Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

INTRODUCING BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

TIMELINE

1300 1325 1350 1375

French took their revenge

with a crushing victory at the

Battle of Cassel, just south

of Dunkirk in present-day

France, in 1328.

These tensions continued

throughout the Hundred

Years’ War between England

and France. In 1338, it was

Ghent’s turn to rebel, with a

vain attempt to make Edward

the Black Prince (son of

Edward III of England) the

Count of Flanders. The revolt

descended into anarchy in

1345 and the new Count of

Flanders, Louis de Male (r.1346–84),

reasserted French control.

THE HOUSE OF BURGUNDY

The Duchy of Burgundy had been a

major force in European politics since

AD 843, and its dukes had close links

to the French throne. In 1369, Philip,

Duke of Burgundy, married Margaret,

daughter of Louis de Male. When

the latter died in 1384, the House of

Burgundy took over the title of Count

of Flanders, along with a patchwork

of possessions in the Low Countries.

The dukes of Burgundy gradually

consolidated their rule in the Low

Countries, adding Limburg in 1396

THE CRAFTSMEN’S REBELLION

France held sway over its northeastern

territory through the counts of Flanders

and an aristocracy loyal to the French

crown. The trading cities, run by

guilds and wealthy merchants, tussled

endlessly for the right to control their

interests, and won varying degrees of

autonomy through the award of

precious town charters.

The late 13th and early 14th centuries

witnessed a series of rebellions by

the craftsmen of Bruges, Brussels and

Ghent, against the tyranny of the

French lords. On the morning of 18

May 1302, Flemish rebels in Bruges –

led by Pieter de Coninck, a weaver,

and Jan Breydel, a butcher – slaugh-

tered their French oppressors in an

organized uprising that became

known euphemistically as the Bruges

Matins. Encouraged by this, Flemish

troops, armed only with lances and

spears, took on and defeated the might

of the French cavalry at Groeninge,

near Kortrijk, on 11 July. This victory

became known as the Battle of the

Golden Spurs, after the French spurs

that were exhibited in triumph in

the Kortrijk cathedral. However, the

A 19th-century painting of the Battle of the Golden Spurs

Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy and his court, a

miniature painted by Rogier van der Weyden in 1447

1384 On the death of

Louis de Male, his

Flemish possessions

pass to his son-in-law,

the Duke of Burgundy

1302 The Bruges Matins revolt

is followed by the Battle of the

Golden Spurs – Flemish forces

defeat French cavalry

1328 France

reasserts control

over Flanders after

the Battle of Cassel

1337 Start of the Hundred Years’

War between England and France

Breydel and Coninck,

leaders of the Bruges

Matins revolt

1338 Flemish towns become

allied to England in the Hundred

Years’ War

Brass effigy of Edward the

Black Prince (1330–76)

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