Flemings were left to the vengeance of Philip, for in the
pacification the court of Flanders was not included. A
French army entered the Flemish territory, inflicted two
defeats upon the Count's troops, and received the submission
of the Count. Philip annexed Flanders to his crown and
appointed a governor over the Flemings. In less than two
years they rose in furious revolt. The insurrection began at
Bruges, May 18, 1302, when over three thousand Frenchmen in
that city were massacred by the insurgents. This massacre
was called the "Bruges Matins." Such an outrage upon the
French crown could not but bring upon the Flemings all the
forces that Philip was able to muster. The two leading
actions of the ensuing war--that at Courtrai, known as the
"Battle of the Spurs," on account of the number of gilt
spurs captured by the Flemings, and the engagement at
Mons-la-Puelle--are described in the course of the narrative
which follows. As a result of the battle of Courtrai the
French nobility were nearly destroyed, and Philip found it
necessary to recreate his titled bodies.

The Flemings prepared to resist the storm. They chose Guy of Juliers,
grandson of the Count of Flanders, to be their commander. Though a
cleric, he did not hesitate to obey the call, in order to avenge his
family, so cruelly betrayed by the French King. His brother, made
prisoner at Furnes by the Count d'Artois, had perished in that rude
Prince's keeping. His first attempt was to induce the people of Ghent to
join the insurrection, but its rich burgesses preferred French rule to
that of the Count of Flanders. Bruges, however, was supported by all
the lesser and maritime towns of Flanders. Guy of Namur, a son of the
Count, who had escaped to Germany, also returned with a body of soldiers
from that country, and reassured the Flemings. These surprised one of
the ducal manors, in which were five hundred French, and then took
Courtrai, occupying the town, but not the castle. It was immediately
besieged, as well as that of Cassel, the people of Ypres rallying to the
French cause. The French garrison of the town of Courtrai sent pressing
messengers for aid, and Robert of Artois marched with seven thousand
knights and forty thousand foot, of which one-fourth were archers. The
Flemish were but twenty thousand, of which none but the chiefs had
horses. Neither was their armor nor their weapons of a perfect kind, the
latter being a la