A powerful army of tried Spanish and Italian troops under the command of Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, son of the former regent Margaret, was sent to Flanders.

Farnese was Don John's nephew, and they had been brought up together at Madrid, being almost of the same age.

Already Philip had determined to replace Don John, whose brilliance as a leader in the field did not compensate for his lack of statesmanlike qualities.

In Farnese, whether by good fortune or deliberate choice, he had at length found a consummate general who was to prove himself a match even for William the Silent in all the arts of political combination and intrigue.

At Gembloux, January 31, Don John and Parma fell upon the levies of the States and gained a complete and almost bloodless victory.
Had Philip supplied his governor-general with the money he asked for, Don John might now have conquered the whole of the southern Netherlands, but without funds he could achieve little.
Meanwhile all was confusion.