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 William of Orange had enjoined upon the Leydeners to hold out for three months, as Holland's destiny lay in their hands; they responded to his appeal. Finally, he resolved to inundate the surrounding country. The dikes were broken in sixty places, while the sluice-gates of Rotterdam and Gouda were opened, when Dutch ships under Admiral Boisot sailed to the rescue of the beleaguered city, massacred the Spaniards, and the Dutch entered Leyden. William heard the good news while in church at Delft, proceeded to Leyden, and, as a reward for its citizens' more than heroic resistance, gave them the choice between immunity from certain taxes and the establishment of a University. The Leydeners chose the latter.

Among many of the heroes engendered by the war was John Haring, of Hoorn, the Dutch Horatius. It was in 1572, a