Battle of Gembloux (1578)

Battle of Gembloux
	Part of the Eighty Years' War
	; Engraving of the Battle of Gembloux by Georg Braun
Date	31 January 1578
Location	Gembloux, Brabant, Spanish Netherlands; (present-day Belgium)50°33′N 4°45′E / 50.55°N 4.75°E
Result	Spanish victory
Belligerents
States-General	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Antoine de Goignies (POW); Count of Boussu; William de La Marck; Martin Schenck; Emanuel Philibert de Lalaing; Count of Egmont; Marquis d’Havré; Henry Balfour	John of Austria; Alexander Farnese; Cristóbal de Mondragón; Ottavio Gonzaga; Count of Mansfeld; Francisco Verdugo
Strength
25,000 men	17,000–20,000; (Only engaged 1,200 cavalry in the first phase of the battle)
Casualties and losses
10,000 killed, wounded, or taken prisoner;	25 dead or wounded; (12 dead in action)

The Battle of Gembloux took place at Gembloux, near Namur, Low Countries, between the Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria (Spanish: Don Juan de Austria), Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands, and a rebel army under Antoine de Goignies, during the Eighty Years' War.

On 31 January 1578 the Spanish cavalry commanded by John's nephew, Don Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma (Italian: Alessandro Farnese, Spanish: Alejandro Farnesio), after pushing back the Netherlandish cavalry, attacked the Netherlandish army, causing an enormous panic amongst the rebel troops. The result was a crushing victory for the Spanish forces. The battle hastened the disintegration of the unity of the rebel provinces, and meant the end of the Union of Brussels.