 The Spanish armies severely crippled the defensive walls of Valkenburg and left the castle in a far state of disrepair with its magnificent towers now collapsed and its roofs burned to ashes.The Dutch armies attempted to repair the castle but were unsuccessful due to the ongoing wars with the Spaniards and the French.The castle was slighted during the Franco-Dutch War, in 1672, by the army of King-Stadtholder Willem III to prevent it falling into French hands.