Siege of Frankenthal

The siege of Frankenthal was a siege of the Palatinate campaign during the Thirty Years' War. A Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba besieged the Palatinate fortified city of Frankenthal and its mostly English garrison commanded by John Burroughs. The siege lasted from 1621 to March 20, 1623, when King James I ordered the city to surrender.^[2]

Siege of Frankenthal
Part of the Palatinate phase of the Thirty Years' War
1625 engraving of the siege
Date 1621 – March 20, 1623 Location Frankenthal, Electorate of Palatinate (present-day Germany) 49°31′59.99″N 8°21′0.00″E Result Imperial–Spanish victory[1]
Belligerents
Electoral Palatinate Kingdom of England	Holy Roman Empire Spain
Commanders and leaders
John Burroughs	Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba
Location within Rhineland-Palatinate Show map of Rhineland-Palatinate Siege of Frankenthal (Germany) Show map of Germany

Background

In the early seventeenth century, the city's fortifications were upgraded by Frederick IV, Elector Palatine in preparation for war. Frederick also refortified Heidelberg and created the fortress-city of Mannheim.^[3] Frankenthal had an important strategic role within the Electorate of the Palatinate.

On May 23, 1618, the Kingdom of Bohemia rose in revolt against Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and offered the crown to Frederick V, Elector Palatine, who, by accepting the Bohemian offer, brought the Electorate of the Palatinate into the war, thus broadening the conflict.