Maarten van Rossum

Maarten van Rossum ( 1478 – 7 June 1555) was a military tactician of the duchy of Guelders who became field marshal in the service of Charles, Duke of Guelders. He was greatly feared outside his home country for the ruthless manner in which he waged war. In a long career, he often put his motto ""Blaken en branden is het sieraad van de oorlog" ("Burning and torching is the jewel of war") into practice. His way of waging war was quite similar to that of his Italian colleagues, the condottieri, and was characterized by guerrilla-like tactics, in which the civilian population was spared even less than was usual in his time.

For thirty years he served the interests of the Dukes of Guelders in their struggle to safeguard the independence of the Duchy of Guelders against the Habsburg Netherlands of Charles V. Van Rossum had a number of military successes obtained through his use of ruses, daring and the indiscriminate destruction of civilian lives and property. After the collapse of the Duchy of Guelders, he fought the last years of his life in the service of his old enemy Emperor Charles V against France.

In the spring of 1555 van Rossum became seriously ill, possibly infected with the Black Death or typhus in the city of Charlemont. He died in Antwerp on June 7, 1555, and his body was buried at his birthplace, the village of Rossum.

In popular culture He was respected during his life and after his death for his military ability and feared for his cruelty. It is an image that has been propagated by historians since the 17th century. In the 19th and 20th centuries, van Rossum figured in this role in historical novels and youth books. This image of the villain was continued by his role as an antagonist in the 1960s Dutch TV series Floris.