The first part of a look at three battles involving the Flemish infantry.
As remarkable examples of pure tactics of foot-soldiers, let us now turn to a brief discussion of the two important battles of Courtrai and Mons-en-Pévèle, and a less important but nevertheless interesting battle of Arques. They give an excellent picture of the possibilities and limitations of the tactics of the Flemish foot-soldiers.
The Battle of Courtrai, 11 July 1302
Guy of Namur assembled the Flemish army at Courtrai. With shrewd strategical and tactical insight the Flemish leaders had chosen the best site: the road to Ghent, a city which was not co-operating with the insurgents, as well as the one to Bruges, was blocked by them and that to Ypres was protected. The French garrison was illsupplied and could not hold out for any length of time. The royal army appeared outside the walls of Courtrai on 8 July. On the 9th, the French commander ordered an attack on the Tournai Gate, and on the 10th on the Lille Gate, but neither was successful; on the 11th he decided to advance against the Groeningekouter, where the Flemish leaders had taken up a favourable position.
About 6 a.m. the call to arms was sounded in the French camp. Ten big units of knights and squires were formed, and contained about 2,500 nobles, supported by foot-soldiers, crossbowmen and bidauts, light foot-soldiers armed with javelins. The Flemish army was rather larger. It consisted of 8,000 well-armed foot-soldiers, perhaps even 10,500, including several hundred knights and squires. But the royal army included the flower of the French nobility, and 100 such cavalrymen were considered the equal of 1,000 foot-soldiers, so that qualitatively speaking the count of Artois had a very considerable advantage.
But the Flemings had selected a very good position which enabled them to protect their flanks. At their back flowed the Lys, and in front of their left wing was the Groeningebeek, while the Grote Beek, or Great Brook, protected their right wing. Both brooks severely hampered the knights' charge. The site which had been so well chosen from a tactical point of view showed also serious drawbacks: flight was impossible, defeat risked total annihilation. But the determination of the rebels drew new strength from the situation; they had to win or die.
When the French marshals had completed their reconnaissance, they must have appreciated this situation. Artois decided to hold a council of war to discuss the tactical problem of an attack on that terrain. Raoul de Nesle pointed out the grave dangers which threatened the knights once they were fighting on the far side of the brooks. If the French nobles then had to give way, those brooks could prove disastrous, since it would be impossible to recross them. He suggested luring the Flemings out of their good position. Jean de Burlats, Grand Master of the crossbowmen, wanted to harass the Flemings with his light foot-soldiers, hoping to inflict such great losses on them that they would
have to give way. Then the moment would come for the knights to deliver the coup de grâce. Godfrey of Brabant thought it was wiser not to attack at all, but rather to wear the Flemings down by making them stand all day in battle order with their heavy equipment on, without food or drink on a hot July day, so that they would not dare to fight on the following day. But the majority of the council thought that the battle should be fought at once.
William of Jüilich, Guy of Namur and John of Renesse placed their heavy foot-soldiers far enough away from the brooks to minimize the effect of the French crossbowmen's attack, at the same time leaving only a small space in which the French knights could develop their assaults on the Flemish side of the brooks. The Flemings had to await their opponents in a motionless defensive position. On the Flemish right wing the men of Bruges stood behind the Grote Beek under the command of William of Jülich, in the centre were the men from the Franc of Bruges and West-Flanders, partly behind the Grote Beek and partly behind the Groeninge Beek, and on the left wing Guy of Namur commanded the men of the region of Alost, Oudenaarde and Courtrai, and the men of Ghent. The right flank was protected by the Lage Vijver, or Lower Moat, the left flank by the monastery of Groeninge. John of Renesse waited with a reserve corps behind the centre. The communal army from Ypres had to keep the castle garrison in check, and guard the rear of the Flemish formation.
They waited a long time for the enemy. The Flemings were nervous, restless, and apprehensive, for they knew that the royal army had the reputation of being the best in Western Europe. But as soon as the French moved, it was impossible to leave the battle-field. The insurgents were encouraged by their noble leaders, who had sent away their horses and were fighting on foot to share the lot of the common man. All the nobles were volunteers, and still had an account to settle with their enemies. The peasants too had a grudge against their opponents, and the men of Bruges were fighting for their lives. William of Jülich and Guy of Namur encouraged their men, and together with the nobles and the heads of the guilds they drew up their men in battle array.
At last Guy of Namur and William of Jülich addressed the troops, and John of Renesse, commander of the reserve, explaining how he was to rush to the help of the long battle formation, gave excellent advice: 'Do not allow the enemy to break through your ranks. Do not be afraid. Kill both man and horse. The ''Lion of Flanders" is our battle cry. When the enemy attacks the corps of Lord Guy, we shall come to your help from behind. Anyone who breaks into your ranks, or gets through them, will be killed.' It was given out that no one should collect booty, and that anyone who did so, or who surrendered or fled, would be killed at once. No prisoners were to be taken. Guy of Namur knighted Pieter de Coninc and his two sons in front of the Flemish army, together with about thirty of the leading citizens of Bruges. Then the two princes sent their horses away, and armed like the rebels, with the visorless helmet of the communal soldiers, they took their place in the front rank, grasping a pike or goedendag.
Fighting broke out between crossbowmen a little before noon. The Flemish archers slowly gave way under pressure from the numerically superior enemy, who were followed at some distance by the units of knights. The French foot-soldiers advanced, and their arrows reached the front ranks of the main Flemish lines, but without serious effect. As soon as they reached the Groeninge and Grote brooks, they were called back by Artois, who was afraid that they would be overwhelmed on the far side by the Flemish heavy foot-soldiers, while the French knights could not support their own soldiers.
In this case the Flemings would advance right up to the brooks, which would make an attack by the French knights practically impossible. Besides, the French foot-soldiers would get in the way of the armoured cavalry on the far side of the brooks. By beginning the assault quickly with the nobles, they would at the same time profit by the preparatory shooting of the crossbowmen. Artois then gave the order: 'Foot-soldiers, come back', while the banners were moved to the front of the knights. Then came the word 'Forward!' and seven French cavalry units rode to the brooks with the banners unfurled.
The left wing, commanded by Raoul de Nesle, attacked across the Grote brook. It consisted of four bands of knights. The right wing had three bands of knights and advanced to the Groeninge. The foot-soldiers managed to get out of the way of the cavalry, but some men had not heard the order, or else stumbled in their haste; others were trampled by the armoured knights, but most of them were able to retreat through the spaces between the knights' units, or along the flanks. The knights quickly began to cross the ditches. They made haste, so as not to be surprised by the counter-attack by the Flemish heavy foot-soldiers. Some horses missed their jump or stumbled, others refused, and had to be forced to jump. Knights fell from their saddles into both brooks, but on the whole the crossing was successful. The left wing was the first unit ready for attack on the opposite side of the Grote Beek.
After quickly reorganizing the formations, the constable charged the right wing and part of the Flemish centre with his four units of knights. The Flemish archers flung their bows away and hurriedly took refuge behind the main battle line. Under Jean de Burlats, Godfrey of Brabant, Raoul de Nesle and the two marshals, the French knights rode at a quick trot with couched lances toward the Flemings. This awe-inspiring and terrible drama was accompanied by a most fearful din. Never in their lives had the Flemings experienced anything like it: never had they known such critical and nerve-racking moments. They pressed closer and closer together, their hearts pounding. They held their pikes firmly planted in the ground, and the men with the goedendags raised their weapons, ready to strike. There was a bitter surprise in store for the French.
The living wall of pikes, lances, and goedendags did not flinch. The French nobles had never seen anything like it in their long and glorious career. The weavers and fullers, the artisans and peasants, did not flee but stayed courageously at their posts. Then the bravest knights had to ride their horses at the Flemish lines. Some hesitated and slackened their pace, but the majority were swept along in their close formations, or bravely carried on the attack. Then came the frightful impact against the heavy pikes, with earsplitting noise, but on the Flemish right the men of Bruges withstood the charge, and inflicted heavy losses on the French nobles. Godfrey of Brabant knocked down William of Jülich and hurled the prince's banner to the ground. But after breaking into the Brugeois ranks he was brought down and killed. Raoul de Nesle also fell in the initial charge. A stubborn hand-to-hand mêlée ensued, and the fearful goedendags crashed down heavily on men and horses.
In the centre, the French knights drove deep into the ranks of the men from the Franc of Bruges. Some of these yielded, but others manfully stood their ground. The heavy cavalry carried on their attack and penetrated deeper into the Flemish lines, where a breakthrough seemed likely. A number of foot-soldiers took to their heels. Meanwhile the French right wing charged across the Groeninge Beek. The charge was made in dense units, and with less commotion than on the French left wing. With tremendous force the formations of knights hurled themselves against the East Flemings, but the Flemings resisted stoutly and the cavalry were checked. This in turn was followed by violent hand-to-hand fighting.
While heavy fighting now developed along the whole front, Jean de Lens made a sortie from Courtrai castle to attack the Flemings from the rear. First he sought to divert the attention of the men of Ypres by setting fire to a fine house on the market square. But they remained on the alert near the castle gate, and successfully beat off the attack. Meanwhile the mêlée continued along the entire front. Most of the royal army was involved in the fighting. At one point the situation looked critical for the Flemings, especially in the centre where the men of the Franc of Bruges fought bravely but ran into difficulties. John of Renesse hastened to help with the reserve. The French knights were driven back in the centre.
This success encouraged the Flemish centre to go over to the attack, followed by both wings, and a general Flemish counterattack developed, in which the rebels were at a considerable advantage. Three or four thousand Flemings were attacking 1,600 heavy cavalry with weapons that were longer than those of the nobles. The French knights were forced to give ground, and were driven back towards the two brooks. Robert of Artois, who had not taken part in the general charge, realized at once that his army would be defeated if it were thrown back into either of the brooks. He ordered the rearguard to advance and personally went into action with his knights. Artois and his men, with a flourish of trumpets, charged the troops of Guy of Namur. The ranks of the East Flemings had become much less compact in the counter-attack. Artois drove deep into their ranks and reached the standard, where he tore off part of the banner.
His charge, coupled with the approach of the French rearguard, started panic in the ranks of Guy's troops, some of whom fled. In the meantime Artois was being fiercely attacked by other Flemings. He defended himself splendidly, but Willem van Saaftinge, a lay brother of Ter Doest, felled the horse of the commander-in-chief. Artois was dragged off in the fall, and perished, covered with wounds. On the banks of the brooks the knights and squires defended themselves with desperate courage, and a horrible slaughter ensued. Many of them fell into the water and were drowned, nor were the horses spared. The French losses were appalling: only one leader of all the cavalry units who had taken part was captured, all the rest were killed.
As soon as they had defeated the enemy on the banks of the brooks, the Flemings crossed over themselves, to attack the rearguard of the French. These two cavalry units acted as though they intended to make an attack in their turn, but made no move; they were trying to gain time for the retreat of the baggage. But no sooner did the Flemings advance, than the heavy cavalry fled in panic, and headed hell-for-leather towards Lille and Tournai, while the French foot-soldiers also took to their heels. The Flemings chased them as far as Zwevegem, St Denijs, and Dottenijs, eleven kilometers from the battlefield.
By evening the fleeing Frenchmen reached Tournai exhausted, where they bartered their equipment for bread, though some of them were still too shocked to eat.
Between noon and three o'clock in the afternoon the Flemings had achieved a great victory, which cost the lives of more than a thousand French noblemen. Half of the attacking knights had perished—an appallingly high proportion. The victors amassed enormously valuable booty, and at least five hundred golden spurs and many banners were picked up on the battlefield; these were preserved in the church of Our Lady in Courtrai, whence the French removed them eighty years later, after the battle of Westrozebeke. The victors lost only a few hundred dead.
I'll attempt post the other two battles at a later time.
