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Pigeons in the Eighty Years’ War: The Siege of Zierikzee (1575-76 A.D.)
Last time we looked at the Eighty Years’ War, pigeons brought hope to the Dutch city of Leiden while it was under siege by the Spanish. But not all of the Dutch rebels’ attempts at using pigeons succeeded during that conflict. The city of Haarlem fell to the Spaniards in 1573 because they learned of…
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Pigeons in the Eighty Years’ War: The Siege of Leiden (1574-75 A.D.)
A European city encircled by enemy forces. The inhabitants—cut off from food and communication with the outside world for months—recruit pigeons to fly messages into the city. Sound familiar? Readers of this blog will undoubtedly be reminded of the 1870-71 Siege of Paris, but this scenario has happened several times in European history. This week,…
