Arumer Zwarte Hoop

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Frisian peasant rebellion
Grutte Pier (Pier Gerlofs Donia), 1622, book illustration.JPG
Painting of Pier Gerlofs Donia, 1622
Date 1515–1523
Location Netherlands
Result suppression of the rebellion
Blason fr Bourgogne.svg Habsburg Netherlands Frisian flag.svg Arumer Zwarte Hoop
Armoiries Gueldre.svg Charles II, Duke of Guelders
Commanders and leaders
Blason fr Bourgogne.svg Charles V
Blason fr Bourgogne.svg Margaret of Austria
Frisian flag.svg Pier Gerlofs Donia

Frisian flag.svg Wijerd Jelckama

Armoiries Gueldre.svg Maarten van Rossum
4,000 (maximum)

The Arumer Zwarte Hoop (Dutch pronunciation: [ɑrʏmər zʋɑrtə ɦoːp], meaning "Black Hope of Arum"; Frisian: Swarte Heap) was an army of peasant rebels and mercenaries in Friesland fighting the Dutch authorities from 1515 to 1523.[1]

The leader was the farmer Pier Gerlofs Donia, whose farm had been burned down and whose kinfolk had been killed by a marauding Landsknecht regiment. Since the regiment had been employed by the Habsburg authorities to suppress the civil war of the Vetkopers and Schieringers, Donia put the blame on the authorities. After this he gathered angry peasants and some petty noblemen from Frisia and Gelderland and formed the Arumer Zwarte Hoop.

Under the leadership of Donia (nicknamed Greate Pier for his size), they employed guerrilla tactics and achieved several victories such as the successful siege of two Hollandic castles and the city of Medemblik. The greatest success however came on sea, where Donia sank 28 Dutch ships, earning him the title "Cross of the Dutchmen".[2]

The rebels also received financial support from Charles II, Duke of Guelders, who claimed the Duchy of Guelders in opposition to the House of Habsburg. Charles also employed mercenaries under command of his military commander Maarten van Rossum in their support. However, when the tides turned against the rebels after 1520, Charles withdrew his support. The rebels lost their financial support could then no longer afford to pay their mercenary army.[3] At about the same time the Arumer Zwarte Hoop also lost their leader. In 1519, Donia's health deteriorated. He retired to his farm where he died in 1520. He is buried in Sneek in the 15th-century Groote Kerk (also called the Martinikerk).[4]

Donia's lieutenant Wijerd Jelckama took over the command of his armies, which then comprised over 4,000 soldiers. Jelckama also achieved some minor victories, but proved to be a less competent commander and slowly lost men. Jelckama and his soldiers indulged in acts of piracy and sacked many villages in the Frisian lands, losing trust and support of their own people. The fact that Jelckama was less charismatic also cost him: he forged less fruitful alliances and lost more than he made. After a series of defeats, he and the remainder of the Frisian army were captured in 1523. Jelckama and the remaining Frisian and Gelderian rebels were decapitated, putting the rebellion to an end.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "Greate Pier fan Wûnseradiel" (in West Frisian). Gemeente Wûnseradiel. Retrieved 2008-01-04. 
  2. ^ Beekman, Martinus. Beschreiving van de Stad en Baronnie Asperen. Vertoonende haare oudheid, gebouwen, hooge, en verdere regeering, ens. Utrecht, Mattheus Visch, 1745.
  4. ^ Geldersche Volks-Almanak Published 1853