OTD 11 July 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs

On July 11th. 1302, the Battle of the Golden Spurs (in Dutch: Guldensporenslag)
took place. This was also called the Battle of Courtrai.

Opponents

This battle took place between the forces of the County of Flanders and the
Kingdom of France.

Place

The two armies met each other near Courtrai (in Dutch: Kortrijk) in
West-Flanders, Belgium.


Source picture: Wikipedia



Results

The French knights were unable to to defeat the Flemish well trained army
and they suffered huge loses.

The Flemish soldiers used a typical weapon from that time called
"Goedendag" (1.5m long wooden shaft and topped with a steel spike).

The Battle soon became known as the Battle of the Golden Spurs after the
more than 500 pairs of spurs that were captured on the battlefield.

The Spurs were offered offered at the Church of our Lady in Courtrai,
however already in 1382 the French took revenge and the spurs were
taken back to France.


Flemish movement

During the 19th. and the 20th. century the Battle of the Golden Spurs
became important with the Flemish movement.

July 11th. was chosen as official holiday for the Flemish community
in Belgium.


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