Exactly how long did the 80-year war last?

Answer

Dear Alvin,

So much confidence! The Eighty Years’ War lasted from 1568 to 1648, so you arrive at 80 years. The Hundred Years War, two centuries earlier, lasted about 116 years from start to finish. The Thirty Years’ War (a little to the east) lasted for about 30 years, from 1618 to 1648.

But:

• There were whole periods of peace, and even a Twelve Years’ Truce from 1609 to 1621.
• It was never an all-out war, with a broad and permanent frontline, but it was smaller army troops that sometimes went on campaign or besieged a city, sometimes not.
• And finally, the separation of the Netherlands happened gradually – there were already clear skirmishes in 1566, the siege of Tournai and the Battle of Oosterweel in 1567. The starting point is usually the Battle of Heiligerlee, in which the Nassau dynasty stands aside. of the Geuzen. But it was not until 1581 that the States General officially broke with the Spanish royal family. The end is a document, the Peace of Münster, which was drawn up in Münster on January 30, 1648, but was not definitively signed until May 15.

So expressing it in days is difficult. From Heiligerlee (May 23, 1568) to Münster (January 30, 1648) it is 79 years and 250 days.