The Battle of the Golden Spurs, 1302: Where Peasants Fought Knights

The Battle of the Golden Spurs occurred in 1302, pitting a peasant army against a French army of noble knights. The Flemish rebels employed innovative tactics and fought with improvised weapons, challenging the superiority of the French forces. The battle served as a significant moment in the struggle for Flemish autonomy and represented the resilience of common people against oppressive rule.
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🧾 Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:06 The French King and Flanders
7:54 The Battle of the Golden Spurs
16:56 Aftermath
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Written by House of History
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[@xBradums]

Count Artois: "What can such common people do against us?" Common People: "Boy, you 'bout to find out..."

[@skiteufr]

The battle of Mons en Pevele in 1304, a French victory, quite cancelled the gains of the golden spurs for the Flemish. At the peace treaty, Flanders kept its large autonomy in the Kingdom of France but after losing some cities to the King and paying huge fines. Fines that were collected in the following years led to massive peasant revolts in Flanders that were crushed by the French at Kassel in 1328

[@kaixlotl_7296]

similar losses and the french kings tent taken by the flemish isnt exactly the cancellation of the weight of the loss at courtrai, it was more the destruction of the flemish fleet that halted their war effort and turned it in favour of the french

[@skiteufr]

@@kaixlotl_7296 the Flemish right wing were counter attacked after they took the tent, and most of them killed including their commander, the rest of the Flemish forces just fled. Lille and Douai were then besieged and taken, undermining the Flemish finances to continue the war

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

Peut-être ne comprenez-vous pas que nos amis préfèrent palabrer sur les défaites françaises, même si nous les avons vengés? 😅

[@skiteufr]

@@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont pas faux l'ami 😁. Ils ont besoin de se rassurer

[@Thomas_Name]

The golden spurs is hugely overrated.

[@lahire4943]

Not peasants. Urban militia. Well trained and equipped.

[@YorkusPorkus757]

Yeah so peasants

[@De_Wit]

*resonably well trained and equipped. But yes, agree.

[@ryanvouche254]

If even they’re urban militia they’re still peasants.

[@geordiejones5618]

Jan Zizka is the only commander I can think of who was able to lead actual peasants and won several victories with strategic and tactical mastery.

[@zurgesmiecal]

​@@geordiejones5618 jan "The Ugly" Zizka is still a disgusting war criminal

[@dmitrikulkevicius9161]

Always love the battles where poorly equipped soldiers defeat the knights with tactics and terrain.

[@edocsil123]

they got fucked up a couple of weeks later tho

[@dmitrikulkevicius9161]

@@edocsil123 After being defeated? How embarrassing for the knights, losing to some peasants with sharpy sticks.

[@nofruit1]

Well equipped Flemish urban militias, the cities weren’t sending out peasants

[@dmitrikulkevicius9161]

@@nofruit1 From the perspective of a knight, anything that does not fight mounted is a peasant.

[@nofruit1]

@@dmitrikulkevicius9161 literally not true, life is not a video game

[@socratrash]

Fantastic, as a Belgian historian, you have my thanks. Keep up the awesome videos.

[@craigcanaan]

Saw the notification, clicked without thinking twice

[@Roggay47]

7:40 lol the ai art created a knight in armor with a golf club instead of a sword ahah.

[@scytalhyucan5269]

AI has a weak point: they are known to hallucinate. Then they do weird things.

[@ethanpf449]

I know you're very busy with the German Unification and Hungarian Independence series but would you ever consider doing one on the Boer Wars?

[@HoH]

That's a very good suggestion, I wish I had the time to do it justice.

[@archanarajan7086]

Wow, your medival videos are pretty good. I would like to suggest a few topics such as Burgundian Wars and French wars of Religion. Your Hanoverian front of Seven years War is going pretty well. Keep up the work.

[@HoH]

Thank you - those are great suggestions! I hope I will have the time to cover them one day.

[@Miamcoline]

Excellent coverage and context.

[@emamag6455]

I would like to see a video (or a series) about the clash between the Italian "comuni" and Frederick Barbarossa. It's a topic that I never seen treated on historic YT channel.

[@generaltso8278]

The sound and narration is great A+! Thanks great video

[@michaelagainstme]

best channel to listen to imo ( history wise ) glad you are around kind sir :D

[@davidhughes8357]

Excellent my friends. Thank you.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your channel man! Never miss a notification or premier!😊😊😊

[@eardwulf785]

Superbly written and the narrator compliments the content beautifully.

[@HoH]

Thank you so much 😀

[@KHK001]

Great as always!

[@arozes8324]

As a Flemish man i thank you for making this video!

[@paulcock8929]

Me too.

[@TuurVanderheyden]

Ben jij van Antwerpen, Vlaams Brabant of Limburg?

[@arozes8324]

@@TuurVanderheyden Rond Antwerpen ja ik weet ik ben een Brabander toch leuk om deze veldslag te zien :)

[@TuurVanderheyden]

@@arozes8324 ah ok maar wat is u PFP dan?

[@arozes8324]

@@TuurVanderheyden vlaams wapen schild ;)

[@Antaragni2012]

Good job done!

[@Jesse_Dawg]

Please more videos. I love these

[@enalb5085]

i like this era i hope you do more

[@JoanieAdamms]

Sumptuous to the ears, truly and you reminded me of this battle, as I have had it rumored around much. The one where the Artisans pull the spurs away from the nobleman!

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

The French recovered the spurs lost in Kortrijk following the Battle of Roosebeke in 1382, in which tens of thousands of Flemings perished.

[@JoanieAdamms]

@@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont Ah, there is the counter pull to reprimand it all.

[@Artur_M.]

Awesome video!

[@kangaroobooks7206]

Superb presentation!

[@evrensuer549]

Great work ❤ will you continue the hussite wars

[@ralambosontiavina7372]

Great video !

[@CptSlow89]

This is like RPG. If I am peasant I would loot their asses. Nice armor

[@R0DENT-]

I love the detail that the count of artois pleaded for the live of his horse, is because it was customary for army generals and Nobelman to be spared. So he didn't believe he was in mortal danger.

[@stefanvella9807]

I subbed. Have you made a vid about the great siege of Malta 1565 aka the last battle of the crusades? if not please do so. Its an incredible siege with no quarter given and some of the most brutal savage fighting that ever took place, where 500 knights of st.John, about 2000 Spanish, Italian and a few other volunteers and mercenaries, with roughly 3-5,000 the Maltese militia and sailors, fought and won against all odds vs 50-60000 Ottomans (including reinforcements), barbary corsairs and other muslim volunteers who fired no less than 160000 cannonballs. But God and Our Lady to whom the defenders daily prayed to, were with us and the great experienced GM La Valette proved to the world that he's a military genius.

[@jameslafrite]

The of your animation seems to have improved wow 🤩

[@milabugtcher990]

great, thanks!

[@odinip]

Good choise of a topic

[@brokenbridge6316]

This battle is a fine example of the people standing strong against an unrelenting enemy and oppressor.

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

The Flemish were crushed a little later.

[@brokenbridge6316]

@@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont---That doesn't take away from the significance of this battle.

[@Thomas_Name]

Its a fine example of arrogant and pampered normaltrash who live in luxury getting lucky against a group of badly organized knights and being crushed eventually anyway.

[@yourdadsotherfamily3530]

Being principled is rare nowadays everyones principles are as cogent as the wind.

[@mikelane9918]

Great video

[@jadehaze7939]

Like Eddard Stark said: discipline wins over numbers, nine times out of ten.

[@wimdefoort7698]

Bedankt

[@alexandergeuze3737]

Good video! I'm pretty sure that's a picture of the wrong castle of Écluse though ;)

[@collintrytsman3353]

excellent

[@SR-uv7lt]

Danke!

[@HoH]

Thank you for your generous support!

[@donaldduck9884]

The dark humor of Belgians naming their iconic weapon "Goedendag" 👍

[@johndough1703]

What type of weapon was it?

[@Ancient_Hoplite]

​@@johndough1703 a combination of a club and a spear. The word means good day like the greeting good day to you.

[@donaldduck9884]

@@johndough1703 A kind of war staff hybrid of club and a spear. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goedendag

[@wimdefoort7698]

Goodday was in as when a knight was stricken by the spear - as it had to be aimed a the throat - would nod on the impact, more as a final goodbye than a goodday. I learned this from my daughter who learned this in her elementary school 😬

[@commando2113]

Lol😂😂

[@jorikrouwenhorst7220]

I find it interesting how different your video is in comparison to Baz battles

[@frantad945]

thx

[@johnemery6944]

Awesome

[@MarcusAgrippa390]

Has anyone else not been getting notifications from this channel?

[@HoH]

It's a shame but I notice it as well.

[@nicholaspiper98]

I have not been getting them either and it annoys me to no end. I am glad I scroll through my recommended or I would never see half the people I am subscribed and bell icon clicked to.

[@Heisenberg882]

Please do the battle of bouvines

[@arozes8324]

no as a flemish man i would cry😥

[@frankmithra6140]

Wars without end.Thank you for your work. The present Civilization must learn .God bless

[@3ntra]

Great

[@Back4Fungame]

good

[@willek1335]

For the next one, I'd love to see battles where the french cavalry properly crush their opponents instead of the exceptional (?) battles where they get walloped by the underdog.

[@shamsishraq6831]

Battle of Ascalon maybe?

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

Patay (1429) 😋 The beginning of the end for English longbowmen.

[@pbcoop62]

Roosebeke 1382

[@diogobarata6346]

Does anyone know where channels like this one or Kings and Generals get their music from?

[@HoH]

Epidemic Sound

[@TheHypnogog]

City states taking on a major Kingdom- that had to sting- good show.

[@ryanrondine8388]

can you PLEASE do battles with Stepehen the great????????

[@koffieatletisch]

Hi, I really like your channel. Why are you not pronouncing the Flemish towns and streams in Dutch, as you are from the Netherlands? Also, could you do a video about the Batavian revolt?

[@badlaamaurukehu]

Seconded.

[@kiankier7330]

a idea if you want more peasants vs knights battles, you could look at the Danish Civil War know as the Count's Feud

[@madzen112]

Maybe do a video on the Battle of Visby, the peasants got a real trashing there. Think it might even have been farmers.

[@s.a.opinion]

I wonder if the correct map was used. The Netherlands and Belgium had a different coastline in the 13th century compared to today. For example, the city of Bruges had a direct access to the sea until the 15th century before it silted up. This is not visible on the map shown in the video. I consider accurate map usage necessary to better understand troop movements and tactical/strategic contexts.

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Grapeshot would've been useful here...

[@MaximilianoAedo]

I'm hoping the next Age of Empires II expansion actually has a mission based on this battle. It would be fun to actually play as the Flemish.

[@johncherskov5755]

Not the first time that French 'knights' ruined the whole battle by being over confident and losing.

[@nirfz]

So on one hand "they adhered to the strict rule of no looting" (09:56) and on the other hand "the flemish claimed valuable loot" (16:45) Not sure how that works, but other than that, very interesting video about a part of history i am unfamiliar with. (not much of Belgiums history is taught in detail in schools in central europe)

[@HoH]

The short version: often discipline broke *during* battle due to looting. So no looting, until the battle's won. Then all rules are off. I could have worded that better!

[@nirfz]

@@HoH Ah, i understand. Nothing wrong with your wording, it just didn't cross my mind that it could be so simple as "rules on - rules off" depending on if its during or after battle.

[@manuelapollo7988]

Even earlier than that, during the battle of Legnano the knights of Barbarossa were defeated by basically a peasant army from Milan

[@dennishendrikx3228]

The part where Flemish hunt down any French, by making them say words, is also used right after the second world war in The Netherlands. German suspects had to say "Scheveningen", a place next to The Hague.

[@HoH]

Scheveningse kacheltjes!

[@dennishendrikx3228]

@@HoH Haha Exactly. Germans would say Sjeveniengen. Thank you for your hard work, insane nice docu's.

[@dennishendrikx3228]

BTW, is there any chance you can throw a epic Michiel de Ruyter part in?

[@stevendepauw3742]

11 July is still remembered every year because it is a the "feast day" of the Flemish Community in Belgium. 700 years after a staggering victory against French oppression, the Flemish are still fighting against a French minded country and a population of French speakers.

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

The French repeatedly crushed the Flemings throughout the 14th century, notably at Mons-en-Pévèle (1304), Cassel (1328) and Roosebeke (1382). The French defeat at the Battle of Kortrijk was an exception in the wars between the French and the Flemings.

[@fallfountain6038]

Vlaanderen de leeuw!

[@lhumaniste7286]

@@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont Absolutely correct, it would be strange if a kingdom, with many more knights and soldiers wouldn't be capable to beat a much smaller county. But at the end, 'Flemish' Flanders is - but maybe I am wrong - the only 'fief' of the crown that has never been recovered by France and is still independent.

[@wardaddy6595]

The arrogance of an entrenched military elite, unwilling to change or embrace innovation has been the bane of many powers throughout history!

[@hjorturerlend]

How exactly does that describe the French?

[@lahire4943]

France won that war annexing Lille, Douai and Béthune, and forcing Flanders to pay a large indemnity. So what's actually your point?

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

- The French are perhaps the greatest military theorists and innovators in history. - The Flemish victory was short-lived, as they were crushed by the French just 2 years later at the Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle (1304).

[@Erulin68]

As a Buggian born and raised who's seen the city archives. It wasn't "schild of friend" it was 'Schildens Friend" Are you a frind of the gilds

[@lerneanlion]

I guess this is why King Charles VI of France has both titles of the Beloved and the Mad later on. Despite having mental illness, he did retrieve the lost 500 spurs later on in the aftermath of the Battle of Roosebeke. By the way, I have some crucial information you needed to keep in mind about the last Roman-Iranian War of 602-628 that you are planning to do a video about. Emperor Heraclius did sue for peace with Shah Khosrow II once he became the Emperor by sending the ambassadors to one of the Sha's generals, Shahin, who accepted the peace offer but stated that he has no authority to engage in peace talks and direct the offer to the Shah in Ctesiphon. However, the Shah rejected the peace proposal and even have the ambassadors arrested, declaring his intention to keep Syria, Egypt, Rhodes and other several islands in the Aegean Sea conquered by his forces in his Empire by claiming that he intended to put his brother-in-law, Theodosius, son of the late Emperor Maurice, on the throne. This, however, ended up dissatisfied many nobles because this war is now basically directionless. Plus, the rumor that Theodosius survived is just a rumor and nobody knows for real that the person who presented to Shah Khosrow II by the rebellious Roman magister militum named Narses is really Theodosius or not. Also, another thing that both videos I saw lacked is the proper explanation why General Shahrbaraz decided to suddenly become inactive in Syria. The reason for his sudden inactivity is because the Roman troops intercepted the Shah's letter and the Emperor offered to meet him at Constantinople. That is when he heard of what inside of the letter, which said that his second-in-command, Kadarigan, is to have him executed for failing to take Constantinople and assume command of his army. Angered by this, he switched to the Romans' side, change the content of the letter to not only just having himself but also Kadarigan and other 140 military officers to be executed on the Shah's order to ensure their loyalties to him, and leave to station in Syria throughout the whole war, allowing the Romans to terrorize the Iranian heartland unchecked until the war ended in the Roman's favor. One more thing, Emperor Heraclius sealed his alliance with General Shahrbaraz by marrying his deaf-mute son, Theodosius, to his daughter, Nike. So when you do video about this last war between the Romans and the Iranians, I hope these two contents will be added and mentioned as well.

[@Thomas_Name]

The flemish were such disgusting evil normaltrash that they lost to a person who was born with a psychological disability and should have lived in the protection and care of a monastery instead of being subjected to the pressures of political life.

[@madzen112]

Battle of Hemmingstedt has a similar dynamic, an army of 10.000 of which half are elite mercenaries, loses to 6.000 farmers and burgers.

[@verihimthered2418]

So they never went back for new lances?

[@beepboop204]

[@clarkstartrek]

Battle of Manzikert 1071 A. D. would be a good addition to your videos

[@wesleybarton3871]

Glad the "noble" well heeled learned a lesson if only for awhile.

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

Like the English knights against the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn (1314).

[@untukkepentingan6207]

Battle of Balaclava, I guess?

[@MrTStat]

I wonder if the modern situation in Belgium between the Flemish and French population has its roots in this period

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

Maybe 😅

[@fallfountain6038]

I am a Flemish-Nationalist and it's true that a lot is based around this battle. It's basically Flemish against French and now it's Flemish against French too and it kindof resembles 1302. The reason the Flemish got angry was because the french took their money, and now it's the same. French speakers work less on average and therefore cost our country more money. So we are angry with the French speaking because hardworking Flemish people have to pay for non-working French speakers.

[@shimazutakuma1031]

Overconfidence and hunger for glory is kind of the norm for the "French Knights" of this era... Frankish Knights of the crusades too....

[@dyak0]

Well.. First of all, most Flemish troops were townsmen, *not peasants*. As such they were somewhat better equipped, trained and organized. The Flemish still had ten nobles, including Guy of Namur who fought on horseback. They were greatly helped by the terrain, the French men-at-arms most likely just didn't have enough room to gain momentum. You see, the horses had to walk some distance, then they would switch to trot, and closer to the enemies they would ride into gallop, only that would make men-at-arms efficient. But it seems that the French couldn't do that because of the streams. What would happen if the Flemish had no such good terrain and no knights? Battle of Roosebeke 1382. That was a horrible defeat to the Flemish, and French revenge for Courtrai.

[@skiteufr]

Battle of Mons en Pevele 1304 was already the revenge

[@dyak0]

@@skiteufr Yes, that was too, but after Roosebeke the French took their golden spurs back. ^_^

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

@@skiteufr One revenge wasn't enough, a second was necessary 🤣🤣

[@Kingharlaus410]

Its still humiliating to have an army defeated by some wat equipped townsmen

[@dyak0]

@@Kingharlaus410 Kind of, knight = Pro, townsman = DIY.

[@MrSinclairn]

Edmund Crouchback,Earl of Lancaster & Leicester was King Edward I's younger brother;and while the late Scottish king Alexander III's late son & heir-apparent Alexander was married to Dampierre's dau.,the subsequent Franco-Scottish 'Auld Alliance' (1295) of the same period,meant over a century later,both Scotland and Flanders-Burgundy were drawn into the armed orbit of competing sides during the Anglo-French Hundred Years Wars and their regional overlap[ie the Battle of Othee(1408) concerning Liege,etc.] ! 🙄

[@CVB073]

ur video and research are amazing, But showing the flemish lion with red claws and red tongue is offensive to me as a flemish person. the flemish lion with red is a compromise flag to belgium, founded in 1830. To approach the french belgium socialism. And to match the national flag. But i like ur amazing vid... 95% as a flemish guy, Great research and thank u

[@mrc112]

The "schild en vriend" is historically incorrect, and comes from a phonetic error. Asking "shield and friend" isn't logical. What they did ask was *'s gilden vriend ?*, short for "des gilden vriend?", meaning "are you a friend of the guilds?" Pronounced 's gilden vriend and "schild en vriend" sound almost identical. This wrong interpretation was made "common knowledge" by Henri Conscience who wrote the novel "the lion of flanders" shortly after the Belgian independance. Because of this, the novel became very popular and his error made it's way into the literal history books.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

flanders, lion is our battle cry! (The Flemish truly have the courage, bravery and ferocity of a lion!) And next you could do Constantine the great's triumph on the Milvian Bridge!

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

The French repeatedly crushed the Flemings throughout the 14th century, notably at Mons-en-Pévèle (1304), Cassel (1328) and Roosebeke (1382). The French defeat at the Battle of Kortrijk was an exception in the wars between the French and the Flemings.

[@badlaamaurukehu]

Now it's farmers.

[@ZZZ2573]

Useless captions. Either write what you say or incorporate the captions into your video

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Wonderful historical coverage about that conflicts thank you the history House 🏠 channal....that conflict reflected french atrocities to ward's peasants and massive effectiveness of Britain 🇬🇧

[@zurgesmiecal]

there was no britain at that time duh

! ! ! Vlaanderen de Leeuw ! ! !

[@jobzagudn]

Meeetaaaaal!

[@snakes3425]

Underestimate the enemy at your own parrel...seems the French failed to learn that lesson when the Hundred Years War began

[@frauleinhohenzollern8442]

Peasants fought knights in every battle... When were armies comprised entirely of knights on both sides of a battle? Or am I missing something?

[@Kingharlaus410]

They were never only knights but most army’s either have actual carreer soldiers or mercenaries not peasants

[@brandonstanley9125]

Count of Artwat

[@GaryArmstrongmacgh]

Battle of Standards...

[@marcl.1346]

Lots of coping Wallonians in the comments.

[@idkmybffjill9682]

Age of empires 2 challenge

[@idkmybffjill9682]

Flemish revolution for the win

[@clmk28]

Could this be considered the battle that ended the effectiveness of knights?

[@matthiasbindl7085]

not even remotely. Knights remained effective for centuries onwards

[@lahire4943]

Hum. Knights were still largely used 350 years later.

[@jaythompson5102]

As others mentioned, no. This was just a little blip where peasants succeeded against professionals, these were very rare situations.

[@thibaultsardet7399]

Flemish militia, not pesants.

[@killerkraut9179]

Totally no! I could talk more about that!

[@Big-boi92]

Common Flemish W

[@Joe-wq9lf]

Well they did lose the war, and pretty much every other war with France

[@Kingharlaus410]

@@Joe-wq9lftheres only so much a force of some wat trained under equipped townsmen can do

[@MrSneakyCastro]

Schild en vriend bitcheez

[@mustardorb8867]

Glory to the peasants against tyranny

[@danielvahnke3369]

Excellent except for the fookin bloops...jeesh - don't use your grandkids for advice.

[@forexdragon]

France and their knights get owned more than a hundred years before their crushing defeats at Crecy, Agincourt, and Poitiers.

[@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont]

100 years is a long time. The Flemish were crushed barely 2 years later by the French. (And the French won the Hundred Years War).

[@forexdragon]

@@MarquisVincentBissetdeGramont The French had more resources than their enemies - they basically outlasted England. England would never be able to handle such crushing losses and continue to wage war as they were still trying to rise to power as a nation. Even with their victories, England ran out of steam at the end as their treasury was depleted. Crecy and Poitiers were within 10 years of each other and epic disasters. How do you lose so badly like that? I chalk it up to French arrogance and incompetence.

[@shmigo.gambino]

you gotta do battles not done before by Kings and General, Baz Battles or History marche my boy

[@glaz3811]

IVE BEEN BEANBOOZLED YOUR NOT KINGS AND GENERALS

[@uhadme]

sure pal, I will risk my life for your agenda, no looting no problem. seems like a real life event.

[@RaedwaldtheSeaKing]

Your voice was better in the older videos. The format of the videos was quite unique, the voiceover is somewhat bland now, doesn't grab my interest as much as before