"Sans pitié ne nulle merci

[Robert Jan de Wit]

Hello all,



Here is a little vignette I recently completed of the Battle of Warns






Attack

After the Hollandic counts completed their conquest of West Friesland (West Frisia) they planned the conquest of Middle Frisia, most of the present province of Friesland.

In 1345 William II, count of Holland, prepared a military action to conquer Middle Frisia, crossing the Zuiderzee with a large fleet and with the help of French and Flemish knights, some of whom had just returned from crusade.

He set sail in Enkhuizen to cross the Zuider Zee, together with his uncle John, Duke of Beaumont, and landed near Stavoren and Laaxum. They planned to use the Sint-Odulphus monastery near Stavoren as a fortification. The Hollandic knights wore armour, but had no horses as there wasn't enough room in the ships, which were full of building materials and supplies. William's troops set fire to the abandoned villages of Laaxum and Warns and started to advance towards Stavoren. In the countryside around Warns the Hollandic count was attacked by the local inhabitants. With their heavy armor the knights were no match for the furious Frisian farmers and fishermen. The path the Dutch knights choose to flee led straight to the Red Cliffs. As they fled they entered a swamp where they were decisively beaten. Their commander William IV of Holland was killed. When John of Beaumont heard what had happened, he ordered a retreat back to the ships. They were pursued by the Frisians and only a few made it to Amsterdam.

Tactical Mistakes

The battle was marked by a number of tactical mistakes of the Dutch. First, they divided their forces in two. William landed north of Stavoren and his uncle Jan landed south. In addition, William continued the attack in haste without waiting for his archers. With a small group of 500 men he reached St. Odulphusklooster because the Frisians purposely moved back. But then they cut Willem from the bulk of his troops and defeated him. After Count Willem was destroyed they turned against his main troops that couldn't flee because the ships were offshore. When these troops were defeated, they attacked John of Beaumont. He hadn't participated until then. The Frisians could beat him because his camp was chosen poorly with the sea in the back so that his army could never retreat. The Frisians took the battle with the Dutch in the water where they beat them down.

More...

 

[eissteban]

Hi Robert,
this scene is excellent, the dead man is ... dead but looks so good.
The painting is really beautiful, but i think there is a problem in the translate of the title, i don't understand what you mean with this text.

 

[megroot]

Excellent, Briljant, Great.
Finally a historical Dutch Vignette.

Marc

 

[Robert Jan de Wit]

Marc,
Thanks!

Eissteban, Thanks, it's "dutch" old french spelling> They used to speak french a long time ago in Holland.
It means "without compassion and without mercy".


greets,
RJ

 

[kansas kid]

Thanks also for the brief history synopsis . . .

Greetings Robert:

I recall seeing this figure on PF before completion, and I want to congratulate
you sincerely for an extremely well done presentation. The enlarged photos
of this skillfully fabricated piece shows a deft hand at the details. Ah yes, as
we say here in the American Heartland: "The Devil is in the Details".

Ordinarily, I don't think dead bodies in vignettes work that well. But I'll have
to admit, that the skilled way you introduced that portion of the soldier
sunk down in the weeds, mire, and water really does work so well. And it
also adds dramatic impact to the scene. Very essential to catching the
viewer's eye, IMO.

One of my major shortcomings (I really haven't spent enough time with it, for
one thing) is trying to do weeds and grasses that look realistic; that create
that most difficult to achieve aspect I call, the illusion of reality. And in
your photos, which are quite good, I can see that you have everything, even
the mud at the base of the terrain, all put together so realistically.

Extremely well done. Your intelligent decision making is so obvious in this
piece. Encourages me to keep on trying.

 

[kansas kid]

I fergot to mention, gall darn it. . .

I wanted to mention and forgot: Thanks for taking the time to keystroke in
the historical aspects of that battle; including the major errors. Knights in
armor without their horses! Hummmm. not good.

Like several others, this is a period well before any of the European
History I have read about.

 

[eissteban]

Robert, i thought that.
So the right is : "Sans pitié et nulle merci"
Only a detail ... I like this work very much.