Battle of Bouvines - Battle

Battle

The 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 centers. 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.

Meanwhile, the French feudatories on the left wing had thoroughly defeated the Imperial forces opposed to them. 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 Ferdinand, Count of Flanders, one of the leaders of the coalition.

In the center 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 favor of the French when their wings began to close inwards to cut off the retreat of the imperial center. 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 melee. The prisoners also included two other counts, Ferrand and William Longsword, twenty-five barons and over a hundred knights. The death toll amounted to about 170 knights of the defeated party, and many thousands of foot soldiers on either side.