Let's go Dutch.

Thanks to everyone who tried the trivia challenge / Google scavenger hunt yesterday. Ready for the asnwer?

Let's revisit the clues...

• I'm thinking of a war.
• It was in Europe.
• It involved Britain, but only briefly.
• One of the two combatants still honors the other today, probably daily.
• It involves the worship of false idols.
• And a colorful noble.
• And a few sieges.
• And had a cheesy ending.

As I mentioned yesterday, Scotttx75 was the first to guess the right answer. No one else got it, though loyal reader Bill was on the right track.

Answer: The Eighty Years' War (aka The Dutch Revolt).

Here's Wikipedia's summary:

The Eighty Years' War, or Dutch Revolt (1568–1648), was the revolt of the Seventeen Provinces in the Netherlands against the Spanish king. Spain was initially successful in suppressing the rebellion. In 1572 however the rebels conquered Brielle, and the northern provinces became first de facto, and in 1648 officially, independent as the United Provinces of the Netherlands or Dutch Republic, which rapidly grew to become a world power through its merchant shipping and experienced a period of economic, scientific and cultural growth.

The clues explained:

• It involved Britain, but only briefly.

In 1585, Elizabeth I sent the Earl of Leicester to be lord-regent of the Dutch, who had actually been offering their crown to England and France in exchange for help with the war. But the earl was a failure and soon went home. However, the English did help in the 1586 Battle of Zutphen. England also helped mediate a cease-fire in 1609.

To be fair, the English defeat of the Spanish Armada (indirectly connected to this war) probably made it possible for the Dutch to defeat the Armada 50 years later at the Battle of the Downs. That's generally considered the point when Spain stopped being a leading world power. Moving on...

• One of the two combatants still honors the other today, probably daily.

To this day, the Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, includes this stanza:

The king of Spain
I have always honoured.

Why? Well, we'll get to that in a second.

• It involves the worship of false idols.

From Wikipedia:

On Assumption of the Virgin day in 1566 a small incident outside the Antwerp cathedral started a massive iconoclastic movement by Calvinists, who stormed the churches to destroy statues and images of Catholic saints. According to the Calvinists these statues represented worship of false idols, which they felt was heretical. Philip saw no other option than to send an army.

• And a colorful noble.

This was the clue I thought would be too easy. It's William of Orange. The problem is, if you Google him, you get the wrong William of Orange. Bill caught the reference but guessed I was talking about the Williamite War in Ireland.

Here's Wiki's recap of the first William of Orange, who began The Eighty Years' War and is the subject of the Dutch national anthem.

William I of Orange was stadtholder of the provinces Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, and Margrave of Antwerp. After the arrest of Egmont and Horne he fled from the Burgundian Empire to the lands ruled by his wife's father - the Elector Count of Saxony. All his lands and titles in the Netherlands were forfeited and he was branded an outlaw.
In 1568 William returned to try and drive the highly unpopular Duke of Alba from Brussels. He did not see this as an act of treason against the king (Philip II). This view is reflected in today's Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, in which the last lines of the first stanza read: den koning van Hispanje heb ik altijd geëerd (I have always honoured the king of Spain)

• And a few sieges.

In Antwerp, Breda, Haarlem, Ostend and several other places.

• And had a cheesy ending.

The war concluded in 1648 with the Treaty of Munster. Hah, I'm so clever.

The picture I included with the riddle, by the way, was The Battle of Nieuwpoort.

Thanks again for playing. In honor of his mastery of obscurity, Scott gets my copy of Jude the Obscure. To be delivered as soon as I can find it and throw it in the mail. Huzzah.

OK, so, thoughts on whether this is worth doing again? Was it actually fun or just frustrating? Let me know in the comments section.