Sea Beggars
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The Sea Beggars were an international group of anti-Spanish exiles and criminals, among them many Englishmen. Their brazen piracy, however, forced Queen Elizabeth to disassociate herself from them and to bar their ships from English ports. On April 1, 1572 they captured Brielle, and subsequently other seaports in Zeeland and Holland (the Spanish Netherlands). In 1573 they defeated a Spanish squadron under the command of Admiral Bossu off the port of Hoorn in the Zuiderzee. Mixing with the native population, they quickly sparked rebellions against the Duke of Alba in town after town and spread the resistance southward.
Two of the great Dutch naval heroes, Admiral Jacob van Heemskerk and Piet Heyn, began their naval careers as Sea Beggars.
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