Editing Haarlem (section)

===Great fire===
The city suffered a large fire in the night from 22 to 23 October 1576. The fire started in brewery het Ankertje, near the weighhouse at the Spaarne, which was used by mercenaries as a guarding place. When they were warming themselves at a fire it got out of control. The fire was spotted by farmers, who sailed their ships on the river. However, the soldiers turned down all help, saying that they would put out the fire themselves. 

This failed, and the fire destroyed almost 500 buildings, among them St-Gangolf's church and [[St. Elisabeth Gasthuis, Haarlem|St-Elisabeth's hospital]]. Most of the mercenaries were later arrested, and one of them was hanged on the Grote Markt in front of a large audience. Maps from that era clearly show the damage done by the fire: a wide strip through the city was destroyed. The combined result of the siege and the fire was that about a third of the city was destroyed.