Battle of Mons-in-Pévèle
Among the tables of the Gallery of the Battles of the Castle of Versailles, figure a work painted by Jean-Baptiste Larivière, on the request for Louis Philippe, entitled Battle of Mons-in-Pévèle gained by Philippe Beautiful the the August 18th 1304.
Precondition
At the end of the 13th century, Philippe IV the Beautiful one must face a frightening challenge: in south-west, Edouard I {{er}}, king d' Angleterre and duke of Aquitaine, cherishes the dream to also break its bonds of vassalage with the king of France, while, all in north, the count of Flanders, GUI of Dampierre, would like, to set up its fields in independent territories to him. The two powerful lords intend themselves to form an alliance directed against Philippe the Beautiful one. This one worries some and, to loosen the vice which is set up, enters to Flanders in June 1297.
The Comté of Flanders is occupied, then a truce intervenes which runs until the beginning of the year 1300. The king installs garrisons in the cities and orders the construction of a fortress to the center even of Lille, key of the Flanders. In parallel, its diplomats succeed, in 1299, to break alliance between Edouard of England and Guy de Dampierre. As of January 1300, the war begins again. Again, the Flanders is occupied. The count, two of his sons and fifty knights go and are imprisoned in royal fortresses.
Philippe the Beautiful one and the queen Jeanne Ire of Navarre visits the Flanders in May 1301 where they can note the richness of the cities, but also to realize of divisions which oppose the social classes; the middle-class rich person hold for the king, while the people mark his fidelity with the count. Two powerful orators poke these divisions, Pierre de Coninck and Jean Breydel; riots burst and, in the night of the 17 to the May 18th 1302, the men-at-arms of the royal governor, Jacques de Châtillon, are massacred: they are the Mâtines of Bruges. Horrified, Philippe the Beautiful one entrusts an army to the prince Robert d' Artois to undertake reprisals. A battles, known as of the gold Spurs, takes place under the walls of Courtrai, the July 11th: the French are heavily demolished, prince Robert d' Artois and good number of noble, is killed.
During the year 1303, the south of the Flanders and the border of Artois know many rides and fatal knacks. The king constitutes a war treasure in order to have vessels and troops which would be able to appease its revenge. The 10 and August 11th 1304, in water of the south of the Holland, the royal fleet, ordered by the admiral Rainier Grimaldi, overcomes that of the Flemings. Philippe the Beautiful one learns the news whereas it is already in Flanders. He left Arras the July 29th in order to join Tournai, by the Hainaut, to fold back itself then for Lille, his main objective.
Battle
Not far from Orchies, the two armies meet, in the neighborhoods of the village of Mons-in-Pévèle, dominated by a hill. The historians estimate that approximately 150 000 men are there, of which little more Flemings than of French.
Negotiations take place August 14th, 15th and 16th, but they fail; the 17, each one prepares; however, the battle will be delivered only the following day. It will last all the day, by a canicular heat.
The jets of squares and the stones launched by the slings, make many victims; the French cavalry succeeds in circumventing the enemy face and occupying the top of the mount, seizing the provisions. The Flemish combatants are thus private food and of drink during all the day: they are obviously assoiffés. In addition, they do not have any cavalry because the partisans of the count are wary of the noble ones - likely to rejoin the king - and prohibited any combat with horse.
The army of Philippe the Beautiful one made many victims among Flemings thanks to Machines of jet; nevertheless those succeed in destroying four of them out of five. Tiredness is general, a pause is established, each one being persuaded that the engagements will take again only the following day. Two Flemish quotas, exhausted, decide to leave the battle field and, under the control of wire of the count, Jean and Henri de Namur, will take refuge in Lille. At this time, the Flemings act in concert and two actions are undertaken. The first, carried out by the grandson of the count, Guillaume de Juliers, succeeds in hustling the royal army, but the cavalry manages to encircle the attackers and Juliers is killed. The second attack, that of the Brugeans, miss turning to the drama for the king: they arrive close to him whereas it is surrounded only of one about fifty its men, and it must fight like exaggerated to draw aside the mortal danger who threatens it: it is the topic of the table of the castle of Versailles. Here also, the cavalry saves the situation, by pushing back the Flemings.
Those gather on the mount then set out again towards Lille, giving up the battle field and thus leaving the victory to the king.
After the battle
The August 20th, Philippe the Beautiful one takes the road of the large city, while passing by Seclin, which undergoes depredations for price of its fidelity to the count. The Siège of Lille lasts one month, then the city capitulates. The Flanders, little by little, is again occupied.
Negotiations succeed, in June 1305, with the Traité Athis-on-Barley. The Flanders safeguards its independence but is condemned to heavy fines. The treaty is revised in 1310, in 1312 then in 1320. Robert de Béthune, which succeeded his/her father, GUI of Dampierre - deceased in captivity in 1305 -, gives up the strategic châtellenies of Lille, Douai and Orchies. They pass under Burgundian domination in 1369, but remain under French suzerainty until the reign of François I {{er}}.
See too
External bond
- Battle of Mons-in-Pévèle
- Table of the Gallery of the battles, Castle of Versailles
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