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1603, Spanish Netherlands. Cu "Arrival of Ambrogio Spinola Doria / Siege of Ostend" Medal.

Mint Year: 1603 Reference:  v.Loon:II.7.613. Condition: Weakly struck, minor deposits, otherwise VF-XF!  Denomination: Jetton / Medal - Arrival of Ambrosio Spinola Doria (Italian condottiero and nobleman of the Republic of Genoa, who served as a Spanish general) / Siege of Ostende, 1586 Material: Copper Diameter: 30mm Weight: 4.01gm

Obverse: Eagle with spread wings, sword in left claw and wreath in beak. Two altars are below, one of which is burinng and has palm-stprays (religion) in saltire as decoration and is round, the other has a scales (justice) and is square. Legend:  RELIGIONE . ET . IVSTITIA * 16 (privy mark: hand) 03 *

Reverse: Collapsed buildings of Ostend. Legend: COLLAPSA . RASVRGENT . 16 (privy mark: hand) 03 .

The Siege of Ostend was a three-year siege of the city of Ostend during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War. A Spanish force under Archduke Albrecht besieged the fortress being held initially by a Dutch force which was reinforced by English troops under Francis Vere who became the town's governor. It was said "the Spanish assailed the unassailable; the Dutch defended the indefensible." The commitment of both sides in the dispute over the only Dutch-ruled area in the province of Flanders, made the campaign continue for more than any other during the war. This resulted in one of the longest and bloodiest sieges in world history: more than 100,000 people were killed, wounded, or succumbed to disease during the siege.

Ostend was resupplied via the sea and as a result held out for three years. A garrison did a tour of duty before being replaced by fresh troops, normally 3,000 at a time keeping casualties and disease to a minimum. The siege consisted of a number of assaults by the Spanish, including a massive unsuccessful assault by 10,000 Spanish infantry in January 1602 when governed by Vere. After suffering heavy losses the Spanish had replaced the Archduke with Ambrosio Spinola and the siege settled down to one of attrition with the strong points gradually being taken one at a time.

Ostend was eventually captured by the Spanish on 20 September 1604, but the city was completely destroyed and the overall strategy had changed since the siege had started. The loss of Ostend was a severe blow to the Republic but the Spanish propaganda and strategic objectives were frustrated by the Dutch and English conquest of Sluis a few weeks before the surrender of the city. In addition, the economic cost of such a long campaign and the enormous number of casualties sustained turned the result into a Spanish pyrrhic victory and effectively the siege contributed largely to Spanish bankruptcy three years later which was followed by the Twelve Years' Truce.

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Ambrogio Spinola Doria, 1st Marquess of Los Balbases (Genoa, 1569 – Castelnuovo Scrivia, 25 September 1630) was an Italian condottiero and nobleman of the Republic of Genoa, who served as a Spanish general and won a number of important battles. He is often called "Ambrosio" by Spanish-speaking people and is considered one of the greatest military commanders of his time and in the history of the Spanish army. His military achievements earned him the title of Marquess of Los Balbases in the Spanish peerage, as well as the Order of the Golden Fleece and Order of Santiago.

Ambrogio Spinola was born in Genoa, the eldest son of Filippo Spinola, Marquis of Sexten and Venafro, and his wife Polissena Grimaldi, daughter of Nicolò prince of Salerno. The family of Spinola was of great antiquity, wealth and power in Genoa. Don Ambrogio's sister Donna Lelia was married to Don Giulio Cesare Squarciafico, 2nd Marquess of Galatone, from whom descend the Princes of Belmonte.

In the 16th century the Italian Republic of Genoa was in practical terms a protected state of the Spanish Empire; the Genoese were the bankers of the Spanish monarchy and had control of its finances. Several of the younger brothers of Ambrogio Spinola sought their fortune in Spain, and one of them, Federico, distinguished himself greatly as a soldier in the Army of Flanders.   As eldest brother, Ambrogio remained at home to marry and continue the family. In 1592 he was married to Giovanna Bacciadonne, daughter of the count of Galerata.

They had three children:

 
       
  • Filippo (Genoa, Italy, 1594 – Madrid, Spain, 8 August 1659), 2nd Marquess of Balbases and his successor.
  •    
  • Polissena (died 1639), married Diego Felipe de Guzmán, 1st Marquess of Leganés, Governor of Flanders.
  •    
  • Agustin, (Genoa, 1597 – Sevilla, 12 February 1649), Bishop of Tortosa 1625, Archbishop of Granada 1627, Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela 1630, Archbishop of Sevilla 1645.
  •  

The houses of Spinola and Doria were rivals for authority within the republic. Ambrogio Spinola continued the rivalry with the count of Tursi, then the chief of the Dorias. He was not successful, and having lost a lawsuit into which he had entered to enforce a right of pre-emption of a palace belonging to the Salerno family which the Doria wished to purchase, he decided to withdraw from the city and advance the fortunes of his house by serving the Spanish monarchy in Flanders. In 1602 he and his brother Federico entered into a contract with the Spanish government—a condotta on the old Italian model. It was a speculation on which Spinola risked the whole of the great fortune of his house. Ambrogio Spinola undertook to raise 9.000 Lombard mercenaries for land service, and Federico to form a squadron of galley ships for service on the coast.

Several of Federico's galleys were destroyed by English and Dutch war-ships; first at Sesimbra in June and then in October in the English Channel. He himself was slain in an action with the Dutch on 24 May 1603. Ambrogio Spinola marched overland to Flanders in 1602 with the men he had raised at his own expense. During the first months of his stay in Flanders the Spanish government played with schemes for employing him on an invasion of England, which came to nothing. At the close of the year he returned to Italy for more men. His experience as a soldier did not begin until, as General, and at the age of thirty-four, he undertook to continue the Siege of Ostend on 29 September 1603. Despite failing to relieve Sluis under siege at the same time, the ruins of Ostend fell into his hands on 22 September 1604. For this victory, he was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1605.

The governor of Flanders Archduke Albert and the Infanta Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II, who had set their hearts on taking Ostend, were delighted at Spinola's success, and it won him a high reputation among the soldiers of the time. At the close of the campaign he went to Spain to meet with the court, then in Valladolid, and make arrangements for the continuation of the war. At Valladolid he insisted on being appointed commander-in-chief in Flanders. By April he was back in Brussels to lead his first campaign. At this period, the wars of the Low Countries consisted almost entirely of sieges, and Spinola made himself famous by the number of places he took in spite of the efforts of Maurice of Nassau to defend them, including the heavily fortified Groenlo.

In 1606 he again went to Spain. He was received with much outward honour, and entrusted with a very secret mission to secure the government of Flanders in case of the death of the Archduke or his wife. However he could not obtain the grandeeship which he desired, and was compelled to pledge his entire fortune as security for the expenses of the war before the bankers would advance funds to the Spanish government. He was never repaid, resulting in his complete financial ruin. The Spanish government now had a reason to keep him away from Spain. Until the signing of the Twelve Years' Truce in 1609, he continued to command in the field with general success. After it was signed he retained his post, and had among other duties to conduct the negotiations with France when Henry II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé fled to Flanders with his wife, Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency, in order to put her beyond the reach of the admiration of the aging Henry IV of France.

By 1611 Spinola's financial ruin was complete, but he was given the aristocratic title, a Grandeza, which he had sought. In 1614 he was involved with operations connected with the settlement of Cleves and Jülich. From 1620 to 1622, in the Thirty Years' War, he led the Palatinate campaign in the Lower Palatinate, which included the capture of many towns and villages, including Drais, and was rewarded with the rank of Captain-General.

After the renewal of the war in the Low Countries in 1621 he had the most renowned victory of his career, the capture of Breda. Success came after a long siege (28 August 1624 – 5 June 1625), in spite of the objections of Philip IV of Spain, who thought the siege was too risky and expensive, and the strenuous efforts of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange to save it. The surrender of Breda is the subject of a famous painting by Velázquez, known as Las Lanzas.

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This coin has been sold for   $53.0

Notes: https://www.ebay.com/itm/373406924922 2021-01-02

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Posted by: anonymous
2020-12-30
 
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