seek remedies for them. Jean de Meun appears in a vision to discuss these problems
because Bouvet was living at the time in the poet’s former Parisian house.
Charity Cannon Willard
Bouvet, Honoré. L’apparicion maistre Jehan de Meun, ed. Ivor Arnold. Paris: Faculté des Lettres
de l’Université de Strasbourg, 1926.
——. L’arbre des batailles, ed. E.Nys. Brussels: Muquardt, 1883.
——. The Tree of Battles, ed. and trans. George William Coopland. Liverpool: University Press,
1949.
Coville, Alfred. La vie intellectuelle dans les domaines d’Anjou-Provence de 1380 à 1435. Paris:
Droz, 1941, pp. 214–318.
BOUVINES
. On Sunday, July 27, 1214, a massive and violent battle took place at the bridge of
Bouvines, south of Tournai, in the county of Flanders. On one side fought the German
emperor, Otto IV of Brunswick; William, earl of Salisbury and half-brother of King John
of England; Ferrand of Portugal, count of Flanders and Hainaut; William, count of
Holland; and Henri I, duke of Brabant. Also present were the rebellious nobles of France,
Renaud de Dammartin, count of Boulogne, and Hugo, the baron of Boves. Opposing
them was the king of France, Philip Augustus. Backing Philip morally and financially
was Pope Innocent III; the prince-bishop of Liège, Hugues de Pierrepont, also sent troops
to fight for the French.
The two armies joined in a tripartite battle. The allied left wing, composed mostly of
Flemish mounted knights under Ferrand, met a similarly composed French right wing. In
the center, Otto IV, with German knights and infantry, faced Philip with his strongest
soldiers. Finally, the allied right wing, composed largely of English and Boulognese
infantry under Renaud de Dammartin, faced a similar French force. Before long, it
became apparent that the strength and unity of the French army, more experienced in
military affairs, having fought frequently in tournaments and in the Crusades, were
superior to that of the allied armies. The battle lasted only three hours; the allied left wing
was defeated and their center fled, leaving only Renaud de Dammartin’s troops to
continue the battle. But despite a valiant effort on their part, the Boulognese eventually
succumbed to the continual French attacks. Philip Augustus and the French were
victorious.
Many contemporary chroniclers compare the Battle of Bouvines to a tournament,
describing the brilliance of the armor and the grandeur of the heraldic banners, which
included the fleur-de-lis, the oriflamme of Saint-Denis, and the German imperial eagle
with dragon. Few died on either side, with an estimated death toll of 169 allied knights
but only two French knights. Henri of Brabant, Hugo de Boves, and Otto fled from the
battlefield, while at least five counts (Ferrand of Portugal, William of Salisbury, Renaud
de Dammartin, William of Holland, and Otto of Tecklenburg), twenty-five other nobles,
and 139 knights were captured and imprisoned.
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