Nieuwpoort 1600 uses specially commissioned artwork to reveal one of
the greatest battles of the Eighty Years' War--one whose influence on
military theory and practice ever since has been highly significant.
The Eighty Years' War began as a limited Dutch rebellion seeking only
religious toleration from their Spanish overlords, but it quickly
escalated into one of the longest wars in European history. Spain's
failed invasion of 1599 and the mutinies that followed convinced Dutch
leaders that they now should go on the offensive. This campaign pitted
two famous leaders' sons against each other: Maurice of Nassau and
Archduke Albert VII. One led an unproven new model army, the other
Spain's unbeatable Tercios, each around 11,000-men strong.
The Dutch wanted to land near Nieuwpoort, take it and then march on to
Dunkirk, northern home port of the Spanish fleet, but they were cut off
by the resurgent and reunited Spanish army. The two forces then met on
the beach and in the dunes north of Nieuwpoort.