Courtrai, Battle of

Defeat of French knights on 11 July 1302 by the Flemings of Ghent and Bruges. It is also called the Battle of the Spurs from the 700 pairs of gilded spurs, taken from the defeated knights, which were hung in Courtrai cathedral to commemorate the victory of the Flemish billmen (soldiers with pikes) over the far better equipped and trained French force. It was of great significance at the time for demonstrating that infantry could, under some circumstances, deal with unsupported cavalry.

Philip IV of France had annexed Flanders and when the people rose in revolt a French army marched into Flanders and met a large Flemish force near Courtrai, Belgium. While the French army was composed of mounted knights with a front of archers and other foot soldiers, the Flemings were entirely on foot and armed with whatever came to hand, largely bills but also agricultural implements. When the French knights rode forward to scatter this rabble they became stuck on the mud, whereupon the Flemings fell on them inflicted huge carnage, killing almost all the knights and scattering the bowmen.