Belagerung Armentirs in Flandern (Siege of Armentirs (Armentières))

Now part of France and known better for the battle that took place there during World War I, the city of Armentières (Armentirs) was part of the Spanish Netherlands in the 16th century and became a much contested site during the Thirty Years War. Following its capitulation to the French in 1645, the city was reclaimed by Hapsburg forces, under the command of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, then governor of the Spanish Netherlands, on May 30, 1647, in the siege depicted here. It would later, in a treaty of 1668, be ceded to France permanently. This fascinating cartographic representation, showing the precise positions of the various regiments, appeared in J. Georg Schleder's Theatrum Europaeum, published by Matthäus Merian in Frankfurt in 1663 (volume 6, between pages 154 and 155). The eagle at upper right (an imperial symbol) bears an escutcheon with the double-headed eagle of the Hapsburgs at its center.