The Battle of the Golden Spurs (Dutch: De Guldensporen Slag) was fought on July 11, 1302, near Kortrijk in Flanders.

Background

The reason for the battle was a French attempt to annex the country of Flanders. In 1300, the French king Philip IV appointed Jacques de Châtillon as governor of Flanders and took the Count of Flanders, Gwijde van Dampierre and his two sons, hostage. This instigated considerable unrest among Flemish urban guilds, who were quite influential.

After being exiled from their homes by French troops, the citizens of Bruges went back to their own city and murdered every Frenchman they could find there on May 18 1302. They identified the French by asking them to pronounce a Flemish phrase schild en vriend. Everyone who had a problem pronouncing that, was killed.

The French king could not let this go unpunished, so he sent a powerful force, led by Count Robert II of Artesia . The Flemish response consisted of two groups; one was led by Willem van Gullik , grandson of Count Gwijde, and Pieter de Coninc , one of the leaders of the uprising in Bruges. The other was headed by Gwijde van Namen, son of Count Gwijde, the two groups met at Kortrijk.

Forces

The Flemish was primarily made of town militia that was fairly well equipped and armoured, but lacked the training and organisation of the French army. They numbered about 9 000, of which 400 were nobles. The biggest difference from the French and other feudal armies was that the army only consisted of infantry.

The French was by contrast a classic feudal army made up of core of 2 500 noble cavalry, both knights and squires. They were supported by 1 000 crossbowmen, 1 000 pike men and 2 000 other light infantry. Bringing it to a totally of 6 500 man.

The battle

After the French unsuccessfully tried to take Kortrijk on July 9 and July 10, the two forces clashed on July 11 in an open field near the city.

The layout of the field, crossed by numerous streams, made it difficult for the French cavalry to break through the Flemish lines. Hindered by their own infantry and by fallen horses, the French knights were an easy target for the heavily-armed Flemish. When they realised the battle was lost, the surviving French fled, only to be pursued by the Flemish. Having little experience, the Flemish soldiers did not realise it was possible and even customary to hold important people for ransom. They simply killed whoever they caught.

One of main causes of the defeat was that the French commander Count Robert II of Artesia refused to soften up the tightly packed Flemish lines with his crossbowmen.

Aftermath

The large numbers of golden spurs that were collected from the French knights gave the battle its name. The spurs were hung in the Church of Our Lady in Kortrijk to commemorate the victory.

Consequence

The battle was one in a string during the 14th century that showed that knights could be defeated by disciplined and well equipped infantry. It is also a landmark in the development of Flemish political independence. It is considered one of the main reasons that Dutch is the language spoken in Flanders today. The day is remembered every year in Flanders, as the Flemish federations' official holiday.

The battle is romanticised in 1838 by Flemish writer Hendrik Conscience in his book "The Lion of Flanders " (Dutch: "De leeuw van Vlaenderen").

Peasant uprising

Another unusual feature of this battle was the successful uprising of peasants and townsmen. Most peasant uprising in Europe at the time where quelled. To quote liebaart.org below: "The uprising originated from the people themselves, without being provoked by a lord (the Flemish count and his most important lords were in French captivity). Only when the uprising became widespread, the count's relatives who still were free rushed in to aid. But in the first place this was a struggle of people against a lord (the French king), not the struggle between two lords." Barbara Tuchman describes this as a peasant uprising in "A distant mirror". Even if the army that won was well armed, the original uprising was still a folk uprising.

References

• J.F. Verbruggen, The Battle of the Golden Spurs: Courtrai, 11 July 1302 ISBN 0851158889

External links

• Battle of the Golden Spurs
• contemporary account from the Annales Gandenses (Annals of Ghent)
• The Battle of Courtrai