school is Hermann Hamelmann. 1552 – The map-maker, Gerhard Mercator, settles in Duisburg. Previously pursued by the Catholic Church, he is able to bring his important work to fruition in the liberal climate of the Duchy of Cleves. 1553 – The "Reformer of Westphalia", Hermann Hamelmann, professed for the first time in public his belief in the reformed faith, during the Festival of Trinity in Kamen, as a result of which he is forced to leave the town. 1559 – The Schola Duisburgensis becomes the Gymnasium Duisburg. One of the teachers is Gerhard Mercator, who gives instruction in mathematics. 1566 – One of Mercator's pupils, Johannes Corputius, captured a view of Duisburg on an accurate map, for the first time. 1568 – Uprisings in neighbouring Netherlands and the beginning of the Eighty Years' War. 1580 – Witch trials in Vest Recklinghausen reached a high point between 1580 and 1581. Executions were carried out on the Segensberg in Hochlar and on the Stimberg in the Haard, near Oer. Altogether 44 persons, predominantly women, were burned to death. In Märkish Witten at the same time, six females and one man fell were sentenced as witches. 1580 – Working coal mines were mentioned in the 'Städtebuch' of Bruyn and Hugenberg in Steele. 1583 – The Spanish general Mendoza with 21,000 foot soldiers and 2,500 knights stands before Orsoy. In Walsum, a camp is set up protected by ramparts. 1583–1589 – The Cologne War is waged across large regions of the Vest Recklinghausen, which thereby suffered badly from the war. The background to the war are the demands of the Archbishop and Elector of Cologne, Gebhard I of Waldburg, over the equality of the confession, connected with the intention to transform the Electorate of Cologne into a secular principality. 1587 – Dutch-occupied Ruhrort was besieged and conquered by Spanish troops during the Eighty Years' War. 1598 – The Spanish send troops into Vest Recklinghausen and the County of Mark. Among other towns, Recklinghausen was taken by General Francisco de Mendoza and his 24,000 soldiers. In 1599, his troops are before the town of Dortmund and the surrounding area is plundered. During the Eighty Years' War involving the Netherlands, the bordering areas of the Lower Rhine and Westphalia are crossed repeatedly by both Spanish and Dutch troops. Castrop, for example, suffers greatly from plundering. 1598 – In Holzwickede the development of mining is mentioned in