evade the monopoly of Ghent on French grain coming down the Lys River by digging a
canal into the Lys south of Ghent. The cities had well-defined spheres of influence, and
when the workmen of Bruges began digging in the “quarter” of Ghent in the autumn of
1379, the militia of Ghent attacked. The resultant war lasted until the Peace of Tournai
(December 18, 1385). Ghent was the only constant opponent of the counts, but at various
times it was able to install rebel regimes in Bruges and Ypres and to control the smaller
towns and rural jurisdictions, al-though less effectively than they had done in the time of
Jacques van Artevelde.
After the war, Flanders came more completely than ever before into a French orbit.
Louis de Male had married his heiress in 1369 to Philip, duke of Burgundy and brother of
the French king Charles V.Philip succeeded his father-in-law as ruler of Flanders on
January 30, 1384. The Flemish cities were more strictly subordinated to the Burgundian
council and Chambre des Comptes. The power of the “four members” of Flanders—
Ghent, Bruges, Ypres, and the Franc (châtellenie) of Bruges—continued strong during
the Burgundian period. Although there were rebellions in the major cities between 1436–
38 and 1450–53, the only consequence was the further limitation of the cities’ autonomy.
With the death of Charles the Bold in 1477 and the succession of his daughter Marie and
her husband, Maximilian of Habsburg, the cities again tried unsuccessfully to throw off
the foreign ruler. At the end of the 15th century, Flanders was being ruled not by
Frenchmen but by a German dynast whose heirs in the Low Countries would be
Spaniards.
David M.Nicholas
[See also: ARNULF; ARTEVELDE; BAUDOUIN; BOUVINES; CASSEL;
COURTRAI; DAMPIERRE; PHILIP II AUGUSTUS; PHILIP III THE BOLD; PHILIP
IV THE FAIR; TEXTILES]
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1244.” In Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden. 2nd ed. Haarlem: Fibulavan Dishoeck,
1982, Vol. 2, pp. 372–98.
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——. La Flandre sous les premiers comtes. Brussels: La Renaissance du Livre, 1943.
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Nowé, Henri. La bataille des éperons d’or. Brussels: La Renaissance du Livre, 1945.
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