The Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent.

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba, known as the Grand Duke of Alba in Spain and Portugal and as the Iron Duke or shortly 'Alva' in the Netherlands, was a Spanish nobleman, general and statesman.

The Battle of Jodoigne, also called Battle of the River Guete, was fought on 20 October 1568 between the royal Habsburg army led by the Duke of Alba and a Protestant rebel army led by William of Orange. It resulted in a defeat for William of Orange, who had to abandon his plans of invading the Habsburg Netherlands.

William the Silent or William the Taciturn, more commonly known in the Netherlands as William of Orange, was the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. Born into the House of Nassau, he became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the Orange-Nassau branch and the ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, he is also known as Father of the Fatherland.

October 20 is the 293rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 72 days remain until the end of the year.