Miracle of Empel | |||||||
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Part of the Eighty Years' War | |||||||
El milagro de Empel, by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau (2015). | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
100-200 ships | 4,000–6,000 men | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
High Several ships burnt or captured[3] | Low | ||||||
The Miracle of Empel (Milagro de Empel in Spanish) was an unexpected Spanish victory on December 8, 1585, near Empel, in the Netherlands, as part of the Eighty Years' War, in which a surrounded Spanish force managed to escape when the waters around their island suddenly froze.