Battle of Bouvines Information
The Battle of Bouvines, 27 July 1214, was a conclusive medieval battle ending the twelve year old Angevin-Flanders War[2] that was important to the early development of both the French state by confirming the French crown's sovereignty over the Angevin lands of Brittany and Normandy.
Philip Augustus of France defeated an army consisting of Imperial, English and Flemish soldiers, led by Otto IV of Germany. Other leaders included count Ferrand of Flanders, William de Longespee and Renaud of Boulogne. The defeat was so decisive that Otto was deposed and replaced by Frederick II Hohenstaufen, Ferrand and Renaud were captured and imprisoned and King John of England was forced to seal the Magna Carta by his discontented barons. Philip was himself able to take undisputed control of most continental territories of John of England, Otto's maternal uncle and ally.
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Prelude
King Philip II of France's victory at Bouvines, by Vincent of BeauvaisThe campaign plan seems to have been designed by John, who was the fulcrum of the alliances; his general idea was to draw the French king away from Paris southward against himself and keep him occupied, while the main army, under Emperor Otto IV, with the counts of the low countries, should march on Paris from the north. John's part in the general strategy was carried out at first, but the allies in the north moved slowly. John, after two encounters with his mortal enemy the king of France, turned back to his possessions in Aquitaine on 3 July, however, perhaps in one of his fits of despondency. When, three weeks later, the emperor finally concentrated his forces at Valenciennes, John was out of the picture, and in the interval Philip Augustus had counter marched northward and regrouped. Philip now took the offensive himself, and in maneuvoering to get a good cavalry ground upon which to fight he offered battle (27 July), on the plain east of Bouvines and the river Marque. The imperial army drew up facing south-westward towards Bouvines, the heavy cavalry on the wings, the infantry in one great mass in the centre, supported by the cavalry corps under the emperor himself. The total force is estimated at 25,000 men; a much larger proportion of foot soldiers and slightly less cavalry than the French.[1] The French army of 15,000 men[1] took ground exactly opposite in a similar formation, cavalry on the wings, infantry, including the townsmen (milice des communes) in the centre, Philip with the cavalry reserve and the royal standard, the Oriflamme, in rear of the men on foot. Philip's army contained about 2,000 knights (750 were from the royal demesne) and 2,000 mounted sergeants with the rest being infantry.[3]
Battle
French and Imperial knights clashingThe battle opened with a confused cavalry fight on the French right, in which individual feats of knightly gallantry were more noticeable (and better recorded in the chronicles) than any attempt at combined action. The serious fighting was between the two centres; the infantry of the Low Countries, who were at this time almost the best in existence, drove back the French. Philip led the cavalry reserve of nobles and knights to retrieve the day, and after a long and doubtful fight, in which he himself was unhorsed and narrowly escaped death, began to drive back the Flemings.
In the meanwhile the French feudatories on the left wing had thoroughly defeated the Imperial forces opposed to them, and William Longsword, Earl of Salisbury, the leader of this corps, was unhorsed and taken prisoner by Philip of Dreux, the fighting bishop of Beauvais. On the other wing the French at last routed the Flemish cavalry and captured Ferrand, Count of Flanders, one of the leaders of the coalition.
In the centre the battle was now a melee between the two mounted reserves led by the King and the Emperor in person. Here too the Imperial forces suffered defeat, Otto himself being saved only by the devotion of a handful of Saxon knights. The Imperial Eagle Standard was captured by the French.
The day was already decided in favour of the French when their wings began to close inwards to cut off the retreat of the imperial centre. The battle closed with the celebrated stand of Reginald of Boulogne, a former vassal of King Philip, who formed a ring of seven hundred Brabançon pikemen, and not only defied every attack of the French cavalry, but himself made repeated charges or sorties with his small force of knights. Eventually, and long after the Imperial army had begun its retreat, the gallant Schiltron was ridden down and annihilated by a charge of three thousand men-at-arms. Reginald was taken prisoner in the mêlée; and the prisoners also included two other counts, Ferrand and William Longsword, twenty-five barons and over a hundred knights. The killed amounted to about 170 knights of the defeated party, and many thousands of foot on either side.
Aftermath
Ferrand of Flanders and Renaud of Boulogne marched as prisoners to ParisPhilip returned to Paris triumphant, marching his captive prisoners behind him in a long procession, as his grateful subjects came out to greet the victorious king. In the aftermath of the battle, Otto retreated to his castle of Harzburg and was soon overthrown as Holy Roman Emperor, and replaced by Frederick II. Count Ferdinand remained imprisoned following his defeat, while King John obtained a five year truce, on very lenient terms given the circumstances.
Philip's decisive victory was crucial in ordering politics in both England and France. In the former, so weakened was the defeated King John of England that he soon needed to submit to his barons demands and sign the Magna Carta, limiting the power of the crown and establishing the basis for common law. In the latter, the battle was instrumental in forming the strong central monarchy that would characterise France until the first French Revolution. It was also the first battle in the Middle Ages in which the full value of infantry was realised.[4]
Philip conquered most Plantagenet's continental possessions, namely Anjou, Brittany, Maine, Normandy, and the Touraine, leading to the effective end of the Angevin Empire.
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i See xenophongroup - Bouvines
- ^ "The 'War' of Bouvines (1202-1214)". http://xenophongroup.com/montjoie/bouvines.htm. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
- ^ J. Bradbury, Philip Augustus: King of France 1180-1223, 283
- ^ Smedley, Edward. The History of France, from the final partition of the Empire of Charlemagne to the Peace of Cambray., p.72, London: Baldwin and Cradock, 1836.
References
- Georges Duby, The Legend of Bouvines (1990). In a careful study of the historiography of a single event, Duby examines how the Battle of Bouvines has been used and abused in French history.
External links
- Historical accounts
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Bouvines: the battle in the context of the campaign in the war of 1202–1214
Coordinates: 50°35′0″N 3°13′30″E / 50.583333°N 3.225°E
Categories:
- 1214 in France
- Battles involving France
- Battles involving the Holy Roman Empire
- Battles involving Flanders
- History of Nord (French department)
- Conflicts in 1214
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