“Guldensporenslag”

The reason for the battle was a French attempt to subdue the County of Flanders, which was

formally part of the French kingdom and added to the crown lands in 1297 but resisted centralist

French policies. In 1300, the French King Philip IV appointed Jacques de Châtillon as governor

of Flanders and took the Count of Flanders, Guy of Dampierre, hostage. This instigated

considerable unrest among the influential Flemish urban guilds. After being exiled from their

homes by French troops, the citizens of Bruges ( I have been to Bruges, beautiful little town)

went back to the city and murdered every Frenchman they could find on May 18, 1302, an act

known as the Brugse Metten. According to legend, they identified the French by asking them

to pronounce a Dutch phrase, schilt ende vriend (shield and friend) and everyone who had

a problem pronouncing this shibboleth was killed.

The French king could not let this go unpunished, so he sent a powerful force led

by Count Robert II of Artois. The Flemish response consisted of two groups, one of

3,000 men from the city militia of Bruges, was led byWilliam of Jülich, grandson of

Count Guy and Pieter de Coninck, one of the leaders of the uprising in Bruges.

The other group of about 2,500 men from the suburbs of Bruges and the coastal areas,

was headed by Guy of Namur, son of Count Guy, with the two sons of Guy of

Dampierre; the two groups met near Kortrijk. From the East came another 2,500 men,

led by Jan Borluut from Ghentand yet another 1,000 men fromYpres, led by Jan van

Renesse from Zeeland.

The Flemish were primarily town militia who were well equipped, with such

weapons as the goedendag and a long spear known as the geldon. They were

also well organized; the urban militias of the time prided themselves on their

regular training and preparation, which allowed them to use the geldon.

They numbered about 9,000, including 400 nobles. The biggest difference

from the French and other feudal armies was that the Flemish force consisted almost solely

of infantry with only the leaders mounted, more to express their leadership than for combat.

The French were by contrast a classic feudal army made up of a core of 2,500 noble cavalry,

including knights and squires. They were supported by 1,000 crossbowmen, 1,000 spearmen

and up to 3,500 other light infantry, totaling around 8,000.

Contemporary military theory valued each knight as equal to roughly ten infantry.

 

After the Flemish unsuccessfully tried to take Kortrijk on July 9 and 10, the two forces clashed

on July 11 in an open field near the city. The layout of the field, crossed by numerous ditches

and streams, made it difficult for the French cavalry to charge the Flemish lines.

They sent servants to place wood in the streams but did not wait for this to be done.

The large French infantry force led the initial attack, which went well but French commander

Count Robert II of Artois recalled them so that the noble cavalry could claim the victory.

Hindered by their infantry and the tactically sound position of the Flemish militia, the French

cavalry were an easy target for the heavily-armed Flemish. When they realized the battle was

lost, the surviving French fled, only to be pursued over 10 km (6 mi) by the Flemish.

Prior to the battle, the Flemish militia had either been ordered to take no prisoners or did not c

are for the military custom of asking for a ransom for captured knights or nobles, modern

theory is that there was a clear order that forbade them to take prisoners as long as the battle

was as yet undecided (this was to avoid the possibility of their ranks being broken when the

Flemish infantry brought their hostages behind the Flemish lines)  Robert II of Artois was

surrounded and killed on the field. (According to some tales he begged for his life but the

Flemish refused, claiming that “they didn’t understand French.)

The large numbers of golden spurs that were collected from the French knights gave the battle

its name at least a thousand  noble cavaliers were killed, some contemporary accounts

placing the total casualties at over ten thousand dead and wounded.

The French spurs were hung in the Church of Our Lady in Kortrijk to commemorate the victory and

were taken back by the French eighty years later after the Battle of Westrozebeke.

A bit of History, mixed with handmade artists items fitting this little piece of history.

Enjoy all of them and the story of “Guldensporenslag”. 

Always shop at Handmadeartists.com  were everything is really made by hand. Thank you.

Monika of Myeuropeantouch

 

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