Editing Battle of Nieuwpoort (section)

==Background==
The battle pitted the military leaders of both of the Netherlands (the Dutch Republic and the Habsburg Netherlands) against each other: The armies of the Dutch Republic were commanded by [[Maurice of Orange|Maurice]], Count of Nassau; the armies of the Habsburg Netherlands were commanded by [[Albert VII of Austria|Albert]], Duke of Burgundy. Albert ruled autocratically, Maurice had to abide by the demands of the Dutch parliament. Both commanded multinational armies, though the Spanish army was entirely Catholic while the Dutch army was predominantly Protestant.

Maurice (1567–1624) was the son of the leader of the original Dutch rebellion, [[William the Silent|William of Orange]]. He had been fighting from an early age. During the previous five years, he had set in motion a military revolution by completely reforming the Dutch army, introducing new concepts of drill and standard commands, and combining them with standardization and thorough bookkeeping. This created a dependable, predictable, maneuverable and steadfast army, with high continuous firepower, deadly cavalry, and experienced officers high and low.

Albert (1559–1621) was son of [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor]]. His uncle, brother-in-law, and father-in-law was [[Philip II of Spain|King Philip II of Spain]]. Albert ruled the Royal Netherlands with his spouse, Philip's daughter [[Isabella Clara Eugenia|Isabella]]. He had little military experience. The Spanish army was as experienced as the Dutch, as were its officers, except for several of the highest in command. During Albert's absence in 1598–99, getting married in Spain, the Spanish army had been led by [[Francisco de Mendoza|Mendoza]], aka the Admiral of Aragón.

Ambition had grown Mendoza's army to beyond the territory's financial means. As a result, units had not been paid in a long time. Exacerbated by Albert's policy to promote bloodline over merit and to break up new regiments to reinforce older, mutiny had become commonplace. Several mutineer 'republics' had sprung up along the Dutch border, [[Diest]] the biggest. One new regiment even mutinied the moment it arrived from southern Europe and was told it would be broken up; it then camped around [[Hamont-Achel|Hamont]].