Before the battle
The French army, led by Robert of Artois, formed around the town of Arras by the end of June 1302. They planned to march to Flanders to avenge the massacre at the "Goede Vrijdag" of Bruges. The Flemish army concentrated around the town of Courtrai to besiege the royal castle. Courtrai was the gateway to Flanders for France, so it was of the utmost importance to fully control this town. This was understood by the French, so they first marched to Courtrai.
The Flemish army
The men that were drafted in Bruges made up the core of the Flemish army. The town was able to send some 3.000 men, led by William of Jülich. The majority were artisans who made part of the town militia. The Bruges Free Land (the area around the town) and Coastal Flanders sent 2.500 men. They were led by Guy of Namur. East- Flanders also sent 2.500 men, among which were 700 men from Ghent, led by John Borluut. The town of Ypres sent about 500 men. A reserve force was made up of 500 men, led by John of Renesse. This adds up to about 9.000 men. About 400 of these are nobility. The biggest difference with a conventional army is that this army will only fight on foot.
The French army
The French king sent the best and most beautiful army ever to Flanders. About 2.500 noble horsemen (knights as well as squires) made up the core. 1.000 crossbow men, 1.000 pike men and 2.000 other light infantry aided them. This gives a total of 6.500 men, organised into 10 "battles". This seems a minority in regards of the 9.500 Flemish, but the French army was by far more superior. A knight was valued as much as ten men on foot.
Set up of the armies
The French army arrives July 8th at Courtrai. They put up their camp south of the town and during the next two days, they try to attack the town. These efforts fail however and an open battle on the field is unavoidable. The Flemish camp stands north of the town. The French defenders of the royal castle point to a field east of town as a s uitable battlefield.
In the French camp a war council is held. Some bannerlords have serious doubts on a direct frontal attack. They prefer to wait to defy the Flemings to attack themselves, thus exhausting and dispersing them. The terrain is not favourable for a charge on horseback. The majority of the French lords however wish to hold up their honour and attack, in order to teach that pitiful army of artisans and farmers a good lesson.
Early in the morning of July 11th 1302 the French army starts to form up for the battle. The ten battles are formed into three bigger units. Two units are made up of three battles, they are the attack forces. The third unit of two battles will stay in reserve.
The Flemish camp too starts her preparations for the battle. Three big units line up at some distance of the two brooks that separate the two armies of each other. These are respectively the people from Bruges, the people from West-Flanders and the people of East-Flanders. The reserves are the people from Ypres, who guard the back of the army against the royal castle, and finally the men of John of Renesse.
Both armies line up early in the morning. The men confess their sins to priests and the army leaders give speeches with instructions. The Flemish army is forbidden to take any booty from the battlefield, and they are forbidden to make any prisoners. That last thing was very unusual in medieval warfare. It meant that the battle would be fought in a fierce way without any mercy. The Flemings fought for their freedom and to protect their lives. They too had to expect no mercy of the French if they would loose the battle.
Finally in the Flemish camp some forty people are knighted, among who Pieter de Coninck and two of his sons. The armies are ready, the men are prepared,… Just before noon the battle brakes loose.
Both armies started to prepare for the battle early in the morning. This took quite some time, especially in the French army where the knightly formations needed more time to manoeuvre to their appointed positions.
Battle of the crossbow shooters
The Flemish crossbowmen had taken position right behind the two brooks. They were somehow protected by their big paveses carried by their servants. The French footsoldiers attack first and here too the crossbowmen advance first.
The battle starts around noon. Both sides shoot arrows but gain very little success. After a while the Flemish men are out of arrows and the pressure from the French becomes too great. They retreat backwards, to the own lines. While they retreat they cut the strings of the bows and throw them on the ground, in order to make the charge of the knights on horse later more difficult.
The French footsoldiers advance and start to cross the brooks. Their commanders understand that this can severely obstruct the charge of the knights and so they order their men to stand aside. Immediately afterwards the signal for the knights to charge is given.
The French left wing attacks
Copyright Koninklijke Bibliotheek Brussel, Ms. 5, fol. 329
Picture of the Battle of Courtrai from the "Grandes Chroniques de France", beginning of 14th century.
The left corps of the army advances a bit sooner than the right corps. It's the corps of marshal Raoul de Nesle. The French foot can avoid for the most part to be run over by their own cavalry. It's a myth that the French knights impatiently rode into their own infantry and therefore were defeated.
But the French knights do have trouble getting over the three meters wide brook in closed order. Most get over however without too much trouble. What does cause a problem is the fact that the speed is out of their attack. Once they cross the brook the knights have to form up again and take a new go for their charge. The distance between them and the Flemish lines is however too short now to gain enough speed.
The Flemings stand closely packed, eight rows deep. The first line has alternately a man with a spear and a man with a goedendag. The men with the spear put the shaft end on the ground with their foot on top to take the first shock of the charge. The men with the goedendags raise their heavy weapons to let them come down on the heads of the horses or on the knights.
The French knights ride ahead on this wall of peaks and goedendags. Their charge produces a thundering noise and thus they crash into the Flemings. But the wall doesn't break up! Only at isolated spots some knights manage to enter the line, but they are immediately taken care of by the deeper lines and chopped into pieces. A major break through does not happen.
The attack of the right wing
The right wing of the French army apparently attacked in a more organised way. Their crossing of the Groeninge brook happens much better, but even here they don't manage to break through. The Flemish line stands!
While the French knights are attacking on the field, the garrison of the royal castle of Courtrai tries to force their way out and attack the Flemish in the back. Here the Ypres town militia throws them back and this attack turns out to be a complete failure.
In the centre of the Flemish lines, where the men of the Franc of Bruges and Coastal Flanders are standing, the French almost manage to force a break through. They had a bit more space to perform a better charge here. The French knights deeply enter the lines and the front almost collapses. The Flemish reserve under John of Renesse quickly rushes in and throws back the enemy. The lines are repaired.
The battle now rages over the whole frontline, and for the most part fierce close combat takes place. The French knights loose their big advantage. The goedendags do their terrible job and mercilessly pound on knights and horses. The Flemish commoners start to advance themselves now.
The Flemish Victory
The count of Artois had not taken part in the first charge and noticed that his knights were about to be thrown back. Therefore he decided to go into action himself, in an attempt to avoid a defeat. Mounted on his magnificent steed Morel he crosses the Groeninge brook without any trouble and he enters deeply into the Flemish ranks. He even manages to rip of a piece of the big Flemish banner, but then he too goes down by the anger of the Flemish soldiers.
With the death of their supreme commander the curtain falls over the French attack. The Flemings have advanced towards the brooks and the French knights who are not slain desperately try to run. The Flemish soldiers don't let this happen and the battle turns into a frightening slaughter. The by the French and Leliaarts despised Flemish commoners take their revenge.
Copyright Koninklijke Bibliotheek Den Haag KA XX, fol. 214r.
The battle is fought without mercy.
The French rearguard with the two remaining battles hangs the shield on their back and runs. The French footsoldiers try to evacuate, but a lot of them are caught by the Flemings and are killed without mercy. Some Brabançons who fought with the French try to change sides and now shout "Vlaenderen die Leeu", but Guy of Namur orders to kill all those that wear spurs. The fugitives are chased for more than 10 kilometres from the battlefield. The Flemish victory is complete!
After the battle
The battle lasted for more than three hours. The field was covered with bodies of both men and horses. The Florentine merchant Villani later wrote that this was indeed "an almost impossible event". The most magnificent army of Europe is defeated and the toll is quite heavy on the French side. Commander Robert d'Artois, marshal Raoul de Nesle and his brother Guy, Godfrey of Brabant (brother of duke John I), Jean de Burlats, Renaud de Trie, the count of Aumale, the count of Eu, the lord of Tancarville, Pierre Flotte, Jacques de Châtillon the son of the count of Hainault,... all died. The French nobility looses some sixty barons and lords, hundreds of knights and more than a thousand squires.
The Flemings stand guard that night on the battlefield. A battle is but won when the victorious army can hold the battlefield until the next morning. That next day the booty is collected. From the battlefield, apart of the expensive knightly armours, some five hundred pairs of golden spurs are found. This gives the battle its modern name. Only knights were allowed to wear gold-plated spurs, squires only wore normal or at the best silver- plated spurs. The French baggage train falls almost completely in Flemish hands.
Just seven days later pope Boniface VII is woken up in Rome from his sleep to bring him the news of the Flemish victory. For the first time in recorded history an army of footsoldiers defeated an army of knights. Thanks to this fact and because of its extraordinary origins this battle is one of the most remarkable in history.
Because this battle was won, Flanders was able to keep its independence and was reinstated as a county. The French influence was halted and this made it possible centuries later that the states of Belgium and the Netherlands were formed. The men in Courtrai fought for their "Patria Flandrensis" and thereby prevented that not only Flanders but also the entire Low Countries were saved from disgraceful defeat.
http://www.liebaart.org/
Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios
AW: Re: AW: Re: ambushes, useful or a waste of time and resources?
OffTopic:
when they in fact are the core of french population. He, ravagesof nationalism. After all germans and french believethey have different roots even though they are the product of the same folk, the same empire and the same law... stupid 19th century.
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