Namur Citadel, 1695: A Case Study in Allied Siege Tactics

Abstract

Year after year Louis XIV's armies thrust through Brabant in the eastern part of the Spanish Netherlands, the biggest theatre of the Nine Years' War (1689-97). These thrusts followed the general line of the rivers Sambre and Meuse. Namur, the rampart of Brabant, nestled strategically at their confluence. Its capture by the French in 1692 and re-capture by the Allies three years later constituted the defining events of the war. It was the greatest success won by William of Orange, stadholder of the United Provinces, King William III of England, Scotland and Ireland, and linchpin of the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV.