Historical men's costume 80 years war, Capture of Brielle

Every year, the capture of Brielle by the Sea Beggars from the Spaniards is celebrated in style. The capture of Brielle on April 1, 1572 marked a turning point in Dutch history in which the royal Spanish army lost its first Dutch city.

The clothing and equipment worn at the time of the capture of Brielle deviates considerably from the clothing worn around the end of the Eighty Years' War.

The Sea Beggars

The Sea Beggars were a group of freebooters and pirates who made the villages on the Dutch, Belgian and French coast unsafe. Originally, these Calvinist beggars, consisting mainly of Calvinists from the Netherlands, found a safe haven in England, which was then ruled by Queen Elisabeth I. But she too ordered them to leave, after which they sailed to the Netherlands. Due to a navigation error they ended up at the town of Brielle. It turned out that only a small Spanish garrison guarded the city. The sea beggars were asked by the local population to relieve them of the Spaniards. This they did and took the city for William of Orange.

Around the time of the Battle of Brielle, the fashion trend for men was wide hips and upper arms in clothing. In fact, this fashion was so popular that the shapes were also used in the armor of the time. Of course this was more a hobby of the aristocracy than of the common people, but the man we are going to dress here is a real Dutch middle class.

Shirt

As a basis, our middle class wears a wide shirt. These types of shirts were popular among all walks of life and when it was warm this shirt could also be worn without a jacket or doublet.

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/medieval-shirt-cream.html

Doublet

The doublet went over the shirt. With this doublet, the sleeves are nicely open, so that you can see the white shirt as an extra layer between the sleeves.

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/16th-century-doublet-with-removable-sleeves-black.html

This doublet can be suitable for a somewhat poorer gentleman, for example, you can also take off the sleeves for heavier work.

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.ukl/16th-century-doublet-with-detachable-sleeves-black.html

Beret

Around this period, most gentlemen wore a hat or a beret

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/beret-baldric-black.html

Collar

Like a true gentleman of this time. Collars like this are often shown in 17th century paintings.

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/17th-century-collar-leonard-white.html

Pants

Many wore puff pants like these:

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/landsknecht-trousers-gustav-brown-black.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/pavia-trousers-black-red.html

But tight pants also appeared, like this one:

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/trousers-gerald-black.html

Footwear

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/16th-century-cow-mouth-shoes.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/side-laced-high-boots-dark-brown-106625849.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/baroque-shoes-muriel-black.html

Helmet

At the start of the Eighty Years' War, the morion was worn all over the world. The morion was a simple helmet popular among all military ranks. It had raised edges that offered both protection and an optimal field of vision. To intimidate, the morion was often also provided with bright feathers that made the soldier more imposing

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/morion-juan.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/marshal-historical-dutch-morion.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/morion-rodrigo.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/17th-century-pikemen-helmet.html

Kuras

Not all soldiers wore armor. Cuirasses were mainly worn by pikemen and cavalrymen. The cuirass that was pre-eminently worn around the start of the Eighty Years' War was equipped with large tassets, plates that protected the upper legs.

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/pikemen-breastplate.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/16th-century-cuirass.html

Buff coat

What was often worn together with a cuirass, or separately, was a thick leather jacket that could resist the slashing of swords. These were called buff coats.

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/17th-century-suede-jacket-tilly-sand-buffcoat.html

Spear/Pike

By the end of the 16th century pikemen were deployed all over Europe. The pike is a long spear that was used as a square-shaped block. This weapon was very effective against cavalrymen or other infantry unless both armies consisted of pikemen. Then a battle became very bloody. In addition to pikes, halberds were also widely used. 

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/spearhead.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/german-halberd.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/long-spearhead-battle-ready.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/english-halberd-head.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/head-of-corseque.html

Sword Chopper & Rapier

Around the time of the Battle of Brielle, many musketeers were deployed in European armies in addition to pikemen. Both used shorter swords suited for hand-to-hand combat in addition to their primary weapon. The cat-chopper but also the first forms of rapiers were very popular

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/katzbalger-16th-17th-centuries.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/landsknecht-katzbalger.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/rapier-17th-century.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/rapier.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/german-rapier-with-bone-grip.html

Baldric

Swords were worn around the body with the bandolier. The bandolier was a very important object that was often decorated in the most artful ways.

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/rapier-baldric-16th-17th-century.html

https://www.celticwebmerchant.co.uk/decorated-rapier-baldric.html