Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Table of cases
- The character of customary law: an introduction
- Part I Custom and morality: natural law, customary law and ius gentium
- Part 2 Custom and law: custom, common law and customary international law
- 7 Custom in medieval law
- 8 Siege warfare in the Early Modern Age: a study on the customary laws of war
- 9 The idea of common law as custom
- 10 Three ways of writing a treatise on public international law: textbooks and the nature of customary international law
- 11 Custom, common law reasoning and the law of nations in the nineteenth century
- 12 Custom in international law: a normative practice account
- 13 Customary international law and the quest for global justice
- Index of names
8 - Siege warfare in the Early Modern Age: a study on the customary laws of war
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 June 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Table of cases
- The character of customary law: an introduction
- Part I Custom and morality: natural law, customary law and ius gentium
- Part 2 Custom and law: custom, common law and customary international law
- 7 Custom in medieval law
- 8 Siege warfare in the Early Modern Age: a study on the customary laws of war
- 9 The idea of common law as custom
- 10 Three ways of writing a treatise on public international law: textbooks and the nature of customary international law
- 11 Custom, common law reasoning and the law of nations in the nineteenth century
- 12 Custom in international law: a normative practice account
- 13 Customary international law and the quest for global justice
- Index of names
Summary
The sack of Tienen
On 8 June 1635, a Franco-Dutch army, under Stadtholder Frederick Henry (1625–1647), arrived before the town of Tienen. Three weeks earlier, the French had entered the Spanish Netherlands and had joined up with the Dutch troops of Frederick Henry. Now, the joined forces had begun their march towards Brussels.
The purpose of the invasion was to drive the Spanish from the Netherlands. Pamphlets were circulated to exhort the people of the Spanish Netherlands to rebellion. The small town of Tienen was part of the first line of defence of Brussels. A Spanish force of 1,200 men under Captain Martino de los Arcos, well supplied with arms and ammunition, was there to defend the town.
Upon his arrival, Frederick Henry sent a trumpeter to summon surrender. He promised the burghers of Tienen their liberties and the practice of their religion. Without consulting the town magistrate, Captain De los Arcos refused. He stated that ‘the arms of his Majesty were in town and that it was not customary in such circumstances to surrender a place or town without having seen and heard one another, as both had powder and ammunition’. The next day, the trumpeter made two more appeals; twice he was turned down. Meanwhile, De los Arcos promised the town magistrate to surrender after the first skirmishes.
Surprisingly, there were no skirmishes before the main assault. Around 1.30 p.m. the enemy artillery opened fire and 6,000 men started the attack.
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- Information
- The Nature of Customary LawLegal, Historical and Philosophical Perspectives, pp. 176 - 202Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
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