make preparations for besieging Antwerp. Farnese left Bruges for Antwerp on July 3, 1584. When the siege of Antwerp began (1584) most of the County of Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant had been recaptured in the preceding year. The Prince of Parma's forces had been reinforced in

833-415: The appearance of an ordinary fire-ship. To ignite these floating bombs, one was equipped with a slow-burning match cord and the other had a sophisticated clock work that would throw sparks at a preset time. On the evening of April 4, 1585, the ships were launched. The ship with the clockwork ran aground along the riverbank quite some distance from the bridge where the powder ignited with a loud thunder and

882-537: The approaches of the entire bridge, the Prince had put just beyond, approximately within reach of a line, both on the Antwerpian side and on the Zealander side, a row of 33 boats arranged in groups of three. The three boats of each group were joined together by strong pieces of wood, and upon the boats were lying, pointed in the direction of the enemy and securely fastened, the ship masts which had been fetched from Denmark and

931-466: The bridge itself, and which was protected, on both sides – on the Antwerpian (up river) side and on the Zealander side (down river) – by a musket ball proof parapet made of wood and packed with clay. Between the fort of Saint-Mary and the center of the bridge, but closer to the fort than to the middle of the river, on each side, Farnese had twelve equally massive piles driven into the riverbed, securely chained and connected by heavy beams; these piles advanced

980-505: The bridge, Farnese immediately set to repairing the damage done to the bridge. The repair was merely a façade which the Hollanders discovered some days later. The rebels weren't ready to give up yet. Their next plan was to attack the Kouwenstein  [ nl ] counter-dike and demolish large portions so as to allow relief ships from Holland and Zeeland to pass. The Kouwenstein dike

1029-438: The casualties. Antwerpian sailors were sent to assess the damage but the effect of the explosion terrified them so that they didn't venture far enough. The Dutch were supposed to launch a relief mission from Holland and Zeeland following the launch of a signal rocket but since the reconnaissance team reported there was no damage, the rocket wasn't launched and the project aborted. Upon noticing that there were no ships approaching

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1078-590: The city during what was called the Spanish Fury . Thousands of citizens were massacred and hundreds of houses were burnt down. As a result, Antwerp became even more engaged in the rebellion against the rule of Habsburg Spain . The city joined the Union of Utrecht (1579) and became the capital of the Dutch Revolt, which no longer was merely a Protestant rebellion but had become a revolt of all Dutch provinces. Relieved from

1127-602: The city's defence. After the fall of Antwerp on 17 August 1585 he did not join the exodus of citizens who left the city. In 1588 he served for the first time as alderman of Antwerp. On 5 September 1589 he married Adriana Perez (1568–1619) in the Cathedral . His wife was a neighbor in the Keizerstraat and the daughter of the wealthy merchant and banker Luis Perez (1532–1601) and Maria van Berchem. Her parental grandparents were Spanish conversos who had arrived in Antwerp during

1176-462: The city. The Spanish troops behaved impeccably, and Antwerp's Protestant population was given four years to settle their affairs before leaving. Some returned to Roman Catholicism but many moved north and ended what had been a golden century for the city. Of the pre-siege population of 100,000 people, only 40,000 remained. Many of Antwerp's skilled tradesmen were included in the Protestant migration to

1225-652: The early sixteenth century. The couple would remain childless. In 1590, he was knighted by the Archdukes Albert and Isabella . He was put on the list of honours when their Joyous Entry took place. In 1603 Rockox bought the house named Gulden Rinck in the Keizersstraat and developed it into his main residence. It is now the Snijders&;Rockox House museum. It housed an important collection of art and of curiosities, famous in his own time. His collection included

1274-417: The end of the ravelin, were additional piles driven into the sandbar, slightly exceeding the water level of the river, and interconnected by heavy beams, which, in this way, constituted a sturdy stop barrier for enemy ships or machines which could come up against the estacade. Starting at fort Saint-Philip, an estacade constructed exactly like the one which we just described, extended out from that side towards

1323-537: The fort and where the river makes two sharp bends. Two new forts were built; Saint-Mary on the Flemish bank and Saint-Philip on the Brabant bank. The bridge was built between these two forts. The bridge is described as follows: Starting from fort Saint-Mary, the estacade was formed by large, solid tree trunks, deep-ly driven into the riverbed or into the sandbar, spaced three feet apart from each other in width, and four feet in length. These tree trunks were planted as close to

1372-750: The great battles with the Ottomans in the Mediterranean, Philip II of Spain turned his attention back to the uprising in the Low Countries and in the autumn of 1577 sent prince Alessandro Farnese with reinforcement troops to aid Don Juan of Austria in Flanders regain control over Flanders, Brabant, and the United Provinces. Don Juan died on October 1, 1578, whereupon Farnese became the Governor-General of

1421-423: The middle of the Scheldt as possible, out to a distance of 450 feet, the point where the depth of the riverbed no longer allowed piles to be driven. This formidable matrix of piles was joined together by heavy wooden beams, well nailed and immobilized by chains, which gave the entire structure an unfailing rigidity and stability. On this foundation was laid a pathway, made of heavy wooden planks and beams, which formed

1470-488: The middle of the river, for a distance of 950 feet. Between the two parts of the bridge which were thus advancing to meet one another, a large space of about 1,000 paces, had remained open, where the depth and flow of the Scheldt did not allow tree trunks or piles to be driven into the riverbed. Alessandro Farnese had 32 large barks, which had been brought from Ghent by way of the Stekene Canal, placed side by side, one next to

1519-424: The north, laying the commercial foundation for the subsequent " Dutch Golden Age " of the northern United Provinces . Although the city returned to prosperity, the Dutch blockade of commercial shipping in the Scheldt remained in place and prevented the city recovering its former glory. The blockade was maintained for the next two centuries and was an important and traumatic element in the history of relations between

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1568-406: The other. At the bow and stern, these boats were each immobilized with two anchors and chained one to the other. Each boat was equipped with two pieces of artillery. There was a distance of about 10 feet between them, but they were held in place and in line by a solid chain which ran from one to the other and connected them all together, and by way of a deck that covered all of them. In order to defend

1617-441: The poor. He commanded that a public reserve of grain be prepared for the poor in case of war or siege. He paid 45,300 florins for this from his private fortune. After his death his famous collection of artworks spread to other collections worldwide. Rockox commissioned multiple paintings from Peter Paul Rubens . Some of these commissions were for the public, while others were for his private residence. Among those he commissioned for

1666-509: The poor. The house became property of the KBC Bank in 1970 and it is now used as a public museum. The house is a typical example of the architecture that was popular with the bourgeoisie of the early 17th century in Antwerp. It has an inner garden with fine herbs, and has features of an Italian pallazo. The current rooms are ornated with the Old Master collection of KBC Bank . This collection

1715-456: The previous years, both in quantity and quality, yet at the start of the siege, his troops did not exceed 10,000 infantrymen and 1,700 cavalrymen. During the recapture of Flanders and Brabant, Farnese improved the logistics of the Spanish army in Flanders by further investing in what is dubbed the " Spanish Road ." It was a main road leading north from Habsburg holdings in Northern Italy into

1764-664: The public included Adoration of the Magi for the Antwerp City Hall, Descent from the Cross for the city's Arquebusiers' Guild's altar, and The Rockox Triptych for the funerary monument of Rockox and his wife in the Recollects church in Antwerp (now in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp ). Rockox's private commissions from Rubens included Samson and Delilah . At

1813-465: The rebel ships to run aground. The Holland-Zeeland ships drifted with the tide out to sea leaving the Antwerpians to their fate. Of the roughly 4,000 soldiers the rebels engaged in this enterprise, nearly half perished. Though Parma put even more effort into reinforcing the dike, it was unnecessary as this bloody defeat put an end to any effective resistance. After the battle, Alexander Farnese noticed

1862-430: The river Scheldt was kept in position, blocking the city's access to the sea and cutting it off from international trade. Parma stationed experienced Castilian troops within Antwerp to make sure the city would not fall into enemy hands. The moderateness of Parma's demands and the behaviour of his troops were a complete surprise given the bloodiness of the siege and the rampage of 1576. Parma issued strict orders not to sack

1911-545: The same interest in coins and collaborated with the prominent numismatist Jacob de Bie on the republication of the works of the engraver and numismatist Hubert Goltzius . Fall of Antwerp Western Europe Western Europe Western Europe Western Europe Western Europe Western Europe Western Europe East Indies Western Europe European waters Americas East Indies The fall of Antwerp ( Dutch : val van Antwerpen [vɑl vɑn ˈɑntʋɛrpə(n)] ) on 17 August 1585 took place during

1960-557: The time of his death, Rockox had 82 paintings in his personal collection, of which several by Rubens. Rockox commissioned Frans Francken (II) to make a painting of his art chamber (Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich). This painting provides a view of the rich collection of Rockox, including two paintings by Rubens and one by Quentin Matsys and various Antique statues and rare objects. Other artists in his collection included Anthony van Dyck , Frans Snyders , Jan van Eyck , and Pieter Bruegel . After his death, his art collection

2009-435: Was a low-lying levee three miles long, in many places barely ten feet wide, with deep water on both sides. It ran from Stabroek in Brabant (where Mansfeld's troops were encamped) across the flooded land, to the Scheldt, not far from Fort Lillo. Farnese understood the strategic importance of this dike and had it fortified. Though the first attempt to demolish it failed, Farnese took further preventive measures. The second attempt

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2058-404: Was an art patron and collector, numismatist , humanist, philanthropist and mayor of Antwerp . He was a close personal friend and important patron of Peter Paul Rubens . His residence in Antwerp was a centre where Antwerp's humanists and artists congregated and housed a large collection of artworks, antiques, rare objects and coins. It is now a museum known as the Snijders&Rockox House . He

2107-503: Was another Giambelli invention called the Finis Belli ("End of War"), into which they put great hope but the mission failed. The ship was simply too big and unwieldy. It was an expensive abject failure. The capture of the End of War further disheartened the Antwerpians leaving the impression that there was no way to defeat Parma. In the end the Dutch abandoned their efforts, considering Antwerp

2156-461: Was at his headquarters in Beveren when the attack began and the roar of cannons woke him whereupon he rushed to the battle. He assessed the critical nature of the situation and immediately set to reversing the tide. Seven hours after the start of the attack, he did just that by putting artillery in place and using blocks of pikemen. The battle went on so long that the ocean's tide shifted causing many of

2205-555: Was knighted by Archduke Albert and Isabella , the Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands . Nicolaas Rockox was born in de Keizerstraat in Antwerp as the oldest son of Adriaan II and Isabella van Olmen. His parents were both scions of prominent families. Rockox was a nephew of John III van de Werve, Lord of Hovorst and a first cousin of Lancelot II of Ursel , mayor of Antwerp. After his father died when Nicolaas

2254-511: Was on Sunday 26 May. Both the Antwerpian fleet led by Marnix Saint-Aldegonde and the Holland-Zeeland fleet led by Count Hohenlohe launched a coordinated attack on the dike. The rebels initially captured vast portions of the dike and started piercing it in several locations. Eventually, an opening was made that was large enough for a relief ship to pass through and make its way to Antwerp, on which were Marnix and Hohenlohe. Alexander Farnese

2303-468: Was only 10, his mother and other family members ensured that he and his two younger brothers received an advanced education. After schooling in Antwerp, he studied at the universities of Leuven and Paris . He finished his studies at the University of Douai where he graduated in law on 24 August 1584. Upon his return to Antwerp he became a member of the local schutterij , the civic guard of Antwerp which

2352-439: Was sold publicly. Rockox was also an avid coin collector and kept a detailed catalague annotated in his own hand ( Museum Meermanno , The Hague ). His collection was extensive and included Greek and Roman coins from the 5th century BC through to the 2nd century AD. He corresponded with Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc , the renowned French humanist, botanist and numismatist who was also a friend of Rubens. Rockox and Rubens shared

2401-551: Was tasked with maintaining the peace in the city as well as defending it from external attack. At the time, Antwerp had a Calvinist administration under the leadership of the mayor Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde and was in open revolt against the Catholic Spanish rulers of the Habsburg Netherlands. When the city was besieged by troops under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma Antwerp in 1584, Rockox assisted in

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