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JAMES
AND
PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD
TWO EPISODES IN THE HISTORY OF THE
FOURTEENTH CENTURY.
BY JAMES HUTTON.
AVTHOR OF " A HUNDRED YEARS AOO," " MISSIONARY WORK IN THE SOUTHERN
S^AS," "CENTRAL ASIA : FROM THE ARYAN TO THE COSSACK," ETC., ETC.
LONDON :
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1882.
[All lliyhts reserved.}
LONDON I
BRADBURY, AGXEAV, & C'O., PRINTERS, WUITEFRIAR3.
c
PREFACE.
THE purport of this volume is simply to place in
their true light, before English readers, the characters
and careers of two remarkable men, who, for the
space of well nigh six centuries, have been cruelly
misunderstood and misrepresented. It was, perhaps,
natural that the early chroniclers should mistake the
Van Artevelds, father and son, for mere blatant, self-
seeping demagogues. Connected for the most part
by birth, or association, with the feudal nobility of
the period, Froissart and his copyists learned from
their childhood to look down upon the commonalty
as an inferior race of mankind, brought into the
world to subserve the interests and pleasures of the
great lords. In their eyes there was no neutral, no
intermediate, ground between the patricians and the
plebeians. It was for the former to command, for
the latter to obey for the former to enjoy life, for
the latter to render life enjoyable. The upheaval of
the lower orders and the apparition of James van
Arteveld were phenomena unprecedented in their
2017310
vi PREFACE.
experience, and therefore to be denounced as mon-
strous and diabolical.
Gilles li Muisis and Jehan le Bel were the first,
so far as I am aWare, to give a totally erroneous
interpretation to a movement which alarmed
(heir ignorance and confounded their sagacity.
Had the matter, however, rested in their hands
it is probable that posterity would have heard very
little either of the Communes of Flanders, or of
their two greatest captains. But in the hands of
Froissai't history became a lifelike romance, imbued
with personal interest, and glowing with brilliant
pictures of gallant feats of arms, of knightly enter-
prise and prowess, of the heroic courage and devcfiioii
of high-born dames and damsels, and also of the out-
rageous presumption of the baser sort, who actually
claimed a common humanity and put forth titles
and privileges of their own. It would be unfair to
accuse the Canon of Chimay of wilfully embellishing,
or distorting, the facts which came to his knowledge.
He lived in an age of memorable events, and moved
amongst the great men who were carving out history
with the sword, and who made free use of his pen
to record and emblazon their own achievements. He
belonged to a pre-critical era, and thought no harm
in repeating each tale as it was told to him. He
accepted, without hesitation, the evidence of eye-
witnesses, even when extolling their own successes
PREFACE. vii
or glossing over their own failures. It was not for
him to cross-examine his munificent patrons, or even
the courteous knights who, in friendly converse, un-
rolled the sparkling narrative *f all that they had
heard, seen, or imagined, in the course of their ad-
venturous lives. To the inventive reminiscences of
Robert de Namur we are indebted for the charming,
if fictitious, episode of the surrender of Calais, and
for the vigorous delineation of the sea-fight off Win-
chelsea. To Froissart's own visit to Damme, Sluys,
Bruges, and Ghent, we owe the minute touches
which impart so much animation to his story of
Philip van Arteveld. From the lips of the very
actors in those troublous scenes he took dow r n the
details which came under the cognizance of each, or
w^ich each could repeat at direct second-hand. But
it^must not be forgotten that, although he made a
point of committing to paper, before he lay down to
rest, whatever he had learned during the daylight,
his labours usually began at a late hour, after a
joyous supper, when imagination is apt to come to
the aid of memory. In any case he failed to appre-
ciate the two episodes in the annals of the Flemish
Communes which this little volume is intended to
illustrate.
There may be a certain lack of reverence in
presuming to criticise the most fascinating of all
chronicles, but, after all, truth is more to be regarded
viii PREFACE.
than sentiment, and the two great citizens of Ghent
have been suffered to remain much too long under
a cloud of misapprehension and obloquy. The late
Mr. Wm. Longman,* it is true, rendered full justice
to the noble aspirations of James van Arteveld, and
showed conclusively that what he aimed at was con-
stitutional government, though the form might be
democratic. But Philip van Arteveld has been less
fortunate, or, rather, he has been peculiarly unfortu-
nate in being made the hero of Sir Henry Taylor's
dramatised poem. Although adhering with won-
derful fidelity to Froissart's narrative, the English
poet has added an incident of remarkable beauty,
but which is painfully injurious to the moral cha-
racter of the victor of Beverhoutsveld. Not content
with bestowing upon Philip a beautiful, accomplished,
and virtuous wife in Adriana van Merestyn, ^ir
Henry Taylor links him at her death with the run-
away mistress of the Duke of Bourbon, idealised
into an abstract personification of love and purity.
Now, in the drama, Philip's marriage does not take
place till some time in May, 1382, and in six months
he buries and forgets his wife and becomes enthralled
by Elena della Torre, and all this because Frois-
sart mentions that a " damoiselle " had accompanied
him from Ghent to Hoosebeke, the " damoiselle "
being nq other than his wife, Yolande van den
* " History of the Life and Times of Edward III.," 1862.
PREFACE. ix
Brouckc. Sir Henry Taylor, however, renders due
homage to the many great qualities which charac-
terised his hero, and which he sums up with much
force and feeling. The speaker is the king's uncle,
the Duke of Burgundy :
Dire rebel though he was,
Yet with a noble nature and great gifts
Was he endow'd courage, discretion, wit,
An equal temper and an ample soul,
Rock-bound and fortified against assaults
Of transitory passion, but below
Built on a surging subterranean fire
That stirr'd and lifted him to high attempts.
So prompt and capable and yet so calm,
He nothing lack'd in sovereignty biit the right,
Nothing in soldiership except good fortune.
With respect to James van Arteveld, in the absence
of ^,ny positive evidence one way or the other, I
ha*e not ventured to assert that he was neither
himself a brewer nor the husband of a " brewster,"
whether widow or maiden ; but in my own mind I
have not the slightest doubt that the tradition is
entirely based upon his being admitted a member of
the Brewers'-Guild two years before his death. This
was one of the fifty-two minor crafts, and for that
reason was chosen by Van Arteveld, who, by birth,
belonged to the Weavers'-Guild, which stood at the
head of the industrial orders of Ghent. To the
wine-drinking knights and chroniclers a brewer of
the thick, muddy, ill-fermented beer of those times,
x PREFACE.
which needed an admixture of honey to render it at
all palatable, may well have seemed a common
fellow of very plebeian origin. I have followed M. de
Lettenhove in giviig him to wife a daughter of
Sohier de Courtrai, in preference to adopting M.
Voisin's theory that he was a grandson of the vener-
able Lord of Dronghen, and that he married a
lady named Christine, of the illustrious house of
Baronaige ; but I confess that I can adduce no very
cogent reason for the faith that is in me. Except
to refute the misrepresentations of the ancient
chroniclers, and the careless repetitions of their blind
followers, it might have been wiser simply to ac-
knowledge that the youth and early manhood of
James van Arteveld are involved in so much ob-
scurity, that nothing certain is known either a, to
his pursuits and occupation, or as to the name of Jiis
wife.
For the rest, I cannot sufficiently acknowledge
my obligations to the admirable works produced by
M. de Lettenhove and Professor Vanderkindere.
In my list of authorities I have not mentioned
Froissart or a host of subsequent chroniclers whom
I have carefully consulted and collated. The occa-
sional passages from Froissart are either my own
version, or have been taken from Colonel Johnes'
translation.
CONTENTS.
PART f.
EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Flanders How Peopled Baldwin Bras-de-Fer The Minne,
or Ghiklc Rising Influence of the Counts Robert of
Flanders Charles of Denmark William Longsword
9 Thierry of Alsace Power of the Ghildes Foundation
of Damme Philip of Flanders and Philip Augustus
Baldwin, Emperor of Constantinople Battle of
Bouvines . 1
CHAPTER II.
Treaty of Melun The Thirty- Nine of Ghent The D'Avesnes
and. the Dumpierres Guy de Dampierre Development
of Civilization Prosperity of the Communes Tha Hanse
of London Destruction of the Bruges Charters Philip
the Fair of France His Ambitious Projects . . .16
CHAPTER III.
Imprisonment of Guy de Dampierre Philippine of Flanders
Philip favours the Communes Release of Guy de
Dampierre Alliance with Edward I. Battle of Bnis-
CONTENTS.
PAGE
camp Edward I. lands atSluys; visits Ghent; returns to
England Guy de Dampierre imprisoned at Compiegne
Philip the Fair in Flanders Peter Coninck Outbreak in
Bruges John Breydel Bruges Matins Insurrection in
the Franc of Bruges uDay of the Golden Spurs Popular
Movements Robert de Bethune Treaty of Athies
Louis de Nevers Treaty of Pontoise Edward II. . . 27
CHAPTER IV.
Louis X. invades Flanders Panic in his Army Philip the
Long Pope Arbitrates between France and Flanders
Robert de Bethune at Paris His death Charles tin-
Fair Louis de Crecy Arrests English Traders in Flan-
ders Disturbances Nicholas Zannequin Louis de
Cre"cy made prisoner in Courtrai Interdict against
Ghent Peace between Count and Communes Philip de
Valois Promises to restore Count of Flanders Battle <
of Cassel Punishment of the Insurgents Insurrection
in Maritime Flanders Birth of Louis de Maele Tempo-
rary lull - 44
PART II.
SOCIAL A T IEW OF FLANDERS IN THE X1VTH
CENTURY.
CHAPTER V.
Rise of the Democracy Decline of Feudalism Municipal
Liberties Growth of the Communes Local Government
Magistrates Position of the Count The Clergy Mili-
tary Service The Artisans Trade Regulations Trade
Guilds Sufferings of the "\Voiking Classes .
CONTENTS. xiii
CHAPTER VI.
PAGE
The Artisans of Ghent Quarrels of the Guilds Upheaval of
the Industrial Classes Bruges Decline of Flemish
Manufactures The Rural Population Spade Husbandry
Agricultural Produce Condition of the Peasantry
Taxation Disunion of the Communes The Church in
Flanders 82
CHAPTER VII.
Clerical Pretensions Superstition Excommunication Im-
morality of the Clergy Religious Sentiment The Men-
dicant Friars The Flagellants Houses Sanitation
The Women of Flanders Love of Dress Dissolute
Habit* Public Hot Baths General Laxity of Morals .
PART III.
JAMES VAX ARTEVELD.
CHAPTER VIII.
Accession of Philip the Fair Pretensions of Edward III.
Robert of Artois Commercial Relations of England and
Flanders Coalition of Edward III. with the German
Princes Louis de Crecy arrests Englishmen in Flanders
Reprisals by Edward III. Reconciliation between
England and the Communes English Envoys in Flanders
Arrest of Sohier de Courtrai Capture of Cadzand
Misery in Ghent James van Arteveld Misconceptions
as to his character and position 113
xiv CONTEXTS.
CHAPTER IX.
PAGE
Youth aud eaily manhood of James van Arteveld His
marriage The apocryphal Brewery Consulted by
Ghent artizans Advises a close alliance with England
Appointed Captaift of the City Convention signed at
Louvain Selfishness of the Communes Louis de Crecy
accused of seeking Van Arteveld's death The Count's
flight from Ghent The Count temporises Execution of
Sohier de Courtrai Philip de Valois excommunicates
Ghent French invade Flanders Louis de Maele driven
out of Bruges The Communes organise a Local Govern-
ment Reopen Trade with England . . . .1-26
CHAPTER X.
Edward III. appointed A r icar of the Holy Roman Empire
Popularity of the English in Brabant The Count's nar-
row escape at Dixmude Siege of Cambrai Edward III. (
offers battle to Philip de Valois Both armies withdraw
into winter quarters Fighting on the Borders Barbarity
of mediaeval warfare Edward III. claims the Crown of
France Quarters the Fleurs-de Lys on his shield Grants
three Charters to the Communes Alliance between
Flanders, Brabant, and Hainault Papal intervention . 142
CHAPTER XI.
Birth of John of Gaunt and of Philip van Arteveld Defeat
and capture of the Earl of Salisbury James van Arteveld
marches to the relief of the Count of Hainault Battle of
Sluys Van Arteveld joins Edward III. at Ardenburg
Accompanies him to Bruges The French and English
Kings issue proclamations Siege of Tournai Use of
Artillery Truce of Espleehin Armies] disbanded
Favourable terms granted to the Communes The Count
grants an amnesty Financial embarrassment of Edward
III. Obtains a loan through Van Arteveld Further
negotiations 156
CONTENTS. xv
CHAPTER XII.
PAGE
Mission of Catherine van Arte veld Edward III. in Brittany
Truce of Malestroit Futile intrigues of Louis de Crecy
The Banner incident at Ardenburg Prosperity of
Flanders under Van Arteveld Afflay with John de
Steenbeke Revival of old institutions Fullers and
Weavers The monopoly of woollen fabrics "Den
Quaden Maendag "Edward III. at Sluys Unfounded
rumour Riot at Ghent Murder of James van Arteveld
His burial His true chai-acter 169
PART IV.
A TROUBLED INTERLUDE.
^
CHAPTER XIII.
Discomfiture of the Bruges Militia Death of Louis de Crecy
Succeeded by Louis de Maele His betrothal to
Isabella of England His flight into France Indecisive
engagements between French and Flemish troops Sur-
render of Calais to Edward III. Invasion of Flanders by
Philip The Communes disunited Disturbances at
Bruges Duplicity of Louis de Maele Massacre in
Ghent The Black Death The Flagellants . . .189
CHAPTER XIV.
Death of Philip de Valois Naval battle off Winchelsea The
Count and the Communes John de Valois Charles the
Bad Joseph and Walter d'Halewyn beheaded Riots in
Ghent Battle of Poitiers Death of the Countess of
Flanders Loyalty of Louis de Maele Marriage of Mar-
xvi CONTENTS.
PAQE
garet of Flanders to Philip, Duke of Burgundy Death
of Edward III. Profligacy of Louis de Maele Stirs up
strife between Bruges and Ghent John Yoens and
Gilbert Mahieu Adoption of the White Hoods Murder
of the Count's bailiff at Ghent Wreckage of the Count's
chateau at WondelgWem 206
CHAPTER XV.
Alliance between Bruges and Ghent Death of John Yoens
Communal militia befiege Oudenaerd Mediation of the
Duke of Burgundy A "double-faced" peace Count's
reception at Ghent Raises army of mercenaries Bar-
barous outrage Surprise of Oudenaerd Renewal of hosti-
lities Ghent militia repulsed at Bruges Fatal ambush
The Count's severity at Ypres Siege of Ghent The
Count grants an amnesty Attacks and defeats a detach-
ment of Ghent militia at Nevclc Capture of Grammont
by Walter d'Enghien His death . . . . .< 225
PART V.
PHILIP VAN ARTEVELI).
CHAPTER XVI.
Van den Bossche Philip van Arteveld appointed Captain of
the City His antecedents and character Execution of
two Leliaerds Philip's proclamation Francis Ackerman
obtains supplies Duplicity of the Count Misery at
Ghent Philip van Arteveld counsels action Marches
upon Bruges Rout of Beverhoutsveld Louis de Maele's
adventures and escape Submission of Bruges Ghent
revictualled . . 243
CONTEXTS. xvii
CHAPTER XVII.
PAGH
Ta e rival Topes Wreckage of the Count's chateau at Maele
Magnificence of Philip van Arteveld Siege of Oude-
naerd Gallant defence Use of artil^ry Destitution of
the garrison The Flemish camp Louis de Maele appeals
to the Duke of Burgundy Charles VI. summons ban and
arriere-ban Philip van Arteveld claims the King's
mediation Flemish mission to Richard II. Charles VI.
takes nominal command of his army Passage of the
Lys Van den Bossche's position tinned His defeat . 262
CHAPTER XVIII.
Charles VI. crosses the Lys Disturbances in Paris Louis de
Maele ignored by the King's uncles Devastation of the
Franc Van Arteveld takes post at Roosebeke Evil
auguries Battle of Roosebeke Death of Philip van
Arteveld Slaughter of the Flemings Destruction of
Courtrai Submission of Flanders Cruel ravages
Charles VI. returns to Paris Religious war between the
Count and his subjects The Bishop of Norwich invades
Flanders His successes Repulsed at Ypres Returns to
^England Surprise of Oudenaerd by Ackerman Agita-
tion in France and Flanders Mysterious death of Louis
de Maele His obsequies Decay of Feudalism Growth
of Democracy A few last words 277
PART VI.
DECLINE AND FALL OF THE COMMUNES.
CHAPTER XIX.
Bruges under Philip the Bold Ghent Recovery of Oude-
naerd True meaning .of the Battle of Roosebeke" Les
b
1 CONTENTS.
PAGE
Pourcelets de la Raspaille " Francis Ackerman
Heroism of the Flemish leaders Plot against Ghent
Tumult in Bruges^John the Fearless Philip the Good
Siege of Calais Philip's attempt upon Bruges
Treachery of the Men of Ghent Miserable condition
of Bruges Mournful Festivities 303
CHAPTER XX.
Disputes between Philip and the town of Ghent Insur-
rectionDeath of ttfe Bastard of Burgundy Battle of
Gavre Treaty of Gavre Charles the Rash at Ghent
Mary of Burgundy Maximilian of Austria Philip
the Fair Charles-Quint Confiscation of the liberties
of Ghent Conclusion . . 319
INDEX . . 337
LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Histoire de Flandrc. Par M. Kervyn*de Lettenhove. Bruges,
1874.
Jacques d'Arteveldc. Par M. Kervyu de Lettenhove. Gand-
1863.
Froissart. Etude Litteraire sur Ic XIV Siede. Par 1L
Kervyu de Lettenhove. Bruxelles. 1857.
Lc fieclc des A rtevclde. Par Leon Vanderkindere, Professeur a
rUuiversite de Bruxelles. Bruxelles. 1879.
Cronique dc Flandres, ancicnncmcnt composee par auleur incertain
el nouvcllemcnt mise en lumiere, par Denis Sauvagc, dc Fontenelles
en B^ic. Historiogi-aphe du Tres-clire'tien Roy Henry, second de ce-
nom. Lyon. 1572.
Lc Premier Lien des Chroniqucs dc Jean Froissart. Texte inedit,
publid d'apres un manuscrit de la bibliotheque du Vatican. Par
M. le Baron K. de Lettenhove. Bruxelles. 1863.
De I'Oriyine des Progres et de la Decadence des Chambrcs dc
FJittorique itahlies en Flandre: avec une notice historiqua sur J.
van Artcveldc. Par N. Cornelissen. Gand. 1812.
Recherche des Antiquitnz et Noblesse de Flandres. Par Philippe
de L'Espino}', Viscomte de Therouaune. Douay. 1632.
Annalcs de Flandre dc P. d'OudcgJicrst. Par M. Lesbroussart.
Gand. 1789.
Histoire de France, drjmis Faramond jusqifau rtgne de Louis h
Juslc. Par le Sieur F. de Mezeray. Paris. 1685.
xx LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Kortc Lcvenssclwts van Jacob van Artevclde. Door Lieven
Everwyn. Gent. 1845.
Histoire des Francais. Par J. C. L. Simonde de Sismondi,
Paris. 1828.
Les Vrayes Chroniques de Mcssire Jean le Bel. Publics par M.
L. Polain. Bruxellcs. 1863.
Ckronica ^Egidii li Muisis. Bruxclles. 1 837.
Nouvelles Archives Historiqucs, Philosophiques, et Litterair s.
Revue trimestriclle. P. A, Lenz. Gaud. 1837.
Commcntarii sive Annales rerum Flandricarum. Auctorc Jacobo
Meyero, Baliolano. Antwerp. 1561.
Guide dc Gand. Par Auguste Voisin. Gand. 1843.
Continuatio chronici Guliclmi dc Nangis, ab anno 1301 ad 1368
(Paris ?). 1723.
Memoires sur la Villc de Gand. Par le Chevalier Charles .Louis
Diericx. Gand. 1814.
Cronijcke van den Landc cndc Gracfsccpe van Vlacndcren. , Ge-
maect door Jo" Nicolaes Despars. Te Brugge. 1839.
Memorie Bock der Stad Ghent. 13011 737.
Cours d'Histoire JSclgique. Par L. D. J. Dewez. Bruxelles.
1833.
Histoire Particulierc dcs Provinces Bdyiqucs. Par L. D. J. Dewez.
Bruxelles. 1816.
Cronica di Giovanni Villani. Firenze. 1845.
ffistoire d 1 Angletcrre, d'Ecosse, et d'lrlande. Par 51. de Larrey.
Rotterdam, 1707.
Die Historic van Belgis. Door Marcus van Yarnewyck. Ghent.
1784.
History of the Life and Times of Edward III. By Win. Long-
man. London. 1869.
OF AUTHORITIES. xxi
(V.i/i f'jxfs de Flamlrcs. Par P. Wielant. Bruges. 1839.
L'J/i.ttiiii-'* dcs Pays-Bos, Par Emmanuel van Mcteren. La
Haye. 1618.
Essais sur VHistoire Politiquc dex Dcrniers Slides : Introduction.
Par Jules van Tract. Bruxelles.
History of the English People. By B. J. Green, M.A. London.
1879.
Histolrc dc la Fraiicc sous les C'inq Premiers Valois. Par P. C.
Levesqne. -Paris. 1788.
Histoire dc France. Par M. Michelet. Paris. 1837.
Ejcamcn Critique dcs Historicns de Jacques van Artevelde. Par
Augusta Voisin. Gand. 1841.
Gulielmi Brctonis-Armorici Pliilippidos Libri XII. slve Gesla
Pldlippi Augusti Francorutn Regis versibus Heroicis descripta.
Bouquet's Recucil des Historiens de la France, tome XVII.
PAKT I.
EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS.
JAMES AND PHILIP VAN
AKTEVELD.
PAET I. 1
EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS.
CHAPTER I.
How Peopled Baldwin Bras-de-Fer The Minne, or Ghilde
Rising Influence of the Counts Robert of Flanders Charles
of Denmark William Longsword Thierry of Alsace
Power of the Ghildes Foundation of Damme Philip of
Flanders and Philip Augustus Baldwin, Emperor of Con-
stantinople Battle of Bouvines.
THE name of Fleanderland, or the land of the
" flymings," or fugitives, was originally confined to a
hroad strip of territory along the sea-coast between
the country of the Gauls and Friesland. It was in
the fourth and fifth centuries that these fugitive, or
emigrant, Germans and Saxons established them-
selves on the coast of what is now called West
Flanders. They were known as Lacti, an appellation
afterwards corrupted into Laetcn (Colonus or Hospes),
and applied to freemen engaged in agricultural pur-
suits. In the Notitia Imperil of Theodosius the
region inhabited by them is described as the Littus
B
2 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. i.
Saxonicnm, but that epithet was more fully deserved
at a later period when Charlemagne forcibly planted
along this coast some thousands of Saxon colonists,
for the double purpose of repelling the incursions of
the Northmen, and of serving as hostages for the
orderly conduct of their barbarous kinsfolk beyond
the eastern borders of his Empire. Their descendants
long retained a savage craving for licence for of true
liberty they had not the faintest conception and
were unfavourably distinguished until a much later
period for their coarse manners and brutal dispo-
sition.
In the hope of maintaining a semblance of tran-
quillity among his Flemish subjects, Charlemagne
appointed a Forestier, whose duty it was to enforce
obedience to the law and collect imposts, as wetl as to
preserve as an Imperial Chase the extensive forests
which then covered the country, and to breed hawks
and falcons for the special use of the Emperor. This
arrangement was of very brief duration. In th^ reign
of Charles the Bald, a rude Flemish chieftain, Baldwin,
surnamed Bras-de-Fer, or Iron-arm, ran away with
the King's daughter Judith, but after experiencing
many vicissitudes of fortune, was pardoned and taken
into favour. Baldwin thereupon built a castle com-
manding a bridge over the little river Reye, with a
chapel to receive certain relics of St. Donatus sent to
him by the Archbishop of Eheims. Outside the walls
he erected houses for the reception of merchants and
itinerant traders, and laid out a mal-berg, or place of
meeting for freemen. A small town rose under the
protection of the castle walls, and was called Brugge
CH. i.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 3
or Bruggenscle, from the bridge to which it primarily
owed its existence. After a time the toll house on
the Reye gradually developed into the renowned and
opulent city of Bruges, famous at a subsequent period
for the beauty of its women. The title of Markgraf,
or Warden of the Marches, was conferred upon the
successful adventurer, who suppressed the ravages of
the Northmen and extended his personal influence far
and wide.
His son, who married a daughter of Alfred the
Great, was cast in a different mould. Under his
comparatively feeble administration the Northmen en-
camped at the confluence of the Lys and the Scheldt,
a situation already marked as the cradle of the great
city of Ghent, whence they made frequent raids into
FranJfe, and depopulated the adjacent districts of
Brabant and Flanders. Though incapable of opposing
the Northern pirates, Baldwin the Bald as he loved
to call himself after his grandfather Charles was not
devoid of ambition. He accordingly made himself
master of Arras, and strengthened the fortifications of
St. Omer, Ypres, and Bergues. He was succeeded by
Arnulf, or Arnold the Great, who appears to have
been the first Count of Flanders, and to have lived at
a time of universal anarchy. The end of the world,
indeed, was commonly believed to be at hand, the
only difference of opinion arising from the computa-
tion of a period of one thousand years some reckon-
ing from the birth, others from the death of Jesus.
All alike threw off the restraints of religion and
morality, and did that which was good in their own
eyes.
n 2
4 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. I.
In the course of the tenth, century Bruges had
waxed great and wealthy through its trade with
England, while the Ghent people constructed a port
at the junction of their two rivers. The Flemings,
nevertheless, were still noted for the hoorishness of
their demeanour, their addiction to intemperance, and
their excessive turbulence. Their pagan ancestors
had heen accustomed to form associations for their
mutual protection Against accidents by fire or water,
and similar misadventures. These unions were called
Minne, or Friendships an idea reproduced in the
Amicitia, to which allusion is so frequently made in
the deeds of ancient corporations. Gathered in a
circle round the sacrificial fire, the associates drained,
each in his turn, three horns of beer, or mead : the
first, in honour of the gods ; the second, in reverent
remembrance of the warriors of olden time deemed
worthy of a seat in the halls of Odin ; and the third,
in loving memory of friends and kinsmen, reposing in
the sleep of death beneath the mounds of turf in the
midst of which their survivors were seated. After a
time the name of Minne came to be supplanted by
that of Ghihk, meaning a feast at the common ex-
pense. Each ghilde was placed under the tutelage of
a departed hero, or demigod, and was managed by
officers elected by the members social equality being
the foundation of each fraternity. Subsequent to the
introduction of Christianity the demigod was replaced
by a saint, while the members were enjoined to practise
works of piety. The clergy, however, viewed these
associations with marked displeasure, on account of
the habitual intemperance by which they were cha-
CH. i.j EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 5
racterised. The spirit of the Minne may neverthe-
less be traced in the fundamental rules and regula-
tions of all, or nearly all, the corporations of
Flanders.
Arnulf, or Arnold the Great, was succeeded by
Arnulf the Younger, after whom three Baldwins,
each in his turn, governed the county. Baldwin the
Bearded added Valenciennes and Walcheren to the
domains of his predecessors the, former being held
as a fief of the German Empire. lie was followed by
Baldwin the Pious, who proclaimed the Truce of God,
which limited bloodshed to three days in the week.
His piety, however, did not restrain him from laying
his hands upon the Imperial city of Ghent, or from
coercing Henry III. of Brabant to cede to him the
territory lying between Ghent and Alost. He further
increased his influence by obtaining for his eldest son
the hand of Pcichilda, Countess of Hainault, and by
marrying his daughter Matilda to William Duke of
Normandy. Another daughter, Judith, was given in
marriage to Tostig, son of Earl Godwin, who fell at
Stamford Bridge fighting against his brother Harold,
the last of the Saxon kings of England. A consider-
able number of Flemish knights joined Duke William's
expedition at St. Valery-sur-Somme, and greatly dis-
tinguished themselves at Senlac, winning their full
share of rewards and honours from the Conqueror.
It is recorded, however, that very many of them
perished miserably within a brief period, while the
commonalty of Flanders sympathised with the con-
quered Saxons, and accorded a hospitable reception to
the fugitives, not unmindful of their common origin,
6 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. i,
or of the hardships they themselves had had to endure
as exiles in hygone times.
During the minority of Philip I. of France, the
young prince and ^his dominions were confided to the
guardianship of Baldwin the Pious, as the premier
vassal of the French crown, and it is pleasant to know
that the delicate trust was discharged with equal pru-
dence and loyalty. The third of these Baldwins was
surnamed the Good,cbut his occupancy of the earldom
lasted only three years, when he was nominally suc-
ceeded by his son Arnold the Simple, though vir-
tually by his widow Kichilda of Hainault, who took for
her second husband William Fitz-Osborn, Count of
Breteuil in Normandy and Earl of Hereford in Eng-
land. The Flemings, however, rose against their
foreign ruler, and under the leadership of Robert of
Friesland, uncle to their Count, attacked and routed
on the 22nd of February, 1071, a French army
assembled at Mount Cassel under the personal pom-
mand of Philip the First. The French king and
Piichilda fled from the field, but Fitz-Osborn was slain,
as was also Arnold the Simple. A second defeat, a
few years later, induced Richilda to devote herself to a
religious life, upon which Robert of Friesland became
Robert of Flanders.
The new Count was continually at strife with the
Normans, and is represented as a man of violent
character and fond of adventurous enterprise. Under
his sway, though not by his example, the Flemings
became much softened and humanised by the assi-
duous efforts of the Bishop of Soissons to inculcate the
principles of Christianity, and to weld the rude bar-
CH.I.] EAELY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 7
barians into the semblance of a civilised nation so
far as civilisation and nationality were understood in
those days. Towards the close of the century the
Count went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, leaving his
States in charge of his son Robert. On his return
from the Holy Land he stopped for a while at Con-
stantinople, and promised the Emperor Alexis Com-
nenus that he would bring to his aid five hundred
Flemish men-at-arms. The promise was fulfilled, and
for the space of four years these doughty warriors
were a terror to the Moslemin. As the Count tra-
versed France on his homeward journey, he was
everywhere treated with marked distinction as a
Soldier of Christ, and in the autumn of 1092 he
ended his warlike career in the castle of Wynendael,
neaiThorout* In the same year in which Robert II.
of Flanders passed away, Peter the Hermit stirred up
the nations of Christendom to rescue the Holy City
from the Saracens. The first crusade owed its success
in a great degree to the valour and prudence of a
Flemish knight, Godfrey de Bouillon, who was accom-
panied by Robert, Count of Flanders, and a gallant
band of stalwart Flemings. The Count returned to
his own dominions in safety, but only to fall in a petty
skirmish beneath the walls of Meaux, while fighting
for King Louis VI. His son, Baldwin VII., likewise
met with a violent death, being slain by an arrow shot
* The name of this picturesque little town, "Thor's Wood,"
recalls to mind the Scandinavian origin of the people. Scarce any
traces remain of the old chateau of Wynendael, the favourite resi-
dence of the Counts of Flanders in their palmy days. Readers of
" Esmond" will not easily forget the battle so gallantly won, and
so often referred to, by General Webb in 1708.
8 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. i.
from the ramparts of the Castle of Eu, near Treport,
A.D. 1119.
The Earldom of Flanders then devolved on Charles
of Denmark, a near relative, who displayed great
vigour alike in repefiing aggression and in suppressing
intestine tumults. It is worthy of note, that a large
body of burghers under the banners of their respec-
tive parishes voluntarily marched under his command
to the French camp, in the war with the Emperor
Henry V. So genuine and widespread was the respect
inspired by Count Charles, that he was offered in
succession the Imperial crown, and that of Jerusalem,
both of which he had the good sense to refuse. His
attention and time were wholly devoted to an attempt
to humanise the Flemings settled along the sea-shore,
but his well-meant labours brought about a conspiracy
against himself, in which some of the principal in-
habitants of Bruges took an active part. He was
consequently stabbed to death while engaged in prayer
in the church of St. Donatus, and several of his
friends and advisers were brutally murdered about the
same time. The assassins, with the exception of a
few who temporarily escaped but who were sub-
sequently apprehended and put to death sustained a
regular siege in the tower of the church, and were
ultimately mastered with great difficulty. Many
miracles, of course, were performed at the tomb
of the martyred Count, and the tragic event was
turned to exceedingly profitable account by the local
clergy.
Notwithstanding his positive promise that the
Flemings should be allowed to proceed, without
CH. I.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 9
molestation, to the election of a new Count, Louis
VI. compelled them to accept William of Normandy,
surnamed Long-Sword, grandson of Matilda. William
was worthy of his patron. He began by pledging
liimself to the abolition of the imposts which had been
arbitrarily levied by his predecessors, but he took no
steps to redeem his word. Insurrections thereupon
broke out in several places, the men of Ghent in
particular protesting against his^breach of faith. At
the suggestion of Henry I. of England, whose interest
it was to humble his nephew whose father he had
supplanted the Flemings made choice of Thierry of
Alsace as their Earl, and William only saved his life
by fleeing to Ypres, whence he forwarded an appeal
to the King of France. The citizens of Bruges also
addnlssed a memorial to Louis VI., but couched in
a different strain. They fearlessly reminded their
suzerain that he had nothing whatever to do with the
election of a Count of Flanders, which rested ex-
clusively with the nobles and burghers of the county,
and that the Count himself was only bound to furnish
a certain number of men-at-arms for the lands he
actually held of the King. To this outspoken document
Louis VI. returned no reply beyond laying siege to
Lille. A serious reverse sustained by his arms, and
the approach of the English monarch, constrained
him, however, to retire into his own territories and
to renounce the cause of William Longsword. That
brave young prince, thrown upon his own resources,
acquitted himself manfully. At Ruisselede he inflicted
a severe defeat upon his rival, and drove him in
headlong flight to Bruges, but failed to follow up
10 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. i.
his victory, and being shortly afterwards mortally
wounded, he died at the early age of twenty -seven.
Thierry of Alsace was now, A.D. 1128, acknow-
ledged by all his neighbours Count of Flanders. His
government was conducted upon popular principles.
Under his rule the Ghildes obtained great power,
founded on the election of their own headmen or
leaders, whence their regulations came to be called
cyr, eyre, gradually changing into Jceior and chora
signifying " free choice." The oath taken by members
was known as the cyre-ath, the headmen as cyre-
mannen kciiremannen and choremanni and the
associates as eyre or keure breeders. The Ghildes
were the base of the municipal administration, and
gradually assumed the government of the town, but
took another form and appellation. The word* -was
thenceforward applied, in its restricted sense of Guild,
as referring to trade corporations, while the previous
organisation came to be described in French and
Latin documents as Commune or Communia, and
embraced all who were entitled to gather together in
the canter, or public place, when the bell rang out the
summons from the town belfry. In Flanders the
Communes grew out of popular institutions of ancient
date, and, though, no doubt, their influence was
sensibly increased by their confirmation at the hands
of King or Count, they did not owe their origin to
royal or seigniorial charters. Under the Alsatian
dynasty Communes sprang up in all parts of Flanders,
and helped greatly to bring about the marvellous
prosperity enjoyed by that industrious if turbulent
population until it passed beneath the Spanish yoke.
cu. I.] EARLY HISTORY OP FLANDERS. 11
It may be here parenthetically remarked that Thierry
brought back from Jerusalem a small vessel contain-
ing what he believed to be a few drops of the blood of
the Son of Man squeezed from the sponge used by
Joseph of Arimathea, which was reverently deposited
in the chapel of St. Basil, at Bruges, since known as
the Chapel of the Holy Blood. He died in the first
month of 1168, and was succeeded by his son Philip.
During his father's absence in, Palestine the govern-
ment of Flanders had been vigorously conducted by
Philip, whose principal military exploit was the signal
defeat of the Earl of Holland. The vanquished Count
was detained in honourable confinement for three
years, at the expiration of which he despatched,
according to agreement, a thousand skilled labourers
from his own territories to throw up embankments,
with a view to save Bruges from being overwhelmed
by the sea, at that time a real danger. Accustomed
to , daily and hourly struggle with the ocean, the
Hollanders built substantial embankments, on which
they erected houses and formed the nucleus of thriving
towns and hamlets. It was thus the once crowded
port of Damme rose out of the sandy swamp, and
became the entrepot of Western Europe. At the
beginning of the thirteenth century, "William of Brit-
tany, the poetic chaplain of Philip Augustus, was at a
loss for words to describe the grandeur and opulence
of that ephemeral seaport. In his glib doggerel he
wrote
Quo valde speciosus erat Dam nomine vicus
Lcnifluis jucundus aquis atque ubere glebaj,
Troximitate maris, portuque, situquc, superbus.
12 JAMES AND PHILIP TAN ARTEVELD. [FT. i.
He goes on to say, "Here might be seen riches
from all parts of the world brought hither by ships in
such quantity as to exceed our utmost expectations ;
piles of silver ingots, gold dust, the tissues of Syria,
China, and the Cyclades, many-coloured skins from
Hungary, the veritable grains that give to scarlet its
brilliant hues,* argosies freighted with the wines of
Gascony or Rochelle, with iron and other metals, with
cloths and other merchandise accumulated by English
and Flemish merchants in this place for exportation
to the different regions of the earth, whence large
profits redound to their owners, who thus abandon
their wealth to the caprice of fortune, with a feeling
of hope not unmingled with anguish."
Philip of Alsace warmly espoused the cause of
Thomas a Becket, who took refuge for a time in Vhe
Count's chateau at Maele situated a short distance
beyond the Ste. Croix gate of Bruges and bestowed a
particular benediction upon the chapel. At the death
of Louis VII., the young prince Philip Augustus
was placed under the Count's protection, this being
the second time that a Count of Flanders had been
honoured with a similar trust. In this instance, the
Count proved more faithful to his suzerain than
to his own people. He spared no precautions, in-
deed, to strengthen his own position in the Yer-
mandois by fortifying Amiens, Nesle, and Peronne;
but, on the other hand, he prevailed upon his ward
i
* The worthy chaplain was evidently not aware that the colour
of cochineal is derived from the dried carcases of the female of the
coccus cacti. His actual words are : " Granaque vera quibus guadet
squarlatarubere."
CH. I.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 13
to marry his niece, daughter of the Count of Hain-
ault, and settled the County of Artois upon her as
a dowery, including the towns of Arras, Aire, St.
Omer, Hesdin, and Bapaume. That ill-judged cession
was the source of unnumbered woes to Flanders.
The possession of Artois was the object of continual
wars, treachery, and violence, and was constantly
dangled before the eyes of the Flemings by every
aspirant to their sympathy and j support.
Philip Augustus soon wearied of the Count's tute-
lage', and at the early age of sixteen took the reins of
government into his own hands. Headstrong and
precipitate, he marked his accession to power by a
premature attempt to break down the independence
of his great vassals, and by his rashness united them
in 'fhe bonds of self-defence. Philip of Alsace or, as
he is also commonly called, Philip of Flanders in-
vaded France with a considerable army, and, laying
waste the country as he advanced, approached almost
within striking distance of Paris. His active energy,
however, was by that time exhausted, and he not
unwillingly agreed to a truce which ripened into a
treaty of peace. He afterwards joined the Third
Crusade and died under the walls of Ptolemais. His
widow, Matilda of Portugal, was constrained to con-
tent herself with her dower, "West Flanders, which
then included Lille, Cassel, Furnes, Bergues, and
Bourbourg, while East Flanders was seized by
Baldwin the Magnanimous, Count of Hainault, in
the name of his wife, Margaret of Alsace, sister of
the deceased Philip. On hearing of the death of the
Count of Flanders, Philip Augustus suddenly quitted
14 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. I.
the Holy Land, and hurried back to France with the
intention of asserting his claims as husband of the
late Count's niece. But in those days either voyage
or journey from Syria to France was a serious under-
taking, and long before the French King reached his
own dominions the opportunity for peaceful appropria-
tion had slipped away.
The son of Baldwin the Magnanimous, who bore
his father's name, though without the honourable
epithet attached to it, commenced his government of
Flanders by the exhibition of much weakness and
timidity. Not satisfied with doing homage to Philip
Augustus, he surrendered to him the fiefs of Boulogne,
Guines, and Oisy, and invoked a sentence of excom-
munication upon himself if ever he failed in loyalty
to his suzerain. This same Baldwin, whom Gibbon
characterises as "valiant, pious, and chaste," was
chosen Emperor of Constantinople in 1204, in the
absence of any more eligible candidate.
His eldest daughter Joan married Ferdinand, son
of Sancho, King of Portugal, while her sister Margaret
was wedded to Bouchard d'Avesnes, High Bailiff of
Hainault. Believing that the time had now arrived
for gratifying the earth-hunger with which so many
French rulers have been afflicted, Philip Augustus
invaded Flanders by sea and by land, and speedily
made himself master of Bruges and Ghent. Moved
by a savage jealousy he wantonly set fire to Damme,
and reduced its well-stored magazines and warehouses
to ashes. To a certain extent this act of Vandalism
was fitly avenged, for an English fleet under the Earl
of Salisbury completely destroyed his ships shut up in
CH. I.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 15
the harbour of Sluys, at that time a spacious arm of
the sea, known as the Zwyn, and to which access was
obtainable only through a comparatively narrow
entrance. At Bouvines Ferdinand was signally de-
feated and made prisoner, though* there is some reason
to believe that the result might have been very
different had he trusted more to his Flemish militia,
and less to his heavy-armed mercenaries. As it was,
Ferdinand was carried off to Paris and confined in
the newly erected tower of the Louvre, in which more
than one of his successors were destined to languish
and despair. Philip Augustus was now virtually in
possession of the county of Flanders, but took no
trouble to make his rule popular with the liberty-
loving Communes. A considerable body of Flemish
Knights crossed the Channel to England, and distin-
guished themselves in fighting for King John. They
even constituted a formidable portion of the army
which scoured the northern counties and entered
Berwick, and on their return to Flanders they left
behind them one of their number, Hugh de Bailleul,
as "Warden of the Marches a name afterwards famous
under its English corruption of Baliol.
CHAPTER II.
Treaty of Melun The Thirty-Nine of Ghent The D'Avesnes and
the Dampierres Guy de Dampierre Development of Civilisa-
tion Prosperity of tfie Communes The Hanse of London
Destruction of the Bruges Charters Philip the Fail- of France
His Ambitious Projects.
AFTER her husband had suffered twelve years of
imprisonment, the Countess Joan, in order to obtain
his release, signed the fatal Treaty of Melun, in 1226,
which ceded Lille, Douai, and Sluys as material
guarantees for the ultimate payment of his ransom.
The Counts of Flanders were further bound not only
to take the oath of loyalty by which every great
vassal recognised his suzerain, but also to engage
themselves as liegemen to follow the French banners
in person during the continuance of war, and the
Flemish barons swore on their lealty to compel their
Count to fulfil this obligation. Two years previously
Pope Honorius III. had empowered the King of
France, at any time of recusancy, to require the
Archbishop of Rheims and the Bishop of Senlis to
issue an interdict over the whole or a portion of the
County of Flanders, which could only be raised by
the consent of the Court of Peers. Louis VIII. died
in that same year, and Louis IX. the St. Louis of
French chroniclers with characteristic generosity
en. ii.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 17
remitted the towns of Lille and Sluys, but in sub-
sequent times this ill-omened treaty furnished
his successors, more than once, with a plausible excuse
for forcing a quarrel upon the Communes of Flanders.
The liberation of Ferdinand, though presumably
agreeable to the Countess, was not of any particular
advantage to her subjects, whom no alien ever rightly
understood or justly appreciated. For one thing, he
took upon himself to reorganise the government of
Ghent, which he confided to Thirty-nine magistrates,
divided into three categories dchevins, councillors, and
cayhes. The scepcnen or echerins, the scabini of Latin
writers and official documents, were municipal magis-
trates, who exercised both judicial and administrative
functions ; the councillors, or coremanni, were elected
by th'5 echcvins, into whose places they stepped in
the following year ; while the vaghes seem to have
been supernumeraries without any very definite
employment. There was thus an annual change in
the personalty of the administration, an arrangement
favourable to the Count rather than to the burghers
and artisans, but which nevertheless endured until the
opening of the fourteenth century.
Shortly after the demise of Ferdinand, in 1233,
Joan, Countess of Flanders, married Thomas of Savoy,
whose issue by Beatrice of Fresca became Kings of
Sardinia and finally of Italy. Her death took place
about the year 1240, when she was succeeded by her
sister Margaret, who had, in the first instance, married
Bouchard d'Avesnes. After the lapse of a good
many years it was discovered that Bouchard had once
been a deacon, and consequently incapable of entering
18 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. r.
into matrimony. Separation was accordingly en-
joined by a Papal Bull, upon which Margaret sought
consolation in a legal marriage. Curiously enough,
very nearly the sqme objections might have been
urged against William de Dampierre, but, for one
reason or another, he was left in unmolested possession
of the Countess and her wide domain. Margaret thus
became the mother of two families who were con-
tinually at enmity vrith one another. In answer to
their double appeal, Louis IX. assigned Hainault to
John d'Avesnes and Flanders to "William de Dam-
pierre, and, with an inconsistency of which Papal In-
fallibility alone could be capable, the children of
Bouchard d'Avesnes were declared to be legitimate
while his marriage was still maintained to be sacri-
legious and invalid. In 1253 Guy and Jorm de
Dampierre were defeated by their half-brothers at
"West Capelle, and kept in nominal confinement for
three years. Guy married Matilda of Bethune, f who
bore him a son known to historians as Robert de
Bethune, and he, in his turn, espoused the daughter
of Charles Count of Anjou, brother of Louis IX., and
heiress of Nevers. As Austria is said to have re-
covered by her matrimonial alliances whatever terri-
tories or influence were wrested from her by force of
arms, so may the reverse be predicated of Flanders.*
* M. Michelet remarks : "La femiue flamande amena par
manage des maitres de toute nation, un Danois, un Alsacien, puis
un voisin de Hainaut, puis un prince de Portugal, puis des
Francis de di verses branches ; Dampierre (Bourbon), Louis de
Maele (Capet), Philippe le Hardi (Valois) ; enfin, Autriche,
Kspagne, Autriche encore. Voici maintenant la Flandre sous un
Saxon (Cobourg)." "Hist, de France," liv. v., ch. 11.
CH. n.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 19
To the paltry and selfish ambition of her Counts may
be traced the long series of disasters which finally
broke down the independence of the Communes, and
diverted to other countries the* manufacturing and
commercial enterprise which can only flourish in the
spacious atmosphere of liberty. The Dampierres be-
longed to a poor, if noble, family of Champagne, and
were thoroughly French in tastes, feelings, and as-
pirations. To live at Court in close relationship with
the Royal Family seemed to them the height of
earthly happiness, and to gratify that pitiful craving
for personal consideration they sacrificed the indepen-
dence of Flanders, and the true interests of its in-
habitants. The French matrimonial alliances were
followed by those with the Ducal House of Burgundy,
which led to the Spanish marriages, and the practical
effacement of Flanders from the political map of Europe.
At the close of 1278 Margaret abdicated in favour
of hpr son Gruy, who united the county of Namur to
that of Flanders, and ruled from the river Meuse to
the sea. For the space of twenty years his Court was
renowned throughout* Europe for its brilliancy and
comparative refinement. He encouraged the Arts,
especially that of painting, and was a liberal patron of
poets who wrote in the French language. It was in
his time that William Uutenhove produced his famous
Reinart de Vos, which made the tour of Europe after
being softened down and somewhat expurgated by
German and French adapters. James van Maerlant,
author of the Spiegel Historiacl, or Mirror of History,
was a contemporary of Uutenhove, and his gravestone
might be seen until quite a recent date in the church-
c 2
20 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. i.
yard at Damme. The thirteenth century was par-
ticularly illustrated by the erection of magnificent
churches, monasteries, and town halls unrivalled in
any other age or comitry. The theological seminaries
established at Bruges, Ghent, and Ypres turned out
many accomplished scholars in that peculiar and un-
lovely branch of literature, and in some towns we hear
of industrial schools for the sons of weavers. Even
agriculture was taugvtt in certain monasteries, more
especially as regards draining marsh lands and throw-
ing up embankments against river floods and encroach-
ments of the ocean.
The " good towns," as they were called, of Bruges,
Ghent, and Ypres were exceedingly prosperous. The
Communes renounced almost entirely the practices
and prejudices of feudalism. Arbitrary imposts were
prohibited, trials by ordeal were abolished, and even
duels were discountenanced. Artisans were protected
alike by their own particular guild and by the S{ate.
Public interest was taken in maintaining the character
of their workmanship. Salaries \\ ere regulated by the
skill and industry of the workman, who was carefully
provided with work suited to his capacity and tempera-
ment. On being admitted a member of his craft-
guild, every workman pledged himself by oath to
uphold Divine Worship, and to serve the Count
loyally and with all his might. For misconduct he
was liable to expulsion, while a pension rewarded an
upright and honourable career. Foreign traders
flocked to Flanders from all parts of Europe. From
the end of the twelfth century a considerable import-
ance was attached to the great fairs held at Thorout,
cir.ii.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 21
Ypres, and Bruges, where stalls were supplied with the
varied products of the three continents. It was, in fact,
a land set apart for the observance of a benevolent
neutrality. Foreigners und natives of the country alike
claimed and obtained the equal protection of the laws.
When in 1272 Margaret adopted the high-handed
proceeding of confiscating all English wool warehoused
at Bruges and Damme, a Welsh trader unhesitatingly
went off to Lille and lodged an appeal with the King's
Court, which condemned the Countess to pay a heavy
indemnity. Two years later Charles of Anjou applied
to Guy, who was then governing in his mother's
name, to banish the Genoese from Flemish territory,
but the thing was found to be impracticable. Flemish
ships were met with in the Baltic, in the Medi-
ter Anean, and in the Straits of Constantinople, and in
every European country Flemish settlers were assured
a cordial welcome.
It was in the thirteenth century the different trade
guilds of Bruges, bearing in mind that union is
strength, established the "Hanse of London," so
called from ansa, a tie, or bond. Like mimic, the
word was sometimes applied to the goblet, or " loving-
cup," as we should say which circulated at the
banquets of the association. At first the Hanse was
confined to fourteen towns in Flanders and the North
of France, to wit Bruges, Ypres, Damme, Lille,
Bergues, Furnes, Orchies, Bailleul, Poperinghe,
Oudenburg, Yzendikc, Ardenburg, Oostburg, and Ter
Mude. A little later it was extended to St. Omer,
Arras, Douai, and Cambrai, and finally included
Valenciennes, Peronne, St. Quentin, Bcauvais,
22 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [IT. r.
Abbeville, Amiens, Montreuil, Rheims, and Chalons.
The object of the Hanse of London was to monopolise
the trade with England, and especially the import of
English wool. A constant and abundant supply of
the raw material of English growth was indispensable
to the busy looms of Flanders, for the home-grown
article was wholly insufficient, even when supplemented
by the well-filled sacks received from the Cister-
cian monasteries in Champagne and Burgundy. The
governor, or, in modern parlance, the Chairman of
the Association, was necessarily a burgher, with the
title of Count of the Hanse. It was only in London
or at Bruges that membership could be obtained. The
entrance-fee was thirty sous three deniers sterling, or
five sous three deniers for the son of a member.
Certain persons were ineligible ; for instance, d} ers,
firemen, and all such as hawked wares in the streets
and thoroughfares, unless they had retired from their
respective callings at least twelve months previous to
their application for admission, and had actually been
received into a guild. Among other privileges,
members of the Hanse could be tried only by local
magistrates for misdeeds committed in the town where
they resided, while commercial disputes were submitted
to the arbitration of a Board chosen from the chief
towns of Flanders.
In the latter part of the thirteenth century a great
calamity befell the men of Bruges. Their ancient
Cloth-hall was burnt to the ground, and their muni-
cipal charters were consumed at the same time. In
spite of their earnest entreaties the Count refused to
renew these, or to grant them substitutes, and to evince
en. ii.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 23
his disregard of their boasted freedom, he beheaded
five of their best-reputed citizens outside the Bouverie
gate. An appeal was accordingly made to Philip the
Bold, who forbade the Count to interfere with their
rightful resort to the Royal jurisdiction. In the fol-
lowing year Guy consented to grant a Charter, but,
instead of simply confirming the former privileges, he
introduced clauses which placed the rights of the
Communes in the hands of the Count, who was
further empowered to make * at any time what
modifications he pleased, to veto the decisions of the
magistrates, and to demand a yearly account of the
administration of the municipality. Violent tumults
consequently broke out both at Bruges and Ypres,
but, as usual, were easily appeased by the promise of
contessions backed by a demonstration of force, for
the Flemings lacked persistence and constancy, and
were ever too prone to act on the impulse of the
moment.
It was in a fitful, desultory way that the men of
Ghent, likewise, carried on an intermittent enmity
with the Count, who aimed at abolishing the govern-
ment of " The Thirty-nine," in order to replace it by
a Council of Thirty, more entirely devoted to his
personal interests. The French King took the part of
the Count in these frequent squabbles, and imposed
heavy fines, to be levied on the property of the Com-
mune. Guy's influence was increased and extended
through his skilful manipulation of matrimonial
alliances. He seems to have had a real talent for
match-making, for the exercise of which he enjoyed
exceptional opportunities in the possession of nine sons
24 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. i.
and eight daughters, all of whom he married advan-
tageously, and when any one of them lost a husband
or a wife he at once set to work to make good the
deficiency.
If Philip the BoM had chastised the Flemings with
whips, his successor, Philip the Fair, chastised them
with scorpions. Devoured by avarice and cupidity,
vices shared by his Queen, Joan of Navarre, the new
King indulged also in dreams of absolute monarchy.
With this view he chose men of low origin to be his
ministers and favourites, an example imitated by
Louis XI. at a later period. The Rhine was the
frontier he coveted for his kingdom. To achieve that
purpose he applied himself with much subtlety to
the task of breaking down the power of the great
vassals of the Crown. By means of pensions and<gifts
of money he purchased the submission of Brabant,
Hainault, Namur, and the princely bishoprics of
Cologne and Liege. In France the Crown fiefs
were preferred to all others, as great and little
"seigneurs" alike were prone to exaction and to
acts of petty tyranny ; but the Flemings were more
than half German, and always distrusted the French
kings. It might have been supposed that the Bra-
ban 9ons, who were also of German extraction, would
have displayed the same instincts and prejudices, but
their jealousy of the commercial prosperity of their
Flemish neighbours and kinsfolk made them lean
towards the French alliance. Hainault, again, whose
traditions and feudal character were largely derived
from the Eoman Empire, was never friendly towards
Flanders, though twice subject to the same Count.
CH. ii.j EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 25
Could these three Principalities have united their
power in defence of their common interests it would
have been impossible for the kings of France to ex-
tend their territories in that direction, but it was
reserved for James van Artevelcl to realise that
seemingly obvious truism, and to form an alliance
which only lacked durability to have raised up an
impassable barrier against French ambition. Having,
however, secured the neutrality of its neighbours,
Philip was able to carry out his designs against
Flanders without molestation.
His first step was to compel the Count and the
Communes to ratify anew the Treaty of Melun,
after which he steadily applied himself to foment-
ing mutual ill-feeling between Guy de Dampierre
and his ever-restless and inconstant subjects. In
order to weaken the Count's influence jn Ghent,
he affected to support the pretensions of the
Thirty- Nine, and was proportionately chagrined by
the advantage taken by Robert de Bethune of his
father's absence to effect a reconciliation with the
magistrates of that city by cancelling the arbitrary
imposts of which they justly complained. On his
return to Flanders, Guy found it expedient to sanction
all that had been done in his name, and even went so
far as to encourage the citizens of the three ' good
towns to restore their fortifications, though in direct
opposition to the stipulations of the Treaty of Melun.
For the moment the King judged it prudent to dis-
semble his displeasure, and even assumed a gentle
and facile disposition far remote from his real cha-
racter. There is nothing surprising in the ease with
26 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [FT. i.
which he persuaded the feeble and self-indulgent Guy
de Dampierre that his best policy was to place himself
under the protection of France rather than lay himself
open to the insolence of the Communes; though it
is somewhat strange that he should have chosen such a
moment to propose to Adolphus of Nassau, the newly-
elected Emperor, the restitution of Valenciennes, a
German fief, but held by a Flemish garrison, and to
hand over Flanders to the Count of Hainault. In
those days the idea of nationality was as little appre-
ciated as that of patriotism.
CHAPTER III.
Imprisonment of Guy de Dampierre Philippine of Flanders-
Philip favours tlie Communes Release of Guy de Dampierre
Alliance with Edward I. Battle of Bulscamp Edward I.
lands at Sluys ; visits Ghent ; returns to England Guy de
Dampierre imprisoned at Compiegne Philip the Fail- in
Flanders Peter Coninck Outbreak in Bruges John Brey-
del Bruges Matins Insurrection in the Franc of Bruges-
Day of the Golden Spurs Popular Movements Robert de
Bethune Treaty of Athies Louis de Nevers Treaty of
Pontoise Edward II.
WHATEVER may have been Philip's conduct towards
Flanders, it is impossible to feel any sympathy for
Guy de Dampierre, as false as he was fickle, and
intensely selfish. Relying upon the protection of
England, for he had now turned to Edward the
First, he imprisoned several magistrates of Ghent,
notwithstanding the direct intervention of Philip's
representative, and agreed to give his daughter,
Philippine, with a handsome dowery, to the son of
the English monarch, afterwards Edward the Second.
Though conducted with much secrecy, this negotiation
did not fail to reach the ears of Philip, who straight-
way invited the Count to Paris under the pretext of
consulting with the great vassals of the Crown as to
the condition of the realm. For a brief space Guy
hesitated, but, his habitual weakness gaining the
28 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. i.
mastery, he at length obeyed the summons, and
added to his fatuity by taking with him his sous
John and Guy. With much humility he informed
his suzerain that he had betrothed his daughter to
the Prince of "Wales, and was overwhelmed with an
explosion of wrath. Philip charged him with dis-
loyalty to France, and produced some very com-
promising letters which Guy at once denounced as
forgeries. However that might be, the Count and
his two sons were lodged for six months in the same
tower of the Louvre which, for so many years, had
echoed the sighs of Ferdinand of Portugal, consort of
Joan, Countess of Flanders. In further testimony of
his deep resentment, the French King arrested the
English gentlemen in the suite of the Count, prohibited
the attendance of Flemish traders at the ftiirs of
Champagne, and seized upon Valenciennes.
Guy himself was brought to trial before the Royal
Court, but it was no part of Philip's policy to procure
his condemnation, which would simply have transierred
the earldom of Flanders to Robert de Bethune, at
that time supposed to be less manageable than he
afterwards proved to be.* He accordingly appeared
to be moved by the prayers of the Flemish deputies,
the representations of Amadeus of Savoy, and the
exhortations of Pope Boniface YIIL, and accepted
* It is to be regretted that Hendrick Conscience, the historical
novelist of Flanders, should have drawn such a nattering and
totally unreal portrait of Robert de Bethune, and, indeed, of all the
Dampierre family, in his otherwise spirited and vigorous novel of
"De Leeuw van Vlaenderen of De Slag der Golden Sporen."
Robert was neither a patriot nor a Richard Cceur de Lion. For the
rest, the Dampierres were thoroughly French.
CH. in.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 29
the promise of Robert that his father should not con-
tract any alliance with England. The unfortunate
Philippine was sent as a hostage to Paris, where she
died in captivity not without suspicions of foul play
on the part of the Queen. Guy himself was released
and allowed to return to his own territories, a broken-
down, discredited old man, who possessed the Bourbon
faculty for learning nothing and forgetting nothing.
Notwithstanding his past experienjes, he lent himself to
the fulfilment of Philip's most odious and abominable
instructions. He agreed to the falsification of the
currency, to the prohibition of all exports of specie
and bullion, and to sumptuary laws which amounted
to the confiscation of one-third of all the gold and
silver plate of every Flemish landed proprietor whose
estates yielded less than 6000 livres a year. In 1295
recourse was had to the hateful impost known ' as
maltote an obvious corruption of maltolte by which
Guy Consented to the imposition of a tax of two per
cent, on all property, movable or immovable, pro-
vided that one-half of the proceeds should be paid to
himself, and that his own personal retainers should
be exempted from the tax. On the other hand, in
the hope of conciliating the Communes, Philip re-
mitted a heavy fine incurred by their opposition to
his ordinance respecting the falsification of the cur-
rency, and forbade the importation into France of any
description of cloth or cheese except from Flanders.
He also commanded the restitution of their property
in the case of the Lombard merchants residing in
that country, and gave orders that the King's officers
should produce their sealed letters whenever called
30 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. i.
upon to do so. Guy, however, was empowered to do
as he pleased with the Thirty-Nine of Ghent, most of
whom incontinently fled to Holland, and all were
deprived of their office, and their goods declared for-
feited. Their successors were nominated from among
the Count's avowed adherents.
Following out his fixed policy of weakening his
most powerful vassals, Philip gave notice to the
townsmen of Valenciennes that they must be pre-
pared in two months to transfer their allegiance to
the Count of Hainault. Having no wish to change
masters, they appealed to Guy, who, with his custom-
ary levity, promised to afford them ample assistance.
Philip thereupon pronounced his disfeazance, and
summoned him to appear before his Royal Court at
Paris. At the same time he voluntarily pledged
himself to respect and safeguard the interests and
privileges of the Communes, and so far prevailed with
that unstable population that the gates of Douai were
closed against their Count's son, Robert de Bethune. It
is sad to tell that delegates were sent from Bruges and
Ghent to accuse their hapless Count of shedding in-
nocent blood, and of acting generally in a rapacious and
oppressive manner, as though similar charges might not
have been alleged against every great lord in the king-
dom of France. On being brought to trial, Guy pro-
tested against the King appearing as both accuser and
judge, and demanded to be tried by his peers ; but
Philip replied that the Royal Council exercised supreme
jurisdiction, and was the highest Court in the realm.
In the end Guy was condemned to restore the seal
and keys of the town of Ghent, and to surrender to
CH. in.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 31
the King all rights of jurisdiction throughout Flanders,
together with absolute possession of Bruges, Ghent,
Ypres, Lille, and Douai. All these places, however,
were immediately given back to him with the ex-
ception of Ghent.
Untaught by bitter experience, no sooner had the
Count returned to his castle of Wynendael than he
confiscated the property of all Scottish merchants,
although Scotland was at the ti^ne in alliance with
France against England. This fresh act of contumacy
was punished by a sentence of forfeiture of his fief,
to which Guy replied by calling upon Edward I. to
avenge the insult offered to himself in the imprison-
ment of Philippine, in consequence of her betrothal
to his son the heir to the Crown of England. The
English monarch at once crossed the Channel, and
was met at Grammont by the Emperor Adolphus of
Nassau, the Duke of Brabant, and the Counts of
Juliers, Flanders, and Bar. These princes bound
themselves to make war in concert upon France,
and shortly afterwards ambassadors from Flanders
and Holland repaired to Ipswich, and signed a
treaty by which Edward gave his daughter Elizabeth
to the Count of Holland and betrothed Edward of
Carnarvon to Philippine's younger sister, Isabella. As
more immediate and substantial advantages, Edward
engaged to land an army on the French coast, to sub-
sidise the Count of Flanders with a considerable sum of
money, and to fix the wool-staple at Bruges.
At the opening of the year 1296, and only two days
.after affixing his signature to the treaty of Ipswich,
Guy de Dampierre renounced his allegiance to the
32 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. i.
King of France, and drew up a prolix memorial of
the grievances of which he complained. Of this
pointless document Philip took no heed heyond
addressing a letter to " Guy de Dampierre, Marquis of
Namur, calling himself Count of Flanders," but he did
not omit to confer some fresh privileges upon the town
of Bruges. He also assembled a powerful army for
the invasion of Flanders, while the English barons
refused to serve in tlj.at country because their ancestors
had never been called upon to do so. At the same
time he incited a conspiracy in Germany against the
Emperor Adolphus, which cost the latter both his
crown and his life. The French army made at
first but little progress. The garrison in Lille was
encouraged by the presence of Kobert de Bethune, a
stout warrior, to make a gallant resistance, arid at
Bulscamp the fortune of arms seemed to favour the
Flemings until deserted by a body of their country-
men,* who had been induced to espouse the interests
of France. The consequences of this treachery were
most disastrous. No fewer than 16,000 Flemings are
reported to have perished on that fatal field or in the
subsequent flight ; the thriving little town of Furnes
was given to the flames, and Robert de Bethune was
compelled to surrender Lille, and retire to Ghent.
* The Battle of Bulscamp took place on the 20th August, 1297,
and \vas memorable for the first appearance in the Flemish annals
of the " Leliaerds," or French partisans, so called from Idle, the
Flemish for "lily," though the French lys is more correctly
applicable to the yellow Iris or Flag, plucked by the soldiers of
Clovis in crossing the river Lys. The Flemish patriots, on the
other hand, called themselves " Klauwaerds " from Klauwen, the
claws or paws of a lion that is, the Lion of Flanders.
CH. in.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 33
Edward I. now made his appearance at Sluys at the
head of an ill- disciplined force, numerically weak, and
altogether incapable of making head against the com-
paratively well-organised army of the French King.
He had hardly landed, indeed, when a disturbance
arose between his sailors and the people of the place,
which ended in the total destruction by fire of twenty-
five of his ships. On his arrival at Bruges he found
the Count at cross purposes with the citizens, who
refused either to repair their fortifications or to take
up arms against their suzerain. In the meanwhile the
English men-at-arms, who had been left at Sluys,
fastened a quarrel upon the citizens, slew some two
hundred of them, and plundered their warehouses.
Edward, however, went on to Ghent in company with
the Qount, and there his Welsh archers became
embroiled with the townsfolk, and six hundred of the
former, it is said, were slain in a street fight. In the
end Edward became disgusted with his Flemish allies,
and returned to his own kingdom, after concluding a
truce for two years with Philip, and agreeing to marry
his son and heir to the Princess Isabella, the " she-
wolf of France," an arrangement which received the
ready sanction of Boniface VIII. In despair, Guy de
Dampierre implored aid from Albert of Austria, the
newly- elected Emperor of the ."West, but all in vain;
and by the close of 1298 Flanders had submitted to
the King's brother, Charles de Valois, who fixed his
residence at Bruges, and strengthened its fortifications.
Relying upon the safe-conduct rashly granted by
Charles de Valois, a loyal and chivalrous prince, Guy
de Dampierre resolved to throw himself on Philip's
34 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [FT. I.
mercy. He was accompanied by his two sons, Robert
and "William, the latter of whom had married the
daughter of Raoul de ISTesle, the King's Lieutenant
at Bruges. Philip, however, utterly repudiated his
brother's safe -conduct, and sent Gruy as a prisoner to
Compiegne, Robert to Chinon, and William to
Issoudun. The barons and knights in attendance upon
their Count were consigned to various castles, where
they were treated according to the temper and dis-
position of their keepers. Philip and his queen
shortly afterwards made a triumphal progress through
Flanders. At Ghent they were received with great
demonstrations of enthusiasm, but their entry into
Bruges was marked by a chilling silence, though the
streets had been profusely decorated, and the pavements
and windows were filled with the wives and daughters
t)f the citizens in such splendid apparel as to excite the
jealous envy of Joan of Navarre.
The costs of this unwelcome reception proved exces-
sively onerous, and created much angry feeling among
the lower classes of the community. At this crisis the
Man was called forth by the Hour. One Peter
Coninck, an old one-eyed man, a weaver, short of
stature, and insignificant in appearance, now came
forward to rouse his fellow-townsmen to action.
Though poor, and so far unlettered that he knew
nothing of the French language, he spoke the verna-
cular tongue with remarkable force and fluency. He
began by boldly accusing the local magistrates of being
actuated by selfish motives and a paltry ambition, and
in a short time gained over the heads of twenty-five
metiers, or trade guilds, all of whom were arrested, but
cir. in.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 35
only to be liberated by the people. Raoul de Nesle,
whose leniency had endeared him to the Bruges folk,
had been succeeded by James de Chatillon, Count of
St. Pol, a typical Frenchman, vain, arrogant, and
intolerant, and who just then was absent from his post,
having accompanied his sovereign to Wynendael,
Ypres, and Bethune. No sooner, however, did tidings
of the riot reach him than he hastened back at the
head of 500 men-at-arms. Having a little distance
from the town, he awaited the tolling of a bell, which
was to announce that there was nothing to oppose his
entry. As it happened, the citizens had been informed
of the preconcerted signal, and at the first sound of the
bell ran to arms, chased the magistrates into the Bourg,
killed some of them, and made prisoners of the others.
Ohatfllon thereupon patiently awaited the reinforce-
ments with which his brother was rapidly advancing to
his aid. A compromise was then effected through the
influence of the Leliaerds, and it was agreed that all
concerned in the disturbance, including the ring-
leader, Peter Coninck, should be allowed to quit the
-town, on condition that they withdrew also from
Flanders. The fortifications were demolished, the
gates thrown down, the moat filled up, and the muni-
cipal rights entirely abrogated. A piteous appeal was
sent to the King who, caring nothing now for the
Communes, ratified the acts of his officer.
There was consequently a renewal of the only half-
appeased agitation. It seems to have been the normal
condition of the men of Bruges and Ghent especially,
to begin a new commotion almost before its predecessor
was suppressed. Nothing could exceed the rashness
D 2
36 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. i.
with which they entered upon a quarrel, unless it was
the fatuity with which they listened to promises never
intended to be fulfilled, or accepted terms which were
never carried out by either party. On this occasion
the tumult was more serious than usual. John de
Namur, his brother Guy, and "William de Severs
opened communications with their partisans among
the burghers and artisans. Peter Coninck, a host in
himself, also suddenly reappeared in Bruges, and
prevailed upon the people at once to repair the forti-
fications, and with such enthusiasm was this work
undertaken that the King's officers and magistrates
thought it prudent to consult their safety by flight.
The movement spread far and wide, and reached even
to Ghent, which had hitherto supported Philip in his
various contentions with their Count. William de
Juliers, Provost of Maestricht, a mere youth, and in
Holy Orders, donned a suit of mail-armour, and
hurried off to Bruges, where he was welcomed by
John Breydel, a man of great wealth and influence,
and doyen, or deken, of the butchers' guild. Damme
and the Chateau of Maele fell an easy prLze to the
martial ardour of the priestly warrior ; but at this
juncture the townsfolk of Bruges were seized with one
of their inexplicable fits of changeableness, and drove
Coninck out of their town. He did not, however, go
beyond reach of constant communication with his
friends within the walls. A proclamation had been
issued enjoining, or permitting, all who had anything
to fear from the King's officers to withdraw in peace,
and on the following evening 5,000 patriots had thus
gathered together at Damme, Ardenburg, and on the
CH. in,] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 37
banks of the Zwyn. Among them were presently seen
Peter Coninck and John Breydel, giving confidence to
the waverers, and inspiring all with their own spirit of
enterprise and resolution. On the g next day Chatillon
rode into Bruges at the head of 1,700 men-at-arms,
followed by a multitude of foot soldiers and archers,
and refused to listen to any complaints. He had not
taken sufficient account, however, of the heroism of
free men fighting for their wives pjid little ones, and for
all they held most dear. Before dawn had broken the
Ste. Croix Gate was opened to Coninck at the head of
one division of the homeless patriots, while Breydel,
with his butchers and their friends, boldly forded the
moat and mounted the rampart, axe in hand. The
watchword was, "Schilt ende Yriendt" (Shields and
Friends), a shibboleth which cost the lives of many
Frenchmen, who would gladly have passed themselves
off for Flemings. Coninck marched straight upon the
market-place, while Breydel assaulted Chatillon's
house, and compelled the Governor to flee for his life.
On that day of revenge and carnage fully 1,500
Frenchmen are believed to have perished before the
sun was high. The " Bruges Matins," as the massacre
was called, took place on Friday, the 18th May, 1302,
and are still commemorated, with excusable fervour,
by modern historians.
For a brief space it seemed as if the men of Ghent
were about to follow the example of those of Bruges,
and rise upon their oppressors, but the ebullition
speedily subsided, for Philip was profuse in promises,
and an unhappy rivalry nearly always kept apart the
two cities, which, cordially united, would have served
38 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [FT. i.
as a rallying- point to all Flanders, and might have
defied the utmost efforts of the France of those days.
The Bruges Matins, however, were better appreciated
at Furnes, Dixmu^e, Nieuport, and Bergues, whose
militia swelled the little army with which William de
Juliers appeared before Cassel. Early in June Guy de
Namur arrived in Bruges, and took upon himself the
government in the name of Guy de Dampierre. At
the head of a considerable force, estimated at 20,000
men, animated with the determination to conquer or
die, he encamped in the plain of Groeninghe under the
walls of Courtrai, which was stoutly defended by a
brave French knight named De Lens, until threatened
with starvation. Apprised of the straits to which this
gallant garrison was reduced, the Count of Artois
pushed forward from Arras in command of an army
largely composed of the flower of the French nobility,
attended by their personal retainers. On neither side
was much strategy displayed. The Flemings, indeed,
masked the hostile citadel of Courtrai, and took the
best advantage of the marshy ground in front of their
solid squares, as well as of a small stream easily
fordable by infantry, but the bed of which was soon
trampled into a quagmire by the heavily-weighted
cavalry of France. Nor, perhaps, was it in their
power to do much more, for, with the exception of
Breydel's corps, who carried pole-axes, almost their
only weapon was a long pike pointed with steel, called
with grim irony a Goedendag, or Good-day ! So long
as their solid squares remained unbroken, these pikes
formed an impenetrable chevaux-de-frise, but not
unfrequently the lances of the French knights were
CH. in.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 39
longer than the goedendags, and whenever that was
the case the Flemish militia fell into disorder at the
first charge, and were ruthlessly massacred, their pikes
being dropped so as not to impede their flight. Under
the walls of Courtrai, however, they held their ground
with commendable tenacity, and all the more easily that
the French men-at-arms committed the same mistakes
that were repeated with similar consequences at Crecy,
Poitiers, and Agincourt. Despising their enemy, and
reckless of marsh and river, they soon became a dis-
orderly mob. Dashing onward in wild fury, or breaking
into separate groups, unable to render each other
mutual support, the valiant chivalry of France were
felled to the ground like cattle. So great was the
slaughter of belted knights, that Flemish chroniclers
love to style the llth July, 1302, as the Day of the
Golden Spurs.
The moral effects of the Battle of Courtrai were
more remarkable than its political fruits. For the
first time the feudal system had broken down on the
battle-field. Traders and artisans had overthrown the
splendid chivalry of the most warlike nation in Europe.
The glamour was dispelled. Knights and barons had
no longer a special faculty for winning battles. They
could be defeated and slain by ill-armed weavers and
butchers, if only these would stand firm and be staunch
to one another. It is true the result was not always the
same, as we shall presently see in what happened at
Cassel, and later on at Koosebeke ; but the beginning
of the end had been attained, the first step had been
taken towards the elevation of the masses. At
Toulouse and Bordeaux the citizens claimed their
40 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. i.
independence, and expelled the officers and agents of
the Crown. The agitation spread even to Italy.
Florence was in a state of wild commotion, and a
federation was formed by several of the Italian Com-
munes in the NortL In Hainault, in the bishopric
of Liege, in Brabant, and in Zealand the popular
enthusiasm was for a time indescribable. Even Ghent,
which had been but poorly represented at Courtrai,
threw in its lot with the victorious party.
The first shock of the tidings of this terrible disaster
completely unnerved Philip the Fair. He sought an
unworthy revenge in abusing his aged captive, Guy de
Dampierre, and threw Robert de Bethune for six
weeks into a gloomy dungeon of the Castle of Chinon.
He then raised a numerous army, and marched
towards the Flemish frontier, but at the last moment
his courage failed him, and he hastily fell back upon
Arras, leaving Flanders in the hands of John de
Namur, whose brother Guy was elected Captain of
Bruges, a post similar to that which was subsequently
confided to the Van Artevelds at Ghent. In August,
1303, was fought the equivocal battle of Mont en
Pevele, both sides claiming the victory which fell to
neither, and on the 7th March, 1304, died Guy de
Dampierre after a rule of unusual length, as disastrous
to his people as it was discreditable to himself.
He was succeeded by his son, Robert de Bethune,
" the Lion of Flanders " according to Flemish romance-
writers, but, in truth, quite as self-seeking as his incon-
stant father. To obtain his liberty and that of his two
brothers, he signed the infamous treaty of Athies-sur-
Orge, by which he engaged to pay a heavy fine, to serve
cu. in.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 41
the King with 600 men-at-arms whenever called upon
to do so, to destroy the fortifications of his five prin-
cipal towns, to exile 3,000 citizens of Bruges under the
pretext of sending them upon different pilgrimages,
and to surrender Cassel and Courtrai as material
guarantees. As soon as the terms of this shameful
compact came to be known, the Communes expressed
a very natural indignation, but Robert, who was now
advanced in years, cared only for, peace and personal
repose. He therefore confirmed the privileges of the
Bruges municipality, while secretly in correspondence
with the French King. The Communes accused the
Count and even John de JSTamur of being Leliaerds at
heart, and their suspicions were strengthened by the
action of the Count's bailiffs, who arrested twenty-five
of the most notable individuals in the Pays de Waes,
of whom several were crucified and the others sent
into banishment. The burgher aristocracy, for the
most part, sided with the Count, and furnished him
with a distinguished escort on his return to Paris,
where, early in 1308, they ratified the treaty of Athies
in the name of the Communes, though Bruges was not
represented. The Count thereupon despatched his son,
Robert de Cassel, to announce to the Communes the
ratification of the treaty, which the rich burghers
generally were willing to accept. Not so the working-
men, who denounced it as a "Pact of Iniquity," and
awaited their time for a more active expression of their
disapproval. The townsmen of Bruges alone refused
their assent, but were finally induced to despatch eight
delegates to Paris. Philip then made some handsome
concessions. He reduced the fine, sanctioned the
42 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. i.
retention of the fortifications, agreed to levy no taxes
in Flanders, and waived his claim to Cassel and
Courtrai.
It seemed, however, as though fate had decreed
that the King of France and his most powerful vassal
should always be at strife. "When it became apparent
that neither the Count nor his Communes had any
serious intention of executing the Treaty of Athies,
Philip seized the revenues of the counties of Nevers
and Rethel, which belonged to Robert's son, Louis de
Nevers. That ambitious and dissolute prince straight-
way urged his father to resist the encroachments of
Philip, and succeeded so well that the Count was cited
to appear before the Royal Court in Paris. The King
at the same time assured the Communes that all their
troubles originated in the selfishness of their Counts,
and promised many favours to those who adhered to
his interests, while threatening his enemies with wrath
and tribulation. He had the good fortune to get
possession of the sons of Louis de Nevers, who at once
proceeded to Paris to obtain their release. He him-
self was thrown into prison, charged with seditious
practices, and so evilly entreated that his spirit was
quite broken.
By the Treaty of Pontoise, July 11, 1312, Robert
de Bethune consented to cede Lille, Douai, and
Bethune as security for the due payment of the
fine Enguerrand de Marigny promising in the
King's name to return them immediately. The Count
further pledged himself to dismantle all the strong
places in Flanders, to appoint as magistrates only
those who were known to be well disposed towards
CH. in.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 43
France, and to inflict punishment not only upon rebels
but upon all who should excite disaffection in their
neighbours. Under the impulse of a transitory fit of
energy, Louis de Nevers now escaped from prison and
fled to Ghent. Refusing to obey the summons to
return within six weeks, he was declared contumacious
and deprived of all his rights and expectations. He
thereupon appealed to the Pope and the Emperor of
the West, neither of whom shewed any inclination
to be drawn into a quarrel with France.
In the meantime Edward II. had ascended the
throne of England, and, in an evil hour, had married
Isabella of France. On the 19th June, 1313, he
ordered the arrest of all Flemish merchants in England,
excepting inhabitants of Ypres, and so terrified the
Communes with the apprehension of the loss of their
wool supply that they yielded to Philip at all points.
In the following year Philip sent his Serjeants into
Flanders to arrest Louis de JsTevers, but the Com-
munes rushed to arms in defence of their municipal
privileges, and drove the King's bailiff from Courtrai.
Four French armies were speedily organised and
marched towards the frontiers, when Enguerrand de
Marigny, in a moment of panic, stopped their advance
and signed a truce. A more formidable enemy than
Flanders had to be subdued or cajoled. The French
nobles and townsfolk, exasperated by Philip's never-
ceasing exactions, had at length protested against his
tyranny, and threatened to take up arms in their
self-defence. Philip surrendered at discretion, re-
voked all his maltotes and unjust imposts, and on the
29th November, 1314, was gathered to his fathers.
CHAPTER IY.
Louis X. invades Flanders Panic in his Army Philip the Long
Pope arbitrates between France and Flanders Robert de
Bethune at Paris His death Charles the Fair Louis de
Crecy Arrests English Traders in Flanders Disturbances
Xicolas Zannequin Louis de Crecy made prisoner in
Courtrai Interdict against Ghent Peace between Count
and Communes Philip de Valois Promises to restore Count
of Flanders Battle of Cassel Punishment of the Insurgents
Insurrection in Maritime Flanders Birth of Louis de Maele
Temporary lull.
Louis X., surnamed U Hutin, began his reign on
what would now he called liberal principles. He
professed great regard for justice, and set himself
against corruption and malversation. The evil-
minded counsellors of Philip the Fair were disgraced
and punished, and Enguerrand de Marigny was
actually suspended from the gallows. For all that,
Louis X. was not a whit wiser or more reasonable
than his predecessors. Louis de Nevers, having re-
paired to Paris, was completely won over to the Royal
interests, and ever after hung about the French Court.
His aged father, Robert de Bethune, had in vain
pleaded his growing infirmities as an excuse for his
omission to proceed to Paris to take his oath of
allegiance to the new monarch, and was pronounced
guilty of contumacy. Throwing off the mask, the
CH. iv.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 45
French King forbade the exportation from France to
Flanders of all articles of food, and announced his
intention of starving the Communes into submission,
with the alternative of being exterminated by the
sword. To carry out these fierce* threats, he placed
himself at the head of a formidable army, and at last
pitched his camp on the plain of Groeninghe, already
so fatal to the chivalry of France. His further pro-
gress was stopped by torrential rains, which made the
roads impassable. His gallant array was seized with
a panic, and, abandoning their tents, the host broke
up in confusion, and took to a disorderly flight. The
King himself sought refuge within the walls of
Tournai, but the gates were shut against him and
his followers. As the day was closing, a solitary
fugitfte, exhausted and wayworn, begged and obtained
shelter from the monks of St. Martin's Abbey, and
was recognised as Louis X., that morning the com-
mander of a great army, which, in a few hours, had
melted away without discharge of bolt or arrow,
without a spear-thrust or sword-cut. A truce was
proclaimed till the 22nd of July, 1316, and, before it
had quite expired, Louis X. died almost suddenly at
Vincennes.
The deceased monarch left a daughter by his first
wife, Margaret of Burgundy ; but by the Salic Law the
throne of France, it was thought, could not be filled by a
female. The Queen, however, was believed to be preg-
nant, and in the meantime Philip the Long, Count of
Poitiers, was appointed Regent of the realm. One of
his first acts was to prolong the truce with Flanders,
and in the end he succeeded in imposing excessively
46 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. I.
severe terms, which were never executed. The Queen
was delivered of a princess, who survived only a few
days, so that Philip the Long, after a brief though
vehement dispute with the Duke of Burgundy, became
King of France, and received the homage of Louis de
Nevers. Through the interposition of the Ambas-
sadors of England, Castile, Aragon, and Portugal, the
long-pending differences between France and Flanders
were now submitted to the arbitration of the Pope.
The Papal decision seems to have been entirely
equitable. His Holiness enjoined Philip to pledge
himself by oath to the observance of existing treaties,
and that his successors should likewise do so, on the
day following that on which the Counts of Flanders
rendered due homage to their suzerain. In the event
of the capricious violation of this oath, the Petrs of
France were absolved from their obligation to follow
the King to the field, while the Flemings, on their
part, were threatened with an interdict if they hesi-
tated to act up to those treaties. Above all,' the
princes of Christendom were exhorted to lay aside
their mutual jealousies, and unite in a crusade for the
recovery of the Holy Land.
With all their real influence, the Popes seldom,
succeeded in securing the acceptance of their arbitra-
tions unless one of the two parties was strong enough
to compel the acquiescence of the other. In the
present instance Robert de Bethune obstinately
refused to go to Paris, bearing in mind all that he
and his family had endured through the treachery of
Philip the Fair. The King's Chaplain thereupon
declared that it was as meritorious to bear arms
en. iv.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 47
against the Flemings as against the Saracens, and
issued an interdict against the County. The Pope
again intervened, not being disposed to adopt the
equivalent proposed by the French priest, and sent
three members of religious orders*to bring the people
of Flanders to a better frame of mind. Their ex-
hortations proving fruitless, Philip threatened coercive
measures, though for various reasons he found it
preferable to agree to a Conference at Compiegne
on the 7th October, 1318, But which produced
no tangible results.
Throughout these negotiations Louis de Nevers
played a most unworthy part. He did his best to
betray the cause of the Communes, who would have
laid down their lives in his defence. He would even
have* betrayed his own father had the aged prince
placed in him sufficient confidence to give him an
opportunity. So deeply rooted was Robert de
JBe'thune's distrust of the French character that he
ven broke the solemn promise he had made to
Cardinal Gosselin that he would visit the Court in
Mid-Lent ; but in 1320 he was constrained to accom-
pany the deputies despatched thither by the Com-
munes. The King met him outside the walls of
Paris, and received him with much courtesy and
honour. The oath of fealty was read aloud by Louis
de Nevers and repeated by the unfortunate Count,
but beyond that point he would not move. When
the treaty of the 1st September, 1316, was produced
for his signature, he positively refused to surrender
the towns of Lille, Douai, and Bethune, except as a
mere formality, and on that same night he secretly
48 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. I.
started off for Flanders. He was overtaken, however,
by the deputies, and constrained to affix his signature.
A little later he was with difficulty prevented from
beheading his son, Louis de Nevers, who humbled
himself exceedingly to obtain forgiveness, and on
being liberated retired to Paris, where he died on the
6th July, 1322. On the 17th of the following Sep-
tember he was followed by his father at the ripe old
age of 82. According to common rumour both deaths
were attributable to poison, though no plausible reason
has ever been assigned for the vulgar belief.
Under Charles the Fair, who succeeded Philip
the Long, Philip de Cassel urged his claims to the
Earldom of Flanders as a son of Robert de Bethune,
but he had made himself odious to the Communes,
though supported by a majority of the feudal' 'aris-
tocracy. His friends, indeed, were so powerful, that
the King referred the question to the Court of Peers.
The burghers of Bruges and Ghent, however, anti-
cipated their decision by recognising as their Count
the son of Louis de Nevers, who during his lifetime
was also known by that title, though after his death
in the slaughter at Crecy, he was more commonly
called Louis de Crecy, by which name, to avoid con-
fusion, he will henceforth be described in this narra-
tive. The King, indignant at the presumption of the
Communes, threw the young Count into prison, and
detained him for a couple of months in the Tower of
the Louvre. But the Flemings held out with more
than their usual obstinacy, and on the 29th January,
1323, the Court of Peers ratified their election.
Much cannot be said in favour of their judgment
CH. iv.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 49
beyond the support it afforded to the pretensions of
hereditary descent. The new Count, from the com-
mencement of his agitated rule, showed small respect
for the wishes of the Communes, pne of his earliest
proceedings was to fit out some ships for the purpose
of making descents upon the coast of England, and
to arrest all English traders found within his terri-
tories. The Communes naturally took alarm at a
policy that threatened to depriv^ them of the raw
material indispensable to their industrial prosperity,
and in the hope of tranquilising them, Charles the
Fair bestirred himself, not in vain, to re-establish
commercial relations between Flanders and the adja-
cent counties of Hainault and Holland. On his part
Louis de Crecy laboured strenuously to efface all
umbrage from the mind of his uncle Robert de Cassel,
while he bestowed on John de Namur all the dues
and customs collected at Sluys, which had previously
belonged to Bruges and Damme. Though the first
to acclaim Louis as their lawful Count, the men of
Bruges were little disposed to suffer loss at his hands.
They accordingly hastened to Sluys, made John de
Namur their prisoner, and shut him up in the Steen,
whence he effected his escape after three months'
detention. The Count had prudently fled to Paris,
but was persuaded to return by the men of Ghent,
who seldom lost an opportunity of doing mischief to
their Bruges rivals and competitors.
It was in December, 1323, that Louis again
made his entry into Bruges, and allowed himself
to be guided by the pernicious counsels of William
Flotte, son of the notorious Peter Flotte, Philip the
60 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. i.
Fair's Chancellor, who fell at Courtrai. He himself re-
sided chiefly in his own county of Nevers, delighting in
low pastimes and in the society of unworthy associates,
while the government of Flanders was virtually con-
ducted hy the Sire d'Aspremont, a French Knight,
destitute of any special ability, and overweening in
his contempt of traders and artizans. The conduct of
the Leliaerds in the rural districts became intolerable,
and brought about an insurrection of the untamed
inhabitants of maritime Flanders, who, under their
leader, James Peyt, wrecked and burnt the chateaux
of the feudal lords. After a while these disturbances
were quelled, and the insurgents even paid the fine
that was imposed upon them, but preserved their or-
ganisation and watched events. The Count, indeed,
withdrew the Sire d'Aspremont, and nominated in his
stead a member of the Ghent commercial aristo-
cracy, named Philip d'Axel. The country, however,
still remained in a very disturbed condition, in a great
degree through Louis' propensity to consult individuals
quite incompetent to deal with affairs of State.
At that time there resided in Bruges a rich burgher
of Furnes, Nicholas Zannequin by name, a sturdy
patriot, and possessed of great local influence. Roused
by his denunciations of the tyranny practised by the
Leliaerds, the neighbouring Communes took up arms,
and daily drew together the disaffected from all parts.
Robert de Cassel retreated at their approach, not
without being suspected of sympathising with the
movement. The citizens of Ghent even wavered for
a brief space in their allegiance, but finally rallied
to the Count, who vented his impotent fury in re-
CH. iv.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 51
yoking the liberties of Bruges, though he dared not
approach the town. Feeling his inability to suppress
the insurrection by force, and hoping everything from
time, Louis proposed a treaty witlt his revolted sub-
jects, leaving to arbitration the adjustment of the
damages sustained by Leliaerds and Klauwaerds. At
this crisis Robert de Cassel no longer judged it neces-
sary to conceal his friendly disposition towards the
insurgents, and so openly did hfc display his senti-
ments that his nephew determined to assassinate him.
He received timely warning, however, from Louis'
Chancellor, who expressed himself anxious to " save
the honour of the Count of Flanders from shame, and
his soul from God's judgment."
Raising a body of 400 men-at-arms, Louis de Crecy
took heart to arrest six burghers of Bruges who
chanced to be in Courtrai. No sooner did the tidings
reach their native place than 5000 of their fellow-
citizens marched to liberate them. To delay their
arrival the Count broke down the bridge over the
Lys, and fired the suburbs on the further side of the
river. The wind, however, drove the blazing sparks
upon the thatched roofs of the town, and many houses
were reduced to ashes. At such a moment, when the
people of Courtrai were in terror and despair, the Count
was sufficiently rash or fatuous to ride into the market-
place, dragging along with him his six prisoners. By a
sudden impulse the men of Courtrai flung themselves
upon Louis and his companions, slew many knights
and nobles, and handed him over to the mercy of the
Bruges militia, who just then made their appearance.
The Count was placed on a sorry steed and led
52 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [FT. i.
away a prisoner. His counsellors were thrown into
chains, and subsequently condemned to death. They
were accordingly pitched out of the prison windows
into the street ami murdered by the populace. This
tragedy was enacted on the 21st June, 1325, the
Count being held in safe custody in the Hallos.
Robert de Cassel, being chosen Rewaert, or Captain
General, of Flanders, though only by Bruges and a
few of the lesser Communes, conducted an expedition
against Ghent, and encountered the militia of that
town at Deynze. For a time victory seemed to
favour the latter, but in the end they broke, and
were hotly pursued to the foot of their ramparts.
Charles the Fair now thought it incumbent upon
him to interpose his good offices, which, however,
were very ungraciously received by the insurgents.
The Count of Namur, who was marching to Ghent,
to the assistance of Louis de Crecy, sustained a defeat
at the hands of the people of Grammont ; but, on the
other side, the weavers of Ghent were severely cut
up by the men-at-arms, and 3000 of their number
driven into exile to swell the ranks of the dis-
affected. As might have been expected, Robert de
Cassel refused obedience to the Royal summons to
repair to Paris to render an account of his conduct,
and little was gained by the King's appointment of
John de Namur to the post of Rewaert at the request
of the citizens of Ghent. A more potent instrument
of coercion was exercised by the Bishop of Senlis and
the Abbot of St. Denis, who proceeded respectively to
Tournai and Arras, and hurled a sentence of excom-
munication against the recalcitrant Communes. A great
CH. iv.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 53
terror now fell upon the town of Bruges, augmented
by an adverse encounter with the Ghent militia under
the command of Sohier de Courtrai and Hector
Yilain. The former of these two leaders was father-
in-law of James van Arteveld, aAd will again be
heard of at a later date.
Charles the Fair at length perceived the necessity
of summoning the Barons of France to the Royal
Standard, with the usual effect of bringing about a
more pacific tendency in the Bribes people. Peace
was accordingly concluded on the 18th February,
1326, and was ratified in the most sacred manner by
the Count, who went in state to the Chapel of St.
Basil and swore on the revered relic of the Holy
Blood to grant an universal amnesty. On the fol-
lowing 1 day he rode to Ghent, and thence travelled
to Paris, where he readily obtained from the King the
promise of a sufficient force to suppress all further
attempts at agitation. For the moment, however,
Charles was fully occupied with the distressed con-
dition of his sister Isabella, Queen of England, and
his death on the 1st February, 1327, deprived Louis
de Crecy of all hope of assistance from that quarter for
some time to come.
The recognition of Philip de Valois as successor to
Charles the Fair met with considerable opposition
from the French Communes, relying upon the sym-
pathy of the industrial population of Flanders. Ac-
cording to the Salic Law, indeed, there was little to
choose between the pretensions of Philip de Valois and
Edward of England, the former being the nephew, the
latter the grandson of Philip the Fair. The former,
54 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. i.
however, was a thorough Frenchman, while the
latter was as much an Englishman as was George III.
in the last century. Besides, Philip was consecrated
King of France in the Cathedral of Rheims on the
29th May, 1328, w-hile Edward III. was yet a lad of
seventeen, with probably no higher ambition than to
confirm his seat on the English throne, unless it were
to add Scotland to the lands already beneath his
sway. However that may be, no formal protest against
the coronation of PhVlip was made in his name.
At that august ceremony the Count of Flanders
should have borne the Sword of the Realm, but,
though thrice summoned by the heralds to come forth
and do his duty, he moved not from his place. In
real, or feigned, surprise Philip called upon him for
an explanation of his strange conduct. He replied
that it was the Count of Flanders and not Louis de
Nevers who had been summoned by the heralds.
" "What ! " exclaimed the king, " are you not the
Count of Flanders ? " Louis made answer : " Sire, it
is true that I bear the name, but I do not possess the
authority. The burghers of Bruges, Ypres, Poper-
inghe, and Cassel have driven me out of my lands,
and it is only in the town of Ghent that I dare show
myself." " Fair Cousin," said the king, " we swear
to you by the holy oil that has this day been poured
upon our head that we will not return to Paris until
we have established you in peaceful possession of the
county of Flanders." The rashness of this chivalrous
undertaking was so apparent that the barons and great
lords remonstrated with the king, but all to such little
purpose' that they were commanded to appear with
OH. .iv.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLAXDERS. 55
their respective contingents at Arras at an early
date.
True to the shifty, selfish, unstable character of his
race, Robert de Cassel now abandoned the cause of
the Communes, and offered, with 2^0 men-at-arms, to
hold St. Omer for the king. At the head of an im-
mense army Philip took the road to Courtrai, but
suddenly turning to the left he crossed the Neuf-
Fosse near Boezeghem, and encamped at the foot of
Mount Cassel, which was held by Nicholas Zanne-
quin and 12,000 Flemish pikemen. The position
was inaccessible to heavy cavalry, and the French
infantry were foiled in every attempt to gain a foot-
ing. After waiting for three days in the hope of
discovering a vulnerable point, Philip moved his camp
to another side of the hill, whence he threatened the
towns of Bergues, Wormhout, and Bourbourg. He
also charged Robert de Cassel with the ungrateful
mission of plundering and laying waste the fertile
champaign country all around. The Flemings, how-
ever, remained immovable, though exasperated well-
nigh to madness by the sad spectacle of burning
villages and hamlets, their own homes and the home-
steads of their kinsmen. So matters stood in the
afternoon of St. Bartholomew's day, August 24, 1328,
when Zannequin's endurance was exhausted, and his
judgment deserted "him. Expecting nothing less than
an attack from the Flemish boors, the French knights
had taken off their armour, and were sitting or re-
clining in their tents, playing at chess or dice, when a
tremendous commotion was heard without, and their
varlets rushed in with the intelligence that the enemy
56 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. r.
was upon them. Dividing his men into three nearly
equal bodies, Zannequin had given the signal for an
onslaught on the French camp : charging down hill
with irresistible fury, the Flemings at first overthrew
all who strove to bfcr their further progress. Already
Zannequin was within sight of the royal tent and
was pressing eagerly onwards, when the king's chap-
lain dashed in, and with terror in look and voice,
bade Philip flee for his life. " Propos de clerc qui a
peur ! " babble of a" frightened priest ! the king ex-
claimed ; but the warning came barely in time to save
him from death or captivity. The success of the
Flemings, however, was but short-lived. Breathless
from their unwonted exertions, outnumbered, and en-
cumbered by their heavy pikes, they were speedily
brought to a standstill, while the King of Bohemia,
the Count of Hainault, and Eobert de Cassel quickly
gathered together their retainers and rallied round
their over-lord. The Flemings stood firm, shoulder
to shoulder, and with their long pikes held the French
at bay for a brief space. The knights' lances, how-
ever, were longer and more manageable than the
clumsy " goedeudags," and wherever a breach was
effected, sword and battle-axe wrought a fearful car-
nage. In less than two hours Zannequin and his
twelve thousand brave associates lay on the field,
heaped one over the other, all dead or dying men,
and not one breathing a word of surrender. The
town of Cassel was committed to the flames, and the
French marched into Ypres while the artisans were
at strife with their magistrates.
Shortly afterwards Philip returned to his own ter-
CH. iv.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 57
ritories, dragging in his train 1500 hostages from
Bruges and Ypres. His parting words to Louis de
Crecy were a menace as well as a counsel. He bade
the Count govern his subjects with justice, for if ever
he had to come back to Flanders \t would be for his
own benefit. About justice Louis cared very little,
but he had no idea of being ousted from his pleasant
possessions. Conciliation and sincerity being foreign
to his nature he had recourse to violence, and is
reported to have put 10,000 of his reputed enemies to
death within three months. The town of Bruges was
divided into six sections, each of which was subjected
to a searching investigation. The condemned and
the strongly-suspected were marched out to Damme,
where the rack and the gallows awaited them. The
trade 'corporations of Ypres were literally decimated.
Several men of local distinction were broken upon the
wheel. The most atrocious case, perhaps, was that
of William Dedeken, formerly burgomaster of Bruges,
who had fled to Brabant as to a sure asylum. He was,
however, basely given np by the Duke to the King's
officers, by whom he was conveyed to Paris, where,
after his hands had been chopped off at the wrist, he
was placed in the pillory and subsequently bound on
the wheel. On the next day his limbs were attached
to four horses, which, pulling in different directions,
tore them out of their sockets, and his ghastly remains
were suspended from the gibbets on Montfaucon.
But Louis thirsted for gold more than for blood.
Of the spoils of the slain at Cassel the king demanded
two-thirds, leaving one-third to be divided between
the Count and his uncle Robert. The towns that
58 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. i,
furnished contingents to Zannequin's hapless force were
fined so ruthlessly that the Klauwaerds were reduced
to poverty, and at Bruges the Count bestowed fine
houses upon his barber, his grooms, and valets. The
burghers of that toSvn had to go on their knees the
latter half of the two long miles' journey to Maele,
to implore his mercy. At Ypres the belfry bell was
broken, an act held to indicate the cancelment of all
charters and deeds of grace, and the fortifications of
Bruges, Ypres, and VJourtrai were completely demo-
lished. The country was silenced, if not pacified,
when suddenly a rumour spread abroad that Sohier
Janssone had landed near Ostend with a band of
200 exiles. The people of the coast, untaught by
misfortune, flocked to his banner, and the patriots
boldly advanced upon Bruges. The Count's bailiff,
however, was a man of action. Without waiting for
the militia, and possibly distrusting them, he set out
with a strong escort of knights and fell upon the
insurgents while weary with their march. The
greater number were put to the sword, but Janssone,
his son, and a score of their comrades, were led away
prisoners to Bruges. There they were conducted
through the streets in a state of nudity, burnt with a
hot iron in every square or market place, broken on
the wheel, and beheaded, and their lifeless remains
attached to lofty gallows.
During this incident Louis was absent in France.
He had gone to Paris to bring to Maele his wife
Margaret of France, to whom he had been married
eight years, but who had early fled from his ill-treat-
ment. Margaret consented to accompany him to
CH. iv.] EARLY HISTORY OF FLANDERS. 5
Bruges, and on the 25th November, 1330, gave birth
to a son, named Louis de Maele, who was fated to
be the last Count of Flanders. In that same year
Louis banished from Ghent many of those whom he
believed to be unfavourable to Ms interests, and in
1333 he confiscated many rich estates. Two years
later the Bishop of Tournai succeeded in arranging
certain differences between the Count and the magis-
trates of Ghent, but a new phase of their mutual
relations was at hand, as yet unsuspected by either.
At Bruges, too, the Breydels reappeared, and public
succour was voted to the widow of Peter Coninck.
It is probable, however, that no material change in
the condition of Flanders would have come to pass,
had there not suddenly entered upon the scene a new
actor in the person of Edward III. of England.
PAKT II.
A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS IN THE
XIVTH CENTURY.
PAET II.'
A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS IN THE XIVTH
CENTURY.
CHAPTER V.
Rise of the Democracy Decline of Feudalism Municipal
Liberties Growth of the Communes Local Government _
Magistrates Position of the Count The Clergy Military
Service The Artisans Trade Regulations Trade Guilds-
Sufferings of the Working Classes.
PROPERLY to understand the two episodes repre-
sented by the name of Yan Arteveld, it is necessary
to form a definite idea of the social system which
prevailed in Flanders during the fourteenth century,
essentially a period of transition. Towards the close
of the previous century the commercial and industrial
classes had established themselves as a power in the
land. Impoverished by the crusades and by their
mostly passion for tournaments and pageants, the
nobles had been compelled to cede important rights
and franchises to the inhabitants of towns, in order to
obtain money to cover their wasteful expenditure.
For a while the civic population were somewhat dis-
tressed by the great efforts they had to make to supply
the prodigality of their feudal lords, but by means of
thrift and self-denial they were speedily enabled to
master the momentary embarrassment, and gradually
64 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [FT. n.
became enriched by the monopolies they had acquired.
Municipal governments were formed on principles
which argued the possession and appreciation of
political freedom, Chough it must be confessed that
the guilds were characterised by some of the worst
features of trades-unions. In the infancy of trade and
manufactures it was natural to seek exclusive privi-
leges, to the prejudice of consumers even more than
of possible rivals ajid competitors. The feudal, or
territorial, aristocracy soon took umbrage at the
growing power and independence of the Communes,
and assiduously strove to foster the mutual jealousies
of commercial communities, and under various pre-
texts to recall, or encroach upon, the liberties wrung
from their former necessities. The annals of the
fourteenth century are little else than the record of a
continuous struggle for supremacy between the Crown,
the Nobility, and the Democracy. Exasperated by
their virtual eclipse behind the practically irresponsible
autocracy of their great vassals, more than one of the
French Kings had sought to emerge from their com-
parative obscurity by seeming to make common cause
with the Communes, though always prepared at a
convenient moment to overthrow the ladder by means
of which they had attained the desired object.
The great battles of Courtrai, Crecy, and Poitiers
favoured the Royal pretensions by illustrating the in-
ability of the feudal chivalry to cope with a stout
yeomanry bravely led and skilfully handled. At
the same time the over-lord was not long in making
the discovery that the democratic element was still
more dangerous and intractable than the military
CH. v.j A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 65
aristocracy, weakened by personal squabbles, and
seldom heartily united for a common purpose. It
must also be acknowledged that the frequent ex-
cesses to which the Communes folded in the hour
of triumph discredited the name of liberty and
shocked the conscience of humanity even in the
very rudimentary condition in which it then existed.
In the words of Hallam, "Liberty never wore a more
unamiable countenance than am/rag these burghers,
who abused the strength she gave them by cruelty
and insolence." That, however, is only partially
true, for it is but just to remember that "these
burghers " were never fully in possession of the liberty
they coveted. Their excesses were, in fact, reprisals
for the atrocities practised upon themselves. Their
position was never assured. They were engaged
throughout in a fierce contest with brutal power
brutally exercised, and they acted after the fashion
of the age in which they lived. Be that as it may,
liberal institutions were reduced to a hopeless con-
dition at the end of the fourteenth century, while
feudalism had received its death blow, and the rela-
tions between monarchs and their great vassals were
rapidly taking the form most strongly accentuated in
the reigns of Louis XL, Louis XIIL, and Louis XIV.
The feudal spirit was never so strong in Flanders
as in France. The artisans, though not personally
eligible for the municipal offices which were filled in
obedience to their votes, exercised immense local in-
fluence, and not unfrequently drove their Count into
exile, together with such of their magistrates as were
suspected of undue bias in his favour. It is worthy,
<56 [JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. ir.
however, of remark that not only were the burgomaster
and the echevins chosen from the ranks of the wealthy
commercial aristocracy, but even the doyens or dckcns
of guilds were usually taken from the poortcrs, or
burghers who had retired from business perhaps in a
previous generation. It was thus more difficult for
the military aristocracy to coerce, or intimidate, the
operative classes, so long as the popular leaders were
true to those whom they represented, and had not
suffered themselves to be cajoled by courtly influences.
Unhappily, the Communes were usually at strife with
the rural population, because the wretched villagers
occasionally offered for sale the cloth they might have
.wrought in excess of their own humble wants a
practice directly opposed to the monopoly secured to
the " good towns " by charter from King or Count.
As Mr. Kirk justly remarks, in his "History of
Charles the Bold " " in the Middle Ages freedom
was nowhere claimed as a natural right, or regarded
as the common property of any nation. Its existence
was an artificial one. It was confined to a narrow
range. It seldom breathed the air of the hills or the
open fields, but was a denizen of the city, surrounding
itself with strong walls, wearing a gold chain and
gown of office, and holding in its hand the charters
from which it derived its origin, and which contained
the measure of its powers." These very charters were
purchased, or in some other way wrung from the need
of the sovereign, or the immedate lord, and were con-
tinually cancelled, or modified, after the suppression of
the frequent insurrections which constituted the pro-
test of the weak against the tyranny and oppression of
en. v.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLAXJiKRX. 07
the powerful. As already stated, the Flemish terri-
torial nobles were generally on the French side even
against their own Count for the sake of the honours,
distinctions, and grants of land which monarchs in
those days lavished at their own caprice upon those
who served them without scruple. Not a few even of
the burgher aristocracy favoured the enemies of their
country, and thought less of patriotism than of royal
patronage.
According to Professor Yanderkindere, the four-
teenth century was chiefly distinguished by the pre-
ponderance acquired by the great Communes. The
nobility were thrown into the background ; the Count
was powerful and respected only so long as he acted
in concert with them ; while the rural population
laboured and suffered, and were looked upon as little
removed above a servile condition. In the beginning
it had been necessary to possess a plot of land and a
dwelling to become entitled to the benefits of a cor-
poration. These heritable burghers continued to
enjoy special advantages so late as the fourteenth
century. They constituted the nucleus of the poortcry,
which consisted of the great burghers who, for the
most part, had ceased to take an active part in the
management of a business. Actual residence in the
town was indispensable, and the duration of absence
was precisely regulated. The Commune rested on a
threefold base territorial, juridical, and economic.
The property held in common was the original bond of
union that kept together all the individual proprietors,
whose identity of interests pledged them to mutual
-defence and indemnification. The election of com-
F 2
63 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. n.
munal magistrates and administrators grew naturally
out of this obligation to afford mutual aid to one
another, and this essential principle of communal
existence endured unto the end. The rural and terri-
torial germ was not long in developing itself into an
organised society governed by charters, or keures, ad-
ministered by magistrates endowed with judicial as
well as with administrative powers, so that a Commune
might be defined as t "a group of individuals estab-
lished on a territory in which they exercise rights in
common, and where they have to answer for their
conduct only before their own tribunal." At first, it
was an asylum rather than a power. Tillages had
not yet grown into towns. Industry was strictly
local. Commerce had not begun its beneficial mission
of exchanging the products of different localities one
against the other. A circulating medium can hardly
be said to have existed. It was not until the
eleventh century that any movement towards the
enlargement of social relations became perceptible, but
in the course of the next hundred years a notable
and abiding progress was made. With improved
security to person and property, markets sprang up in
many places. Travelling and transport became com-
paratively safe, and consequently a more sustained
intercourse arose between distant points of the terri-
tory, round which gathered an aggregation of producers
and traders, so that adjacent hamlets gradually merged
into considerable towns.
Equality and fraternity, of course, disappeared with
the advance of civilisation. The rich poorters aimed
at the exclusive direction of the affairs of the town or
en. v.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 03
State, just as the more wealthy tradesmen and mer-
chants sought to monopolise the regulation of industry.
To obtain a share in the municipal government, it was
no longer necessary to possess a pl<|t of land, much less
a landed estate. It was enough to be rich, prosperous,
and influential in one's own guild. The deken or
doyen of a guild was a person of importance, whose
favour it was worth while to conciliate, though
a good deal depended upon the -relative strength and
opulence of the particular guild. On the creation of
the Hanse of London, in the thirteenth century, the
local guilds gained immense power by their association
under that collective name. This power, indeed, was
rather of a defensive than an aggressive character.
Though always ready to quarrel among themselves,
the "good towns " were averse from foreign war, and
clung to peace with a tenacity that was not un-
frequently ignoble. They gained, however, what they
coveted. They obtained the recognition of the rights
of labour. They were guaranteed, not always effi-
ciently, against arbitrary imposts at the caprice of the
Count or his representatives. Servitude under every
form, or pretext was absolutely abolished, trial by
ordeal disappeared, and the independence of the local
tribunals was generally acknowledged. The duties on
export, import, and transit were temporarily removed,
and the claim of levying new taxes was waived, if not
actually renounced.
At the close of the thirteenth century the poorer*,
if not lineally descended from the free men of former
times, who, in virtue of their landed property, were alono
eligible to the magistracy, at least realised all the
70 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN AUTEVELD. [IT. ir,
advantages of such a position, and were distinguished
by the escutcheon over the door of their house, and
which was engraved on the seal that attested their
signature to important deeds. By degrees some of
these families usurped hereditary privileges, and were
known as " Geslachten" or "Lignages," though more
prominently in Brabant than in Flanders, where they
called themselves ledechgangen, lazy-goers, or persons
retired from business^ One of their privileges was to-
serve on horseback, otherwise the exclusive appanage
of knights and nobles. But their withdrawal from
commercial activity was fatal to their popularity, the-
more so that they were commonly suspected of being
Leliaerds, and it is certain that from among them were
taken " The Thirty-nine," who so long governed the
town of Ghent. In the other towns of Flanders
proper the echevins or Scepcncn held office only for
twelve months, though eligible for re-election after
intervals of three years. As their tenure of power
drew to a close they nominated a certain number of
candidates, from whom the Count, or his delegate,
chose their successors. Virtually, the burgher aris-
tocracy kept the administration in their own hands.
-Associated with them were inferior functionaries in-
differently known as coremanni, coratorcs, or Jures,
whose duties have not been very clearly defined, and
whose influence waxed or waned in various places-
according to circumstances, or the personal character
of themselves and the ichevim to whom they were
nominally subordinated. The chief officer of the
Commune was styled the Burgomaster, though his
office appears to have been rather honorary than sub-
en. v.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 71
stantial. At Ghent, in default of an actual Burgo-
master, the first ec/ic-cin de ecrste scejien answered
the purpose, while at Bruges and many minor towns
there were two communal chiefs mayixtri communion
or rector es cicitatisvrho probably represented, the
one the echevins, the other the juris, or associated
councillors. Briefly, then, as Professor Vanderkindere
clearly indicates, the organisation of the aristocratic
Commune was founded on the maintenance of the
preponderant influence of the licjnayes, the tin probi,
the heritable burghers, the great leaders of the guilds,
while the artisans and common folk were practically
denied a voice in the management of their'own public
affairs. By the beginning, however, of the fourteenth
century the democratic element had begun to make it-
self felt, and to foreshadoAV the two remarkable episodes
which this little volume is intended to illustrate.
Personal and commercial liberty as understood in
Flanders in the Middle Ages might almost be summed
up in two guarantees, one of which secured a fair
trial before the local magistrates, while the other for-
bade the imposition of dues and charges likely to
interfere with the extension and profits of trade. A
poortcr could not be brought before any Court whose
competence he might think proper to challenge. It
was also the duty of the municipal magistrates to take
heed that no member of the Commune was subjected
to unjust treatment in any other land or city. The
local tribunal was further supposed to be entirely in-
dependent of Count or King, and to possess extraor-
dinary powers for insuring justice to the humblest
member of the Commune. In reality all this was
72 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. n.
at least mythical, though modem writers may find a
pleasure in exaggerating the extent of the civic inde-
pendence enjoyed in those days. It is, of course,
possible that during the frequent, but brief, obscura-
tions of the power of the Count or his. over-lord, the
Communes may have blustered somewhat loudly, and
it is undeniable that great privileges were conferred,
both in charters, and by word of mouth, but it is
extremely improbable that the influence of local
magistrates ever extended much beyond the walls of
their town, or, except on rare occasions, came into
collision with the Count's representatives without
experiencing the fate of the earthen pipkin that was
dashed against the iron pot. For example, the
Communal magistrates claimed, and abused, the right
of banishing political partisans holding opinions con-
trary to their own, but no sooner was the Count's
authority restored than the exiles were recalled and
usually indemnified at the cost of their momentarily
successful opponents. No doubt, while negotiations
were still going on, the Count promised whatever was
asked of him, but, once more at his ease, he recanted
" vows made in pain, as violent and void." On the
other hand the legislative functions of the echevins
were faithfully and usefully discharged, and there can
be no question that they placed a strong restraint upon
the tyrannical impulses of their feudal superiors.
The police regulations were entirely within their pro-
vince, and it was by their constant supervision that
the pax civitatis was maintained. Fairs and markets,
and the manifold details of the commercial organisa-
tion, were also within the competence of the local
CH. v.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 73
magistrates, though the sanction of the Count was in
many cases indispensable. To them likewise belonged
the construction and maintenance of public buildings,
such as town halls, belfries, bridges, canals, and s->
forth. The direction of education, however, was
vested in the clergy, with the inevitable effect of
warping the judgment, narrowing the exercise of the
intellectual powers, and prohibiting the critical fac-
ulties. In some respects, however, the clergy were
subjected to wholesome restraints. In Ghent they
were compelled to pay taxes like the laity, and every-
where they were forbidden to lay in larger supplies of
wine and other articles of merchandise than were
wanted for their own use, and which they obtained
free of duty.
Education apart, so extensive was the influence
of the Communal magistrates, that members of the
territorial nobility were ambitious of being asso-
ciated with them in an honorary way under the title
of buyten-poorters or haghe-poorten, that is, bourgeois
forcfim outer-burghers. Against a foreign enemy
every citizen capable of bearing arms was bound to
follow the Count to the field. In the event of offensive
warfare, however, the Count could summon to his
banner only his own immediate vassals and retainers.
If any of the burghers consented to accompany him, it
was entirely a voluntary act, and in no way committed
the Commune. Not that the Flemish townsfolk wero
averse from warlike enterprises on their own account.
The chief towns were continually at strife with one
another, and not unfrequently they would bring to
reason a territorial magnate who might have infringed
74 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEYELD. [PT. n.
their privileges, or been guilty of wrong-doing towards
a member of the Commune. At other times their
martial prowess was displayed on less excusable
grounds, as when ley punished a village for encroach-
ing upon a monopoly, by destroying all the looms it
contained, and even by demolishing the houses of
obnoxious individuals, and in case of resistance putting
them to death.
Towns were surrounded by walls, ramparts, and
moats, and were entered through massive gates,
sometimes furnished with portcullis and drawbridge,
and guarded by the civic militia. The possession
of fortifications was, however, hotly contested by
the French Kings, who availed themselves of
every success to enjoin their demolition and pro-
hibit their reconstruction. The streets were usually
tortuous, to lessen the advantages of archers and cross-
bowmen, and very many houses boasted of a circular
tower, the upper floor of which, accessible only by a
ladder, afforded a temporary retreat to the house-
hold when pursued by a victorious enemy, whether
foreigners or members of a rival guild. The com-
munal militia consisted of horse and foot. The cavalry
was the exclusive privilege of the commercial nobility,
supplemented by such of the neighbouring knights
and barons as had been enregistered among the buyten
poorfcrs. This arm of the service was always numeri-
cally weak, and totally unfit to cope with the French
men-at-arms. No citizen could join this aristocratic
corps unless his yearly income exceeded 300 livres.
The infantry comprised the whole body of townsmen
capable of military service, and heavy fines some-
CH. v.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 75-
times confiscation of their whole property awaited
those who evaded this first duty of a citizen. Towns-
were divided into sections, each of which was placed
under its own captain, or hooftma^ and these, again,
while engaged on active service, received their orders
from a captain-general, or bclcedcr van de stad. At
Ghent this important personage was attended hy an
escort, or body-guard, distinguished by their white
hoods, to which is partly due the total misconception
of James van Arteveld's political position evinced by
Jehan le Bel, and still more so by his amplifier, the
Canon of Chimay. Wielding a military force, the
Communes gradually assumed the right to form
alliances, not only with one another, but even with
foreign States and Princes. This assumption was
tacitly condoned by the Counts of Flanders, the Dukes
of Brabant, and other petty potentates, who even in-
vited the Communes to affix their seal to treaty
engagements and other public documents in confirma-
tion of their own signature to those particular under-
takings.
At the end of the thirteenth century the artisans
were still destitute of political rights. They were
freemen, no doubt, and benefited by the privileges
conferred upon the town in which they earned their
livelihood, but they were never recognised as burghers,,
and occupied altogether a very inferior position. They
enjoyed a certain degree of personal comfort, and
from a material point of view they were well to do,
but they had no voice in the conduct of public affairs,
until the Van Artevelds raised them to a higher level,
more conformable to their industry, intelligence, and
76 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. 11.
force of numbers. "With the advance of commerce,
manufacturing industry could not fail to make corres-
ponding progress. Flemish cloth had long been re-
nowned for its durability, but in the absence of markets,
fairs, roads, and safe transit, its use was inevitably
much circumscribed. But as the demand increased
the supply gradually augmented. The artisans flocked
to central points for the sake of mutual protection,
and of the outlet for their labour which was gradually
opening. Towns now took form and magnitude, and
capital came to the assistance of individual industry.
"Workmen organised themselves into separate bodies
or corporations, according to their respective callings,
and elected a head man, though seldom from their
own ranks.
"Within the metier, or guild, there reigned the most
perfect equality. Contrary to the spirit of modern
political economy, the individual was ignored so far as
his own particular tastes or wishes were concerned.
He was simply part of a piece of mechanism put to-
gether on the principle of extreme selfishness for the
benefit of the employers of labour. At the same time,
by a singular inconsistency, great care was taken to
secure a certain amount of well being to eveiy member
of the company. A master- workman could not, as a
rule, employ more than three journeymen, nor might he
lure from another master any one of his men. If any
one obtained a large order, he was bound to give notice
to the head-men of his craft-guild. To prevent the
undue coalition of capitalists, it was forbidden to place
more than a limited number of looms in a workshop,
or to throw two workshops into one. Competition
CH. v.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLAXDERS. 77
was put down with a high hand, whether attempted
by foreigners or within the commune. Much coil
was made about receiving into a craft-guild a citizen
of another town, unless it could be shown that extra
hands were really wanted. Free trade was for the
most part interdicted. Neither English nor any other
kind of foreign cloth could be imported into Bruges
or Ghent, the former town being equally prohibitive
in the matter of shoes and boots, while other articles
were excluded from other places to the prejudice of
the consumer. Generally speaking, however, the
great markets and fairs were open to the merchandise
of every region of the globe. Unwearying attention
was paid to secure efficiency in the members of each
guild. For the most part, apprentices were expected
to have completed their twentieth year before they
could enter the service of a master-workman. The
period of apprenticeship depended, of course, upon
the nature of the industry, and usually lasted from
three to six years, at the end of which an apprentice
was*called a cnaep a knave or journeyman and for
the next year or two hired himself to an employer of
labour. After that, on payment of certain fees, he
was entitled to start in business on his own account,
but hampered by innumerable petty regulations which
left him no opportunity of availing himself of any
originality or particular talent he might possess.
The object seems to have been to maintain a general
average excellence. Although a man of exceptional
skill and ability had little advantage over his less
brilliant comrades, a really bad workman was a rarity,
and was liable to a fine for every mistake he made.
78 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. ir.
The price of every kind of work was fixed by the
head-man of each craft. Butchers, bakers, barbers,
tradesmen of every denomination, had their prices so
regulated as to yield a small profit on every transac-
tion. The hours of labour were so precisely defined
that no master workman could steal a march upon his
neighbours by beginning at an earlier or leaving off
at a later hour. Workshops were opened and closed
at certain hours, with a rest at mid-day, nor was any
sort of labour allowed at night, or on Sundays and
saints' days, or on the eve of a festival of the Church,
or- on Saturday afternoon. Wages, too, were settled
according to a regular scale, either by the day or by
the job, and must be paid in hard cash. The cost
even of the raw material, where ife was not actually
fixed, must be made known to all who might care
to enquire, while wool was purchased by the guild
collectively, and distributed on terms of strict equality
to the weavers. Even the fashion of " dressing " a
stall was subjected to a certain standard. In short,
competition was sedulously crushed. To use a horAely
phrase, artisans and their employers were like toads
under a harrow. The idea was to maintain a fra-
ternal union, but the result must have been to create
a fraternal disgust and feeling of impatience, where
the race was not to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong.
The sentiment of solidarity was potent in these
trade companies, each of which had its own chapel,
and, generally, its own hospital, as well as its own
herlerg, or house of call, in which were preserved
its charters and other public documents. Any
CH.V.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 79
glaring violation of morality, and every infraction of
the criminal laws sufficed for the expulsion of a mem-
ber. A craft-guild was something more than a trade- .
union. It made its own internal laws and regulations.
It discussed collectively its common interests. It was
presided over by a doyen or deken, elected by the
jurats or finders. It had its own cnacp, or usher.
It had its own tribunal, from whose decisions there
was no appeal. The number of metiers became very
considerable in the fourteenth century. At Bruges
there were 52 ; at least as many at Oudcnaerd ; and
59 at Ghent, in addition to many subdivisions or
sections. This multiplicity of callings was in itself
a weakness, as tending to foment petty jealousies
where the distinction was drawn too. fine. As already
remarked, there was no initiative possible to any
individual. Every member of a guild was, so to
speak, wound round with swaddling cloths, like an
Egyptian mummy or a Flemish baby. Everything was
done by rule and measure, and one event happened
to the wise man and to the fool. For all that, in-
dustry flourished to an amazing extent in the " good
towns." At the worst time, shortly after the battle
of Cassel, there were still 2000 looms at work in Ghent,
while Ypres annually turned out 89,000 pieces of
cloth. It is also clearly shown by M. Vanderkindere
that the purchasing power of an artisan's wages was
sufficiently great to command a large measure of well
being. He was in a position to provide his wife
and family with a suitable home, usually in the
suburbs, to clothe them decently and comfortably,
and to give them abundance of good, wholesome food.
80 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. n.
Luxuries alone were expensive in the Middle Ages,
and about them working men seldom troubled them-
selves overmuch.
The medal hao^its reverse side also. So long as
the land was at peace without and within, all went
well with the artisans, but their condition was pitiable
in time of war or civil commotion. If the enemy
approached the town, they fled within the walls, and
beheld their habitations consigned to the flames. A
difference with France implied a scarcity of wine and
corn ; with England, a stoppage of the supply of the
raw material essential to their industry. Commerce
ceased at once, and every loom stood still. Neither
were there any savings-banks or workhouses in those
days. Working men lived well, but it was from hand
to mouth. What they received regularly, they spent
promptly, so that when bad times came they were
speedily reduced to abject destitution. Now and again
a pestilence, the direct consequence of the absence of
sanitation, made terrible ravages among the labouring
classes both of the rural and of the urban population.
And what rendered these misfortunes and calamities
less endurable was the comparative exemption of the
rich from suffering. The poor complained, too, that
the governing class squandered among themselves the
revenues derived from customs and duties on the
necessaries of life, that justice was venal, that public
offices were bought and sold, and that one law did not
protect the needy and the opulent. Whether these
opinions were well founded or exaggerated, they were
held with tenacity, and as a natural result violent
outbursts of popular indignation were of frequent
CH.V.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 81
recurrence, and much bloodshed and misery inter-
vened before order could be restored, or the semblance
of a reconciliation brought about. And in the four-
teenth century it was the democracy that gained for a
time the upper hand.
CHAPTER VI.
The Artisans of Ghent Quarrels of the Guilds Upheaval of the
Industrial Classes Bruges Decline of Flemish Manufactures
The Rural Population Spade Husbandry Agricultural
Produce Condition of the Peasantry Taxation Disunion
of the Communes The Church in Flanders.
THE artisans of Ghent, through whose zeal and
perseverance the temporary triumph of the democracy
was achieved, were the last to take an active part in
the popular insurrections against the selfishness of the
great, and especially of the Counts. The influence of
the Leliaerds availed to prevent the town militia from
joining their fellow-countrymen in their contests with
the French troops, though many of the weavers made
their way to share the victory of Courtrai and the
defeat of Cassel. The burgher aristocracy, however,
refused to serve against their over-lord, and thus drew
upon themselves the distrust and hatred of the demo-
cratic classes. The contumacy of the weavers was
punished by the victorious faction. For twelve years,
from 1325 to 1337, they were deprived of their deken,
and were subjected to various imposts, but under
James van Arteveld they became the most important
corporation in Ghent. For one thing, they were
usually played off against the fullers, with whom they
CH. vi.l A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 83
were continually squabbling as to their respective
shares of the profits on cloth, and more often than not
the petits metiers, or inferior industries, made common
cause with the fullers. Terrible skeet-fights ensued,
and sometimes hundreds of artisans were slain out-
right. There is good reason to believe that about the
year 1326 the townsfolk of Ghent were divided into
three "members" or groups that of the weavers,
that of the fullers, and that of the minor associated
trades. Historians, however, usually ascribe this
threefold division to James van Arteveld, about the
year 1340 or 1341, only substituting the poortery, or
retired burghers, for the fullers ; but in this they
were probably mistaken. As a fact, Van Arteveld
avoided the introduction of innovations. He was
rather careful to revive and confirm the old order of
things, and thus re-established the political govern-
ment of the town in the hands of the weavers, fullers,
and minor corporations, leaving to the poortery the
exercise of the legitimate influence due to their wealth,
intelligence, and personal character.
A few years after the death of James van Arteveld,
Louis de Maele broke up the patriotic union of the
different guilds, and once more won over to his own
side the burgher aristocracy. At Bruges he succeeded
in crushing both the fullers and the weavers, and at
Ghent the latter were worsted in a street fight by the
poortery and their adherents. The weavers were again
deprived of their deken, and this time for ten years,
until, in 1359, they recovered their ascendency and
drove the fullers into the background, in which condi-
tion they remained to the end. It is, however, worthy
O 2
S4 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. n.
of note that each time the weavers were left without
a head, mention is made of a doyen or deken of the
poortery. Thrice does the burgher nobility appear as
one of the three estates, or members, of the commune,
but on the third occasion, about 1380, it was at the
expense of the fullers. Briefly, then, the artisan
class forced its way to the front in the early part of
the fourteenth century, and under the sway of James
van Arteveld, the weavers, who formed the most
democratic portion of the population, were dominant
chiefly through their accord with the fullers. But
when the old discord was renewed, the latter reunited
themselves with the small trades, and the weavers lost
their preponderance.
Liberty was still unknown and unsought. Each
movement that had taken place was impelled by
purely selfish motives. It was a struggle of classes,
each striving to attain the highest rank. The wealthy
tradesmen, retired from business, gave themselves no
rest until they were recognised as the equals of the
heritable burghers. Then, the rural population mur-
mured against the privileges conferred upon, or pur-
chased by, the townsfolk, and gave much trouble until
they also were permitted, on certain conditions and on
payment of certain fees, to enjoy a share of these good
things. Finally, the working-men objected to their
political subordination, and strove fiercely to be as
their masters and employers. There were, however,
very real grievances, the removal of which should
have added to the stability of the State by insuring
the welfare and contentment of the entire community.
These wrongs, such as the mal- administration of justice,
CH. vi.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 85
inequality before the law, the vicious mal-treatment of
the weak by the strong, of the friendless by the
powerful, the arbitrary imposition and unfair distribu-
tion of taxes, and the ruinous, Demoralising extra-
vagance of the rich, could only be redressed by throw-
ing open to all classes every public office hitherto
reserved for the poortcry. At Bruges this problem
was partially solved, though the actual power still
remained in the hands of the aristocracy. So long as
Flanders was a mere federation of Communes, more
frequently antagonistic than sympathetic towards
each other, it was impossible to organize a system of
administration for the whole country, and which all
should be equally interested in maintaining. In
default of any such co-operation, every Commune
swayed to and fro according as the aristocratic or the
democratic element obtained the mastery, and thus
the arrogance of the poortcry and the envious jealousy
of the artizan class went on counterbalancing each
other to the infinite prejudice of the whole country,
which became a sort of shuttlecock between the Count
and his over-lord, except when these two agreed to
assist one another in plundering the disaffected of all
classes. It is to the credit of the artisan class that
they appeared to understand and appreciate the policy
of James van Arteveld, first of all in breaking down
the barriers which separated Flanders from Brabant
and Hainault, and secondly in cementing a close
alliance between the three " good towns " of Bruges,
Ghent, and Ypres, Lille and Pouai having passed
irrecoverably under the power of France. To the
captain -general of each of those towns he confided the
86 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. n.
command of the military forces of their respective
districts, and had further time been allotted to him
he would, doubtless, have built up a commercial
democracy againsj^ which, aided by England, the
chivalry of France would have idly hurled itself, to be
broken and scattered like a wave dashing against an
iron-bound coast. Nor would the democratic move-
ment have been confined to Flanders. Throughout
the fourteenth century an upheaval of the industrial
classes again and again shook and terrified society in
France and Italy, but all real progress was checked
by the violent excesses which disgraced every evanes-
cent period of success.
In those days Bruges was the commercial capital of
the western world. Its geographical position was
unrivalled, and made it the natural emporium of the
merchandise of every trading community on the face
of the globe. The Hanse, of which Bruges was the
vital point, extended from Novgorod to London, and
by the year 1330 had become a federation of flourish-
ing towns and cities, rather than a union of guilds.
Alliances were made on equal terms with princes and
potentates, who engaged to respect the privileges
claimed by the members of the Hanse within their
respective territories. The safe commodious harbour
of the Zwyn was crowded with vessels from the most
distant seas, laden with the products of every clime.
Every civilized language was spoken in the streets of
Bruges, though Ghent, under the Van Artevelds,
successfully disputed its supremacy, and by the end of
the century Antwerp usurped its place as one of the
most important entrepots of western commerce.
en. YI.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 87
The brilliant epoch of Flemish prosperity was,indeed,
of brief duration. One political crisis folio wed so quickly
upon the heels of another that the country never com-
pletely settled down to industrial pursuits. Confidence
began to fade, and all too soon it was discovered that
the manufactures of Flanders could no longer be de-
pended upon. The materials were too often of inferior
quality, while the fabric had deteriorated through
careless and dishonest workmanship. Towns as well
as individuals became seriously burdened with debt.
Taxes had to be imposed to cover the interest. Life
was no longer so easy and comfortable as in the days
gone by. Commerce languished, the peculiar fabrics
of the country became discredited in foreign markets,
and the artisans fell into destitution. Complaints,
too, were made by other members of the Hanseatic
League that their privileges were no longer respected,
that justice was not equally administered to foreigners
and to Flemings, especially if natives of Bruges, that
faith was not kept in business matters, whether great
or small, and that no redress was attainable for wilful
damages and personal violence. Northern pirates
again appeared in the Channel, seized and plundered
defenceless vessels, and devastated the coasts. The
Flemings were finally expelled from the Hanse, and
for some years Flanders was placed beyond the pale
of international commerce. Then came the mortal
stroke. The Zwyn gradually filled up until there was
scarce water enough for decked fishing-boats. Bruges
ceased to be a port, and Sluys was practically inac-
cessible from the sea. Then Damme dwindled to the
proportions of a considerable hamlet ; its warehouses
88 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [rr. IK
disappeared, and now the site of its ramparts is occu-
pied by a dangerous morass, and half a dozen instru-
ments of torture preserved in the quaint old town-hall
are the only attractions that remain to excite and
disappoint the curiosity of the tourist.
A few lines may be devoted to the rural population.
Less intelligent and vivacious than the inhabitants of
towns, the country folk were also less subjected to
political crises, and for the most part led an untroubled
life, unsweetened by much pleasure, but unembittered
by anxiety about daily bread. The agricultural
labourer naturally benefited by the growth and pro-
sperity of the neighbouring towns, and many a village
was better peopled in the fourteenth than in the
fifteenth or sixteenth century. In one respect, as is
clearly shown by Professor Yanderkindere, the posi-
tion of the peasant at that period would compare
favourably with that enjoyed by the same class in
these days. He was an hereditary tenant and could
not be evicted from his little plot of land, or subjected
to an annual or capricious increase of rent ; neither
could he be made to pay for the results of the improve-
ments introduced by himself. The form of servitude
known as main-morte had not, indeed, entirely died
out, but it had very generally been superseded by the
right to the meilleur cattel, which in its turn was in
an advanced stage of decadence. The main-morte
arose out of the want of capital on the part of the
peasantry, who were supplied with the necessary funds
by the landlord, who recouped himself as well as he
could on the demise of his debtor, by seizing whatever
he might be possessed of at his death. This usage,
CH. vi.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 89-
however, became an anachronism when the relations
of landlord and tenant acquired a character of per-
petuity and were transmissible from father to son.
Instead, therefore, of claiming all, the landlord con-
tented himself with appropriating ^he meilleur cattel,
or the most valuable article possessed by the deceased,,
whether implement, animal, or furniture. This custom
also fell into desuetude in the latter part of the century
under review, and peasants developed into farmers
paying rent and finding their own capital. Large
holdings were consequently less numerous and less in
favour than small allotments, for comparatively few
agriculturists were monied men, and loans could only
be raised at an onerous rate of interest. Spade hus-
bandry was greatly affected and with so much success
that Flemish gardeners and cultivators were in much
request in all parts of Europe, though no foreign
country pleased them so well as the alluvial plains of
East Norfolk. A large portion of Flanders, however,
was still covered with marshes into which the sea
made frequent irruptions, or with forests infested by
wolves and other wild animals. Considerable tracts
of land, owing to the scarcity of farm-yard manure,
were necessarily withdrawn from annual cultivation
and left to lie fallow.
Flax and hemp were grown to a wide extent, but
it does not appear that wine was made in Flanders
proper, though the vineyards of Louvain enjoyed a
certain reputation. Winter roots were unknown.
Among cereal produce, rye was prominent, as it is at
the present day. Hops were appreciated by tho
larger brewers, though a great deal of beer was then
90 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. n.
brewed for immediate consumption, and which needed
not the bitter preservative. Kitchen gardens supplied
peas, beans, vetches, onions, garlic, mustard, and,
above all, orache an old-fashioned pot-herb now
superseded by spinach. No mention is made of plums,
but apples, pears, and cherries were abundant. The
dairy produce and the poultry of Flanders were much
esteemed in France, though English cheeses were
coming into demand. Not that the peasants indulged
in these delicacies. Their ordinary fare consisted of
bread, curds, and cheese, with occasionally a piece of
salt pork a diet favourable for the production of
scorbutic complaints. The lodgments of the labourers
were open to improvement. They were for the most
part constructed of mud, and were much too small
for health or decency, besides being unprovided with
an escape for the smoke, except through the door, or,
it might be, through an unglazed window. Candles
being too costly for common use, the winter evenings
were spent in darkness, rendered visible by the
flickering light of the logs, or peat, smouldering on
the hearth.
Ecclesiastical or seignorial tithes were levied on all
kinds of produce, and on cattle. Military service could
usually be commuted by a money payment, but it was
less easy to compound for the obligation to find lodging
or transport for the Count or immediate lord and his
followers, to repair roads and fortifications, to mount
guard on certain occasions, and to serve in the land-
wehr. Besides these exceptional charges, the rural
population had to work gratuitously for their lords so
many days in the year, from 12 to 52, in addition to
CH. vi.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 91
the various claims enforced by their immediate land-
lords, including offerings in kind, in the shape of eggs,
poultry, and so forth. On the occasion of a wedding
in the family of the lord, or to pay his ransom from
captivity, and on various other seignorial pretexts,
the savings of the peasant-farmer were expected to be
forthcoming, so that, upon the whole, it is not sur-
prising that rural charters came to be demanded with
as much vehemence as, and perhaps with more violence
than, dwellers in towns usually manifested. It does
not appear, however, that these charters availed to
restrain the feudal aristocracy from committing abo-
minable outrages on the honour of the wives and
daughters of their dependents. The right of might was
never more brutally exemplified than previous and sub-
sequent to the revolt of Zannequin and his comrades,
suppressed at the foot of Mount Cassel. The country
was laid waste, whole villages burnt to the ground, and
thousands of peasants and artizans cruelly butchered
to terrify the survivors into future submission. Nor
were the townsfolk more considerate. Within a cer-
tain distance, varying from three to five leagues, from
the "good towns," the villagers were strictly pro-
hibited from making more cloth than was absolutely
wanted for local purposes. Much cruelty and oppres-
sion were likewise exercised by the town militia when
traversing the open country, and at last the rural
population became so hostile to the burgher-folk that
they were nearly always ready to rally to the banner of
the King or Count when warring upon the Communes.
The power of the Communes rapidly declined after
the death of James van Arteveld, though it partially
92 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. II,
revived during the brief leadership of his son Philip.
There had throughout heen a lamentable want of
concert. The great towns were] united only in
oppressing the small towns and the village population.
It was seldom tnat Bruges and Ghent came to a
common understanding, and the slightest cause suf-
ficed to rekindle their mutual jealousy, and to bring
about a coldness, if not a positive antagonism. Even
the guilds inhabiting the same town were continually
at strife one with the other, and more than once
the weavers and the fullers tried conclusions in the
streets and market-places, which were strewed with
the bodies of the slain. After every triumph of the
Count's adherents, the communal charters were shorn
of their most valued privileges. The municipal ma-
gistrates were at last required to render to the Count
an annual account of their stewardship, and their
authority was so diminished that only the Leliaerds
cared to hold office. The liberty of the citizen was
set at naught. The echevins themselves could be im-
prisoned, banished, and otherwise punished according
to the sole pleasure of the Count. The burghers were
even called upon to go on active service beyond the
frontiers of the county at the Count's bidding. The
administration of justice, corrupt and untrustworthy,
gradually passed out of the hands of the municipal
magistrates, and was entrusted to trained lawyers,
who substituted laws and statutes for civic cus-
toms and traditional usages. Unhappily, under Guy
de Dampierre recourse was had to torture, and
evidence was extorted from the delirium of pain and
terror.
H.VI.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 93
A very bitter feeling towards the Papacy prevailed
in Flanders throughout the " Babylonian captivity "
of the Roman Pontiffs at Avignon. From Clement V.
to Urban Y. the expatriated Popes were the creatures
of the French Kings, and abused the spiritual influence
of the Church to support the encroachments of that
Crown. Following the example of Honorius III.,
in the reign of Philip Augustus, the Avignon Popes
invested the Kings of France with the privilege of
deciding when an interdict should be launched against
the Flemings, and also when the awful sentence should
be annulled. On every occasion they showed them-
selves pitiless towards the Communes, and unscru-
pulous in confirming the usurpations of royalty. Ac-
cordingly, when the great schism of 1378 rent asunder
the Roman Catholic world, the Flemings declared for
Urban VI., and set at defiance the rival Court of
Clement VII. at Avignon. It is worthy of remark
that not a single bishop resided on Flemish territory.
A small tract of land lying in the diocese of Utrecht
belonged to the Archbishopric of Cologne, but the rest
of the country acknowledged as its immediate spiritual
head the Archbishop of Rheims, whose subordinates
were the Bishops of Arras, Terouanne, Tournai, and
Cambrai. The last-named diocese was, strictly
speaking, an Imperial See, but all the four prelates
were appointed from Avignon, and were, besides, as
large landed proprietors, naturally drawn to the
Crown. The two dioceses of Tournai and Terouanne,
both Flemish towns, comprised the greater portion
of Flanders, but their bishops were devoted to
the French interests, and were usually delegated to
94 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. n.
pronounce the sentence of excommunication demanded
by the Kings of France.
The Cistercians and some other monastic orders
resisted the roya^ pretensions, not, indeed, from any
partiality for the Communes, but simply to shield
themselves against the payment of the tithes sanctioned
by Nicholas IY., at the solicitation of Philip the Fair.
The clergy in general were also for a time carried
away by the national movement excited by James
van Arteveld, and both then and on a few other
occasions, contributed liberally to the popular cause.
As a rule, however, the Communes and the clergy
were estranged from one another by conflicting in-
terests the one craving for liberty, the other opposed
to the progress of ideas, and bent only on the aggran-
disement of the Church and the accumulation of
riches for their own benefit.
CHAPTER VII.
Clerical Pretensions Superstition Excommunication Immo-
rality of the Clergy Religious Sentiment The Mendicant
Friars The Flagellants Houses Sanitation The Women
of Flanders Love of Dress Dissolute Habits Public Hot
Baths General Laxity of Morals.
ONE potent and unceasing cause of jealousy be-
tween the clergy and the Communes was the preten-
sion put forward by the former to be exempt from lay
jurisdiction. Misdemeanours, and even flagrant crimes
committed by clerks too often escaped punishment, and
not unfrequently guilty persons claimed and were al-
lowed the benefit of clergy without being at all entitled
to it. Even when the case was too bad to obtain
absolute impunity, clerical misdoers were dealt with
gently, " because of their dignity." The right of
asylum was shockingly abused, and was almost inva-
riably accorded for sordid reasons. The ecclesiastical
tribunals further arrogated to themselves the super-
vision of social manners and morality, and presumed
to interfere in civil causes. Evidence was an article of
sale, and the very judges, the Papal Court enjoying a
bad pre-eminence, expected valuable gifts and large
donations of money. Really atrocious offences against
society, and especially against the domestic circle, were
condoned on payment of a small fine to the Church.
96 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. u.
Confession of guilt, followed by a pecuniary penance,
absolved offenders from the just consequences of their
evil doings, and thus the breach between the clergy
and the laity wen on, ever widening. Another cause
of contention was the question of education. In the
Middle Ages the clergy alone possessed any knowledge
of letters, and of course monopolised the direction of
schools and colleges, and gave to instruction the bias
most advantageous to their own interests. As time
went on the burghers demurred to the exclusive teach-
ing of the clerical order, and finally succeeded in ob-
taining private teachers for their children, who thus
remained under their own eye. This was the more
necessary because instances occurred of great brutality
being exercised upon pupils.
It has already been mentioned that the clergy were
forbidden to deal in wines and other articles liable to
duty, but they generally contrived to evade the pro-
hibition. Unburdened by taxes, they were enabled
to compete unfairly with the ordinary tradespeople,
heavily handicapped in that respect, and by the neces-
sity of maintaining a wife and family. The greatest
and most pernicious influence wielded by the clergy,
took its rise in the superstitious terrors of the sick and
dying. The hope of eternal beatitude was cheap at
the sacrifice of lands or other property, which must, in
any case, be abandoned. The sale of indulgences was
another fruitful source of income, and even Louis de
Maele was not above purchasing the prayers of the
Bruges clergy by a munificent present of generous
wine. Individuals, too, were sometimes overwhelmed
by a sentence of excommunication for quite venial
cn. vir.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 97
offences, such as fishing in a pond belonging to an
abbey, or procrastination in handing over a legacy
bequeathed for so-called pious purposes. An interdict
to a Roman Catholic of the Middle Ages was more
terrible than is to a Hindoo expulsion from his caste.
The pleasures of earth and the joys of heaven were
alike withheld from the poor wretch who languished
under the ban of the Church. He could not marry,
for no priest would perform the ceremony. If he
became a father, his babe could not be admitted into
the Christian fold, so long as he remained contu-
macious. He dared not partake of the holy symbols
of his faith, or enter a place of worship while mass was
being celebrated. If he himself, or any member of his
household, near and dear to him, were lying on a sick
bed in hourly expectation of death, the consolations of
religion were withheld, and the last moments of life
were rendered inexpressibly awful by the belief that
the gates of heaven were closed against the impenitent
enemy of the Church. Many a will, too, was framed
under the terrifying exhortations of the attendant
priest, and the widow and her children were left to
struggle with poverty, while the Church appropriated
the savings of their late bread-winner and protector.
But as superstition subsided, monastic establishments
fell into debt, and, in their dire necessity, had recourse
to other expedients. They niched considerable estates
from their neighbours and from the State by the most
unjustifiable means. They were a law unto them-
selves, and scrupled at nothing that could add to
their wealth or power, and at times put forth their
hand to seize what belonged unto the Crown.
98 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. ir.
Then, but not always then, they met with their
match.
Although it would be manifestly unjust to accept
as absolute truth the denunciations by contemporary
satirists of the lax morals of the clergy, there is much,
reason to believe that both priests and monks led, in
too many cases, a dissolute and profligate life. From
an early date their gross libertinism had been the
theme of ribald tales recited by the Trouveres of
Northern France and Flanders ; but there must also
have been much sterling piety, for otherwise religion
would have perished utterly, and the people, in their
righteous indignation, would have demolished the
churches, sacked the monasteries, and dispersed the
unfaithful shepherds. Still, it is abundantly evident
that disgraceful scandals were rife in the clerical body,
and that from the highest dignitaries of the Church
to the humblest village priests, a not inconsiderable
minority, at least, were tainted with a tendency to
coarse and vicious pleasures. The very prelates were
accused of practising usury, of exercising simony, of
frequenting taverns and houses of ill-fame, of joining
in the dance, of swearing round oaths, and of taking
bets and offering wagers. They were further charged
with yielding to reckless expenditure on dogs, horses,
and riotous living, which drove them to illegal exac-
tions and to robbing the poor. The monasteries were
depicted in the most revolting colours, nor did the nuns
escape the lash of satire. They were said to give
themselves up to all the vanities of the flesh, to adorn
themselves in gay apparel, and to indulge in every
luxury that wealth could purchase. The simple
CH. vii.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 09
priests, who were unable to gratify their longings for
carnal enjoyments, were forced to content themselves
withjonc-u'icen, or temporary companions of the female
sex, of whom they could disembarrass themselves when
beauty waned or possession wearied. Their children
so it was asserted were brought up as ecclesiastics,
and not unfrequently attained comfortable prebends,
or made themselves useful to great princes and lords.
This picture must have been surcharged with glaring
colours, but that it was not altogether visionary is seen
from what happened in the fifteenth century, when it
was found necessary to forbid the canons of Antwerp
Cathedral and other ministers of religion to eat and
drink in taverns, and to keep mistresses. In rural
districts in France as well as in Flanders we hear
of clerici uzorati, of priests who had contracted a civil
marriage, and lived decently and soberly, though, as a
punishment for their contumacy, they were subjected
to the action of the laws, like the laity.
But there could be no greater mistake than to con-
clude that the religious sentiment had become extinct
through the misconduct of certain ministers of religion.
It is true that the ignorance of the laity with regard
to Biblical teachings was even greater than it is in our
own times, but they were not the less superstitious.
They attended the daily performance of the Mass.
They gave alms to the poor. They rested from their
labours on the Sabbath, and on Saturday afternoon
refrained from work in honour of the Mother of Jesus.
They went upon pilgrimages. They believed firmly
in the eternity of rewards and punishments in the
future life, which they wholly materialised. Religious
u 2
100 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELI). [PT. ir.
processions were composed of the highest in the land,
relics of which may still occasionally be seen in
Flemish towns, and even in Brabant and Hainault.
Beelzebub and his demons were beings of hideous
forms, of inconceivable malignity, and possessed of
power scarce inferior to that of the Deity. The inter-
ference of the devil in human affairs was direct and
incessant, and could only be counteracted by offerings
to the Virgin. There was unquestioning faith in the
efficacy of charms, of the reiterated repetition of
certain forms of prayer, and of fragments of dead
men's bones. Signs and omens were recorded as
scrupulously as in the days of the Roman Republic/
The most incredible things were accepted with the
greatest credulity. Superstition was everywhere ram-
pant, while religion was nowhere practised. Some of
the more enlightened moralists, indeed, began to let
in light upon the dreary darkness. "Words were
uttered, or at least written, in favour of religious
tolerance, and even Jews were declared to be human
beings. The value of image worship was called in
doubt. Inward purity was pronounced more important
than the observance of saints' days, and here and there
the idea was entertained that God was a Spirit,
and demanded spiritual devotion. These, however,
were exceptional cases. For the most part it was
deemed right and befitting that those who could not
believe all the articles of priestly faith should be
burned at the stake. The Inquisition answered
to all doubts "eloquently well." Sceptics were
tortured, and Jews were robbed, beaten, broken on
the wheel, or surrounded with blazing faggots.
en. YJI.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 101
They were worse treated than in modern Russia or
Germany.
The mendicant friars, indeed, exerted themselves
nobly to stem the tide of open prjfligacy, but tolera-
tion was beyond their lights, nor were they able
to emancipate themselves from the slavery of ignor-
-ance. Sprung from the populace, they understood
the wants and feelings of the lower classes, and thus
acquired over them immense influence, which they
generally employed to good purpose. Politically,
>they were democrats, and entered heartily into all
^movements directed against the absolutism of Counts
or Kings. They revived the almost obsolete practice
of delivering sermons, and made a point of addressing
their congregations in the vernacular tongue, and with
^colloquial familiarity. The most popular of these orders
were the Franciscans, or Grey Friars, who entered
the most readily into the every-day life of the indus-
trial community. The Carmelites and Augustinian
Friars followed closely in their steps, but the Domi-
nicans took higher ground, and conducted the superior
schools. They also set great store by pulpit eloquence,
and from them were chosen the officers of the Inquisi-
tion. But, as already remarked, not one of these
-orders was so much beloved as the Franciscans, who
made common cause with the people, accompanied the
militia to the field of battle, and were often punished
for their sympathy with the vanquished. The secular
clergy were, of course, opposed to them, and taunted
them with their dependance for a livelihood on the
alms of the poor and ignorant. The Friars were also
accused of selling absolution for serious crimes, of
102 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. n.
flattering evil passions, of hypocrisy and meanness, of
earning a living by glossing over vicious practices, and
closing their eyes and ears at the touch of money in
their palm. Nex^rtheless, a lay order grew out of
the followers of St. Francis, who, without renounc-
ing the world and its vanities, wore a particular
garb, fasted three days in the week, and gener-
ally comported themselves as ascetic devotees,
permitting themselves the trials and the joys of
wedlock.
A little later, when the spirit of mysticism was
roving abroad uncontrolled, the Flagellants made
their appearance, hoping to arrest the Black Death
by publicly scourging themselves with iron-tipped
thongs of leather, which drew blood at every stroke.
Twice a day, thrice on the Friday, they knelt
down in the streets, and flogged their bare shoulders,
intoning a dismal litany, and turning the heads
of weak-minded men and silly women. In Flan-
ders the Beguines and Begards, or religious beg-
gars, do not appear to have fallen into the
excesses which disgraced those orders in Germany and
in the neighbouring States. The Begards, indeed,
were hardly entitled to be regarded as a Christian
brotherhood. They belonged to the artisan class, and
professed a sort of pantheism, which, in their eyes,
justified the commission of every sin without incurring
sinfulness. There were, besides, free-thinkers, who
presumed to dream of a future when there should be
no longer a Pope or a Priesthood, and when mankind
should be content to serve the Creator with " upright
hearts and pure." These eccentric individuals were,
CH. vii.j A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 103
naturally, punished with severity proportionate to the
danger of their heresy.
So early as the thirteenth century the principal
streets of Flemish towns were p|wed, and kept in
good order, though lighting at night was a much
later improvement. The industrial classes lodged in
miserable huts and cabins, and even rich burghers
not unfrequently dwelt in houses with timber fa9ades,
but most of those who could afford the luxury, built
commodious stone mansions, or stccnen, surrounded by
lofty walls, and a broad moat, and sometimes defended
by a couple of towers, though boasting only a single
chimney. The interior was occupied by a large hall,
into which opened the dwelling apartments. Houses
were not numbered, being mostly distinguished by
the escutcheon or emblem which was engraved on the
seal of the proprietor. Fires were of almost daily
occurrence, and in a few hours a whole street, or even
a quarter of the town, would be reduced to ashes.
Towards the end of the fourteenth century thatched
roofs were prohibited, and were replaced by tiles, by
which the danger from flying sparks was greatly
diminished. There is no means of arriving at an
accurate census of the population, but Professor Van-
derkindere is of opinion that in Flanders, as in
certain districts of France, it was not less in the
fourteenth than in the nineteenth century. Under
the Burgundian dynasty there was a marked and
even rapid decline emigration setting in towards
Brabant, and especially to Brussels, the seat of the
Ducal Court.
Sanitation was still in an embryotic condition. The
104 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. 11.
inhabitants of towns were enjoined to clear away the
filth in front of their houses once a fortnight, and to
remove the dung-heaps at their doors every Monday.
Pigs were not allowed to wander about the streets
during certain hours of the day, and barber-surgeons
were forbidden to keep those animals, lest they should
be tempted to pour into their troughs the human blood
drawn from their patients. Cesspools too near the
town-ditch were liable to heavy fines, because from
the moat the citizens derived most of their drinking-
water. Even now in the low country the water
supply is execrable. Great care, however, was taken
to insure wholesome fish and meat, though the regula-
tions were so minute as to indicate much previous
shortcoming, and to leave the door open for their
violation. Public health suffered terribly from bad
drainage and imperfect ventilation, the causes of
destructive epidemics. The cattle, too, were subject
to diseases which carried off whole droves at a time,
while sudden inundations swept away or soddened the
kindly fruits of the earth. The constant presence of
leprosy attested alike the want of cleanliness, an un-
wholesome diet, and the absence of restraint upon the
afflicted. There was no absolute want of hospitals,
but great abuses prevailed until they were taken out
of the hands of the clergy and transferred to the civil
authorities. Idiots and the insane were cruelly
treated. The most dangerous were imprisoned, the
others being expelled from the town after being
flogged, or having their ears cut off, by the common
hangman.
The women of Flanders, we are assured, were
en. vii.J A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 105
admired for the freshness and brilliancy of their com-
plexion, and were in great request in England for
immoral purposes. Golden hair was most in vogue,
very dark hair being regarded as f a trace of servile
origin. The sudden afflux of riches at the period
under notice enabled the commercial aristocracy to
indulge the taste of their wives and daughters for
showy jewellery and gorgeous raiment. Great atten-
tion was paid to bed linen, which was the more neces-
sary when men and women alike, even of the highest
rank, slept in a state of perfect nudity. The fourteenth
century, however, was remarkable, if for nothing else,
for the invention of the day-shirt and night-dress.
Precious stones, costly furs, rich Italian silks, and the
bright red cloth of the Flemish looms, combined to
impart a queenly magnificence to the fair dames and
damsels of the " good towns " of Flanders. Out of
doors it was their custom to wrap themselves up
closely and warmly, but at home, behind their thick
walls and within the influence of the glowing stove,
they loved to display the well-developed beauties of
their neck, the amplitude of their shoulders, and the
velvety softness of their skin. If they left little to
imagination, memory had no reason to complain.
Diaphanous gauze was a favourite substitute for
heavier and less generous stuffs. Fashions, however,
were not racy of the soil, but were imported from
France and Italy especially from the latter country.
It is not within the scope of this little work to illus-
trate the ever-changing forms of head-dress, or to
mark the passage from trains of stupendous length to
a dress so tightly fitting as to give the exact form of
106 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [FT. n.
every limb, and, in the words of a learned Professor,
" a accuser le plus possible la saillie du ventre par la
tension de la jupe." Men's dresses were not less
extravagant, but <may be here conveniently passed
over.
Unfortunately the lower classes strove to ape the
follies of the rich, and plunged into expenses which
led to ruin of purse and character. Even a German
contemporary writer complains that every young girl
expects to be called "Miss," thoughher mother may have
sold poultry or vegetables. Self-indulgence took the
place of honest industry. Many a good-looking girl
found a fortune in her face more easily than she would
have done at the distaff. Married women supplemented
their honourable gains by means concealed from their
husbands. The tavern became the Sunday resort of
both sexes, until the guilds were compelled to forbid
women from remaining in a tavern longer than was
necessary to drain one cup of liquor. But what avail
laws in opposition to the tone of society ? Teniers'
pictures only too faithfully delineate the observance
of the Sabbath afternoon in a Flemish village, and,
with a slight modification of costume, are correct
representations of a modern Kermesse. Eape and
abduction were common, for a gift in the hand per-
verted the integrity of the judge. Illegitimate
children were seen in almost every family rich enough
to maintain them, and were often brought up together
with the offspring of lawful wedlock. There was cer-
tainly much laxity of morals, all the more apparent
from the frequency and severity of the laws launched
by the municipal authorities against debauchery and
cii. vii.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 107
looseness of deportment. In the larger towns the
onnutte or pcrsonncs inutiles, as they were euphe-
mistically designated were compelled to live in certain
streets; and in some places they, were forbidden to
remain within the walls after the evening bell had
tolled. It was all in vain. The inexorable law of
supply and demand laughs at moralists and sets the
legislature at defiance. Until men are content with
domestic purity, the personncs inutiles will always
find their market.
Among other institutions little conducive to morality
the public hot-baths played a prominent part. They
were designed somewhat after the fashion of the
original Turkish bath, except that men and women,
after undressing in a common room, were allowed
to bathe together, though at last the mixture of
the sexes was permitted only on Saturday. The
rubbing, kneading, and other essential operations
were performed by girls, whose dress consisted of a
simple night-dress reaching to the feet. These baths
were frequented by the best society of the place. A
host would invite his guests to take a warm bath, and
a marriage in high life would have been incomplete
without a visit to one of these establishments, where
repasts were provided, where rooms were set apart for
dancing, and where numerous bedchambers invited the
weary to rest and be thankful. It is unpleasant, how-
ever, to be reminded that frequent recourse to these
baths was necessitated by the prevalence of skin
diseases, and that a ladeychl was often given as a
trinljeld> or a poiir-boirc, would be in these days.
In the latter half of the century men's minds were
108 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [PT. ir.
overmuch occupied with eating and drinking, with
dancing and gambling. Among the wealthy, costly
banquets were the order of the day, succeeded by balls,
at which the ladies displayed their personal charms
and great richness of apparel. A good dinner, or
supper, was a thing to be enjoyed and remembered,
unless, as in the case of a representative of the town
of Grhent, death followed upon a surfeit within twenty-
four hours. "Women as well as men rode to the chace
of the wild boar, though more generally they preferred
to fly hawk or falcon at hare or wild fowl. Both sexes
played for high stakes, and grievous scandal sometimes
resulted. Women also drank to excess, but presum-
ably in the lower classes, and not quite so regularly as
their male companions. The usual beverage was beer
or mead, though a good deal of imported wine was
consumed by those who were able to procure it.
Betrothal and wedding feasts among the burgher class
were wont to degenerate into orgies, and entailed a
ruinous expenditure, notwithstanding the promulgation
of sumptuary laws regulating the number of guests, of
minstrels, and of courses. So, likewise, for christen-
ings, churchings, and funerals. The vulgar tendency
to coarse superabundance had to be combated, not by
superior taste, but by a hard and fast legal line, which
was eitber treated as non-existent, or met by a fine
provided for in the previous calculation. And yet in
Germany the word flamisch was synonymous with
refinement and delicacy. But drunkenness and too
great fondness for dress were not the only blemishes
in the character of the Flemings in the Middle Ages.
In avenging their constant quarrels they were guilty
CH. vii.] A SOCIAL VIEW OF FLANDERS. 10&
of the most horrible cruelty. They had no reverence
for human life, and had no scruples about shedding
human blood. In war they showed no mercy, and in
peace time were too apt to take thelaw into their own
hands. Possibly, they were in those respects no worse
than their contemporaries, and they had at least one
redeeming point in their love of art, just then beginning
to revive from its torpor of centuries.
PAET III.
JAMES VAN ARTEVELD.
PAET HI. *
JAMES VAN ARTEVELD.
CHAPTER VIII.
Accession of Philip the Fair Pretensions of Edward III.
Robert of Artois Commercial Relations of England and
Flanders Coalition of Edward III. with the German Princes
Louis de Crecy arrests Englishmen in Flanders Reprisals
by Edward III. Reconciliation between England and the
Communes English Envoys in Flanders Arrest of Sohier
de Courtrai Capture of Cadzand Misery in Ghent James
Van Arteveld Misconceptions as to his character and
position.
PHILIP THE FAIR had three sons and one daughter,
Isabella, who married Edward II. of England, and
gave birth to Edward III. The three sons, each in
his turn, reigned over France by the respective titles
of Louis X., surnamed Hutin, Philip the Long, and
Charles the Fair, but all three died without leaving
heirs male, and according to Froissart, the twelve
Peers and Barons of France maintained that the
kingdom was too noble to descend to a female. It is
commonly supposed that the exclusion of " the distaff"
was by virtue of the Salic Law, but that law only
prohibited female succession to landed property, and
made no mention of grandsons. Edward III. was
therefore advised that, as the grandson of Philip the
Fair by that monarch's daughter, Isabella, he was the
114 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [FT. HI.
rightful heir to the Crown of France on the demise of
his uncle Charles the Fair, in default of the birth of
a posthumous prince, and he was further counselled to
put forward his claim to the Regency of France. As
he himself was then a minor, it is doubtful if this claim
would have been well received, even had Philip de
Yalois hesitated to make good his pretensions as
grandson of Philip the Bold and nephew of Philip
the Fair. Unlike Edward III., he derived his title
from his father, Charles of Valois, son of Philip the
Bold, and grandson of Louis IX., but, as a mere abstract
question, it is not easy to make the balance incline to
one rather than to the other claimant. But in the eyes
of the French nobles, Edward was only a vassal of the
French Crown like themselves, and shortly after his
accession to the throne he actually did homage to
Philip for the Duchy of Guyenne. He was, besides,
a foreigner and an unknown youth, whereas Philip
Tiad passed his life amongst them, and had always
l)een regarded as the possible heir to the kingdom.
Neither is it probable that Edward would have endea-
voured to enforce his pretensions at the point of the
sword, had his ear not been poisoned and his ambition
inflamed by the traitorous exhortations of Robert
Count of Artois, to whose selfish vindictiveness must
be primarily attributed all the horrors of the Hundred
Years' War, and the legacy of rancour bequeathed
through all these ages to two neighbouiing nations,
who might otherwise have lived on either side of the
Channel on terms of mutual respect and sympathy.
Count Robert of Artois was a gallant and accom-
plished knight, and had warmly espoused the cause of
CH. viii.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 115
Philip, who was also his brother-in-law. Dispossessed
of his hereditary possessions by a seemingly unjust
judgment pronounced by Philip the Fair, Count Robert
had confidently expected to be reJtored to his estates
on the accession of Philip de Valois. For some years
he was in great favour at Court and, if we may
credit the Canon of Ghimay, " nothing was done
without his knowledge." But nothing is stronger
than its weakest point, and the flaw in Count Robert's
case was the absence of title deeds. After a time,
however, certain documents were produced which were
represented as the missing instruments, but which on
further examination were pronounced to be forgeries.
To escape the consequences of the King's resentment,
the Count fled for protection to his nephew John de
Namur, by whom he was hospitably received. In
1;hese untoward circumstances Philip de Valois acted
rashly and unadvisedly. He threw the Countess, his
own sister, and her two sons, into prison, and treated
them very rigorously, and, instead of leaving the
fugitive to outstay his welcome, he stirred up the
Prince Bishop of Liege to threaten Namur with inva-
sion unless the reputed criminal were driven forth
from his asylum. The Count therefore proceeded] to
the Court of his cousin, the Duke of Brabant, who also
showed him much kindness. But again the King
displayed his characteristic imperiousness, and let
loose upon Brabant the forces of the neighbouring
princes and great lords. The Duke was quickly com-
pelled to tender his submission, and Robert of Artois
crossed over to England, carrying with him a bitter
hatred of his persecutor.
I 2
116 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. in.
By his representations, in a great degree, Edward
III. was encouraged to maintain his unwise pre-
tensions to the throne of France, and in the military
operations that eniued the Count greatly distinguished
himself, until he received a mortal wound in his
unsuccessful attempt to preserve Vannes for the
Countess of Montfort. It is well for England even
more than for France that the Count's wrongs, real
or imaginary, were never fully avenged either in his
own lifetime, or after his death. Had Edward III.
succeeded in compelling the French nation to accept
him as their sovereign, it is at Paris that he would
have chiefly resided, and England would have become
dependent on France, until a proud and virile race
once more achieved its severance, and pursued its
glorious career in its own orhit.
From the commencement of his reign Edward III.
had recognised the importance of cultivating friendly
relations with the Flemish Communes. The exporta-
tion of wool constituted the main branch of the foreign
commerce of the country, nor was it less essential to
the prosperity of Flanders to obtain a regular and
sufficient supply of the raw material. So jealous,
however, were English legislators on the subject of the
unrivalled excellence of the wool produced in their
country, that it was forbidden to send live rams out of
the kingdom, and in one year, at least, the duties on
wool exported to the Continent amounted to 80,000,
a matter of real moment to the limited revenues of
those days. At that time the manufacture of woollen
fabrics was almost unknown in England, notwithstand-
ing the inducements held out to Flemish immigrants,
CH. VIH.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 117
colonies of whom were settled in the Eastern Counties,
and particularly in Norfolk. It is also worthy of
note that, although material interests so closely united
the wool-growers and staplers of tb^ one country with
the weavers and traders of the other, there was seldom
much good feeling between the two peoples. It has
already been shown what little harmony existed
between the soldiers of Edward I. and the citizens of
Sluys and Ghent, and Walsingham slyly remarks that
the Flemings had less regard for the English than for
their sacks of wool. The English men-at-arms, again,
had little sympathy with the Flemish burghers, ever
ready to dispute the lawful authority of their Count
and overlord. The instincts and prejudices of the
English knights and barons coincided with those of
their French kinsfolk, or, rather, Europe had arrived
at another phase of the probably eternal contest
between patricians and plebeians, between those of
gentle birth and their low-born competitors, between
the social classes comparatively conspicuous for intelli-
gence, stability, and various hereditary qualities and
qualifications, and those who are distinguished by
their discontent, their love of change, their ignorance
of political science, and their tendency to mistake
innovation for progress.
Philip de Valois had seen, with considerable appre-
hension, the strengthening of the commercial alliance
between the Flemish Communes and England, and
seized upon the first opportunity to create an estrange-
ment. It was impossible that subjects of disagree-
ment should not frequently occur between Philip and
his powerful vassal who, no longer content with the
118 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [IT. nu
sovereignty of England, was meditating to stretch
forth his hand to clutch likewise the sceptre of
France. In a moment of enthusiasm the French
monarch had undertaken to lead a crusade across
the sea to the Holy Land, hut was deterred from that
romantic enterprise hy tidings which reached him of
the overtures that were heing made hy Edward to
certain Princes of the Empire to induce them to form
a league for the invasion of his dominions. Exposed
to a sudden attack on that side, against which England
was secured hy her insular position, the rulers of those
petty States hesitated to commit themselves unless
assured of the protection of the Holy Roman Empire.
Many, if not all of them, owed allegiance also to
Philip for fiefs within the French horders, and hy the
feudal laws were restrained from hearing arms against
their overlord within his own territories, though they
remained free to attempt the recovery of the town and
district of Camhrai which had been forcibly wrested
from the Empire.
Singular complications and incongruities frequently
resulted from a dual homage. The Counts of
Hainault and Namur, for example, after co-operating
with Edward III. before St. Quentin and Cambrai,
joined Philip de Valois as soon as the allied forces
reached the river Scheldt, which then constituted
the French frontier. It is true, they were afterwards
severely punished for their vacillation, for the feudal
law's, like all others, availed only to restrain the
weak, and were often evaded or set at defiance by
the strong. Be that as it may, a difference having
arisen between the French monarch and his vassal
CH. vin.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 119
touching the Duchy of Guyennc, the former instructed
Louis de Crecy to arrest every Englishman "within his
territories. This proceeding naturally alarmed the
Communes, though some months elapsed before any
reprisals were made by the King of England, who was
willing to let the Communes understand that he was
reluctant to hold them responsible for the high-handed
proceedings of their Count. At last, as redress was
otherwise unobtainable, Edward caused the Flemings
within his kingdom to be arrested likewise, and pro-
hibited the further exportation of wool to Flanders.
This was in the autumn of 1336.
The looms were almost immediately thrown out of
work, for it does not appear that there were any
speculators, or middle-men, with capital enough to
enable them to lay in a stock of wool against adverse
contingencies. Within the space of a few days, how-
ever, Edward made advances to both the Count and
the Communes, and expressed his earnest wish to
forget what was disagreeable in the past, and to re-
establish their former friendly intercourse. These
overtures were rejected by Louis de Crecy, but to the
Communes were so eminently agreeable that, in the
following spring the States of Flanders, Brabant, and
Hainault agreed to an offensive and defensive alliance,
so that the enemies of one should be the enemies of all
three, and further bound themselves to refer all future
differences to arbitration. It was also decided to
renew the old relations with England, and to this
agreement Louis de Crecy was compelled to affix his
signature. As soon as this welcome news reached
Edward III. he deputed the Bishop of Lincoln, and
120 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. in.
the Earls of Salisbury and Huntingdon to conclude a
treaty with those three States. Having landed at
Dunkirk, his Ambassadors hastened to Yalencienncs,
where they were . richly entertained by Edward's
father-in-law, the Count of Hainault, by whom they
were strongly advised to obtain the assistance of the
Flemish Communes if the King really intended to
prosecute his claims to the throne of France. As a
preliminary step, they appear to have succeeded in
subsidising the Duke of Brabant, the Count of Guelders,
the Marquis of Juliers, and other princes holding of
the Empire, though one and all showed themselves
more ready to receive English gold than to supply
their respective contingents. From Valenciennes the
King's agents proceeded separately to Bruges, Ypres,
and Ghent the Bishop of Lincoln reserving the last-
named town for the exercise of his own particular
diplomacy. The prelate and his suite were greeted
with extraordinary attentions, especially by Zegher or
Sohier de Courtrai, the father-in-law of James van
Arteveld, and a knight banneret * of great distinction.
The Englishmen are said, on their part, to have
* A footnote supplied by Colonel Johnes to Chap. XVIII. of his
translation of Froissart's " Chronicles," states that " Knights ban-
nerets were formerly gentlemen of great power by landed pos-
sessions and vassals, of whom they formed companies in times of
war ; they were called bannerets from their having the right of
bearing banners. It was necessary, in order to obtain the preroga-
tive, to be not only a gentleman by name and arms, but also to
have for vassals gentlemen who would follow their banners to the
wars under the command of the banneret. Ducange cites an
ancient manuscript ceremonial, which points out the manner of
making a knight banneret, and the number of men he was to have
follow him."
en. via.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 121
displayed a profuse magnificence, and, in the words
of Froissart, to have spent such sums of money
that silver and gold seemed to fly out of their
hands. %
Sohier de Courtrai, Lord of Dronghen or Tronchi-
ennes, had proved himself a valiant knight, though he
belonged to the burgher and not to the baronial nobility.
In Flanders, as in Italy, not a few of the large land-
owners were descended from men who had been
successful in industrial, or commercial, pursuits, and
formed an intermediate class between the feudal aristo-
cracy and the bulk of the population, leaning, however,
for the most part, to the former, and usually siding
with the Count against the Communes. Sohier de
Courtrai was an exception to the rule, and was as
much trusted and beloved by the townsfolk as he was
respected by the territorial lords. As one of the
wealthiest and most influential citizens of Ghent, he
took a leading part in the negociations with the
Bishop of Lincoln, and openly avowed his predilection
for a close alliance with England. Such conduct
naturally gave umbrage to Louis de Crecy, who, dis-
sembling his resentment, invited the aged knight to
attend a meeting of deputies from the different Flemish
Communes that was about to be held at Bruges. On
his arrival in that town Sohier was immediately
arrested and conveyed to the castle of Rupelmonde,
where he was subsequently beheaded according to
common report, while confined to his bed by severe
illness. Great exertions had been made to obtain his
liberation from captivity, but the Count was obdurate,
and finally silenced these troublesome remonstrances
122 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [FT. in,
by the execution of his venerable prisoner. He also
planned the capture of the English envoys, but they
received timely warning and returned to their own
country by way of^ Holland, taking ship at Dordrecht,
A garrison had been placed by the Count in the
island of Cadzand, situated between the Zwyn and the
mouth of the Scheldt, whence armed vessels sallied
forth and did much damage to English shipping.
Justly offended by these hostile enterprises against the
commerce of his subjects, Edward fitted out an expedi-
tion under the command of the Earl of Derby, Sir
"Walter Manny, and other leaders of approved valour,
who routed the Flemings with great slaughter, and
made prisoner the Count's half-brother, " Sir Guy of
Flanders, a good knight, but a bastard." The town
was pillaged and burnt, and the English returned to
their own country with their prisoners and booty.
The Bruges militia, however, made such a stout
resistance that, as a reward for their courage and
loyalty, they were expressly permitted to repair their
fortifications, which had been dismantled after the
battle at Mont Cassel. A different fate, however,
awaited the inhabitants of Ghent, whose eagerness to-
negociate with the English was punished by the
imposition of a heavy fine. A deputation of the most
opulent burghers sought to mollify the Count by
throwing themselves at his feet, and praying for
mercy, but all to no purpose. Their supplications
were unheeded, and the exactions of the Count's
officers reduced the townspeople to despair. "Without
English wool there was no occupation for the weavers,
on whose industry the prosperity of Ghent was
CH. vin.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 125
founded. Not a few of them escaped to England, and
were settled at Worstead, in East Norfolk, which
derived its name, indeed, from a particular kind of
yarn spun by them from combed f ool. The misery
of the artisans reached to such an extreme that
atrocious crimes were committed with impunity, and
the laws became inoperative. Bands of starving,
operatives paraded the streets, shouting "Vriheden
ende Neeringhen " our Franchises and Crafts but
for a while, no answer was vouchsafed to their voci-
ferations. The darkest hour, however, is that which
precedes the dawn. Deliverance was nearer than
they dared to anticipate.
At that time there dwelt in the Calanderberg, near
the Paddenhoek, or Toads-Corner, a wealthy poorter
named Jacob, or James, van Arteveld. Amplifying
the narrative of Jehan le Bel, who, in his turn,
derived his imperfect information from Gilles li
Muisis, abbot of St. Martin's monastery, near Tournai,
the most famous of all the mediaeval chroniclers, John
Froissart, canon of Chimay, portrays this remarkable
man as an audacious demagogue, who went about
with a body-guard of armed ruffians, and, by acts of
violence, imposed his will upon his fellow citizens.
He admits, indeed, that Van Arteveld possessed a
fascinating and commanding eloquence, that he ruled
the country with great vigour and sagacity, and
that he was greatly esteemed by Edward III. On
the other hand, he describes him as a brewer of
metheglin beer sweetened with honey and accuses
him of assassinating his opponents, and of applying the
revenues of the country to the gratification of his own
124 JAMES AND {PHILIP VAN AP.TEVELD. [IT. in.
caprice and pleasure. This delineation of Yan Arte-
veld's character has been repeated, with casual varia-
tions, by almost every historian of those times, from,
the days of Frqissart to our own. According to
Villani, he was a man of low origin and of an exceed-
ingly humble calling, who, by exercising the usual
arts of a demagogue, made himself master of the
Commune of Ghent. To the same effect wrote
Mezeray and Meyer, and the whole cohort of English
chroniclers, whether they expressed themselves in
Latin or in their own language. The more critical
and judicious writers of a later age were content to
found their narratives upon the unsifted hearsay
gossip of the early annalists, and thus a monstrous
error has been handed down from century to century.
It was natural enough that dignitaries of the Church,
cadets of noble families, should misunderstand and
misrepresent the policy which Van Arteveld steadily
pursued from first to last. Honestly espousing the
cause of the Count and his overlord, they looked upon
the refractory Communes as rebels, and their ring-
leader as a self-seeking tribune of the people, and
therefore low born and addicted to all manner of
excesses. It is little creditable, however, to modern
historians that these libellous fables should have been
accepted as truth, without hesitation or inquiry, and
again and again repeated even after their fallacy
had been demonstrated by M. Kervyn de Lettenhove,
M. Auguste Voisin, and other Flemish writers of
world-wide reputation.* In the History of Edward
* An attempt was made by the present writer so far back as the
year 1845 in the August number of the ffeafleman't Magazine
CH. viri.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 125
III., by the late Mr. William Longman, James van
Arteveld was for the first time treated worthily by an
English historian, but subsequent writers have fallen
into the old grooves, and calumnis^ed a career which
they have totally misapprehended.*
to draw attention to the injustice that had been done to the memory
of the great Burgher of Ghent, but it was not successful.
* In the Edinburgh Review, No. 313 January, 1881 will be
found copious citations from a considerable number of writers
who have misunderstood the true position and character of James
van Arteveld.
CHAPTER IX.
Youth and early manhood of James van Arteveld His Marriage
The Apocryphal Brewery Consulted by Ghent artisans
Advises a close alliance with England Appointed Captain of
the City Convention signed at Louvain Selfishness of the
Communes Louis de Crecy accused of seeking Van Arteveld's
death The Count's flight from Ghent The Count tempo-
rises Execution of Sohier de Courtrai Philip de Valois
excommunicates Ghent French invade Flanders Louis de
Maele driven out of Bruges The Communes organise a local
government Re- open trade with England.
JAMES VAX ARTEVELD is supposed to have been
"born about the year 1285. The name of Arteveld
appears in the local annals as far back as the middle
of the twelfth century, and recurs on various occasions.
His father Jan, or John, was evidently held in con-
sideration by his fellow-townsmen, for in 1325 he was
sent on an embassage to the Duke of Brabant, and
thence proceeded to Bruges, where he took a leading
part in the negociations which brought about the
release of Louis de Crecy, who had passed eight
months in imprisonment at Bruges, almost within
sight of his own chateau. From Bruges John van
Arteveld repaired to Arques, where he gave his aid
to the conclusion of a treaty of peace, and was com-
missioned to present himself before Charles the Fair,
with instructions to swear to its due observance. The
oir. ix.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 127
year previously his name had been inscribed in a list
of the wealthy burghers to whom the Count could
safely apply for involuntary loans, and he is repre-
sented to have advanced the sum o forty livres, or ten
more than were demanded of the head of the Vaerne-
wyck family, than whom none were more justly
reputed in Flanders. The father of his wife, Livine
de Groote, had been an echevin, and, like himself, was
allied Avith the highest branches of the commercial
nobility the miHtcs buryenses, as they were styled in
official documents. The appellation of Arteveld * was
derived from the village and fief of that name, which
included the fiefs of Triest and Mendonck, and com-
prised large tracts of wood and marsh, as well as a
goodly breadth of cultivable land. Indeed, the polders
were not so much marsh as land recently recovered
from the sea, and which rewarded the care bestowed
upon it by yielding luxuriant crops. To John and
Livine van Arteveld were born three sons, James,
John, and Francis, and two daughters, Mary and
Catherine. There is no doubt that John married
Christine, daughter of Sohier de Courtrai described
by Meyer as eques Flandrus nobilissimus and there
are good grounds for believing that her sister
Catherine, was the second, if not the first and only,
wife of James van Arteveld, after whose death she may
* After the defeat of the men of Ghent at Nevele in 1381, Louis
de Maele fell Lack upon the village or township of Arteveld. And in
1385, after ravaging the Pays de "VVaes, Charles VI. was stopped
on his march upon Ghent by sixteen citizens of that town, who
barricaded themselves in the tower of Arteveld Church, and
held his entire army at bay until battering eugines were brought
up and the walls demolished.
128 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEYELD. [FT. HI.
have married into the house of Baronaige. At the same
time, properly to understand the influence wielded by
the great Flemish captain, especially in connection
with tne weavers' ^mild, it must he home in mind that
his father was actually engaged in husiness as a cloth-
merchant, and that hoth father and son were inscribed
in the registers of that craft. On the other hand, it is
stated that the Artevelds were descended from the
ancient chdtelains of Ghent, but in that case James van
Arteveld must have invented his own coat of arms, for
he bore three hoods or on a shield sable, or, in the
words of Meyer : " Insignia gessit scutum nigrum in
quo tria pilea aurea : pileum antiquitus libertatis sym-
bolum erat."
Although not absolutely certain, it is more than
probable that at the early age of fifteen, or sixteen,
James van Arteveld accompanied his uncle "Walter,
who was in the personal service of Robert de Bethune,
in the expedition conducted by Charles de Valois into
Sicily and Greece. It has already been stated that it
was in reliance upon a safe-conduct granted by that
chivalrous prince that Guy de Dampierre, with his
two sons Robert and "William, presented himself
before Philip the Fair after vainly courting the
alliance of Edward I. of England and of the newly-
elected Emperor of the "West, and that all three were
placed in rigorous confinement. Chafing under the
slur thus cast upon his honour, Charles de Valois
hastily withdrew from France and crossed the Alps
into Italy, with the intention of asserting his some-
what mythical rights to the throne of Constantinople.
These pretensions were solely based upon the fact that
CH. ix.] JAXES VAN ARTEVELD. 129
he had lately married Catherine de Courtenay, niece
of Eobert de Bethune, and with the aid of the stout
heart and strong arm of his wife's uncle, Charles de
Valois hoped to make them goodt But Philip was
not at all minded to assist his brother's enterprise, and
positively refused to give liberty to his illustrious pri-
soners. It may well have happened, however, that
some of the Flemish knights and nobles in the suite of
Guy de Dampierre volunteered to join a prince who
had made himself so popular during the time he acted
as his brother's Lieutenant- General of Flanders, and
that among these was Walter van Arteveld, who might
naturally have taken with him his youthful nephew.
Assuming this to have been the case, James van
Arteveld must have visited Rome at the time Boniface
VIII. filled the Papal throne, and when the struggle
between the Guelphs and Ghibelins was at its height.
From Italy Charles of Valois passed over into Sicily,
and thence set sail for the island of Rhodes.
After the disastrous battle of Courtrai Philip recalled
his brother from Greece, and on the accession of Louis X.
James van Arteveld is said to have been appointed
Varlct de la Fruiterie to the king, a purely honorary
office, which could be held only by a youth of gentle
blood. His father is reported to have died in 1328,
at which time James van Arteveld is supposed to have
been engaged in cultivating his polders, or reclaimed
lands, at Basserode. It is unknown in what year ho
returned from his wanderings to his native town, nor
is there any certainty as to the truth of the legend
which gave him for wife a " brewster," not necessarily
the widow, though the inheritress, of a brewer of mead
130 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. in.
or metheglin. The brewers' guild was one of the
fifty-two inferior craft-guilds, but there was nothing
discreditable in an opulent weaver, or cloth-merchant,
even though a member of the burgher nobility, marry-
ing into a minor guild, and common rumour ascribes
to this lady the possession of considerable riches.
However that may be, no mention is made of any
issue by that marriage, and in 1337 the actual wife
of James van Arteveld was, presumably, Catherine,
daughter of the gallant knight and respected citizen,
Sohier de Courtrai.
It was on a fete-day towards the close of December,
1337, that the artisans of Ghent, driven almost to
desperation by their involuntary idleness, were gathered
together in groups, bewailing their misery and vainly
seeking a remedy, when suddenly some one remem-
bered having heard a wise and discreet man make the
remark that, if the people of Flanders would follow
his advice, they would soon have all they desired
without giving umbrage to the King either of France
or of England. These words, passing from mouth to
mouth, ran rapidly through the crowd, and presently,
as by common consent, they were all shouting : "Alons,
afans oyr le Ion conseil du saige homme " Come along,
let us go and hear the good advice of the wise man.
He was found leaning against the door post of his own
house very likely attracted by the sound of the
hurried footsteps of a thousand eager and hungering
men. From afar, says Froissart, they began taking
off their caps and humbly saluting him and praying
him to tell them, in their sore distress, what it behoved
them to do. They received a kindly and sympathetic
CH. ix.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 131
answer for the moment, and were invited to meet the
speaker on the morrow at the monastery of Biloke.
The interval not only enabled James van Arteveld to
arrange in his own mind how far if|might he prudent
to show his hand, but also gave time to his fellow-
citizens to consider the case under all its bearings and
to assemble in greater numbers, including the leaders
of the different craft-guilds. The monastery of Biloke
was under great obligations to Sohier de Courtrai, and
was originally founded by the patriotic Canon Fulk
Uutenhove, who, in his time, had stirred up the Flem-
ings to resist the usurpation of Philip Augustus.
Accordingly, on the morrow, which may have been
the 26th December, 1337, a goodly assemblage of the
citizens of Ghent was collected at the appointed hour.
To them James van Arteveld expounded, with manly
and convincing eloquence, his views on the policy that
was likely to be most beneficial to the material in-
terests of Flanders. A solid and substantial alliance
with the neighbouring States of Brabant, Hainault,
Holland, and Zealand, would enable the allied Com-
munes to maintain a strict neutrality between the
Kings of France and England, and would secure a
constant and sufficient supply of corn and wine from
the former country, and of wool from the latter. Such
was the simple and sensible programme sketched by
the man whose portraiture has been so unjustly handed
down to posterity as that of a self-seeking agitator of
the industrial classes. A few days later, on the 3rd
of January, 1338, there was a meeting of the Com-
munal magistrates, when it was resolved to revive the
old posts of Captains of parishes, which had fallen into
132 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. ni-
desuetude, and that the Captain of St. John's parish
should, as in former times, be considered the President
or Beheder van de Stad. As might have been antici-
pated, James vanCArteveld was elected to this honor-
able office, while his four colleagues were William de
Yaernewyck, Gelnot van Leyns, William van Huse r
and Peter van den Hove. To each of these magistrates
was assigned a small bodyguard of cnacpcn or con-
stables, charged with the execution of their decrees
to Arteveld 21, to Vaernewyck 20, and to each of
the others 15. Two days afterwards Thomas de
Vaernewyck, the first echevin of the town, published
various police regulations, forbidding any one to leave-
his house after curfew, ordering all those who had
been banished by the magistracies of the good towns-
to leave the country within the space of three days r
and limiting the individual consumption of corn in
order to diminish the danger of famine in the event of
the Count laying siege to Ghent. A truce of fifty
days was also proclaimed, during which, it was hoped,
private quarrels might be arranged and the entire
community inspired with a feeling of mutual loyalty
and brotherhood.
Intelligence of these startling proceedings was not
long in reaching the ears of Philip, who resolved tc*
crush the seditious spirit in Ghent before it had time
to communicate itself to the other towns. Summon-
ing the vassals of the Crown to meet him with their
retainers at Amiens, in mid-Lent, he despatched, in the
meanwhile, the Bishop of Cambrai to Eecloo, to attend
a general assembly of the deputies of the Flemish
Communes. The threats, promises, and intrigues, of
CH.IX.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 133
the prelate, though warmly seconded by Louis de
Crecy, were of no avail, for the destitution of the
working classes demanded other remedy than fair
words. The Communes had come |o understand that
^their very existence depended upon the cultivation of
friendly relations with England, and on the 1st
February a deputation of the Ghent magistrates pro-
ceeded to Louvain to sign a convention with Edward's
plenipotentiary, the Count of Guelders, the immediate
result of which was a permission to obtain from Dor-
drecht a goodly supply of English wool.
According to a manuscript of Froissart's Chronicles
preserved in the Vatican Library and cited by M. Kervyn
de Lettenhove, James van Arteveld, accompanied by
deputies from the Communes, crossed over to England
in great state, and was entertained by the King and
Queen in the palace of Eltham with special honour
and consideration. The King's Council subsequently
met at Westminster and, after hearing what the
deputies had to urge on behalf of their fellow-citizens,
promised to comply with their various representations.
This incident, however, is omitted from all the other
manuscripts, and yet it is hard to imagine that it
should have been either invented by Froissart or
related to him by an inaccurate informant, though,
on the other hand, no notice of it appears in the
English narratives of Edward's reign. It is more to
the point to draw attention to the patient sagacity
with which the English monarch put up with the
intense selfishness of the Flemish deputies, who agreed
to only one condition imposed by the Count of Guel-
ders, and even that one they made advantageous to
134 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. in.
themselves. They had, in fact, only one object in
view. They cared nothing for the disputes of Kings
and princes, provided the raw material of their chief
industry arrived without let or hindrance, and equal
facility of transport was secured for the product of
their looms. They insisted, therefore, upon their
neutrality being respected and, as they dared not
refuse to sanction the march of English troops across
the territories of their Count, they stipulated that these
should pay in current coin for everything of which
they stood in need, and that they should conduct
themselves with as much restraint as if they were in
their own country. The rights of their Count were
specially reserved, and at that time they formally
recognised Philip de Valois as their overlord in virtue
of his royal prerogative as King of France. To a less
far-seeing prince than Edward III. such a treaty
would have appeared scarcely worth the parchment
upon which it was engrossed, but, for the moment, he
was only anxious to conciliate the good will of the
Communes, rightly judging that neither their Count
nor the French monarch would leave them in peace,
while the dread of their coasts being ravaged by his
fleets and of the prohibition of the export of wool to
Flanders would compel them to seek a closer alliance
on terms more favourable to himself.
Unable openly to oppose these proceedings, Louis-
de Crecy invited James van Arteveld to a private
conference, with the imputed intention of causing him
to be assassinated. According to the Valenciennes-
manuscript quoted by M. de Lettenhove the Count
was urged by his usual advisers to kill him " secretly
CH. ix.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 135
or otherwise," while the Amiens manuscript asserts
that it was the King of France who " enjoined the
Count of Flanders not, on any account, to let this
Jacquemon Dartevelle act the parLof a King or even
live." In any case, Arteveld presented himself with
such a numerous accompaniment of the citizens of
Ghent that no opportunity was afforded for assassina-
tion, and if any act of violence was perpetrated it was
by the hand of Van Arteveld himself. Meyer dis-
tinctly affirms that in the presence of the Count he
slew one of his personal friends named Fulk, or
Folkard de Roden, but then he goes on to say that
Yan Arteveld blockaded the Count in a fortified house
known as the Steen in which prisoners were confined.
As the latter statement is incorrect, the former may be
so likewise, and Professor Lenz denies that Van
Arteveld was even in Ghent at the time the nobleman
in question was assassinated. The danger alleged to
have been incurred by their Captain-General moved
the magistrates of Ghent to increase his bodyguard to
the unprecedented number of twenty-eight cnacpcn,
and at the same time all the members of the Com-
mune assumed a white hood as was their wont in
times of trouble. The Count was weak enough to
follow their example, but, his sincerity being justly
suspected, his position became extremely uncomfortable
and even hazardous. Under these circumstances he
called to his aid his habitual dissimulation, and invited
the ladies of Ghent to a banquet that was spoken of
as likely to be very magnificent. On the day, how-
ever, that the entertainment was appointed to take
place, the Count, after hearing Mass, expressed a
136 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. HI.
fancy to fly a hawk, and mounting his horse rode
away to Bruges, and left his guests to their dis-
appointment.
As Philip's preparations for an invasion were still
incomplete, Louis de Crecy affected to make light of
the constraint he had suffered at the hands of the
men of Ghent, and even ratified the Convention
arranged with the Count of Guelders. To foster the
jealousy that usually divided the citizens of Bruges
from those of Ghent, he lavished various privileges
upon the former, and generally comported himself
as though he desired nothing so much as to live on
good terms with his own people. The King of Bohe-
mia, however, who represented Philip de Valois at
Eecloo, had imprudently uttered some words which
caused his hearers much anxiety, so that two notable
personages of Ghent were deputed to wait upon the
King of France and assure him of the loyalty and
frank submission of its inhabitants. The deputies
were graciously received and were bidden to fear
nothing, for it was the King's pleasure to protect the
liberties and promote the interests of their town.
With this message they returned to those who sent
them, and the citizens of Ghent, relieved from all
misgivings, resigned themselves to the enjoyment of
the coarse pleasures of a Flemish kennesse, inten-
sified by the great fair held on Lcetare Sunday, which
was always marked by the presence cf a large number
of merchants and traders from foreign parts.
In the midst of their noisy gaiety a dreadful rumour
got abroad, and chilled every heart with horror and
consternation. In compliance with the mandate of the
cir. ix.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 137
King of France, Louis de Crecy had given orders,
only too readily executed, that the venerable Sohier de
Courtrai should be put to death ; and his head was
cut off while he was lying in bed ^worn out by age,
grief, and bodily ailments. On the very day after his
execution, the 24th March, 1338, were received Royal
letters, dated a fortnight previously, enjoining the
inhabitants of Ghent to destroy their fortifications
with the greatest possible despatch in conformity with
the stipulations of the treaty of Athies, signed by
Robert de Bethune, at the instance of Philip the Fair,
and summoning the Count, nobles, and Communes of
Flanders to compel their obedience. On that same
day, likewise, the Bishop of Senlis and the Abbot of
St. Denis pronounced a sentence of excommunication in
the market place at Toumai, without waiting to learn
how far the citizens of Ghent might be disposed to
yield to the force of circumstances. Nor was Philip
contented with merely hurling the thunders of the
Church and terrifying the superstitious. By the 9th
April he had joined the Constable at Tournai, expect-
ing an easy victory over the townspeople deprived of
the religious functions pertaining to Passion Week,
and fearing the wrath of an offended Deity not less
than the outstretched arm of their aggrieved overlord.
But he had reckoned without taking into account the
moral ascendency already acquired by James van
Arteveld. As Bekeder van de Stad, his first step was
to appeal to the Pope against the interdict launched
by Philip on his own authority, and at the same time
to consult the high dignitaries of the Cathedral of
Liege as to the means to be adopted in mitigation of
138 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. in.
this dread calamity. Having done so much, to relieve
the affrighted consciences of the timid, he applied
himself to defensive preparations, and inspired the
townsfolk with s^nething of his own high courage
and tenacity of purpose. Towards evening on Holy
Thursday, April the llth, a straggling body of horse-
men were descried from the steeple of St. Nicholas'
Church, reconnoitring up to the very gates of the
town, and straightway the big bell, named Roelandt,*
rang out the tocsin from the belfry tower.
Irresolute at the moment of action, Philip hesitated
to set his army in motion, and allowed ten precious
days to elapse before he broke up his head-quarters
at Tournai. In the interval, Van Arteveld had de-
molished the bridge over the Lys at Deynze, and the
swollen river presented an impassable barrier. Avail-
ing himself of this respite the Captain of the City
suggested an expedition against Biervliet, where a
large body of Leliaerds had assembled after their
defeat at Cadzand, and were watching for an oppor-
tunity to co-operate with the French troops. The
proposition was joyfully accepted, and all day long
the spirit-stirring notes of the trumpet called out the
* On this bell were engraven the well-known Hues :
" Ik heete Roelandt ; als ik klippe (a) dan 1st brand ;
Als ik luye, dan ist sturm in 't Vlaenderland."
Eoland am I hight ; when I call out there is fire ;
AVhen I bellow there is storm in the Flanders-land.
(a) Compare,
" Clepe at his door, or knocke with a stone."
Again,
" Then will I clepe, How Alison ? How John ? "
The Miller's Tale.
CH. ix.j JAMES VAN ARTE7ELD. 139
Ghent militia to gather together under the banners
of their respective parishes on the Cauter,* or
Place of Arms. On the following morning tho
chief magistrates and captains o parishes followed
the Beleeder van de Stad with a goodly band of
armed men, and with engines for battering the walls.
While the citizens of Ghent were engaged
on this expedition, Louis de Crecy imagined that
a good opportunity presented itself for subduing
to his will the town of Bruges, especially as many
of the more opulent burghers were well disposed
towards him. Accordingly, at the head of a consider-
able body of his retainers, he rode into Bruges and
planted his banner in the Market Place. Exasperated
by this encroachment on their Communal privileges,
the fullers rushed to arms, and being speedily joined
by the other guilds, the Count, after a slight skirmish,
was obliged to retire to Maele. Very shortly after his
expulsion, James van Arteveld arrived victorious from
his enterprise against Biervliet, and was welcomed
with acclamations. A meeting of deputies from
Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, and the Francf was held in
* The Cauter quasi, cuUuraw&s an open space, varying iu
extent, the last relic of the agricultural condition of Flanders
before the bulk of its most industrious inhabitants became agglo-
merated in towns. By the fourteenth century in most towns the
Cauter had been built over, but not so in Ghent." Le Siccle des
Artevelde," ch. x. p. 370.
f Colonel Johnes quotes as follows from Baudran's " Dictionnairo
Geographique " : " Le Franc, Franconattis, Terra Franca. It is
part of French Flanders, and was yielded to tho French l>y tho
peace of the Pyrenees ; it comprehends the bailiwicks of Bourbourg,
Bergues, St. "VVinox, and Fumes, and, besides the capital towns of
these bailiwicks, those of Dunkirk and Gnivt-lines. "
140 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. in.
the monastery of Eeckhout, at which it was agreed
that a permanent Commission, or Board, should be
appointed, consisting of three representatives of each
of the three good ^jowns, to whom should be confided
the general administration of the County of Flanders-
On the 29th April delegates from the different Com-
. munes waited upon the Count, and submitted for his
ratification the Resolutions that had been passed at
Eeckhout, to which, with characteristic insincerity, he
at once gave his assent, and he further swore to main-
tain the Communal liberties as they existed prior
to the treaty of Athies. In the course of the fol-
lowing month James van Arteveld and "William de
Yaernewyck, accompanied by deputies from Bruges
and Ypres, traversed Flanders in all directions,
labouring energetically, and not without success, to
appease local rivalries and ill-feeling, and to bring
about a thorough reconciliation between the Count
and his subjects. The Board also met frequently in
different places, striving earnestly to execute Van
Arteveld's programme of internal tranquillity, com-
bined with neutrality towards all foreign Powers.
With this arrangement Edward III. professed to be
perfectly contented, and wrote letters in that sense to
the municipal magistrates of the three good towns,
announcing at the same time the . departure of his
ambassadors, the Bishop of Lincoln and the Earls of
Northampton and Suffolk, for Brabant. These envoys
were met at Antwerp by the representatives of the
Communes, and on the 10th of June, 1338, a com-
mercial treaty was signed which fully recognised the
neutrality of Flanders, though English ships of war
CH. ix.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 141
were permitted to anchor in Flemish waters during
the space of one tide, provided no armed men were
disembarked or allowed to land. The Flemish mer-
chants were empowered to purch^e English wools at
any accredited wool-staple in Brabant, Zealand, or
elsewhere, while the burghers of Ghent received
further permission to import their fabrics into England,
if impressed with the city seal, free of duty and ex-
amination. On the other hand, the Count of Flanders
retained his liberty to serve with his immediate
retainers in any country and against any enemy he
pleased. Not to be outbidden by the English
monarch, Philip de Yalois, acquiesced in this treaty,
and acquitted the Communes of the heavy fines which
had been imposed upon them under various pretexts.
He also addressed a letter to the magistrates of Ghent
in which he expressed much compassion for the suffer-
ings of the poor, and promised to forgive the ignorant
multitude the misdeeds and contemptuous language
into which they might have fallen through simplicity
or misguidance. As a conclusive test of his friendli-
ness, he despatched the Bishop of Senlis to Ghent, on
the 25th July, to raise the sentence of interdict, and a
few days later Louis de Crecy set out for Tournai, in
company with the Flemish deputies, to celebrate the
feast of the Assumption in that border town.
CHAPTER X.
Edward III. appointed Vicar of the Holy Roman Empire Popularity
of the English in Brabant The Count's narrow escape at Dix-
inude Siege of Cambrai Edward III. offers battle to Philip
de Valois Both armies withdraw into winter quarters Fight-
ing on the borders Barbarity of mediaeval warfare Edward
III. claims the Crown of France Quarters the Fleurs-de-Lys
on his shield Grants three charters to the Communes
Alliance between Flanders, Brabant, and Hainault Papal
intervention.
IN the meantime Edward III. had wrung from the
English parliament a grant of 20,000 sacks of wool to
be delivered in Antwerp, and which were likely to be
more efficacious even than gold in quickening the slow
pulses of the peoples dwelling in the Low Countries.
On the 12th July he embarked with his Queen
Philippa, and a gallant suite of the noblest and
bravest knights of England, and a week afterwards
entered the spacious harbour of the Zwyn. James
van Arteveld and the other deputies of the Communes
awaited him at Sluys, and assured him of their good
faith and friendship. Forced to content himself with
empty -words, the King of England continued his
voyage to Antwerp, where he arrived earlier than the
sacks of wool. Without these sinews of war he was
powerless. His allies would do nothing unless their
subsidies were paid in advance. The Duke of Brabant,
CH. x.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 143
who played fast and loose throughout, declined to
commit himself single-handed, while the Communes
persisted in their neutrality, and wanted nothing from
England but the wool of her s^eep. Roused to
greater activity by each fresh obstacle in his path,
Edward hastened into Germany, and by forcible im-
portunity extorted from his brother-in-law, Louis of
Bavaria, the designation of Vicar of the Empire.*
What chiefly prompted the Emperor to take this step
was his invincible indolence and consequent aversion
from war. The King of France had possessed himself
of Cambrai, an acknowledged fief of the Empire, and
refused to restore it except to superior force. To lose
such an important town without striking one blow, or
shivering a single lance, would have been an indelible
disgrace, and might have weakened the Imperial hold
on other outlying appanages. The application of the
English monarch was therefore opportune and agree-
able, as the consequence of failure would affect only
those who were actually engaged in hostilities. With
becoming pomp and ceremony Edward III. was pro-
claimed Vicar- General, and one of his first acts was to
summon the Count of Flanders to appear before him
to do homage for the lands he held of the Empire.
* It must be borne in mind that Flanders was then held under
three lords. There was Flanders soiibs V empire, or dependent on
the Emperor of the West, of which Cambrai was the principal city ;
secondly, Flanders souls la couronne, or dependent on the King
of France, which included all the free Communes under the Count ;
and thirdly, allodial Flanders, or the Count's personal military-
fief. Edward accordingly aimed at uniting under his own over-
lordship Imperial Flanders, in his capacity of Vicar-General of the
Empire, French Flanders as King of France, and allodial Flanders
as the Count's suzerain.
144 JAMES AND PHILIP rAN ARTEVELD. [PT. in.
He also arranged with his German allies that they
should be prepared three weeks after the feast of St.
John Midsummer-day, 1339 to undertake the siege
of Cambrai. Thc^ winter was passed by the King of
England and his royal consort at Louvain, and so
nobly did the English knights conduct themselves
that, as Froissart tells us, "they were beloved by
those of both sexes, and even by the common people,
who were pleased with their state and magnificence."
The Communes, notwithstanding the most dazzling
offers, refused to betray their neutrality, though indi-
viduals the Bardi of Bruges, among others were
willing to advance large sums of money on the security
of the English Crown jewels.
"While Edward was wasting much valuable time in
Brabant, conformably with the old practice of sus-
pending military operations during the winter months,
Louis do Crecy formed a project for breaking the
power of the Communes before aid could be rendered
by their English and German allies. Organizing a
band of Leliaerds, he directed them to commence their
enterprise in the territory of the Franc, because
between that semi-rural population and the citizens of
the larger towns there had long existed a feeling of
jealous repulsion. His adherents accordingly began
by surprising Bergues, where they put to death
twenty-five of the principal inhabitants. Thence they
hastened to Dixmude, where they were joined by the
Count in person. Under the impression that the
Bruges militia were engaged under the walls of the
castle of Liedekerke on the frontiers of Brabant, into
which a party of Leliaerds had thrown themselves,
en. x.J JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 145
the Count proposed to make a dash at that town, ana
seize upon it in the absence of its defenders. The
men of Bruges, however, were already on their return
to their homes, when they were qyprized of Louis'
intended treachery. While he and his knights were
buried in sleep, the alarm was given that the Bruges
militia were close at hand, and the Count and his
partisans had barely time to effect their escape by
forcing open one of the gates, and galloping off to St.
Omer. The magistrates of Bruges thereupon com-
plained to their over-lord of the disloyalty of his vassal,
their Count, and were promised ample protection and
the undisturbed enjoyment of their liberties, though
Philip only awaited a convenient season for depriving
them of all their privileges and of reducing them to
subjection. The apparent credulity with which the
Communes on all occasions accepted the fair words of
the Kings of France can only be compared with the
unscrupulous facility with which those kings violated
their engagements.
The summer season was well nigh over before
Edward's German allies were ready to take the field.
At last he was able to set his army in motion and to
lay siege to Cambrai. About the middle of October,
however, he received intelligence that Philip was
approaching with forces numerically superior to his
own. Nothing daunted, he at once broke up the
siege and advanced to give battle to the enemy,
though the Count of Hainault refused to serve against
his French over-lord in France, and actually ranged
his contingent under Philip's banner. On the 23rd
October, the allied army was drawn up in battle array
146 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [rr. in.
on a wide plain between the villages of Vironfosse or
Buironfosse and La Flamengerie ; but Philip was
never anxious to engage unless morally certain of
victory. In the present instance he distrusted his
own French Communes, and may also have been
aware that the Flemish militia under James van
Arteveld and a son or grandson of John Breydel, the
Butcher of Bruges, were within striking distance.
He, therefore, prudently fell back under cover of night,
partly owing to a Jetter received from Robert King of
Sicily, an astrologer of great repute, who had cast
the nativities of the two rival monarchs and had dis-
covered through his knowledge of the heavenly bodies
that, if ever Philip encountered Edward in battle, he
would surely be defeated. Availing himself of this
excuse, he fell back to St. Quentin, and finally, dis-
banding his army at St. Omer, returned to Paris.
Instead of pressing upon his retreating enemy and
harassing his rear, the King of England and the
Duke of Brabant "packed up their baggage," says
Froissart, and took up their quarters in and around
Avesnes in Hainault, whence the former proceeded
to Brussels, and the Germans returned to their
homes.
As soon as the allied forces had sat down before
Cambrai, the Flemish militia took up an excellent
position between Menin and Deynze, with the inten-
tion of making a point at Douai, and subsequently at
Lille and Bethune. But once more they allowed
themselves to be cajoled by their Count, who invited
them to meet him at Courtrai and receive Philip's
assent to all their demands. "With characteristic
CH. x.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 147
fickleness and narrow selfishness, they desisted from
active enterprise and suffered themselves to be
deluded with idle promises and professions, until news
arrived that Edward had gone irjto winter-quarters,
when the Count suddenly took his departure without
having committed himself to anything. The French
garrisons in the frontier towns amused themselves
thenceforth by making forays into Flemish territory,
killing the villagers, burning their hovels, and devas-
tating the country.
The horrors of war, as depicted by Froissart,
illustrate the inhumanity of the mediaeval ages,
despite their boasted chivalry. It is in these terms
the Canon of Chimay describes the results of an
excursion into Hainault hazarded by the garrison
of Cambrai, who made their first attack upon the open
unfortified town of Haspres. " The French, on enter-
ing the town, found everyone within doors. Having
iaken and pillaged what they pleased, they burnt the
town so completely that nothing but the walls re-
mained. In Haspres there was a priory of black
monks that was dependent on that of St. Waas, in
Arras ; the monastery was extensive, and had large
buildings belonging to it, which they also pillaged
and burnt most villainously." By way of reprisal the
Hainaulters consigned Auberton to the flames, after
making 2000 men prisoners and driving off many
cartloads of plundered property. At another time we
read that " the French made a great booty, and burnt
the town of Anich, one half of Escoux, Escaudain^,
Erin, Montigny, Sautain, Varlain, Vargny, Ambreti-
court, Laurchc, Sauch, Roelt, Neuvilc, Lieu St.
L i>
148 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. in.
Amand, and all the villages which were in that
country. They carried off with them immense riches."
During the siege of Tournai some soldiers surprised
the town of HasAbn " which belonged to Hainault,
burnt the town, violated the nunnery, destroyed the
monastery, and took with them all they could carry
off." Then the troops under the Duke of Normandy r
" burnt Main and Fontenelles, and also the convent
which belonged to Madame de Valois, sister-german
to the King of France. The Duke was much vexed
at this, and had those who set it on fire hanged "
not because of their barbarity, but because they had
impaired the revenues of his Royal aunt. So it is
throughout, without the slightest expression of horror
and disgust from the gentle historian, a poet as well
as a chronicler. No doubt, "it was a fine sight to see
the banners and pennons flying in the plain, the
barbed horses, the knights and esquires richly armed,""
but how was it with the ill-fed, ill- armed, ill-clad,
and wholly unprotected men on foot, who had to-
march and fight and suffer without gain or glory ?
The treachery of Louis de Crecy at Courtraf r
followed by the ravages of the French garrisons, at
length opened the eyes of the Communes to the
hollowness of their neutrality and the danger of their
position between two rival monarchs, one of whom at
least was their implacable oppressor. But, as King-
of France, he was also their over-lord, and under the
most trying circumstances they strove to preserve
their loyalty. Man for man, they preferred Ed-
ward III. to Philip de Yalois, but before they could
transfer their allegiance to the former it was neces-
CH. x.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 149
sary that he should be, or assume to be, king of
France. It is commonly affirmed, and probably with
truth, that it was at the suggestion of Van Arteveld
that he and certain other deputiesyvere instructed to
proceed to Brussels and there greet Edward as lord
of the two kingdoms. They appear to have expressed
their readiness to serve under him to the best of their
ability, provided he would quarter the arms of France
with those of England, and call himself King of that
country. Otherwise, however great their goodwill
towards him, they would forfeit the sum of two
millions of florins to the Apostolical Chamber, besides
incurring a sentence of excommunication, if they acted
offensively against the King of France for the time
.being. Edward is represented to have been somewhat
.startled at this proposition, seeing that " he had not
conquered any part of that kingdom, and it was un-
certain whether he ever should ; on the other hand,
he was unwilling to lose the aid and assistance of the
Flemings, who could be of greater service to him than
; any others at that period." In the end, by the
advice of the lords of the Empire, Edward acceded to
this novel proposition and engaged to restore to
Flanders the bailiwicks of Lille, Douai, and Bethune,
provided they, on their parts, would render him sub-
stantial aid, in enforcing his claims to the throne of
France.
Early in November the King proceeded to
Ghent, where a great council was held of the Ger-
man feudatories and the representatives of the
Flemish Communes, and ever after Edward bore
the arms of France and the title of King of that
150 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. in,
country. Leaving Queen Philippa at Ghent, " where
she was often visited and comforted by Jacob van
Arteveld and other lords and ladies," Edward re-
paired to Antwerp*.- and shortly afterwards took ship
for London, " where he arrived about St. Andrew's
day, 1339, and was joyfully received by his subjects,
who were anxious for his return/' Previous to his
departure from Antwerp he commissioned certain lords
to negotiate the betrothal of his daughter, Isabella,
to the youthful Louis de Maele, but the Count
rejected his overtures and remained faithful to his
liege lord.
On the 23rd January, 1340, Edward was once
more in Ghent. His seal was now engraved with
the motto "Dieu et Mon Droit," and the fleurs de
lys of France were quartered on his shield with the
leopards of England. Three days later he began his
reign as King of France by granting a charter, " dat.
apud Gandavum vicesimo sexto die Januarii, anno
regni nostri Francise primo." The Flemings who had
been taken prisoners at Cadzand were set at liberty
without ransom, not excepting Louis' half brother,.
Guy, and three charters, or proclamations, were suc-
cessively issued by Edward. By the first he under-
took to protect the ships of the Flemish merchants,
to allow their fabrics free circulation in England, to
establish a permanent staple of wool in Flanders and
in Brabant, and to accept as obligatory in England
commercial conventions made in Flanders under the
seal of the good towns. He also promised to acquaint
the Communes with any negotiations that might be
set on foot by which their interests might be affected,
CH. x.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 151
and not to conclude any treaty of peace with Philip
de Valois, unless with their cognizance and assent,
the Court of Flanders being at liberty to join them.
He further pledged himself and his successors to
succour and aid the Communes should their laws and
franchises ever chance to be endangered, and to fight
in their defence to the bitter end.
By the second instrument the English monarch
engaged to assemble his naval forces in such strength
that the navigation of the Channel should be secure
for the trading-vessels of all friendly nations. Two-
thirds of the fighting men on board his ships should be
men of Flanders and Brabant, but the entire charges
were, as usual, to be borne by England. Moreover, the
sum of 140,000 was to be paid in four instalments
to the Communes probably in payment of loans and
for the next fifteen years a wool-staple was to be
fixed at Bruges. The third proclamation was prac-
tically a charter conferred by the new self-styled
King of France upon his faithful feudatories the Com-
munes of Flanders. The privilege of excommunica-
tion without previous reference to the Papal See was
renounced for ever, and the Count and the inhabitants
of the country were declared to be thenceforth as free
as their predecessors before any such penalties and
servitudes were enjoined. The towns and bailiwicks
of Lille, Douai, Bethune, and Orchies were restored
to Flanders as an integral and inseparable portion of
Flemish territory. In like manner the county of
Artois and the town of Tournai were to be regarded
as a fief of the Court of Flanders. All privileges
granted by Robert de Bethune after the Battle of the
152 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN AllTEVELD. [PT. in.
Spurs were confirmed. No taxes were to be imposed
on Flanders, nor could any duties be levied upon
goods imported from France into Flanders or Brabant.
Every Fleming had a right to be tried by Flemish
judges, nor could he be summoned to appear before
any French court. A good, loyal, and common gold
and silver currency of the same weight and alloy, \vas
to circulate in France, Flanders, and Brabant, and
was to be accepted in England, and it was never to be
changed or tampered with.
It is not surprising that modern Flemish writers
should give great credit to James van Arteveld for
obtaining such favourable terms from the new
claimant of the French Crown ; but it is extremely
unlikely that Edward, as King of France, would
have fulfilled the conditions he signed when simply
an aspirant to that high dignity. And he might
readily enough have found an excuse -in the stipula-
tions made by the men of Bruges, who reserved to
themselves liberty to change sides should any flaw
be discovered in Edward's pretensions the worst flaw,
of course, being inability to enforce his alleged rights.
They further insisted upon maintaining their feudal
position towards their Count, so long as he respected
their ancient franchises, for, they said, " it ever was,
is, and will be their intention to lend their aid to the
maintenance of peace and tranquillity, and to the lead-
ing of an honest life, injuring no one, but rendering to
each his due " and, they might have added, thinking
only of their own immediate commercial interests.
The gross selfishness and inconstancy of the Communes
completely alienated Edward after the death of his
en. x.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 153
" gossip " Van Arteveld, and the woolstaple was after
a while taken from Bruges, while Flemish artizans
were lured to settle in England.
Through the intervention of Janys van Arteveld a
close alliance of friendship had been concluded be-
tween the Communes of Flanders and Brabant on the
3rd December, 1339, by which they promised each
other mutual support against all enemies, and engaged
their respective lords to abstain from all wars in the
future unless with the previous approval of the two
countries. Free trade and a common currency were
agreed upon ; and in the event of any disputes arising,
the matter at issue was to be referred in the first
instance to the local magistrates, and, if they failed to
render justice within the space of eight days, it was to
be laid before a Council of ten members, of whom four
were to be nominated by the Duke of Brabant and the
Count of Flanders, and the six others by the good
towns of Brabant and Flanders, namely, Louvain,
Brussels, and Antwerp in the one, and Ghent, Bruges,
and Ypres in the other. Finally, it was arranged
that the two princes and deputies from the above-
named six towns should meet in conference three
times in the year ; to wit, on the fourteenth day after
Candlemas at Ghent ; on the fourteenth day after the
Nativity of St. John the Baptist at Brussels ; and on
the fourteenth day after All Saints at Alost. This
important document, with which the Count and Com-
munes of Hainault shortly afterwards expressed their
concurrence, bore the signatures of eighty barons,
knights, and deputies, and had no other fault than its
dependence on the life of a single individual, for
154 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELV. [IT. in.
shortly after the death of Van Arteveld the edifice he
had laboured to construct fell to the ground. It may
also have been due to his suggestion that, on the 8th
February, 1340, ^Edward published a Manifesto ad-
dressed to his French subjects, in which he promised
to restore their communal rights and privileges,
and to revive the laws and customs which had
existed in the time of his sainted ancestor King
Louis IX.
It would have been strange if the Papal See had
abstained from availing itself of this opportunity of
interfering in the temporal affairs of two such power-
ful monarchs as Philip and Edward. Letters were
accordingly addressed by Benedict XII. to the Com-
munes, reminding them that their prosperity greatly
depended upon the favour and protection of the King
of France, and that whenever they had presumed to
revolt from their over-lord their sufferings had been
very serious. These letters, however, arrived too late
to be of any use one way or the other, for Edward III.
had already been recognised as King of France. By
way of reply, therefore, Baldwin de Lisseweghe was
commissioned to proceed to Avignon, and demand the
rescission of the singular privilege accorded to the
French King of excommunicating the people of
Flanders without reference to the head of the Christian
Church. Edward had voluntarily renounced this
power, but Popes have usually paid more court to
Kings in esse than to those in posse, and Benedict XII.
acted after the manner of his predecessors and suc-
cessors. He hesitated to forward a safe conduct to
the Flemish deputation, nor is there anything to show
CH. x.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 1.15-
that he ever accorded an interview to Baldwin de
Lisseweghe and his companions. To Edward himself,
indeed, he wrote a paternal letter, pointing out that
he could have no claim to the rown of Franca
through his mother, because women do not count in
the hereditary order of succession, and that France
was not a country to be conquered by force of arms.
No reliance should be placed upon the Flemings, a
fickle and unfaithful race, constantly at feud with
their natural lords, while the Germans would help him
only so long as there was money to be wrung from
him. Edward's justification of his conduct never
reached Avignon/Jbeing intercepted by Philip's agents,
but the quarrel between the two Kings had got far
beyond the sphere of argument, and both sides pre-
pared for a final appeal to arms. The English Par-
liament, indeed, and more particularly the Corporation
of London, demurred to the privileges conferred upon
the Flemings; but Edward, in his masterful way,
declared that he would sooner forfeit his Crown
and repudiate his royal birth, than be untrue to his
engagements. The Lord Mayor and Aldermen, find-
ing that nothing they could say would shake his re-
solution, wisely bowed to the force of circumstances.
CHAPTER XI.
Birth of John of Gaunt and of Philip van Arteveld Defeat and
capture of the Earl of SalisburyJames van Arteveld marches
to the relief of the Count of Hainault Battle of Sluys Van
Arteveld joins Edward III. at Ardenburg Accompanies him
to Bruges The French and English kings issue proclamations
Siege of Tournai Use of Artillery Truce of Esplechin
Annies disbanded Favourable terms granted to the Com-
munes The Count grants an amnesty Financial embarrass-
ment of Edward III. Obtains a loan through Van Arteveld
Further negotiations.
EDWARD had promised to return to Flanders not
later than midsummer. During his absence in Eng-
land Queen Philippa gave birth to a son, afterwards
known as John of Gaunt, " time-honour' d Lancaster,"
and held at the baptismal font the eldest son of James
van Arteveld and Catherine of Courtrai, who was
named Philip, after his Royal sponsor. Of him more
will be heard hereafter in its proper place.
On his part Philip de Valois had not been idle.
An interdict was fulminated against the Flemish
Communes at Tournai, on the 4th April, by the Bishop
of Senlis and the Abbot of St. Denis; and in the
evening of the same day a detachment from the gar-
rison of that town went forth on a successful raid to
the very suburbs of Courtrai. A second incursion
narrowly escaped disaster, and on the Friday previous
CH. xi.] JAMES VAN AETEVELD. 157
to Palm Sunday the Militia of the Communes, under
the personal command of the Captain-General of
Ghent, occupied the villages of Chin and Ramegnies,
in the immediate neighbourhood of Tournai. Van
Arteveld had formed the design of recovering that
town with the aid of a small body of English men-at-
arms whom Edward had left behind him at Ypres with
the Earls of Salisbury and Suffolk. His request for their
co-operation obtained a ready assent, and the citizens
of Ypres, under their local magistrates, swelled the
contingent. Unhappily, the latter prevailed upon
their English comrades to assist them in expelling from
Annentieres a Genoese garrison who were in the
habit of plundering the surrounding country. The
Italians offered a gallant resistance, but the place was
at last carried by assault and burnt to the ground.
Emboldened by this prosperous commencement, the
victors conceived the mad project of making them-
selves masters of Lille. Instead, therefore, of prose-
cuting their march in security along the left bank of
the Lys, they pushed across country in disorder, and
were approaching the abbey of Marquette by a narrow
road between high hedges, when they were suddenly
attacked in front and on both flanks and speedily over-
powered. The Earl of Salisbury was taken prisoner
and conveyed to the Chatelet at Paris, while Van
Arteveld was compelled to raise the siege of Tournai
and return to Ghent. Shortly afterwards, however,
he proceeded at the head of 60,000 men to relieve
JKthvard's brother-in-law, the Count of Ilainault, whose
territories were being overrun and ravaged by Philip's
eldest son, the Duke of Normandy. Ilad it rested
158 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. m.
with the Count and his gallant Flemish allies the
French army would have been attacked with great
advantage, but the Duke of Brabant, jealous of the
growing ascendency of Flanders and anxious to keep
on good terms with the French monarch, refused to
co-operate, and news arrived which prompted the
Duke of Normandy to beat a hasty retreat.
Aware that Edward had pledged his faith and
honour to be in Flanders on St. John's day, and that
he would redeem his word at any cost, Philip de
Valois collected a fleet of 800 sail to intercept him,
including 30 Genoese galleys under the command of
a Corsair named Barbavara, and 140 large vessels
equipped at Calais and in the ports of Normandy.
This formidable fleet carried on board 35,000 armed
men, but the supreme command had been intrusted to
Nicholas Behuchet, the King's treasurer, who had
expressed a wish to be present at a battle. On the
8th June the French fleet entered the Zwyn and took
up a position behind the dunes, or embankments of
sand which keep out the sea, in the hope that
Edward III. would make for Sluys without suspicion,
and would be surrounded by a greatly superior force
before he was prepared to defend himself. But Be-
huchet began with a fatal error. Landing a body of
troops on the island of Cadzand he set fire to all the
buildings it contained, and put even the unarmed
inhabitants to the sword. This barbarous act roused
the country against him, and the Bruges militia
hastened to protect Sluys against a similar outrage.
Two days afterwards the news reached the Orwell,
where the King of England was completing his pre-
CH. XL] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 159
parations for his departure, which was fixed for the
12th June. At first he refused to credit the tidings
which were brought to him by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, whom he rudely taunted with cowardice,
bidding him remain at home if he had any fear. The
unwelcome intelligence, however, was speedily corro-
borated by a pilot who had witnessed with his own
eyes the arrival of the French fleet. Even then
Edward withheld his belief, but when letters were
handed to him from the Count of Guelders, he con-
sented to postpone his departure for a few days until
a larger force could be assembled. As soon as 300
vessels, mostly inferior to the French ships, were
. collected at the mouth of the Orwell, he set sail for
Flanders, and on the following day, the 23rd June,
was off the Flemish coast.
At Blankenberghe three knights went ashore and
presently sighted a forest of masts in the arm of
the sea known as the Zwyn. On receiving this
information the English fleet anchored for the night,
but at daybreak on St. John's day, 1340, anchors
were raised and all sail set for the mouth of that
estuary. Both wind and tide, however, were adverse
and no progress could be made. All at once the
Genoese gallies were descried making for the open
sea. Having in vain pointed out to Nicholas
Behuchet that by being crowded up in such a narrow
space he lost the advantage of his numerical supe-
riority, Barbavara determined to consult his own
safety by securing ample sea-room, and sallying forth,
bravely attacked the English fleet. At first his
onslaught was successful, and he had already cap-
160 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [PT. in.
tured a large ship, when the King rallied his broken
squadrons and speedily compelled the Genoese to take
to flight. By that time the tide had well turned, and on
the rising flood ^he English ships floated into the
Zwyn. With besotted self-confidence Behuchet now
gave orders to his captains to let go the chains by
which their vessels had previously been attached to
one another, and to fight every man for his own hand.
The French fleet thus became inextricably confused
and entangled. Two mighty ships, the Christopher
and the Edward, which had been captured from the
English while conveying cargoes of wool across the
Channel, were the first prizes of that glorious day, but
the heavy armed men on board were massacred by
the peasants as they strove to gain the shore. Pre-
sently, the loud braying of horns announced the arrival
of useful auxiliaries. A swarm of small vessels issued
from every creek, while the ports of Bruges and
Damme sent to the affray every ship not still encum-
bered with merchandise. The English monarch, in his
letter to the Prince of "Wales, gratefully acknowledged
the assistance rendered by the Flemings, who seem to
have given no quarter. Though wounded by an arrow
in the thigh, Edward bore himself like a valiant
knight, and was conspicuous among the flower of the
English chivalry. According to Froissart, none of the
French escaped the terrible slaughter that ensued, nor
does he, as usual, mention the names of any persons
who were made prisoners and held to ransom. On
the contrary, he explains as a reason for the greater
fury and loss of life that characterise naval combats as
compared with those on land, that there is no possi-
OH. xi.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 161
bility of retreat every man must do or die. It is,
however, improbable that many nobles or knights of
high degree would have consented to serve under
Hugh Quieret, a simple knight of Jirtois, or under the
King's treasurer, a man of humble extraction raised to
eminence by his clerkly qualifications. The contest
lasted for several hours, from morn to noon, and as
the fighting was hand to hand on crowded decks, soon
slippery with human blood, the carnage may well have
been exceedingly great.* Hugh Quieret had the
good fortune to meet with a soldier's death, but Be-
huchet fell into the hands of the Flemish peasants
who hanged him from a masthead in revenge for the
devastation of Cadzand.
This was the first great naval battle won by the
English, and for a brief space it gave them the com-
mand of the Channel. On the morrow Queen Philippa
arrived from Ghent to congratulate and nurse her
wounded lord, who was unable for a few days to leave
his ship. It is reported that the king asked after his
" gossip," James van Arteveld, and was informed that
he was then at Thun-1'Eveque, at the head of 60,000
* In an article on " Jacob van Arteveld, the Brewer of Ghent, "
in the Edinburgh Review, No. 313, it is stated that "3,000 of the
enemy perished by the sword or by drowning," but this is, clearly,
a clerical error for 30,000. The loss of the victors has been esti-
mated at 4,000 ; though, of course, too great importance must not
be attached to the figured statements of the old chroniclers, any
more than to French or Russian bulletins in the present century.
In the " Cronique do Flandres," ch. Ixxviii., it is thus written:
" Laavoit tant de gens tuds quo la mer en estoit toute ensanglantee
en ce lez ; et estimoit on bien les mors a trente mille. " Mr. Long-
man is content with 25,000, but the ancient writers vary from
30, 000 to' 35, 000.
162 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. nr.
Flemish militia, in defence of the territories of the
Count of Hainault. This answer, however, was not
strictly true, for he was then actually at Valenciennes,
in company of that Count and the double-faced Duke
of Brabant. Froissart, who appears to have been,
though quite a little child, an eye-witness of the scene,
describes how Arteveld mounted a platform in the
market-place, and expounded the right of Edward III.
to the crown of France, and also the common advan-
tages of a close alliance between Flanders, Brabant,
and Hainault, with such commanding eloquence that
those who heard him said one to another that he was
indeed worthy to govern the land. The two princes
then agreed to meet again at Grhent, and on the 30th
June Van Arteveld was at Ardenburg, whither the
King of England had gone on a pilgrimage to return
thanks for his great victory. Thence they proceeded
together to Bruges, where Edward received the free-
dom of the city. Deputies of the different Communes
also waited upon him, and urged him to under take* the
siege of Tournai and the recovery of the County of
Artois, promising on their part to furnish 100,000
men for the former enterprise, and 50,000 for the
latter. And so faithfully did they perform their part
of the engagement, that in the space of five days they
had 140,000 men under arms, all of them volunteers,
serving at their own charges. By the loth July the
militia of Bruges and Ghent were marching, some
towards Oudenaerd, some towards "West Flanders,
where they expected to form a junction with the con-
tingents from Ypres and the Franc. The newly-elected
Rewaert was Simon de Mirabel, lord of Beveren,
<-H. xi.] JAMES VAN ARTS VELD. 163
Halle, and Perwez, whoso wife was Elizabeth of
Flanders, daughter of Louis de Nevers, and sister to
Louis de Crecy.
The defeat of his fleet at Sluyj caused Philip de
Valois to fall back upon Arras, after leaving a very
strong garrison in Tournai under the command of the
Constable of France, supported by many valiant
knights and lords. He also threw a considerable body
of troops, under experienced commanders, into St.
Orner, while he himself kept the field at the head of
70,000 men, encamped between Lens and Arras. Tho
campaign opened badly for both belligerents. The
Duke of Burgundy, having rashly attacked the
entrenched camp occupied by the Bruges militia
under Robert of Artois, was repulsed with heavy loss,
and pursued to the very gates of St. Omer, which the
victors proposed to carry by storm at dawn of the fol-
lowing day. The men of Ypres, however, had been
less successful than their comrades, and in their flight
had spread a panic through the ranks of the Franc
militia. Nothing, therefore, remained for the brave
citizens of Bruges but to follow the fugitives, while
the Count in disgust proceeded to the English camp,
which was then pitched under the walls of Tournai.
After the manner of those times Edward III. had
sent a personal challenge to the King of France, and
informed him that he had entered the County of
Flanders as its sovereign lord. To this Philip replied
that he relied upon the honour and loyalty of the
Flemish Communes, and that, if they had lately gone
astray, it was through the evil counsels of individuals
who cared more for their own than for the p
164 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. in.
good. This answer was received on the 31st July, by
which date Edward had been joined by his German
allies, so that the army under his supreme command
amounted to 120,600 men. The town was imme-
diately surrounded on all sides, the Flemings, under
Arteveld, estimated at 40,000, occupying a range of
low hills, extending from the Lille road to the hamlet
of Sept-Fontaines. They appear to have made use of
a kind of mitrailleuse, called ribaudc, " jetant feu et
grands carreaux pour tout rompre," and Froissart
makes mention of cannons and bombards on the
ramparts of Quesnoy, " which flung large iron bolts
in such a manner as made the French afraid for their
horses," so that the idea is erroneous which dates the
employment of cannon from the battle of Crecy,
though they may then have been used for the first time
in the field. The garrison of Tournai made an obstinate
defence, and repulsed every assault, but the surround-
ing country and the neighbouring towns and hamlets
were cruelly plundered and laid waste. Famine at
length broke the proud spirit of the besieged, and a
capitulation was imminent. As a last resource, the
besieged contrived to apprise the King of their des-
perate situation, and demanded immediate relief.
Philip thereupon advanced to the bridge of Bouvines,
and took up a strong position. Instead, however, of
raising the siege, Edward placed his army between the
town and the French troops, in such a manner that the
blockade was continued as rigorously as before, while
his own position was practically inaccessible.
In any case, Philip w r as reluctant to give battle. King
Hobert of Sicily was again busy with his evil forebod-
CH xi.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 165
ings, nor did Philip himself feel assured of the loyalty
of his own Communes. The English light horse mean-
while intercepted his supplies and cut off his foragers,
and the only alternative that appeQpred to present itself
was to attack the English army at a serious disadvant-
age, or to abandon Tournai to its fate. In this critical
state of affairs, Joan of Valois, mother of the Count
of Ilainault and sister to the King of France, who had
taken up her abode in the Abbey of Fontenelle, was
minded to bring about a cessation of hostilities in order
to stay the useless effusion of human blood. Joining
her entreaties to those of the two Cardinals despatched
by the Pope, with a view to mediate between Christian
princes who might be serving the Church in so many
better ways, the royal recluse easily prevailed upon
Philip to agree to a truce. Encouraged by her success
in this quarter, she next worked upon the feelings of
the Count of Hainault, the Duke of Brabant, and the
Marquis of Juliers, her son-in-law, who only asked for
an excuse to retire to their respective States. Even
Edward evinced an unwonted placability. He had
beleaguered Tournai for seventy-four days, and was in
sore straits for money to pay his German auxiliaries
and also his own troops. His presence in England
was, moreover, absolutely necessary to counteract the
intrigues of his enemies. On their part, the Com-
munal militia were anxious to return to their looms
and their daily labour, but only on conditions favour-
able to themselves. Conferences accordingly took
place in the village church of Esplechin, and resulted,
on the 25th September, in a truce, which was not to
expire until the 24th June, 1341. Excellent terms
103 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. nr.
first day of that month, a conference took place at
Antoing, which was attended by the Cardinals of
Naples and Clermont in the name of Pope Clement
VI., and hy some of the most distinguished prelates
and nobles of England and France. The Flemish
Communes were also ably represented, but the pre-
tensions of the English monarch appeared so exor-
bitant to the French deputies that, after a brief
adjournment, it was agreed that the truce should
simply remain in force till midsummer-day, 1342.
In the mean time Philip de Valois intrigued so
successfully with the Emperor of the West that
Edward's mandate as Vicar General of the Empire
was cancelled, with the effect of making him more
than ever solicitous to keep on good terms with the
Communes of Flanders. He accordingly granted a
Charter to the citizens of Bruges, organising a wool
staple, and laying down certain rules for the guidance
of both sellers and purchasers, which are described as
being more conformable to commercial usage than to
statute law "secundum legem mercatoriam et non
secundum communem legem regni uostri." The
English marts for the sale of wool were fixed at
Newcastle, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Westminster,
Canterbury, Chichester, Winchester, Exeter, Bristol,
Carmarthen, Dublin, Waterford, Cork, and Drogheda.
The discontent expressed by the Corporation of
London is not surprising, when it is borne in mind
that wool for Flanders was exclusively conveyed in
Flemish bottoms.
CHAPTER XII.
Mission of Catherine van Arteveld Edward III. in Brittany-
Truce of Malestroit Futile intrigues of Louis de Crecy The
Banner incident at Ardenburg Prosperity of Flanders under
Van Arteveld Affray with John de Steenbeke Revival of old
institutions Fullers and weavers The monopoly of woollen
fabrics" Den Quaden Maendag "Edward III. at Sluys
Unfounded rumour Riot at Ghent Murder of James van
Arteveld His burial His true character.
IN view of an early renewal of hostilities the
deputies of the allies assembled at Mechlin early in
May, when the Flemings again insisted that the
object of the campaign should be the recovery of
Artois. The conference, however, was interrupted
by a destructive conflagration, which consumed the
Cathedral, the Hotel de Ville a buiding of great
beauty and magnificence and 5000 houses. Although
the truce expired towards the end of June, 1342, it
was not until the 2nd August that the Flemish
militia were in a condition to take the field. Their
progress was soon stopped. On advancing towards
Gravel ines they suddenly found themselves in pre-
sence of a French army commanded by the Counts of
Eu and Valois. It was, therefore, considered prudent
to halt and await the arrival of their English allies.
As these delayed to appear, it was resolved to send
an embassy to London to quicken Edward's move-
108 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. HI.
first day of that month a conference took place at
Antoing, which was attended by the Cardinals of
Naples and Clermont in the name of Pope Clement
VI., and by some of the most distinguished prelates
and nobles of England and France. The Flemish
Communes were also ably represented, but the pre-
tensions of the English monarch appeared so exor-
bitant to the French deputies that, after a brief
adjournment, it was agreed that the truce should
simply remain in force till midsummer-day, 1342.
In the mean time Philip de Valois intrigued so
successfully with the Emperor of the West that
Edward's mandate as Yicar General of the Empire
was cancelled, with the effect of making him more
than ever solicitous to keep on good terms with the
Communes of Flanders. He accordingly granted a
Charter to the citizens of Bruges, organising a wool
staple, and laying down certain rules for the guidance
of both sellers and purchasers, which are described as
being more conformable to commercial usage than to
statute law "secundum legem mercatoriam et non
secundum communem legem regni nostri." The
English marts for the sale of wool were fixed at
Newcastle, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Westminster,
Canterbury, Chichester, Winchester, Exeter, Bristol,
Carmarthen, Dublin, Waterford, Cork, and Drogheda.
The discontent expressed by the Corporation of
London is not surprising, when it is borne in mind
that wool for Flanders was exclusively conveyed in
Flemish bottoms.
CHAPTER XII.
Mission of Catherine van Arteveld Edward III. in Brittany
Truce of Malestroit Futile intrigues of Louis de Crecy The
Banner incident at Ardenburg Prosperity of Flanders under
Van Arteveld Affray with John de Steeubeke Revival of old
institutions Fullers and weavers The monopoly of woollen
fabrics "Den Quaden Maendag" Edward III. at Sluys
Unfounded rumour Eiot at Ghent Murder of James van
Arteveld His burial His true character.
IN view of an early renewal of hostilities the
deputies of the allies assembled at Mechlin early in
May, when the Flemings again insisted that the
object of the campaign should be the recovery of
Artois. The conference, however, was interrupted
by a destructive conflagration, which consumed the
Cathedral, the Hotel de Ville a buiding of great
beauty and magnificence and 5000 houses. Although
the truce expired towards the end of June, 1342, it
was not until the 2nd August that the Flemish
militia were in a condition to take the field. Their
progress was soon stopped. On advancing towards
Gravelines they suddenly found themselves in pre-
sence of a French army commanded by the Counts of
Eu and Valois. It was, therefore, considered prudent
fo halt and await the arrival of their English allies.
As these delayed to appear, it was resolved to send
an embassy to London to quicken Edward's move-
170 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. HI.
ments. The post of honour was assigned to Catherine
of Courtrai, wife of James van Arteveld, to whom
conspicuous honours were paid. Early every morning
minstrels stationed themselves beneath the ambassa-
dress's windows, and played various airs " in honour of
the land of Flanders." These courtesies, however
acceptable in themselves, failed to promote the object
of Catherine's mission. Edward III. had already
crossed the Channel, but, instead of disembarking at
Sluys, he had landed in Brittany to avenge the death
of Robert of Artois, mortally wounded at Vannes.
The war of succession was then raging in Brittany.
At the decease of the late Duke, his estates were
claimed by his brother, John de Montfort, and his
nephew, Charles de Blois, the former relying on the
aid of England, the latter on that of France. Joan,
Countess of Montfort, sister of Louis de Crecy, is
familiar to every reader of Froissart, who endows
her with " the courage of a man and the heart of a
lion." Her defence of the castle of Hennebon was
worthy of the most famous heroines of history. Her
fiery valour, combined with her misfortunes, pleaded
more effectually with Edward than any reasons of
State could have done. Throwing over his engage-
ment to invade the county of Artois, he set sail for
Brittany, captured Dinant, and laid siege to Vannes
and Rennes. Disappointed by the king's absence
from his own dominions, Catherine of Courtrai took
ship for France and was wrecked off the coast of
Brest. Conducted to the presence of the Countess of
Montfort, she was sent onward, with a small escort,
to_the English camp, and is supposed to have taken
CH. xii.] JAMES VAN ARTEl'ELD. 171
part in the negotiations between the King of England
and the Duke of Normandy, which led to the truce of
Malestroit, concluded on the 19th January, 1343.
Through the intervention of the Cardinals a suspen-
sion of hostilities was agreed upon for three years,
" and the King of England and the duke swore, as is
customary, not to infringe it during that time." For
the rest, the terms were similar to those that had
formed the groundwork of the truce of Esplechin in
1340.
While the Flemish militia were preparing for the
invasion of Artois, the Count without having sent any
previous intimation of his intention, suddenly arrived at
Halewyn, near Menin. As soon as his return to his own
territories was noised abroad, deputies from the Com-
munes waited upon him, and escorted him to his chateau
at Maele in the neighbourhood of Bruges. Taking ad-
vantage of the general disappointment caused by
Edward's failure to fulfil his promises, Louis do Crecy
used every means in his power to win his subjects
from the English alliance. The knowledge of his
intrigues reached the English King when he was on
the point of embarking for Yannes, and in consequence
of these tidings a trustworthy envoy was despatched to
Flanders to counteract the mischievous activity of the
Count. On the 9th November the representatives of
the good towns met in a sort of Parliament, presided
over by the Count, at Damme, when it was resolved
to maintain every engagement entered into with the
King of England, and a letter in that sense was sub-
sequently addressed to Edward from Ghent.
Shortly afterwards an incident occurred which has
172 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. in.
been variously related. The true version was probably
to the following effect. The small towns had been
exasperated by certain exclusive privileges bestowed
by the Count upo$ the three good towns, which were
extremely prejudicial to the general interests of the
people at large. Some serious disturbances appear to
have arisen, especially at Ardenburg, whither James
van Arteveld promptly hastened at the head of the
Ghent militia, and where he is said to have slain one
Peter Lammens while standing at the door of his own
house. Some confusion followed upon this act of
violence, but order was restored on Van Arteveld
telling his fellow citizens that they would find within
proofs of the dead man's guilt. Presently a banner
was found and produced amid loud acclamations, and
in all likelihood it was similar to those borne by the
weavers' craft in Ghent. According to some writers
Lammens was a Leliaerd knight, to whom and to
many others the Count had given a banner to serve
as a rallying point whenever the season arrived for
attacking the Klauwaerds, while M. de Lettenhove
refuses to believe in the death of Peter Lammens,
because that name appears in a charter of the Abbey
of the Dunes, dated October, 1333, and again in a
charter of the Abbey of St. Bavon, dated in June,
1348 two years after the murder of Van Arteveld.
But there is no proof that these names belong to the
same individual. A son, nephew, or any other re-
lative, or even a total stranger might have borne
a name which is not at all uncommon. In any
case the Count perceived that nothing could be
done with the Communes in their present mood,
CH. xii.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 173
and returned to France in the beginning of January,
1343.
Flanders now entered upon a career of great pro-
sperity, unhappily not destined to bj of long duration.
At the instigation of Van Arteveld, the bed of the
Licvo was widened and deepened in order to facilitate
communication between Ghent and the sea, compen-
sation being given to owners of land along the banks.
Political economy was not much studied in the four-
teenth century. Owing to the backwardness of agri-
culture the Flemish towns were largely dependent on
foreign countries for their supply of corn, and with a view
to secure permanent abundance every vessel freighted
with salt, wine, or other foreign produce, was obliged
to devote a certain tonnage to the transport of wheat.
Care, however, was taken to maintain the purity of
the currency, and generally to promote the success of
individuals and the public interest of the country as
then understood. While Van Arteveld was engaged
in these useful duties, he was suddenly threatened
with a great danger. He was accused by a rich and
influential citizen, named John de Steenbeke, of
aiming at a military dictatorship over Flanders,
and when he assayed to justify his conduct his oppo-
nent summoned his friends to arms, and for a moment
bloodshed seemed inevitable. The banners of at least
sixteen craft-guilds, however, speedily rallied round
the Captain of the City, and as the news spread to
Bruges, Ypres, and Courtrai, the citizens of those towns
hastened to Ghent to defend the liberties of the country
imperilled by Leliaerd machinations. The local magis-
trates seem to have acted with admirable vigour and
174 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. nr.
impartiality. They at once arrested both disputants,
and confined Van Arteveld in the Gerard Dievels
steen or keep of Gerard the Devil while his accuser
was placed in thn Gravensteen, or Count's prison.
A formal investigation was then instituted into the
merits of the case, and in the end John de Steenbeke,
with a considerable number of his partisans, was sen-
tenced to banishment for fifty years.
Most of the innovations ascribed to Van Arteveld
were simply revivals of the old institutions formerly
enjoyed by the Communes, but which had been sus-
pended, or suppressed, by successive Counts aiming at
despotic power. The town of Ghent was thus marked
out into 250 districts, each under its own dcken or super-
intendent, and when the tocsin rang out, the citizens
quickly assembled at the rendezvous of their respective
sections. He is also credited with the division of the
citizens into three classes, or "members," namely,
poorters, weavers, and the minor crafts. The poorters
had the privilege of electing the first echeviti of the
Keure that is, the chief magistrate of the Communal
corporation who was attended by the icitle caprocncn
or white hoods. The weavers were the most numerous
and powerful of all the craft-guilds, and are believed
to have been about 40,000 strong at the period under
notice. The third class comprised the 52 minor
crafts, or ncringhen. The weavers formed the most
radical and independent portion of the town population,
and were in almost permanent antagonism with the
fullers, upon whom they looked down as their servants,
and who naturally resented the overweening arrogance
of their employers. The nennghcn usually sided with
<n. xii.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 175
ihcpoortcry, and were rather Ldiacnh thsmKlauicaerds.
Perhaps, as a counterpoise to the weavers, Van
Arteveld laboured to improve the position of the
minor crafts, and caused his name jto be entered on
the register of the Brewers which may very likely
have originated the rumour that he was a brewer of
metheglin. Following his example, many other
persons of gentle birth and of noble extraction
sought to be admitted into one or other of these
crafts, in the hope of one day attaining the distinction
spontaneously conferred upon that great citizen. For,
no sooner was he admitted into the brewers' guild
than he was chosen their deken or doyen, and then by
common consent the 52 minor crafts elected him
souverainen deken. In this capacity he appears to
have been entitled to a body-guard of ziceerd-draegcrs,
or sword-bearers, clothed in red with striped sleeves.
It is clearly shown by Professor Vanderkindere that
from an old date the citizens had been similarly
divided, except that at times the fullers took the place
of the weavers, especially after some great commotion
when the latter had been more than half destroyed or
banished.
Another of the reforms attributed to James van
Arteveld was undoubtedly a revival. He is said
to have divided Flanders into three military circles,
or "members," each of which had as its capital, or
head- quarters, one of the three good towns of Bruges,
Ypres, and Ghent. In former times there had been
four "members," including the Franc, but as this
territory comprised several of the small towns which
were continually encroaching upon the privileges of
176 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [FT. in.
the " good towns," it is not surprising that, when
these reached the zenith of their influence, they
should have excluded the Franc from their military
association. For t; it must be remembered that the
old chroniclers notwithstanding James Yan Arteveld
was by no means a dictator or an autocrat. What-
ever power he exercised, it was through the free choice
of his fellow citizens. His contention with John de
Steenbeke he submitted to the judgment of the local
magistrates, who decided in his favour because none
could know better than themselves that he had acted
throughout in obedience to the laws, and in conformity
with the usages, of the town of Ghent. In 1342 he
had tendered the resignation of his post as Hooftman,
and he was re-elected with three of his former col-
leagues. He was neither a usurper nor a revolutionist.
The real charge to be made against his policy is
based on its civic selfishness and commercial narrow-
ness of vision. He thought less of Flanders than of
Ghent, and less of Ghent than of the prosperity of the
woollen manufactures. He would not have hesitated
to slay with his own hand a respectable, industrious,
fellow countryman if he presumed to work a loom
without belonging to the weavers' guild in one of the
good towns. Nor would he have scrupled to raze to
the ground any town or hamlet that encroached upon,
the charters granted to Bruges, Ghent, and Ypres.
The monopoly of the fabric of woollen cloths for sale
claimed by the good towns had been confirmed by
Guy de Dampierre in 1296, and, though frequently
contested by artisans dwelling in smaller towns, had
been virtually enforced in the name of the Count, and
en. xii.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 177
quite recently by Louis de Crecy himself. Louis is
accused, however, of having stirred up the rural
population to refuse the further recognition of these
privileges, and it is certain that in the year 1344 the
inhabitants of Poperinghe under the leadership of
one James Beyts, asserted their right to dispose of the
excess of their woollen fabrics after supplying their
own necessities. Thereupon the citizens of Ypres
took up arms and marched against their rivals. A
fierce and bloody affray took place, in which Beyts
and the majority of his followers were slain. The
victors then destroyed all the looms they could find,
not only in Poperinghe, but also in Bailleul, Langhe-
mark, and Reninghelst.
A more terrible commotion occurred in Ghent itself
on Monday, May 2nd, 1345 a day subsequently
marked in the local chronicles as den quadcn macndmj,
or Bad Monday. The fullers, it seems, had demanded
higher wages, which the weavers refused to give, but
the quarrel must have been something more than a
mere strike on the part of the former. Social and
semi-political causes probably combined with the pres-
sure of poverty to rouse their latent antagonism to a
feeling bordering on desperation. They had been
thrust into an inferior position by the overwhelming
numbers and influence of the weaver-guild, with
which James Van Arteveld openly sympathised, and
to which, indeed, he and his family originally belonged.
In any case fullers and weavers encountered each
other in the Friday market place, and fought with
sucli fury that the priests in vain intervened, carrying
aluft the consecrated wafer symbolising tho presence
178 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. in.
of the Founder of their Religion. Not until 500 of
their number lay stretched on the ground did the
fullers yield to the superior force of their enemies.
Oudegherst, indeed, swells the number of the slain to
1500, and remarks that the fullers were so com-
pletely crushed that even at the time he wrote A.D.
1571 they were still insignificant as a guild. The
weavers were commanded by their deken Gerard
Denys, by whose side Van Arteveld fought with
conspicuous bravery.
The Count Louis de Crecy is believed to have had a
hand in fomenting discontent, and in stimulating the
mutual jealouies of Communes as well as of crafts.
He was completely subservient to Philip de Yalois,
besides being strongly influenced by the selfseeking
Duke of Brabant, who placed his men and treasures
at the Count's disposal. Foiled in an attempt to sur-
prise Oudenaerd, Louis formed a design to possess
himself of Alost and Dendermonde, and with the
Duke's assistance he succeeded in establishing himself
in the latter fortress. The inhabitants of Ghent are
described as having grown weary of the English
alliance, or it might be more correct to say that the
Leliaerd faction had gained a temporary ascendency
the natural consequence of the deplorable disturb-
ances which had disgraced the rule of the democracy.
The truce of Malestroit had been violated by Philip
de Valois when he put to death Oliver de Clisson and
other noblemen whose loyalty he suspected, but it
was not until the 3rd July, 1345, that the King of
England was prepared to renew the struggle. His
first intention seems to have been to have landed in
CH. xii. J JAMES VAN ARTEVELD. 179
Brittany or Normandy, but the bad tidings which
reached him from Flanders induced him to change the
destination of his fleet. Accordingly, on the 5th
July, Edward anchored once mom in the harbour of
Sluys, and on the following day received in audience
twenty-one of the most illustrious citizens of Bruges,
who had been deputed to. congratulate him on his
return to Flanders. On the 7th a numerous deputa-
tion arrived from Ghent, headed by Van Arteveld,
who brought with him a hundred men-at-arms in the
hope of persuading the King to proceed to that city.
For one reason or another, Edward declined to take
that journey, and Van Arteveld returned for definite
instructions as to any further negotiations. Four
days afterwards he was again at Sluys, accompanied
ty Thomas de Yaernewyck and John Uutenhove, but
without the men-at-arms. Plenipotentiaries from
Bruges and Ypres had also arrived at Sluys, and a
conference was held on board the Katherine, described
as a ship of wondrous size and magnificence.
Of what passed on that occasion there are two versions.
Some will have it that Van Arteveld proposed, as a
corollary to the recognition of Edward III. as King
of France, that the Prince of Wales should be re-
cognised as Count of Flanders, if Louis de Crecy
persisted in refusing to accept Edward as his liege
lord. That is the story related by Froissart, by
Villani, and by many other copyists of the Canon of
Chimay. On the other hand, no allusion whatever to
such a scheme is to be found cither in the letters of
the English monarch, or in the archives of the
Flemish towns. It would, indeed, have been an ill-
s' 2
180 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. in.
opportune moment for such a proposition if it be true
that Van Arteveld's wife, Catherine of Courtrai, had
returned to Flanders on hoard the English fleet,
without having brought back so much as an instal-
ment of the various loans made to Edward by the
Flemish Communes, and especially by that of Ghent.
If we may believe the chronicles of the country " the
King of England was unwilling to permit that the
Count should be welcomed back by his own people,
until he had done homage to himself as to his over-
lord." * It is added that the plenipotentaries were
recommended to elect in the meanwhile a Resvaert, to
conduct the government of the county. On the 16th
July the plenipotentiaries held a council in Bruges,
and chose as Rewaert Sohier de Courtrai, brother-in-
law to Van Arteveld, and son of the venerable patriot
done to death at Rupelmonde. Under his command it
was agreed that the Communal militia should at once
proceed to expel the Leliaerds from Dendermonde or
Tennonde, for which purpose Edward detached a body
of "Welsh archers under Hugh de Maltravers.
Another, and more formidable, Flemish force was to
make a point at Cassel, to co-operate with the English
troops warring in Normandy.
A letter preserved in the Record Office shows the
fallacy of the rumour which ascribed to Edward III.
and James Van Arteveld the intention of transferring
the county of Flanders from Louis de Crecy to the
Black Prince. The letter-writer is the King himself,
who bids the Communes of Flanders to receive Louis
* Corp. Chron. Fland. i. p. 216.
CH. xii.] JAMES VAN ARTEVELD.
131
as their Count, so soon as he shall have taken the oath
of allegiance to himself. In the event of Louis do
Crecy refusing to recognise Edward as his over-lord,
the door of reconciliation was stil[ to remain open to
his heirs, and there is absolutely no proof that
Edward desired any nearer connection with Flanders
than through the betrothal of his daughter to Louis
de Maele, son and heir to Louis de Crecy. In any
case, his final interview with the Communal repre-
sentatives took place on the 22nd July, and two days
afterwards he set sail for France, but was driven by a
terrible tempest out of his course, and was glad to run
for his own coasts, which he reached on the 26th.
According to Froissart, Van Arteveld, before re-
turning to Ghent, visited both Bruges and Ypres, so
that it was on Sunday, the 24th July, that he rode
into his native town. He had not gone far, however,
before he perceived that something was amiss. In-
stead of the hearty welcome which usually awaited
him, he noticed that the inhabitants turned their
backs upon him and went into their own houses.
Others formed into little groups, evidently hostile to
him, " putting their heads under one hood," and mur-
muring aloud, "Look you; there goes yonder the
great master who thinks to dispose of the land of
Flanders as it pleaseth him, which cannot bo suf-
fered." Observing these signs of popular disfavour,
Van Arteveld hastened towards his own mansion,
situated on the Calanderberg, and gave orders to
close and fasten the doors and windows, and prepare
for the coming attack. These instructions were
hardly executed, when a disorderly mob filled the
182 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. m.
streets both in front and behind the house. With
loud outcries the assailants endeavoured to force an
entrance, but were held at bay by Van Arteveld's
friends and dependants. Finding it impossible to
hold out much longer, he attempted to parley with
the infuriated rioters, who refused to listen to him,
but went on shouting for an account of the revenues
he had appropriated. For in his absence the report
had been spread abroad that for seven years he had
rendered no account of the public moneys, but had
sent large sums to England. A considerable amount,
no doubt, had been lent to Edward III., but with the
knowledge and consent of the local magistrates, and
it is certain that, instead of having enriched himself,
the great citizen had really impoverished himself in
the service of his ungrateful townsmen.
The calumny may have originated with the double-
dealing Duke of Brabant, who was anxious to secure
the heir to the county for his own daughter, in which
he subsequently succeeded, but it may be assumed that
Van Arteveld's masterful ways had made him many
private enemies, who were joined by the dregs of the
populace, always eager to pull down those who are
set up above them, and inflamed by the hope of
plunder. It was in vain, therefore, that Van Arte-
veld pleaded for delay, that he asserted his innocence,
that he reminded them of what he had done for their
good. They would not hear him, and only raged the
more furiously against him. Stealing down to the
back of his premises, he sought to gain a neighbouring
church, but the mob had possession of the street, and
were even then breaking into his house. Making for
CH. xii.] JAME3 VAX ARTEVELD. 183
the stables, perhaps with the desperate resolution of
cutting his way through his assailants on horseback,
he discovered that even that faint chance of escape
was lost to him. The rioters had broken into his
house on both sides, and one of tliem struck him down
with a hatchet or poleaxe.
By whose hand he fell is not distinctly known.
Froissart and Despars assign the guilt of his murder
to one Thomas Denys, indifferently described as a
saddler or a cobbler, while others probably deceived
by the similarity of the name ascribe the foul act
to Gerard Denys, the deken of the cloth-weavers,
who owed much to Van Arteveld's friendship.
That Gerard Denys was envious of Van Arteveld's
ascendency, and lent himself to unworthy manoeuvres
to effect his downfall, may be true, but he must be
acquitted of blood-guiltiness. Chosen to succeed to a
portion of the power exercised by the murdered
Captain of the Town, he continued on cordial terms
with Thomas de Vaernewyck, the friend and colleague
of Van Arteveld. He also caused a strict inquiry to
be made into the circumstances of the tumult, though
it does not appear that the actual criminals were
punished beyond being sentenced to pay the zocne, or
price of blood, to the nearest relatives of the deceased.
An expiatory lamp was moreover to burn for ever in
the chapel of the monastery of Notre Dame at Biloke,
at the expense of the families of Westluc, De Mey,
1'anneberg, and Pauwels, all of whom had private
feuds with Van Arteveld. No mention, however, is
made of Thomas Denys, the reputed murderer, an
omission that throws some doubt on the charge
184 JAMES AND PHILIP VAX ART EV ELD. [IT. in.
alleged against him. The lamp is known to have
been still alight in 1375, but it does not again appear
in chronicle or mcmoric-bock.
The body of the dead man was deposited for that
night in the monastery of Biloke, and afterwards con-
veyed either to the Abbey of Tronchiennes, and buried
beside his father-in-law, Sohier de Courtrai, or to the
Carthusian monastery at Royghem, to which a legacy
was bequeathed, twelve years afterwards by his son
John. As Sohier's tomb was desecrated in the six-
teenth century by " Les Gueux," it is possible that
Van Arteveld's may have shared the same fate, if his
remains were really deposited in that graveyard. In
truth, the disposal of his mortal remains is a matter
of pure speculation, and of very little general interest
at this distance of time. Nor is it positively ascer-
tained whether his house was spared, or totally wrecked
and demolished. The latter account is the more com-
mon because the more likely, and likewise because
none of Van Arteveld's papers have been discovered.
On the other hand, the Chevalier Diericx states posi-
-tively that the house was standing in 1371, while
M. de Lettenhove asserts that it was still pointed out in
the fifteenth century. There is reason to believe that
the offices of the Beleeder van de Stad, known as
" de Cancellerie," adjoined his dwelling-house, and it is
natural to suppose that Van Arteveld, in expectation
of a tumult, would seek to draw away the mob from
the portion of the building occupied by his wife and
family, and that he would count upon finding at least
a portion of his bodyguard at his place of business.
As Edward III. had already put out to sea, it is im-
JAMES VAX ARTEl'l-:iJ>. 185
possible that the bearers of these evil tidings found him,
as commonly reported, at Sluys. As a fact, it was
about, Michaelmas when deputies of all the chief Com-
munes, with the exception of (jhent, arrived at
Westminister to exonerate themselves from complicity
in the murder of his friend and "gossip." They
gratefully admitted that under James van Arteveld
the prosperity of Flanders had reached its highest
point. They protested that they would never forget
all that he had done for the Flemish people, nor
would they ever depart from the alliance with Eng-
land which he had so happily brought about. Their
soft words assuaged the anger of Edward, whose mind
was occupied with the preparations for his projected
invasion of France. And thns, says Froissart, the
death of the great citizen was, little by little, effaced
from men's memories.
Louis do Crecy was in Dendermonde when the
news arrived of Van Arte veld's death. Brief space,
however, was allowed him for exultation. The militia
of Ghent, supported by contingents from Bruges and
Ypres, carried by assault the two minor fortresses of
Hulst and Axel, and speedily reduced the garrison of
Dendermonde to capitulate. The Count made his
escape to France, while the Duke of Brabant used his
influence to obtain indulgent terms for the Leliaerd
knights. Through his intervention the fortifications
were left untouched, 'with the exception of three
breaches, forty feet wide, in the side towards Ghent.
Nothing, then, was changed save that Flanders had
lost her most notable citizen. This story has been
written in vain if the reader has failed to catch a
186 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. in.
glimpse of the grand outline of the so-called Brewer
of Ghent. The early chroniclers are all agreed as to
his remarkable ability, his uncommon eloquence, and
his masterful for<je of character. Unhappily, they
are also agreed in describing him as a self-seeking
demagogue, as the enemy of established authority, as
a contemner of the Church, and as the champion of
the baser sort. To M. de Lettenhove, above all
others, is due the merit of having discovered his true
features, beneath the mask imposed by malice, envy,
and ignorance. If somewhat over careful of the
interests of his own town, and of his own particular
guild, James van Arteveld evinced a high order of
statesmanship in his sustained effort to found a nation,
through the close alliance of Brabant and Hainault
with Flanders. It could have been no ordinary man
who raised himself from the humble ranks of the
Ghent poorters to be courted and feared by kings and
princes. He was no vulgar tribune of the people, but
the First Citizen of Ghent.
PART IV.
A TROUBLED INTERLUDE
PART IV.
A TROUBLED INTERLUDE
CHAPTER XIII.
Discomfiture of the Bruges Militia Death of Louis de CnVy
Succeeded by Louis de Maele His betrothal to Isabella of
England His flight into France Indecisive engagements
between French and Flemish troops Surrender of Calais to
Edward III. Invasion of Flanders by Philip The Communes
disunited Disturbances at Bruges Duplicity of Louis de
Maele Massacre in Ghent The Black Death The Flagel-
lants.
DISAPPOINTED in the expectations he had entertained
in connection with the removal of James van Arteveld
from his path, Louis de Crecy applied himself to fresh
intrigues, and succeeded in creating a disturbance which
cost the life of Simon de Mirabel, elected Rewaert in
1340. This melancholy event happened on the 9th of
May, 134f>, within a year after the assassination of
that great man, but its only apparent result was a
meeting of Communal representatives at Ghent on the
24th of June, when it was agreed that Flanders should
remain faithful to her engagements towards Edward
III. That monarch was incessantly occupied with his
preparations for the invasion of France, and despatched
a small squadron, with 000 archers, to Flanders, to
190 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv.
encourage the Communes to make a diversion in his
favour, while he laid waste the duchy of Normandy
and marched upon Paris. The communal militia
accordingly took ( the field under the command of
Henry of Flanders, and sat down before Bethune.
As usual, they displayed more courage than discipline,
and were completely baffled in a desperate attempt to
carry the place by assault. They were equally unsuc-
cessful in an expedition against Lillers, in which they
lost 500 men and 100 waggons. Shortly afterwards a
dispute arose between the Bruges militia and that of
the Franc, which enabled the French commander,
Godfrey d'Annequin, to surprise their camp and burn
their tents. Disheartened by these misadventures,
they destroyed their battering engines and fell back
upon Merville, where the Lys is crossed by a bridge.
In the meantime, Edward III. had won the battle
of Crecy, on the 26th August, and was pursuing
his march upon Calais. It is admitted even by his
enemies that Louis, Count of Flanders, acquitted him-
self gallantly in that terrible shock of arms. The
Counts of Alencon and Flanders greatly distinguished
themselves by turning the flank of the English archers,
and falling on the division commanded in person by
the Prince of Wales. Their banners were seen by
Philip de Yalois, who made a vigorous effort to join
them, but was unable to force a way through the
broken and disorganised ranks of his own men. His
charger, pierced by arrows, fell to the ground, but the
King was placed on another horse by John of Hai-
nault, who had been induced by false devices to
renounce the English alliance, and by him, with gentle
<'H. xni'.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 1U1
violence, was led away out of the melee. The two
Counts were afterwards found among the slain, and
the suspicion lias been expressed that Louis de Crcy
fell by the hand of one of his own detainers. At the
same time perished his kinsman, the blind King of
Bohemia, who traced his descent from Margaret of
Constantinople, through Baldwin d'Avesnes, while
the ancestor of Louis was Guy de Dampierre. At
Amiens, on his flight to Paris, Philip de Yalois
received the homage of Louis de Macle. The young
Count was only sixteen years of age, but had borne
himself with conspicuous valour at Crecy, where he
won his spurs. He was also possessed of great manly
beauty, but his political views were inherited from his
father, and in thought and habit he was thoroughly
French.
While the communal levies were still in Artois,
news arrived that Edward had been completely
defeated and was hastily retreating towards the
frontiers of Flanders. The captains of the militia
never hesitated for a moment as to the conduct to be
pursued at that critical moment. Instead of sub-
mitting themselves to the supposed conqueror, they
pressed forward to the relief of the conquered, while
the magistrates of Ghent summoned all citizens
capable of bearing arms to hasten to the support of
their ally in his hour of need. Their loyalty was
warmly appreciated by the English monarch, who left
his camp before Calais in order to thank them in
person for their interest in his safety. In the first
instance he proceeded to Ypres, where (i'.n-ni I'liilippu
met her sister Margaret, consort of the Emperor
192 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv.
Lewis of Bavaria, and who had lately inherited the
County of Hainault. Thence he hastened to Ghent,
and a few days later to Ath, where he was met by
the deputies of Flanders, Brabant, and Hainault,
who pledged their respective States to maintain the
engagements formed by James van Arteveld. Not-
withstanding all their past experiences of the dupli-
city and selfishness of their Counts, the Communes
testified their readiness to welcome Louis de Maele,
provided he solemnly promised to respect their charters
and ancient privileges. The young Count was ready
to make any promise that might be required of him,
and visited in succession the towns of Courtrai, Ypres,
Bruges, and Ghent. It was observed, however, that he
listened to the advice only of his father's most pernicious
counsellors, especially Roland de Poucke and Louis
van de Walle, and that he seemed particularly anxious
to separate the Communes from the cause of Edward
III. In this matter his motives were personal as well
as political. His own desire, subsequently gratified,
was to marry Margaret of Brabant, agreeably to the
arrangement made between her father and his own in
the autumn of 1345, whereas it was the wish of the
Communes that he should take to wife a princess of
England, with a view to strengthen the commercial
relations which so happily united the two countries.
The Count, on the other hand, protested that ho
would never marry a daughter of the man who had
caused the death of his father, and was accordingly
watched closely lest he should escape into France. At
the invitation of the Communes, Edward III. com-
missioned the Earls of Northampton and Arundel,
i ir. xiii.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. l'J3
.and Lord Cobham, to adjust the preliminaries of a
matrimonial alliance, and his own brother-in-law, the
Marquis of Juliers, had already been appointed
Governor of the youthful Count* Weary of the
dulness of confinement and restraint, Louis de Maele
pretended to yield to the wishes of his subjects,
.and consented to marry Isabella of England. The
ceremony of betrothal took place in the Abbey of St.
Winoc, at Bergues, on the 14th of March, 1347, in
presence of the King and Queen of England. Edward
III. took the hand of the young Count with much
tenderness of manner, and assured him on his honour
that he was in no way privy to his father's death,
and that he did not even know that he was with the
French army. Louis appears to have made an
appropriate reply, and, kneeling at the altar, swore to
espouse the Princess Isabella there present by his side.
To mark his own satisfaction, the King announced
liis intention to establish an hospital for the poor,
and a church, with an endowment for a Carthusian
monastery, in the island of Cadzand, to efface the
unhappy reminiscences of bygone times.
A few days passed quietly away. The Communes
relaxed their vigilance, and the English Ambassadors
oven requested the Count to take the command of the
Flemish army that was about to invade Artois. He
expressed his ready acquiescence in every suggestion
that was made to him, but on the 27th March, barely
a fortnight before the day fixed upon for his marriage,
he rode out to fly a hawk in his domain at Murk-.
What next happened is thus related by Froissart :
" The falconer flew his hawk at a heron, and the Count
191 JAMES AND PHILIP YAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv,
did the same with his. The two hawks chased their
quarry, and the Count galloped off as if following
them, crying, Hoy ! Hoy ! When he was at some
distance from his 'guards, and in the open fields, he-
drove his spurs into his horse, and made such speed'
that he was soon out- of sight ; nor did he stop till he
got into Artois, where he was safe." On recounting-
the adventure to King Philip and his courtiers he was
told that he had done wisely and well; "hut the-
English, on the contrary, accused him of betraying and
deceiving them." The Communes had little difficulty
in making their peace with Edward III., who, though
much exasperated hy the conduct of their recreant
Count, was too just to hold them answerable for an
offence in which they had no part. The Princess-
Isabella, however, is reported to have felt very keenly
the affront that had been passed upon her, and con-
tinued for long after to bear the arms of Flanders,,
protesting that his flight could not vitiate their mutual
vows taken at the altar.
The Flemish Communes, in order to vindicate them-
selves, lost no time in putting their militia in motion,
but the French were on their guard, and the usual cry
of Treachery ! was raised among those who were dis-
comfited. In the beginning of May, 1347, the King
of France fixed his headquarters at Arras. His army
was computed at 35,000 horse and 100,000 foot
soldiers, with whom he proposed to raise the siege of
Calais, and destroy, or take prisoners, the slender array
of the English monarch. To secure the neutrality of
the Flemings, he offered a complete amnesty for the
past ; to raise the interdict which he had just launched
en. XIH.] A TROUBLED INTERU r l>H. 195
against them ; to supply them for six consecutive years
with wheat at four sous for a measure which was then
selling at twelve sous ; to grant them the monopoly of
all the wool grown in France, leaving it to themselves
to name the price and also that of furnishing his
subjects with woollen fabrics ; and, finally, to make
restitution of the towns and bailiwicks of Lille, Douai,
and Bethune, the defence of which, however, he would
for the present retain in his own hands. He was not
less profuse of money than of promises, but the Com-
munes had been so often deceived by Philip de Valois,
that they resolved to remain faithful to their engage-
ments with the King of England.
Enraged by their refusal of his overtures, Philip
ravaged their borders, and committed to the flames
several small towns and hamlets. The Bruges militia
thereupon marched upon Bergues and Bourbourg,
while the men of Grhent, under the Rewaert, Sohier de
Courtrai, hastened to Cassel, which they strengthened
with various outworks. If reliance may be placed on
Robert of Avesbury, the Duke of Normandy attacked
this position with 40,000 men with immense resolu-
tion, one assault lasting for two whole days, but in the
end was forced to retire, taking with him 280 waggons
filled with the dead and wounded. A second army,
70,000 strong, was despatched to avenge this disgrace,
and, crossing the Lys at Merville and Estaire, advanced
towards Messines and Bailleul. Driven to desperation
by the sight of their blazing homesteads, the villagers
armed themselves with sickles and pointed stakes, and
the tocsin rang out from every steeple. The valiant
burghers of Ypres, under the Sire d'Hautkerke,
o 2
196 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. iv.
turned out in support of the peasants, and harassed the
enemy with such perseverance that he was constrained
to beat an ignominious retreat, by roads rendered
almost impassable fcy rain, and across a country reduced
to the condition of a morass. The repulse of these
minor expeditions did not prevent Philip from advanc-
ing to Sandgate, whence his camp was distinctly visible
to the famished garrison of Calais. A battle seemed
inevitable, when, suddenly on the night of the 18th
August, the French King set fire to his tents, and,
abandoning his baggage, took the road to Amiens,
where he disbanded his mighty host without having
struck a single blow on behalf of Sir John de Vienne
and his gallant comrades. The report had reached
him that 60,000 Flemings were close at hand under
the command of the Marquis of Juliers, and he feared
to be caught between the two armies. Forsaken by
their sovereign, the heroic garrison of Calais surren-
dered at discretion, nor had they any reason to
complain of Edward's lack of generosity. The
romantic episode so picturesquely described by Frois-
sart was unknown to his contemporaries, and was
long since shown by M. Levesque, in his history of
" France under the Five Valois," to be no more trust-
worthy than the story of the early Roman Kings, or
of the martyrdom of Joan of Arc.
Through the good offices of the Papal Legates a
truce was concluded on the 28th September, 1347, to
last until July of the ensuing year. Edward's allies
were included in this agreement, special favour being
shown to the Flemings. The truce seems to have
expired without any attempt being made to bring
CH. xin.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 197
about its prolongation. Philip dc Yalois, however,
forbade the resumption of hostilities, and deluded the
Communes into an indolent belief in his pacific inten-
tions. A strong body of men-rearms nevertheless
sallied forth from Aire and St. Omer, and laid waste
the fertile valley of Cassel, driving off immense flocks
and herds of sheep and cattle. Deputies were accord-
ingly despatched to England to demand assistance
from Edward III. That monarch accorded them a
gracious reception, but his treasury was exhausted, nor
was he in a condition to go to war on their behalf.
He reminded them that he had paid them liberal sub-
sidies when, in past times, he had asked for their co-
operation, but it was their business to provide for
the defence of their own frontiers. A few days later
he informed them that the truce between France and
England had been prolonged, whereupon the Leliaerds
exclaimed that Flanders was betrayed by the King of
England, and raised the Count's banner at Alost.
The magistrates of Ghent hastened to repress the
movement, and the Count, being unprepared for
immediate action, proposed a conference, at which he
engaged to respect their ancient customs and fran-
chises, to condone the past, and for the future to govern
the country by the advice of the Communes. When
these fair words were repeated to the burghers and
craftsmen of Ghent, there arose a great tumult. Tho
inferior guilds were in favour of accepting the Count's
overtures, but the clothmakcrs refused to entertain any
proposition that ran counter to their engagements with
the King of England. In the end the disputants
appealed to arms, and, after much effusion of civic
198 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv.
blood, the weavers were victorious. The Bruges men,
actuated by their ancient jealousy of their Ghent
rivals and also conciliated by a confirmation of their
charters, declared themselves for Louis de Macle, as
did likewise the towns of Courtrai, Dendermonde,
Grammont, and Oudenaerd. For all that, when it
was known that the Count had arrived at the Chateau
de Maele, accompanied by his evil counsellors, Roland
de Poucke and Louis van de Walle, the people of
Bruges were greatly agitated, nor was the commotion
appeased by the arrest of Giles de Coudebrouck, who
had for many years held the office of burgomaster, and
was considered the chief fomenter of discontent. To
effect his deliverance the weavers and fullers forgot
their differences and, gathered together in consider-
able numbers, gave battle to the Count's retainers and
partisans, by whom they were routed with great
slaughter and compelled to give up their arms.
Ghent and Ypres still held out. His specious pro-
mises having been taken at their true value, Louis de
Maele prepared to reduce his refractory subjects by
famine and the sword. On the 18th November, 1348,
he was joined at Dendermonde by the Dukes of
Brabant and Limburg, each at the head of a formid-
able force, which enabled him to cut off all supplies
and to destroy the commerce of those two important
towns. The sufferings of the poor were terribly
severe, though mitigated by the generosity and de-
votedness of the rich, who brought to the public
treasury whatever objects of value they chanced to
possess. The family of James van Arteveld came
forward with their offerings, headed by his widow
'ii. xin.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 199
.clad in deep mourning, though her funereal garments,
if she really wore them, were scarcely in harmony
with her position as the wife of John Baronaige.
Within three years of the murder of her first hushand,
the foremost man in Flanders, she^iad consented, it is
said,though the mother of grown-up sons and daughters,
to change an historic and honoured name for that of
an ordinary pootier, though the mourning may have
Jbeen only a conventional idea on the part of the artist
who undertook to illustrate this incident. It is more
-agreeable to know that some English soldiers of for-
tune who had remained in Flanders after their sove-
reign's return to his dominions, bore themselves
bravely in repelling every assault delivered by the
(Count's followers and mercenaries.
Despairing of success by the employment of force
Louis de Maele had once more recourse to art and du-
plicity. He affected to separate himself from the cause
of Philip de Valois and to espouse that of Edward III.
He talked of regaining the bailiwicks of Lille, Douai, and
Bethune, wrongfully torn from Flanders, and begged
.the King of England to intercede for him with the Com-
munes. At that moment the Earls of Lancaster and
.Suffolk happened to be at Boulogne, charged with the
mission of making peace with France, and they now
received further authority and instructions to act as
mediators between the Count and his subjects. Nego-
tiations ensued, and on the 10th December were
ratified by Edward. The Count agreed to accord a
plenary amnesty to the burghers of Bruges, Ghent,
and Ypres, to confirm their charters, to fulfil the
engagements made between the King of England
200 JAMES AND PHILIP VAX AHTEVELD. [IT. iv.
and the Communes, and to compel the Leliaerd knights
and nobles to accept this adjustment of differences.
On the 13th December Louis de Maele solemnly
swore, at Dunkirk ^in presence of the Bishop of Nor-
wich and the Earls of Lancaster and Suffolk, faith-
fully to execute these conventions. This oath, how-
ever, he violated with as little scruple as the one by
which he bound himself, two years previously, to
marry Isabella of England. Some hitch having taken
place in the particular agreement tnat the Count was
endeavouring to make with the people of Ghent, John
Van de Yelde, the chief man among the weavers,
refused to trust himself to the Count, protesting that
he asked for no other tomb than the market place.
Louis acted with vigour at this critical moment. Two
of his captains fell with great fury upon the weavers,
who had been too much weakened by war and civil
discord to make a successful defence. A great number
were put to the sword, and not a few were drowned
in the Lys, while Van de Velde was dragged from
his hiding-place in a baker's shop, and slain on the
market place which he had himself designated his-
tomb.
At the same time, January 13th, 1348, perished
Gerard Denys, who had taken such an active part in
the fatal attack on James van Arteveld. Although
the gates of Ypres had been thrown open to Joseph
d'Halewyn, lord of Espierres, the clothmakers there
also rushed upon certain death, the survivors migrat-
ing to other towns, after seven of their leading men
had been publicly beheaded. There is nothing, how-
ever, more remarkable in the annals of the Flemish
en. xm.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE.
201
Communes than their power of rapid recuperation.
Again and again we read of the weavers and fullers
being well nigh annihilated, and yet a few years later
their crafts are prosperous and the^r trade flourishing.
The explanation is probably simple enough. However
jealous the great towns might be of their exclusive
charters and monopolies so long as all went well with
them, they might be expected to relax something of
their severity in times of trouble, and to welcome an
accession of strength from the rural craftsmen, who
desired nothing more eagerly than to be admitted to
the privileges of the town guilds.
Never were these recuperative powers more needed
than about the middle of the fourteenth century. In
the latter part of the year 1348 a most destructive
pestilence, known as the Black .Death, was brought
into Europe from the eastern regions of Asia. It
appears to have arrived by way of Egypt, Armenia,
and Greece, and to have made its appearance at Pisa,
whence it crossed the Alps to Avignon and Montpel-
lier. After that, its course was rapid and uninter-
rupted. Not a single country escaped its ravages, the
germs of the disease being conveyed by ship even to
Iceland. The town or district that lost no more than
a fourth part of its population was deemed fortunate.
It is estimated that in Paris 50,000 persons perished,
while in London that number of dead bodies were
interred in trenches on the piece of ground given to
the City as a graveyard by Sir Walter Manny, the
brave knight of Ilainault, and which subsequently be-
came the site of the Charter House. In Norwich there
were 60,000 fatal cases, and in England generally the
202 JAMES AND PHILIP VAX ARTEVELD. [PT. iv.
population is believed to have been reduced to two
million^, or little more than half of what it was pre-
vious to the outbreak of the plague. In Flanders the
port of entry was^Sluys, whence it spread all over
the country. A contemporary writer, Gilles li Muisis,
describes with painful minuteness the progress of the
pestilence at Tournai. A slight swelling under the arm-
pits was followed in a few days by death, and it was said
that it was sufficient to look upon a sick man to catch
the disease. The infection, no doubt, like that of cho-
lera in our own times, was conveyed by air and water,
while the danger was intensified by the absence of any
system of sewage and sanitation. In the little town
of Tournai there were 25,000 deaths, nor did the rich
escape any more than the poor, though a nutritious
and stimulating diet was recommended as the best
prophylactic. It was even remarked that the strong
and healthy were struck down rather than the weak
and sickly, and that, while hale and hearty men were
carried off by thousands, aged persons and little chil-
dren were passed over. The panic was so utterly
demoralising that the ties of affection were snapped
asunder. Mothers fled from their infants wives left
their husbands untended. It was reserved for the
ministers of religion to set an example of self-sacrifice.
While all others stood aloof, the priests splendidly
devoted themselves to the care of the sick and suffer-
ing, so that we learn without surprise that iu York-
shire their numbers were diminished by one-half, and
that in the eastern counties of England barely one-
third of the parish priests survived the ordeal. .Nor
were they found less true to their holy mission in
OH; xiii.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 203
Tournai and the other towns of Flanders. The magis-
trates likewise strove to do their duty according to
their lights dimmed by superstition. They implored
the citizens of all ranks to lay.| aside their petty
squabbles and disputes, and to humble themselves
before the wrath of an offended heaven. No shops
were suffered to be opened on Sunday, nor was the
name of the Deity taken even to attest legal and
official acts. Dice were shorn of their angles and,
rounded into beads, were strung together as chaplets.
Social life ceased to be genial, though ten guests
were still allowed to sit down to table. To lessen the
excess of hysterical terror, mourning was forbidden to
be worn even for the nearest and dearest. Whole
streets were left without inhabitants, and in the coun-
try the fields were uncultivated, and the sheep and the
cattle wandered to and fro as they pleased, for there
was no one to look after them. The gloom of despair
brooded over the land. The glad sound of music was
heard nowhere. There was no singing or dancing,
and young and old alike seemed to have forgotten
how to smile.
Out of this horror there sprang up the crazy order
of Flagellants. The sect took its rise in Hungary, and,
passing through Germany, attained its fullest develop-
ment in Flanders. If Froissart may be credited, the
Flagellants did not enter France, " for the King had
strictly forbidden them, by desire of the Pope, who
disapproved of such conduct for sound and sensible
reasons. All clerks," he continues, " or persons hold-
ing livings, that countenanced them were excommuni-
cated, and several were forced to go to Rome to purge
204 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [I-T. iv
themselves." The Flagellants themselves professed
to helieve that an angel had descended from Heaven
and alighted on the altar of St. Peter's Church at
Jerusalem, in vie^r of the Patriarch and the entire
congregation who, prostrating themselves hefore the
spiritual vision, repeatedly ejaculated "Kyrie ek'ison !'*
After placing on the altar a stone tablet similar to
those Moses had received on Mount Sinai, and which
bore the new law of expiation traced by the finger of
the Deity, the Angel vanished from their sight. To-
these fanatics the readiest form of expiation appeared
to be self-torture, and thus day after day they halted
thirty-three times on their march, in commemoration
of the thirty-three years of the life of Jesus, and
stripping themselves naked to the waist they scourged
their back and shoulders with cords terminating in
iron points. At the same time they chanted dismal
canticles in remembrance of Christ's nativity and
martyrdom, and believed that the blood which streamed
from their self-inflicted wounds became mingled in a
mystical manner with that of Him who died upon the
Cross to expiate the sins of mankind. Each company
remained only one night in the same place, nor did
any one of them ever indulge in a bed. They ad-
dressed each other as brother or sister, for many
women, and some of high rank, joined themselves to
the Flagellants, and thought it no shame to expose
their persons to the gaze of the rabble. At night-
time these companies traversed the country by torch-
light, the leaders bearing aloft a crucifix, and the
entire band chanting litanies and psalms. Whenever
they paused for the purpose of flagellation, they circled
<:n. xiii.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 205
round the mendicant friars who accompanied them,
and threw themselves on the ground with their arms
stretched out in the form of a cross. Three times
they rose to scourge themselves* three times they
flung themselves down upon the ground. By way of
grace before meals they dropped upon their knees five
times. They were clad in long robes which reached
to their feet, and their cowls were embroidered with a
red cross. Some companies even crossed the Channel
to perform a pilgrimage to St. Paul's Church in Lon-
don. Though France is said to have escaped this folly
on the occasion under notice, at a later period that
country was less fortunate, for at the time of the
League the Flagellants were not unfrequently headed
by no less a personage than the King himself. So
long as the plague continued to rage, the Flagellants
are described as leading moral and even austere lives,
but when the panic abated fanaticism was replaced by
dissolute and disgraceful practices, till the magistrates
interfered and prohibited the nuisance.
CHAPTER XIV.
Death of Philip de Valois Xaval battle off Winchelsea The
Count and the Communes John de Valois Charles the Bad
Joseph and Walter d'Halewyn beheaded Riots in Ghent
Battle of Poitiers Death of the Countess of Flanders Loyalty
of Louis de Maele Marriage of Margaret of Flanders to Philip
Duke of Burgundy Death of Edward III. Profligacy of Louis
de Maele Stirs up strife between Bruges and Ghent John
Yoeus and Gilbert Mahieu Adoption of the white hoods
Murder of the Count's bailiff at Ghent Wreckage of the
Count's chateau at Wondelghem.
TOWARDS the close of the summer of 1350, Philip
de Valois died at JSTogent-le-Boi. " His body," says
Froissart, "was buried at St. Denis, on the left hand
of the great altar; his bowels were interred at the
Jacobins in Paris, and his heart at the convent of the
Carthusians at Bourg-fontaines in Valois." He was
succeeded by his eldest son John, who was shortly
afterwards crowned at Rheims. The first public act
of the new monarch was to conclude an alliance with
Peter the Cruel, King of Castile, and the combined
fleets of France and Spain wrought great damage to
English commerce, capturing merchant vessels and
harassing the coast. Edward III. and the Prince of
Wales were cruising before Winchelsea, the King
amusing himself with a German dance- song lately
introduced by Sir John Chandos, when the look-out
IT. xiv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 207
man at the masthead cried out : " Ho, I spy a ship,
and it seems to me to be a Spaniard." The minstrels
were speedily disposed of, for the whole Spanish fleet,
after refitting in the Zwyn, speedily hove in sight.
Although inferior to the enemy in every respect save
courage, the King resolved to give battle. Drinking a
draught of wine, Edward and his knights fixed their
helmets on their heads, and made themselves ready.
The engagement was brief, but hotly contested on both
sides. Never were the King and the prince in greater
personal danger. In the end, however, they captured
fourteen big ships, and the Spaniards fled to the
friendly shelter of the coast of Flanders, for Louis de
Maele, notwithstanding the truce and in spite of the
remonstrances of the Communes, had again joined the
enemies of England. His character, indeed, was
eminently variable, inconsequent, and perfidious ; but,
on the other hand, it must not be forgotten that, from
the feudal point of view, he had much reason to com-
plain of the independent and unstable disposition
manifested by the Communes. They were willing to
recognise his prerogatives as their lord, but only on
conditions which reduced his authority to the mere
shadow of seignorial power. They had renounced
their allegiance to their overlord, and sought to compel
him also by some means or another to transfer his
fealty from the actual King of France to a pretender
to that title. Now, Louis de Maele was thoroughly a
Frenchman by birth, education, and life-long associa-
tions, while he looked upon Edward III. as the CHUM-
of his father's death at Cre*cy. Besides, the struggle
between the democracy and the ancient nobility was
208 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ART EV ELD. [IT. iv.
"becoming greatly embittered on both sides. The Com-
munes remembered with scarcely suppressed indigna-
tion the wrongs and contumely they had suffered
through so many t generations at the hands of the
nobles, while the latter had not yet learned to respect,
or to fear, those whom they had been brought up to
regard as immeasurably their inferiors, and whose
mission it was to tremble and obey.
The naval victory over the Spaniards gained by the
English fleet was hailed by the Flemings with every
demonstration of public joy. They renewed their
assurances of unalterable attachment to the English
sovereign, who wrote a letter to the citizens of Ghent,
dated the 20th May, 1351, promising to forgive them
their recent backslidings in virtue of their former good
services, and to restore to them his favour, trusting
to their praiseworthy conduct in the future. Taking
advantage of the unsettled state of affairs in France,
Edward III. commissioned the Duke of Lancaster to
organize a European league against King John, begin-
ning with Flanders. The Duke was instructed to
propose to Louis de Maele that his only daughter
Margaret, then in the fifteenth month of her age,
should be affianced to one of the English princes, and
that a subsidy should be granted to the King of Eng-
land to enable him to invade France in concert with
the communal militia.
It must be confessed that John was quite unworthy
to wear a crown. He began by falsifying the currency,
and dissipated the public treasures on frivolous pleasures
and pursuits. His necessities compelled him to convoke
the States of the Provinces in the hope of obtaining a
OH. xiv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 20
grant of money, though with little success, for he
was met by murmurs from all sides. The com-
monalty wanted only a leader, and him they found
in a youth barely twenty years ol age, but daring,
eloquent, and popular, in Charles the Bad, King
of Navarre, and grandson, by the mother's side,
of Louis le Hutin. This prince proceeded to Ypres
to negotiate with the Flemish Communes and with
Edward's representative, Stephen of Kensington,
who, on the 18th August, 1351, engaged in that
monarch's name to bestow upon him the counties of
Champagne and Brie, with the city of Amiens, the
King reserving to himself " the Crown and the sur-
plus of the kingdom of France."
The Duke of Lancaster in the meanwhile had
induced Queen Philippa's sister, the Countess of
Hainault, to place her resources at the disposal
of her royal brother-in-law, and it was even re-
ported that she intended to abdicate in his favour.
King John, however, had not been totally neglect-
ful of his own interests. By a secret treaty, dated
from Fontainebleau, July 24th, 1351, he promised
Louis de Maele lands situated within his own
county yielding a yearly income of 10,000 livres.
He also undertook to defend his frontiers against
Edward III., and to furnish him with 200 men-at-
arms to garrison Gravelines, and with the means to
pay one thousand more. In the event of the Count
deeming it necessary to proceed against the Communes
with severity, the King engaged to waive all claim
to any share in confiscated property ; while, on the
other hand, should he judge it more expedient to
210 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN ART EV ELD. [IT. iv.
adopt conciliatory measures and to pledge himself to
the recover}' of the three bailiwicks which had con-
stituted the dowry of Margaret of France, consort of
Louis de Crecy, Jbhn agreed to offer no opposition.
Two months afterwards the Count broke off his nego-
tiations with Edward III., and on the 4th October
banished for life from Bruges 380 citizens accused of
having held communications with the English envoys.
A few days later he set out for Paris to do homage to
his overlord, John de Valois.
During the absence of the Count the magistrates of
the three good towns executed an act of justice with
a high hand. In the year 1328, at the time of the
destruction of the Flemish patriots at Cassel, Joseph
d'Halewyn, lord of Espierres, and his brother Walter,
forsook the cause of the Communes and went over to
the French. Their treachery was punished by the
men of Courtrai, who committed to the flames his
castle at Espierre ; but in those days one act of vio-
lence was promptly followed by another, by way of
reprisal. Accordingly, no long time elapsed before
Joseph d'Halewyn swooped down upon the territory
of Courtrai and carried off much booty ; and in the
following year his brother "Walter wellnigh exter-
minated the clothmakers of Ypres. Emboldened by
impunity these two lords fixed no bounds to their
cruelty. They arrested and held to ransom peaceful
traders and travellers, and in pure wantonness mal-
treated the very priests. One day a peasant from
Menin presented himself before the magistrates of
Courtrai, and deposed, that on the previous night the
Sire d'Espierres had broken open the doors and shutters
A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 211
of his house, and had caused him, only half-dressed,
to be seized and wounded, and had only released him
after payment of a certain sum of money. The
matter was laid before the magistrates of the three
good towns, who summoned the two brothers to
appear before them and clear themselves of the serious
charges that had been alleged against them. Their
messenger, however, was beaten and forced to swallow
fthe summons of which he had been the bearer. A
few days barely elapsed before the two knights were
arrested, brought to trial, and publicly beheaded in
the market-place of Courtrai. This act of justice was
succeeded by an outrage. As the magistrates of
Ghent were on their way home, and had reached the
village of Yyve-Saint-Bavon, they were suddenly
attacked and murdered by a party of Leliaerds under
Gerard de Steenhuyze. An expiatory chapel was
subsequently erected on the spot. These tidings has-
tened the return of Louis de Maele, who entered
Ghent at the head of his armed retainers, and pre-
ceded by his banner. The weavers had collected in
the market-place, and, with loud outcries, demanded
the suppression of the burdens which had illegally
been imposed upon them. They were answered by
blows, and the open square was once more stained
with blood.
Again did the Duke of Lancaster, in the name of
his royal master, endeavour to open negotiations with
Louis de Maele. In that direction his success was
small, but in the embrasure of a certain window at
Damme he held a long and secret conversation with
ilie chancellor of the King of Navarre, who had jour-
212 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv.
neyed to Bruges to raise money on the crown jewels.
As Charles the Bad possessed large estates in Nor-
mandy, it was in his power to open to the English a
way into France, Vand to that extent his enmity was
dangerous. King John, however, attached more im-
portance to the friendship of the Count of Flanders,
whom he sought to attach to the royal family of
France by arranging the union of Margaret of Maele-
with the young Duke of Burgundy, whose mother he
himself had lately married. He was also resolved to>
win the Communes from their alliance with England.
"With this view he renounced for himself and his suc-
cessors for ever the power of excommunication, and
this renunciation was ratified by a bull of Innocent V I. y
who formally revoked the licences granted by three
of his predecessors. The Communes appear to have
met these friendly overtures more than halfway, and
to have sensibly cooled in their attachment to Edward
III. In his own kingdom, however, fortune was un-
propitious to John de Valois. Notwithstanding the
general destitution of his subjects he found himself
under the necessity of imposing the galeUc, or tax
upon salt, and likewise a tax upon incomes, taking
one hundred livres per annum as the minimum.
But money was not alone wanting. The spirit of the
nation had deteriorated since the battle of Crecy to a
lamentable extent. That defeat was rather a mis-
fortune than a disgrace, for the knights and nobles
fell fighting to the last. It was otherwise at Poitiers,
where, on the 19th September, 1356, the King him-
self and his youngest son, as well as many lords and
knights of high degree, with 2000 men-at-arms, sur-
<-H. xiv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 213
rendered their swords to a handful of way-worn and
famishing Englishmen.
The death of James van Arteveld has been com-
monly attributed in the first instant to the Duke of
Brabant, who, in his anxiety to obtain for his daughter
the honour of being united in marriage to the future
Count of Flanders, had stirred up the craftsmen of
Ghent to murder their benefactor. His chief instru-
ment is said to have been Gerard Denys, whose base
(temperament was troubled with the remembrance of
the numerous obligations under which he had been
laid by the object of his miserable envy. Had he
remained contented with the subordinate position
which alone he was qualified to fill, the clear head,
stout heart, and strong hand of Van Arteveld might
have been trusted to counteract alike the intrigues
and the violence of Louis de Maele, and the deke n of
the cloth makers might have enjoyed many years of
happiness, and at length have died tranquilly in the
midst of his family and friends. As it was, he fell
beneath the weapons of the Count's adherents only
three years after the death of his victim. Neither
Jiad the Duke of Brabant much reason to boast of his
success in marrying his daughter to Louis de Maele.
The lady herself was confined in the dungeon of the
Count's chateau for having caused the death of a
rival,* but it is probable that the actual cause of
* Tradition, as revived by the late M. Delcpierrc, relates how,
in the Count's absence, Margaret of Hrabant caused a peasant girl,
.nuiiifil hose Hurcliarl, who, without being aware of her lover's
name and rank, was not far from her confinement, to be carried off
by night from her father's cottage, placed in a damp cell, and there
214 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv.
hostilities was the duke's refusal to pay Margaret's
dower. The Flemish burghers, who had not yet for-
gotten the assistance rendered by the Brabant knights-
in starving out thV towns of Ghent and Ypres, eagerly
flocked to the Count's banner, and completely routed
the army of the duke, who fled into Germany, aban-
doning his territory and towns to the victor. Peace
was finally concluded on the 4th June, 1357, through
the intervention of the Count of Hainault. Mechlin
and Antwerp were ceded to Flanders in lieu of the
promised dowry, and the good towns of Brabant were
pledged to aid the Count in his military expeditions
with twenty-five men-at-arms for the space of six
weeks, while the nobility likewise engaged to send,
him two knights and two banners.
It is to the credit of Louis de Maele that he never
wavered in his allegiance to the King of France.
He is even said to have agreed to join a small band
of French nobles who had planned the deliverance of
John, though nothing came of it. By the peace of
Bretigny in 1360, Edward III. pledged himself to-
meddle no further with the Flemings provided the
King of France equally withdrew all aid from the
Scotch. The staple of wool had already been taken
away from Bruges and established in Westminster,
but not unmindful of the steadfast friendship of James
deprived of her nose and lips. A few days later the poor girl died
in the delirium of fever. On the Count's return from France, her
father complained to him of his daughter's violent abduction, and
the horrible story was brought to light. The Countess is reported
to have perished in a loathsome dungeon, destitute of window or fire-
place, and ventilated only by a small opening, through which her
daily portion of bread and water was passed to her.
![. xiv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 15
van Arteveld the English monarch stipulated that,
before he set his royal prisoner at liberty, the Count
of Flanders should recal from banishment John
and James, the two younger soi^s of his murdered
"gossip." When Edward III. arrived in Calais
with King John, Louis de Maele suddenly made his
appearance on the 12th October, 1360, and bravely
knelt before his own sovereign alone, though still a
captive.
In the following year, in the month of July,
Margaret of Flanders was married at Oudenaerd, in
the twelfth year of her age, to Philip of Burgundy,
who died four months afterwards at Rouvre. The
duchy passed on his decease to the Crown of France,
but the hand of the heiress to the County of Flanders
was not the less coveted by Edward III. for his son
Edmund, Earl of Cambridge. The proposition was
at first scornfully rejected by the Count, but after the
death of King John he felt less secure of his ability to
make head against the Communes, who clamoured for
the alliance. An agreement was finally sealed and
ratified at Dover, on the 19th October, 1364, by
which it was arranged that the marriage should be
celebrated at Bruges, on the Tuesday following the next
festival of Candlemas. The King of England undertook
to settle upon his son the counties of Ponthieu and
Guines, the lands of Marc, the castle of Calais, and all
the rights possessed by the Queen over the counties of
Ilainault, Holland, Zealand, and the lordship of Fries-
land, besides an annual income of 6000 francs derived
from landed estates. In addition to all this, the sum of
100,000 francs was to be paid to Louis de Maele. A
216 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. iv.
pontifical dispensation by reason of closeness of con-
sanguinity was, however, necessary, and on that rock
the negotiation was completely wrecked. Charles V.
exercised more influence than Edward III. at Avignon,
and at last prevailed upon Urban V. to refuse the
requisite dispensation. Not the less did Edward
strive to renew his old relations with the Communes,
and he evinced his sincerity by establishing a wool-
staple at Calais, as more convenient to them than at
Westminster.
It was, however, from the French King that
Flanders was led to expect the greatest advantages.
Charles Y. had formed the design of obtaining
Flanders for his brother Philip, Duke of Burgundy
afterwards known as Philip the Bold by marrying
him to Margaret. To gain the good will of the Com-
munes he engaged to restore the three bailiwicks of
Lille, Douai, and Orchies as a substitute for the ten
thousand livres a year promised to Louis do Maele
and his successors in 1351, as well as the towns of
Peronne, Crevecoour, Arleux, and Chateau-Chinon,
assigned to him in 1358. It is stated that while
Charles V. pledged himself to make these restitutions
" en bonne foy et loyalte et parolle de roy, sans
fraude," he had stipulated with his brother that they
should be returned to him on the death of Louis de
Maele, and also that the power to issue ecclesiastical
censures should again be a prerogative of the French
crown. But, to the general surprise, the Count of
Flanders refused to confirm this arrangement, though
offered 200,000 francs to do with as he pleased. Nor
did he relax his opposition until his mother, Margaret,
A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 217
daughter of Philip the Long, threatened to disown
him by cutting off the breast at which he had been
suckled, and to bequeath to another the county of
Artois. To such arguments, especially the latter,
Louis de Maele had nothing to reply, and accordingly
set his seal to the articles of marriage. On the 13th
May, 1369, the " Lion of Flanders" once more floated,
after an interval of half a century, over the walls of
Lille, Douai, and Orchies, and at the same time Flemish
garrisons marched into St. Omer, Aire, Bethune, and
Hesdin. The marriage ceremony took place at
Ghent on the 19th June, but the liberality of the
bridegroom reduced him in a few days to the necessity
of borrowing money from three Bruges merchants, and
on the 29th of that month he proceeded with his
youthful bride to Lens and thence to Paris.
In consequence of this marriage Edward III. de-
clared that all engagements he had entered into with
France had ceased and determined, and he found the
Communes quite ready to renew friendly relations
with England. A temporary misunderstanding, in-
deed, arose through a fleet of Flemish merchantmen,
laden with the wines of La Rochelle, which had put
in at Torbay, being mistaken for French ships, and
after a vigorous resistance, being all taken or des-
troyed. Suitable redress, however, was immediately
tendered and accepted, and amity was restored in the
spring of 1371. Negotiations were also set on foot to
bring about peace between the Kings of France and
England, but without much effect, though hostilities
were suspended from time to time. The truce of
Bruges was prolonged more than once, but expired in
218 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [IT. iv.
April, 1377, by which time both* the Black Prince
and his illustrious father, Edward III., had departed
from the scene of strife and martial glory.
War would ha\e been infinitely preferable to the
peace which prevailed in Flanders. The Count gave
himself up entirely to dissolute enjoyments. His time
was spent in the society of minstrels and other low
born favourites, or in playing with his dogs, his hawks,
and his monkeys. The evil example was naturally
copied by all who wished to stand well in his sight.
Nobles, dignitaries of the church, wealthy burghers, and
impoverished artisans, each, according to their means,
abandoned the serious pursuits of life, and addicted
themselves to pleasure and frivolity. Extravagance
in dress was practised by both men and women. The
dice were invoked to repair the breaches made by
reckless expenditure, and augmented the dilapidation
of estates and capital. The poor entered into rivalry
with the rich, and these set no limits to their profusion.
Peasants and artisans alike were ground down to the
dust, to furnish their lords and employers with the
means of gratifying their sumptuous tastes and uncon-
trolled passions.
Towards the latter end of May, 1379, the Count
proceeded to Ghent to preside over certain jousts
to which had been invited many noble and gallant
knights from Brabant, Holland, and France, and while
the preparations were in progress he announced a
new tax he was about to impose. Against this
* In this, the last year of the reign of Edward III., Geoffrey
Chaucer was sent to Flanders with Sir Thomas Percy, afterwards
Earl of Worcester, to obtain a prolongation of the trace with France.
CH. xiv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 219
fresh exaction a burgher of Ghent, named Goswiu
Mulaert, lifted up his voice and cried aloud : " The
taxes paid by the people must not be squandered
upon the follies of princes, and the keep of actors and
buffoons," and the other citizens applauded what he
had said. The Count thereupon returned to Bruges,
and to mark his resentment at the conduct of the
inhabitants of Ghent, promised to do everything in his
power for their rivals. These listened rather to the
dictates of their narrow-minded jealousy than to the
generous promptings of patriotism, and conceived the
infamous design of diverting the waters of the Lys by
a canal to the Reye, so that the wheat market of
Artois should be removed from Ghent to Bruges. It
was, of course, soon known in the former town that
something was being done to the prejudice of their
interests, though of its precise nature they were
ignorant until a woman, in a soiled garment and all
travel-stained, sat down beside the cross in the
market-place. Replying to various questioners she
said that she was on her way home from a pilgrimage
to the shrine of Our Lady at Boulogne, and that she
had seen five hundred Bruges diggers working day
and night to change the course of the Lys. Her
words naturally created great excitement. A general
outcry arose that such proceedings should not be
tolerated, and by common consent the people turned
for advice and guidance to a burgher of repute, named
John Yoens.
In former times there lived at Damme two wealthy
families named Piet and Baert, who were opposed to
one another in all things, until such a hatred arose
220 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv.
between them as is only possible in a small town, with
its narrow circle of backbiters, talebearers, and stirrers-
up of strife. Two branches of these ill-conditioned
houses became estafelished at Ghent ; to the one be-
longed John Yoens, to the other Gilbert Mahieu. The
ancient feud, however, seemed to have been forgotten
and put away. The Yoens and the Mahieus met at good
men's feasts, conversed together in a friendly manner,
and conducted themselves after a fashion becoming to
respectable and right-minded citizens. There is no
reason to suspect the sincerity of John Yoens, but
Gilbert Mahieu is described by Froissart as a man of
crafty devices, full of subtlety, and daring in enter-
prise. Determined to supplant Yoens in the favour
of the Count, by whom he was much cherished, and
through whose influence he had been appointed deken
of the mariners' guild, Mahieu remarked, as in a
casual manner, to one of the Count's chamberlains,
that nothing would be easier than to gather an income
of six to seven thousand florins a year, by imposing a
small duty upon the petty trade of the Scheldt and
the Lys. The chamberlain naturally repeated to the
Count what he had heard, and Mahieu was summoned
to his presence to explain his meaning. The latter
artfully threw upon Yoens the responsibility of accept-
ing or refusing this new impost, and the dcken, after
consulting the members of his craft, honestly endea-
voured to dissuade his lord from a measure certain to
be unpopular, and which was calculated to injure local
industry. Louis de Maele, however, was always
pressed for means to gratify his prodigality, and accord-
ingly disgraced his old adherent, John Yoens, and gave
rii. xiv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 221
his post to Gilbert Mahieu. The new impost was
levied, and a small sum of money was collected, but
the river trade was sensibly depressed, and great dis-
satisfaction prevailed among the inferior crafts. Yoens
held his peace and bided his time, nor had he to wait
very long.
The attempt made by the Bruges ditchers to divert
the channel of the Lys excited the inhabitants of
Ghent to the highest degree of indignation and dis-
may. In their trouble they betook themselves to
John Yoens, who, bethinking him of the example of
James van Arteveld, exhorted them to resume the
white hoods, as a symbol of union and fraternity. The
next step was to despatch a considerable body of
armed men, distinguished by these emblems, to put a
stop to the labours of the delvers. That operation was .
easily executed, for scarce any resistance was offered,
nor was the work ever again taken in hand. But as
the Ghent people were returning to their homes, one
of them seems to have fallen into the hands of the
Count's adherents, and was carried off to Eecloo. His
fellow- citizens demanded his release, but Roger de
Hauterive, the Count's bailiff, answered them roughly,
and threatened to deal in like manner with every one
who presumed to wear a hood. His reply was noised
abroad, and the burghers perceived that their fran-
chises were in danger of being set at naught. The
magistrates were, therefore, pressed to lay the matter
before the Count, and to obtain from him a satisfactory
recognition of their privileges. A certain number of
them immediately proceeded to Maele, and submitted
their complaints to the Count, who listened to them.
222 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv-
graciously, and promised ample redress, but required
of them, in their turn, that they should lay aside their
white hoods. Gilbert Mahieu was one of those who
waited upon the Count on this occasion, and may very
likely have prompted the Count's answer, being con-
scious that he could work no further harm to his rival
so long as he was supported and surrounded by the
wearers of the witte caproenen. He is said at least to
have uttered a somewhat cynical remark that some of
those who now wore hoods would soon have no heads
to put into them " tels les portent maintenant qui
temprement n'auront que faire des chaperons."
John Yoens saw through the duplicity of the
Count and his counsellor, and with great earnestness
impressed upon his fellow-citizens the fatal conse-
quences of yielding to such suggestions. The sound-
ness of his advice was soon demonstrated. Roger
de Hauterive, acting upon the Count's instructions,
entered Ghent at the head of two hundred horse-
men, and penetrated to the corn market, where
lie was joined by Mahieu and his followers. The
other party, however, were on their guard. Yoens
had received timely intimation of the coming danger,
and had warned the White Hoods to hold them-
selves in readiness for sudden action. The signal,
therefore, was no sooner given than they hastened
to his house, their appointed rendezvous, and as
soon as some four hundred had come together,
Yoens placed himself at their head, and led them
straight on to the Com Market. The Mahieu faction
fled from the place, and abandoned the bailiff to his
fate. A few daring men at once rushed at him, pulled
CH. xiv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 223
him off his horse, and murdered him. His adherents,
terrified by the boldness of the assault, broke and fled
in all directions, consulting only their own safety.
The Count's banner was dragged through the dirt, and
torn to rags ; and on that day, September 5th, 1376,
John Yoens was the master of Ghent. He is, of
course, painted by Froissart in the blackest colours, as
a revengeful and disappointed man, a mob orator and
tribune of the populace a bad copy, in short, of
James van Arteveld. That, however, is not the
character ascribed to him by impartial writers and
historical critics of modern times, who agree in
representing him as a prudent, sagacious citizen, loyal
to the Count so long as the municipal rights of the
Communes were properly respected. The death of
Roger de Hauterive must not be laid at his door. The
incident was occasioned by a blind access of fear and
fury. His followers got out of hand, and the bailiff
was a dead man before their leader could have inter-
posed to save him.
It was at the suggestion of Yoens that the magis-
trates deputed twelve of the most influential burghers
to proceed to Maele, to intreat the Count to forgive the
murder of his bailiff. This mission was on the point
of complete success when Louis received tidings which
drove him well-nigh mad with rage. If we adopt
Froissart's narrative and he may have been correctly
informed on this point Yoens had distrusted the
Count's leniency, and feared that he might delude tho
deputation with unmeaning promises, and in the mean-
while secretly despatch a force to surprise Ghent. Ho
therefore prevailed upon a body of nine to ten
224 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELI). [PT. iv.
thousand men to accompany him to a point that com-
manded the road from Bruges. Unfortunately, Louis'
favourite country seat, the Chateau de Wondelghem,
was within an easy^iistance from that spot, and it came
to be reported that large stores of provisions and warlike
munitions were hidden away in the cellars, which might
at some future time be used to their prejudice. The
house was accordingly ransacked, and suddenly flames
burst out, and utterly consumed it. It was estimated
to have cost 200,000 francs, a very large sum in those
days, and it was greatly affected by the Count.
"When, therefore, he heard of its destruction, he raged
furiously against the deputies, and declared that if he
had not given them a safe-conduct, he would strike off
their heads. As it was, they might return to them
who sent them, and say that they must expect neither
peace nor mercy. With that message ringing in their
ears, they were driven out from the Count's presence.
CHAPTER XV.
Alliance between Bruges and Ghent Death of John Yoens Com-
munal Militia besiege Oudenaerd Mediation of the Duke of
Burgundy A "double-faced" peace Count's reception at
Ghent Eaises army of mercenaries Barbarous outrage Sur-
prise of Oudenaerd Kenewal of hostilities Ghent militia
repulsed at Bruges Fatal ambush The Count's severity at
Ypres Siege of Ghent The Count grants an amnesty-
Attacks and defeats a detachment of Ghent militia at Nevele
Capture of Grarnmont by Walter d'Enghien^His death.
Louis BE MAELE then proceeded to Lille, and
concerted ulterior measures with the leading men of
his party. Nor was Yoens inactive. Whilst the
Count was occupied in reinforcing the garrisons of
Courtrai, Oudenaerd, Dendermonde, Alost, and a few
other places, the Captain of Ghent visited in person
several of the adjacent towns, and strove to revive the
League, or Federation, accomplished by James van
Arteveld. He was aware, however, that nothing
could be done without the co-operation of Bruges, and
in that sense he harangued his fellow- citizens to such
good purpose that an expedition was fitted out to win
over that town by fair means or foul. Some ten
thousand men of Ghent thus arrived within sight of
the ramparts of Bruges, and a few of their leaders
boldly walked up to the gate to parley with the towns-
men. The guard sent for the burgomaster and magis-
226 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv.
trates, by which time Yoens himself appeared upon
the scene. Assured that they had nothing to fear
unless, by opposition, they brought mischief upon
themselves, the Bulges people threw open the gate,
through which the Ghent militia denied in admirable
order, and were conducted to the Grande Place. The
most cordial relations were speedily established. The
citizens of Bruges welcomed the Ghent burghers as
friends and kinsfolk, and the latter paid liberally for
whatever they required to purchase.
From Bruges Yoens repaired to Damme, the head-
quarters of the Mahieu faction. He was welcomed in
the most demonstrative manner, but, after a joyous
supper "avecques damoiselles de la ville," his body
became suddenly swollen, and he was placed in a litter
in which to be carried back to Ghent. He died, how
ever, on the journey, under strong suspicion of poison,
to the great regret of his fellow-townsmen. His body
was conveyed into the town with great reverence, and
was finally buried in the church of St. Nicholas. The
Leliaerds, on their part, did not affect to disguise their
joy at the removal of their formidable opponent,
though, in truth, nothing for a time was changed,
except that Ghent had lost an honoured citizen. Four
new captains were elected Peter van den Bossche,
John Pruneel, John Bolle, and Rasse d'Herzeele, who
swore to maintain the liberties of the Commune.
Peter van den Bossche assumed, or was appointed to,
the leadership, and in that capacity marched at the
head of twelve thousand men towards Deynze and
Courtrai, in both of which towns he was welcomed
with acclamations. Ypres was the next place to join
CH. xv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 227
the league, and when the Count was informed of its
defection, he is said to have exclaimed, " If we have
lost Ypres this time, we shall recover it another time
to their evil mischance, for I will cause so many heads
to be struck off there and elsewhere that the others
will be astonished."
In the meanwhile Louis applied himself to forti-
fying and garrisoning Oudenaerd, which commanded
the navigation of the Scheldt and dominated
Flanders. Upwards of eight hundred lances, re-
presenting the chivalry of Flanders, Hainault, and
Artois, undertook to hold the place against all comers,
.and looked forward to winning much distinction in the
defence of the place. By the 15th October, 1379, a
hundred thousand armed men belonging to the com-
munal militia of Flanders were encamped on the rich
meadows that surround the town. To deaden the
impact of the cannon balls which were poured into the
place, the citizens covered their houses with earth,
which also diminished the risk of a conflagration. On
both sides many gallant feats of arms were performed,
but in the end the beleaguered knights and their
retainers began to suffer from supplies running short.
Anticipating such a result, the Count was willing to
listen to any reasonable overtures, and was accordingly
much rejoiced when his mother, Margaret of Artois,
urged the Duke of Burgundy to mediate between Louis
and his rebellious subjects, if at least he ever expected
to succeed to his heritage. The Duke at once adopted
the most prudent measures to bring about a cessation
of hostilities, and after much hesitation on the part of
the Communes, he at last induced their deputies to
223 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. iv,
partake of a grand banquet, at which terms of peace
were signed on both sides. The Count was pledged
to grant an amnesty to all his subjects without any
sort of mental reservation. He promised to respect
and maintain all charters and privileges which were-
in force at his accession to the county. He agreed
that whosoever had incurred the displeasure or distrust
of the Communes should be compelled to submit to a
judicial inquiry into their conduct ; and in like manner
with his bailiffs and guardians of castle wicks. In
return for these concessions, the people of Ghent seem,
to have undertaken to rebuild within twelve months-
the Chateau de Wondelghem, "which report said they
had burnt."
This agreement was ratified by the Count at Malines
on the 1st December, 1379, and he further promised
to reside for a while in the town of Ghent to prove
that he bore no malice for their past misdeeds. On
their part they forbore to demolish the fortifications of
Oudenaerd, and their representative, John Pruneel,
was magnificently entertained at Tournai by the Duke
of Burgundy. The Count thereupon dismissed his-
adherents, and the communal militia returned to their
respective homes. Nevertheless, the peace was gene-
rally and justly spoken of as " double faced," and it
was safely predicted that it would not be of long
duration. Neither, indeed, did Louis make any secret
of his intention to adhere to his engagements only so
far as it might be convenient to himself. Instead of
fixing his residence in Ghent, as he had agreed to do,
he declared that he would not enter that town until
the principal ringleaders of the rebellion were de-
.CH. xv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. >j
livercd up to him. He even reproached the Bruges
people with having allied themselves with his enemies ;
but, not wishing to alienate them altogether, he
accepted their excuse that " the sfiiall handicrafts of
the town " had got the mastery over them, and forced
them to do their bidding. He also judged it expe-
dient not to go too far with the men of Ghent. The
magistrates had deputed twenty-four burghers of good
repute to remind him of his promise, but they had
journeyed little further than Deynze when they heard
that he was already close at hand. Dividing into two
lines, they formed a lane through which the Count
and his knights rode superciliously. Notwithstanding
their lowly obeisance and abject reverence, he scarcely
deigned to notice them beyond slightly touching his
-cap. At Deynze the Count stopped to dinner. While
he was still seated at table, the deputies entered the
room and threw themselves on their knees before him,
assuring him of the affection to his person borne by
the inhabitants of Ghent, who had warned them that
they need not think of returning unless they brought
back their Count with them. The Count sternly
recapitulated all the misdoings of their fellow-towns-
men, which, he said, he would gladly forget if he
.could, but he could not. They then reminded him
that he had given his word to condone the past, which
lie acknowledged, and, rising up, called for wine, which
was handed round to the deputies.
On the morrow they all rode together to Ghent, and
were met by a vast concourse of the wealthier citixcns
on horseback, who had gone forth to do honour to
their Count. But he would hardly look at them, and
230 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [IT. iv,
merely inclined his head from time to time. In this-
way he arrived at his house called " The Postern,"
which had been considerably damaged at the time that
the Chateau de "VV'bndelghem was burnt down. He
there told the magistrates that he purposed to keep
the peace, but that he insisted upon the suppression of
the White Hoods. He further demanded compensa-
tion, or blood money, on behalf of the family of his
murdered bailiff, Roger de Hauterive. The next
morning the Count rode into the Friday market-place-
at an early hour, and found it already filled with
White Hoods, a sight that filled him with apprehen-
sion as well as with anger. Dismounting from his
horse, he appeared on a balcony handsomely hung
with crimson cloth, and spoke at great length and
with much force and dignity. He was listened to with
respectful silence until he expressed his aversion for
the white hoods, and desired that they might be worn
no more. Then murmurs arose on all sides, in the
midst of which he remounted his horse and rode to his-
house, remarking on the way that he feared he would
never get the better of those White Hoods, a wicked
and accursed race. Three days later he was on the
road to Paris, where his mother had undertaken to-
effect a reconciliation between him and Charles V. r
surnamed The Wise.
The Count remained but a short time in the French
capital, and was soon once more on the Flemish
frontiers, where he engaged a large army of merce-
naries. Emboldened by these proceedings the Leliaerds
adopted red hoods and embroidered their robes with
fleurs-de-lis, while the Klauwaerds, with equal childish-
en. xv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 231
ness, worked into their surcoats three lion's claws.
Hostilities commenced with a horrible outrage. To
avenge the death of the Bailiff of Ghent, some
knights, headed by Oliver de HcJhterive, seized forty
or fifty vessels on the Scheldt, and put out the eyes of
the mariners, whom they sent in this miserable con-
dition to Ghent. The horrible spectacle filled the
citizens with pity and indignation. Froissart expresses
his astonishment that they should have dissembled
towards their Count, and affected attachment whilst
they were ever thinking how they could exercise their
wicked and rebellious spirit. On this occasion, they
surely did well to be angry, and the old chronicler
admits that they cared little about personal disputes,
but were so steadfastly united on the point of main-
taining their franchises that they endured a seven
years' war without flinching, and for the whole of
that period put aside all private quarrels and
jealousies. John Pruneel, the captain of the city,
lost no time in striking a counter blow. Collecting in
haste a small body of White Hoods he marched upon
Oudenaerd, and surprised the garrison while engaged
in the sports and pastimes incidental to mid-Lent.
Two gates and a portion of the curtain facing the
Ghent road were partially demolished, but through
the treacherous intervention of three rich burghers,
Simon Bette, Gilbert de Gruutere, and John van der
Zichele, who secretly belonged to the Leliaerd
faction, Pruneel and his companions were recalled on
the 12th March, 1380. No sooner had they evacuated
Oudenaerd than the fortifications were restored, iind
a better look-out maintained for the future. Tho
232 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAX ARTEVELl). [IT. iv.
knights who had so cruelly ill-used the mariners
were banished from Flanders, a sentence which was
extended to John Pruneel on the ground that he had
engaged in hostilities before war was declared. One
of the caitiff knights Sir Philip de Masmiiics sought
to fix his abode at Valenciennes, but was driven
out by the Communal authorities. A worse fate
awaited Pruneel. Ho had retired to Ath in Bra-
bant, where he was seized by some men-at-arms
with the Duke's connivance, if we may believe Froissart
and carried off to Lille, where by the Count's orders
he was beheaded.
Hostile operations now began in good earnest. On
the 7th April Louis de Maele crossed the Lys, and
with wanton cruelty put to death the peasants whom
he found working in the fields, to prevent them from
conveying tidings of his approach to the inhabitants
of Ypres, as though the same end would not have
been gained by making prisoners of them for a time.
He did, however, march into Ypres before any danger
was apprehended, and it is stated that he slew seven
hundred of the unresisting citizens before he returned
to Lille, to await the arrival of the mercenary bauds
from Germany, Burgundy, and Picardy. The Ghent
militia, under their captains, Peter van den Bossche,
John Bolle, Arnold Declercq, Peter de Wintere, John
de Lannoy, and liasse d'Herzeele, immediately took
the field and destroyed the chateaux of the Count's
partisans for many a league round the town. On their
part the Leliaerds raised the Count's banner and
ranged themselves under Gerard de Steenhuyze,
the avenger of \Valter d'Halewyn, Herve d'Antoing
en. xv.J A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 233
and Walter d'Enghien, great grandson of Hobert de
Bethune, a fiery youth impatient to win his spurs and
entertaining an arrogant contempt for civic corpora-
tions and their militia. The first struggle took place
at Ypres, where the union of the minor crafts with
the weavers and fullers was fatal to the Leliaerds.
Bruges was the next to declare for the common cause,
but an untoward incident occurred, which might have
proved very disastrous to that town. Confiding in
the loyalty of the Bruges people, a small party of the
men of Ghent entered the place as allies, but were
unexpectedly assailed on all sides by the Leliaerds,
who circulated a rumour that the Commune of Ghent
had resolved to destroy Bruges entirely, to do away,
once for all, with any further rivalry. Overpowered
by numbers, the Ghent detachment was forced to
retire, leaving behind them their dead and wounded
comrades, and early in June the Count appeared in the
market-place at Bruges, and congratulated the towns-
men on their victory. But, for their part, they were
so alarmed on hearing that the Ghent militia were at
hand, after having recovered Dendermonde, that they
constrained the Count to sue for peace, which was
concluded on the 19th June, and broken on the 8th
August, 1380.
The weavers of Bruges appealed for succour to their
brother-craftsmen throughout Flanders. The Count
had laid a heavy hand upon them, for having taken
the part of the Ghent men who were so disloyally
driven out of the town on the 13th May. He was
then at Dixmude, whither he had gone to rally the
population of the Franc, envious of the .superior
234 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv.
prosperity of the great towns. The magistrates of
Ypres, divining that the storm would burst in the first
instance over their town, despatched a body of armed
men to form a carfip at Woumen to check the progress
of the Leliacrds, while another detachment, co-operat-
ing with the Ghent militia, should intercept the
Bruges Leliaerds who had taken the road to Dixmude.
Peter van den Bossche was known to have left Ghent
with about 9,000 men, and in order to effect a junc-
tion with him John Bolle and Arnold Declercq, who
had four to five thousand men under their joint com-
mand, hastened from Ypres in company with a strong
contingent of the militia of that town. Coming to two
cross-roads the leaders had a difference of opinion, but
John Bolle carried the point, and after a weary and
disorderly march of two leagues or thereabout his
party fell into an ambush, the enemy being also
numerically superior. The cry, " We are betrayed J>
went up as it always does when men are led by over-
weening confidence in themselves to become involved
in difficulties which might easily have been foreseen.
" No people," says Froissart, " ever made so poor a
defence as these did : they saved themselves as fast as
they could, some returning to Ypres, others flying
over the fields, without any sort of order." Had the
men in ambush followed up their victory, scarce a
single citizen of Ghent or Ypres would have seen the
sun go down. As it was, no fewer than 2,400 men,
equally divided between the two contingents, are
believed to have perished. The survivors were finally
rescued by Peter van den Bossche, but, as the run-
aways were in no heart to renew the combat, it was
CH. xv.J A TROUBLED INTERLUDE.
judged more prudent to fall back upon Courtrai.
John Bolle, conscious of his innocence, returned to
Ghent, where he was accused of treason, dragged out
of his house into the street, and literally torn to pieces,
the townsmen disputing with one another for morsels
of his quivering flesh.
The camp at Woumen was incontinently broken
up, and the Count entered Ypres without striking a
blow. He had promised to deal mercifully with the
insurgents, but his first step was to arrest and place in
fetters three hundred of the most notable burghers.
Seven hundred members of the weavers' guild were
next beheaded, and the same sentence was executed
on fourteen hundred citizens who had been carried oft'
to Bruges, while four hundred were banished to Douai
and Orchies. The most troublesome quarter of the
town was then set on fire, and in this manner Louis
de Maele thought to win the love and obedience of
his subjects. Awed by this terrible example, Courtrai
submitted while he was yet afar off, but had neverthe-
less to give up three hundred hostages, men of local
influence and consideration.
On the 2nd September the Count sat down before
Ghent, at the head of a truly formidable army. He
was unable, however, to effect a complete investment
of the place, or to prevent the arrival of reinforce-
ments and convoys. The Communes of Brabant
resolutely refused to have a hand in destroying the
liberties of a town that had made so many and such
great sacrifices for the common advantage. Frum
Liege came words of sympathy and encouragement,
and if it be true, as Froissart affirms, that Ghent con-
23<> JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [I>T. iv.
tained eighty thousand men fit to bear arms, it can
hardly be said that their case was at all desperate.
Besides, on two sides which were bound by the
Scheldt and Lys Vhat is, towards Brussels and the
country of the Quatre Metiers, then belonging to the
Bishop of Utrecht it was impossible to blockade the
town, which was thus continually fresh provisioned.
Several attempts made to get possession of Langer-
brugge.or Lougpont, were repulsed by Van den Bossche,
nor did better fortune crown the skirmishes and
assaults by which the Count hoped to wear out the
patience of the townspeople though on one occasion,
October 23rd, 1-380, Arnold Declercq was surrounded
and slain, together with a considerable number of
citizens. On the other hand, Gerard de Steenhuyse
was taken and put to death in remembrance of his
former cruelties, and several of the smaller towns
opened their gates to James van der Beerst and a
party of Klauwaerds from Ypres. Despairing of
success Louis de Maele offered an entire amnesty for
all past transgressions, and again pledged himself to
respect the franchises of the Communes of Flanders.
Peace was concluded, and the siege raised on the
llth .November, 1380.
The Count's insincerity was, however, manifested in
the instructions he gave to Walter d'Enghien, the last
Duke of Athens, to garrison Oudenaerd with a strong
force, including two hundred English archers, " on
whom great dependence was placed " for during the
reign of the feeble Richard II., the old relations
between England and the " good towns " had become
changed for the worse. Skirmishing went on through-
en. xv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. -j:',7
out the winter season, as though the Count and his
subjects were still at open war with one another, and
as soon as the roads were once more passable, Louis
de Maele set out from Bruges at Ahe head of twenty
thousand men with the avowed intention of breaking
the stubborn spirit of the Ghent burghers. A little
way from Nevele, he encountered a small force of
their militia under the gallant Rasse d'Herzeele * and.
John de Lannoy, who would have done wisely to have
deferred the contest until a junction could be effected
with a much larger body of their fellow-townsmen
commanded by Peter van den Bossche. The latter
was prevented by impracticable marshes from lending
any assistance, though he was not the less accused
afterwards of treachery by the Leliaerd burghers,
Gilbert de Gruutere and Simon Bette. The Count's
army consisted chiefly of his partisans from Bruges,
Ypres, Courtrai, Oudenaerd, and the Franc, and were
immensely superior in numbers to their adversaries.
The battle was nevertheless long doubtful, for Rasso
d'Herzeele was a doughty and experienced warrior,
and encouraged his men to fight valiantly. They
were, however, broken and routed, and fled in con-
fusion into the little town of Nevele. There they
partially rallied round the church and prepared to
defend themselves in the tower, which had been hastily
barricaded. But before they could reform their ranks
* After distinguishing himself as a courageous enemy of the
Leliacnls, his sou refused to follow Philip van Art.-vi-M to
Koosebeke, and joined Charles VI. and the Duke of Burgundy in
laying waste Fhinders in 1385. Jealousy of Francis Acker-man is
.supposed to have caused his defection from the popular party.
238 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. iv.
d'Herzeele was slain, and the Count's men lighted
a great fire in front of the church door. In a vain
endeavour to cut their way through, John de Lannoy
and his brave companions were nearly all put to the
sword.
Instead of following up his success, the Count
returned to Bruges, for his losses had been severe, and
he may well have doubted of his ability to reduce the
great and well-peopled city of Ghent, when a fraction
of its militia had given him so much trouble. The
magistrates of Ghent replied to the recent disaster by
equipping five armies, one of which recovered the town
of Grammont, though for a brief space. The spirited
young squire Walter d'Enghien hurriedly collected
some four thousand men, and carried Grammont by
storm, but stained his victory by atrocious cruelties.
He gave no quarter, and many old men, women, and
children perished in the flames of their burning home-
steads. A terrible reprisal awaited him. Louis de
Maele had again marched against Ghent, where he
was joined by the Duke of Athens, flushed with
victory. The daring spirit of this youth speedily led
him into an ambush, laid by the men of Grammont,
whose wives, parents, and children he had caused to
be massacred. Surrounded by pikes, he asked counsel
of Eustace de Montigny, a gallant knight. " Counsel ! "
replied the other, " it is too late for counsel. Let us
sell our lives as dearly as we can, for there is no
question here of ransom." Numbers prevailed over
knightly valour and prowess. The days of feudalism
were numbered. Burghers and artisans were becoming
more than a match for mail-clad warriors, their lords
<'H. xv.] A TROUBLED INTERLUDE. 239
and oppressors. Louis de Maele, who had been wont
to address Walter d'Enghien as " fail- son," instead of
more formally saluting him as "cousin," is said to
have shed tears over the untimely fate of the too
daring youth. The siege of Ghent was raised after
this melancholy event, and a suspension of arms was
arranged at Harlebeke through the good offices of
Albert of Bavaria, though the Count desired nothing
more than a little breathing time to enable him to
resume hostilities at a more convenient moment.*
* Froissart places the death of Walter d'Enghicu after the acces-
sion to power of Philip van Arteveld, but in this he was mistaken.
PAKT V.
PHILIP VAN ABTEVELD.
PAET V.
PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD.
CHAPTER XVI.
Van den Bossche Philip van Arteveld appointed Captain of the
City His antecedents and character Execution of two
Leliaerds Philip's proclamation Francis Ackennan obtains
supplies Duplicity of the Count Misery at Ghent Philip
van Arteveld counsels action Marches upon Bruges Rout of
Beverhoutsveld Louis de Maele's adventures and escape
Submission of Bruges Ghent revictualled.
ANARCHY reigned in Gheni The citizens were
-divided amongst themselves, not merely by the old
antagonism which separated the adherents of the
Communes from those of the Count, but by petty
jealousies between different guilds and crafts, and,
above all, by distrust of one another. The population
of Ghent had become utterly demoralised by the
scenes of violence they had, of late, so frequently
witnessed, and by the cruel sufferings they had so long
endured. Hope seemed to have abandoned them.
In their misery, looking back to the brief period of
prosperity that had brightened their youthful days,
old men recalled to mind the manly presence of the
valiant leader murdered by the people he had loved
so well, and were heard to murmur, " Ah, if James
244 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [rr. v,
van Arteveld were now alive things would not be in
this state, and we should have peace when it pleased
us." These words reached the ears of Peter van den
Bossche, who hatf many a time heard John Yoens
speak of the good old times when Van Arteveld was-
governor of the town. The suggestion was, therefore,
not lost upon him. There was a great meeting of
citizens on the 25th January, 1381, for the purpose of
choosing a successor to Giles de Meulenaire, Captain
of Ghent, who had been treacherously slain a few
weeks previously by some members of the Count's
faction. Several names were mentioned, but not one
commanded a sufficient number of suffrages to justify
his election to a post of such extreme peril and re-
sponsibility. At last, Yan den Bossche stepped forward
and, while acknowledging the merits of those who
had been proposed, declared that there was, neverthe-
less, one who had been passed over whose claims far
surpassed all the others. He referred to Philip van
Arteveld, who had been held at the font, in St. Peter's
Church, by the Queen of England, whilst his father
was warring against Tournai. He reminded his hearers-
that never had the town of Ghent and the country of
Flanders been so well governed as during the time
James van Arteveld was at the head of affairs. The
country, indeed, was at the point of ruin when he
came forward and restored it to prosperity. What
could they do better, then, than have recourse to the
issue of that valiant ruler? With one accord the
assembled multitude shouted that it should be so
they would have no other leader and they demanded
that he should be sent for. They were persuaded,
CH. xvi.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 243
however, to proceed in person to Philip van Arteveld's
house, and entreat him to he their governor. The
task was more difficult than they had imagined, for
Philip had not forgotten their 'ingratitude to his
father, nor does he appear to have been of an am-
bitious disposition. In the end, however, he con-
sented to do what they desired, and being straightway
conducted to the Town-hall, was at once sworn in as
chief Captain of Grhent.
tip to this date Philip van Arteveld appears to
liave led an obscure and tranquil life. He was
evidently a dreamer, and little fitted to cope with
stern realities. Whether or not he was, as reported,
addicted to angling in the Lys or the Scheldt, while
Tiis country and native town were in the throes of
dissolution, he was certainly more prone to habits of
quietude and seclusion than to frequenting " the busy
taunts of men," and taking an active interest in the
turmoil of public affairs. He is depicted as a tall,
handsome man, of pleasant address, and gifted with
much of his father's eloquence. He was also just and
equitable, and more ready to listen to the promptings
of mercy than was common in those times. Neither
was he devoid of courage, though less fond of martial
exercises than his illustrious father. His head, too, if
we may credit Froissart, was more easily affected by
the power and popularity which so suddenly passed
into his possession. He is represented as surrounding
himself with pomp and magnificence, and apeing the
semblance of royalty ; but it may well be that all this
was as much an invention of the enemy as the previous
fiction which portrayed his father as a man of plebeian
246 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [ir.Y,
origin, engaged in the business of one of the minor
crafts, and as seeking self-aggrandizement at the cost
of his country's loyalty and welfare. The ensuing
narrative will show that Philip van Arteveld was-
great neither as a general nor as a statesman. What-
ever greatness he had was thrust upon him chiefly
through the accident of his birth. It is true that for an
exceeding brief space he succeeded in rescuing Ghent
from imminent destruction, and also in raising it
to a degree of opulence and grandeur unattained even
under his father's abler administration ; but the glint
of sunshine was too speedily dimmed by a total eclipse-
in which the liberties of Flanders well-nigh perished,
and during which unutterable misery overwhelmed
the entire population. Philip van Arteveld, however,
was more unfortunate in his biographers than even his
greatly maligned predecessor. He was at least sus-
pected of being a Lollard at heart, while still
conforming to the rites of the established religion. It
may be that he was only a visionary, given to self-com-
muning, for which purpose his love of angling may have-
been assumed, and that he occasionally sought to fathom
ecclesiastical questions which were not intended to be-
plumbed by the laity. In any case, suspicions were-
entertained of his orthodoxy, a circumstance that would
suffice to prejudice against him the minds of writers in
any way connected with the Church. Impartiality was-
not to be expected from either the Canon of Chimay
or the monkish chronicler of the abbey of St. Denis-
whom M. do Lettenhove would identify with one-
George de Mare, or de Meire, a monk of that
abbey, and who also acted as secretary and notary to-
CH. xvi.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVEL1). 247
Charles VI. The numerous plagiarists of those con-
temporary chroniclers were only careful to exaggerate
and embellish the facts and fictions they found ready
made to their hands, and the falie bias given at the
start sent the bowl rolling on ever farther and farther
from the right line.
As in the old time, four other captains were nomi-
nated to co-operate with Philip van Arteveld, though
in a slightly subordinate capacity. They were named
Peter van den Bossche, Rasse van de Voorde, James
Derycke, and John d'Heyst. Fortunately, these were
all good men and true, and served loyally under their
new chief. Their tenure of office narrowly escaped
ending almost as soon as it began. On their return
from Harlebeke the two Leliaerd burghers, Simon Bette
and Gilbert de Gruutere, had found themselves in a
false position through the election of Van Arteveld
and his colleagues, but, with admirable courage, they
resolved to stake their lives upon a final appeal to
the people. Very likely, as Froissart affirms, they
and their friends went about among the minor crafts-
men, poisoning their minds against the" Communal
leaders, and exhorting them to submit themselves to
the clemency of their natural lord. Be that as it
might, an immense crowd gathered together in the
market-place to hear the message of peace they
brought from the Count. The messengers are credited
with very ingenious speeches in praise of the Count's
magnanimity, who was willing to pardon all their
manifold misdeeds and acts of rebellion, provided
they surrendered into his hands two hundred citi/cns
to be named by himself. The proposition was re-
248 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. v.
jected with scorn and indignation, as the Klauwaerds
were for the moment the dominant faction, and the
Count's representatives were arrested as traitors.
Froissart pretends tiiat they were stabbed to death on
the spot by Van den Bossche and Van Arteveld, but
there is reason to believe that they wore brought to
trial before the Communal magistrates, and, being
convicted, were publicly beheaded the one on the
2nd the other on the 4th February. A brother of
Gilbert Mahieu was executed at the same time.
Judged by the laws and usages of modern civiliza-
tion, these three men were not liable to death. Their
offence consisted in placing their oath of allegiance to
their Count above their loyalty to their fellow-towns-
men. It is true, Louis de Maele paid scanty respect
to the ancient privileges of the three good towns, and
would have cancelled the monopolies which gave them
an unfair advantage over his other subjects. On one
occasion, besides, his bailiff had arrested a burgess,
and had refused to surrender him to the local court of
justice. But surely these differences might have been
adjusted without recourse to arms, and in all proba-
bility there were other and stronger causes at work
in the background. The commonalty were every-
where rising in insurrection against the nobles. In
England, the throne itself was momentarily shaken by
Wat Tyler and his associates, while in France the
capital city was twice in the hands of the populace
the first time under Stephen Marcel, and afterwards
under the Maillotins. The contest was premature.
Both sides made a cruel abuse of every temporary
advantage that fell to their lot, but it was inevitable
OH. xvi.] PHILIP VAN AIITEVELD. 245*
that in the long run victory should remain with the
mail-clad warriors, familiar with some sort of or-
ganization and discipline, and who fought, besides, in
the open, while their adversaries *were for the most
part shut up within their walls always a dishearten-
ing position.
Philip van Arteveld celebrated his election to the
leadership of the city by a proclamation which enjoined
the suppression of all private hatreds until the four-
teenth day after the conclusion of peace. It declared
that whoso took a man's life should lose his head, and
that a rigorous imprisonment for forty days should be
awarded to combatants, even though they parted with-
out giving or receiving a wound. A similar punish-
ment awaited those who blasphemed and frequented
houses of ill-fame, who played with dice, or stirred up
sedition among the people. An account of public
receipts and expenditure was to be made out every
month. The Communal magistrates were to sit with
open doors. Finally, every inhabitant of Ghent was
to wear a white sleeve inscribed with the words:
"Godt helpt my." The greatest and most urgent
necessity, however, was to secure an adequate and
permanent supply of provisions. A fleet had been
despatched to Holland and Zealand to procure the
necessaries of life, while Francis Ackerman, a patriot
who afterwards took a prominent part in public affairs,
conducted a body of armed men, whose numbers have
been variously computed from three to twelve thousand,
into Brabant and up to the very gates of Brussels.
The Duke had forbidden his subjects to carry food
supplies to Ghent, but permitted - them to deal with
250 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. [i-r. v.
any persons who came to purchase and fetch away
their superfluities. The magistrates of Brussels caused
the gates to be closed, as it seemed a hazardous pro-
ceeding to admit s&ine thousands of hungry men fur-
nished with weapons of war, hut Ackerinan sent an
unarmed deputation to offer to pay for provisions for
the sake of their townsmen famishing at home. They
were allowed to remain and recruit their strength and
to advance as far as Louvain.
From that town Ackerman, accompanied by twelve
citizens of repute, proceeded to Liege and made such a
favourable impression upon the Bishop that he promised
to intercede with the Count on their behalf. The magis-
trates even expressed great sympathy with their suffer-
ings in the common cause of all Communes, and said
that were their country as near as that of Brabant or
Hainault they would gladly assist them. Under existing
circumstances, they could do no more than give them
every facility for the purchase of five or six hundred
cart-loads of corn and flour. In the space of forty-
eight hours Ackerman and his companions collected
six hundred carts on hire, with which they set out on
their homeward journey. On rejoining his people
under the walls of Brussels, Ackerman and two of his-
friends waited upon the Duchess, in the absence of the
Duke, and implored her intercession, which she
graciously promised to employ. As the convoy
approached Ghent the inhabitants poured out through
the gates to meet them, and immense rejoicing ensued,
though for a very little while. The provisions thus
obtained were sufficient for only fifteen days, but, as
the old chronicler remarks, " to those who are without
CB. xvi.] PHILIP VAN ARTKVK1.1'. 2.M
comfort a little thing gives hope." The carts were
carefully taken back to their owners, after their con-
tents had been equitably divided among the citizens.
The Bishop of Liege and the Duchess of Brabant
faithfully executed their engagements, and besought
the Count to be merciful to his subjects. Unwilling
to offend such powerful personages, Louis de Maele
consented to convene a Council to be held at Tournai
at the end of Easter, 1382. Deputies from Liege,
Brabant, and Hainault accordingly proceeded to that
town, where they were met by twelve deputies from
Ghent headed by Van Arteveld, who were instructed
to accept any terms however harsh, provided that no
one was to be put to death. And Froissart states
that " Philip van Arteveld was willing, if he should
have angered the earl ever so little, during the time he
was governor of Ghent, to be one of the banished men
for life, out of the regard he had for the lower ranks of
the people." No one, however, appeared on the part
of the Count until the deputies from the three States
despatched some of their number to Bruges to ask for
an explanation. Four of the most distinguished of
his adherents were then sent to Tournai to excuse the
Count's absence, and to state his decision with regard
to Ghent. He required all the inhabitants of that
town, from the age of fifteen to that of sixty, to come
forth, bare-headed, in their shirts, with halters round
their necks, as far as Buscampveld, half-way between
Bruges and Ghent, where he would meet them and
determine how many he would pardon, how many he
would put to death. The Ghent deputies were over-
whelmed with dismay on receivifig this ruthless it Hi-
252 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
matum, but reserved their answer until the matter
had been submitted to their fellow-townsmen. The
meeting then broke up after an interchange of good
wishes, and Philip Van Arteveld and his companions
returned home in sadness, after discharging their
hotel bills, as Froissart takes care to mention. " The
Count of Flanders," he continues, " never made an in-
quiry what was the answer of the Ghent deputies, so
very cheap did he hold them." He believed, indeed,
that the town could not hold out many days longer,
and in that prevision had summoned his vassals from
all parts to join him at Bruges at the festival of the
Holy Blood, when, after walking in that solemn pro-
cession, they would set out together "to destroy"
those troublesome burghers.
It was on the 29th April, 1382, that the deputies
made their melancholy entry into Ghent. The people
crowded around their leader, and entreated him to
give them a word of hope and encouragement, but he
rode on in silence, holding down his head. At length
he bade them go home, and rest in peace until the
morrow, when at nine in the morning he would be in
the market-place, and would tell them all he knew.
They obeyed with sorrowful forebodings, but to Peter
van den Bossche the whole truth was told as soon as
the crowd had dispersed. " In a few days," replied
that doughty soldier, " the town of Ghent shall be the
most honoured town in Christendom, or the most
humbled."
On the morrow, at the appointed hour, the market-
place was thronged with an anxious multitude,
craving to know their fate. Briefly as circum-
CH. xvi.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. W
stances would permit, Philip van Arteveld reported
what had been done at Tournai, and rehearsed the
Count's message. When he had done speaking, there
burst forth a tumult of lamentatiofc, men, women, and
children shrieking, sobbing, and bewailing aloud their
own and their neighbours' misery. After the first
demonstrations of despair had somewhat subsided,
their captain again addressed them. He pointed out
to his hearers that there was no time to waste. Some
sort of decision must be arrived at without delay, if
they would live, and not die of hunger. Thirty
thousand human beings within the walls of Ghent, he
said, had not tasted bread for a fortnight. Three
courses only were open to them. The first was to shut
themselves in, and bank up the gates of the town with
earth. Then confess themselves humbly and peni-
tently, and filling the churches and monasteries pass
away with resignation. God would have mercy upon
their souls, and wherever their piteous story was told
men would say that they had perished with courage
and loyalty. Or they might act in a different way.
They might go forth, with bare heads and feet, and a
rope round their necks, and ask mercy of the Count.
He could not be so hard-hearted, or so lifted up with
pride, as not to be softened by such a spectacle and
moved to compassion. For his own part, he would be
the first to offer the sacrifice of his own head, ;iml
would gladly die for the love he bore to his fellow-
townsmen. There was, however, yet another alterna-
tive. They might pick out five thousand of the most
helpful and best armed citizens, and march out to
Bruges and give battle to the Count. If they fell in
254 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
this enterprise, it would be with honour, and God
would have mercy upon them. Men, too, would say
that they had upheld, and maintained, their quarrel
right valiantly. And if God, who in ancient times
strengthened the hand of Judith to slay Holofernes,
should take the like pity on them, they would be the
most honoured of all peoples since the days of the
Romans.
The citizens listened in silence, and then, after a
moment's pause, voices were heard imploring the
leader of the town to decide for them. This he did
without hesitation, and pronounced in favour of the
third course as the safest as well as the most worthy
of freemen. Then they shouted as one man, that this
was their will likewise, and in no other way would
they act. They were accordingly bidden to repair to
their homes, and await the visit of the officers in-
structed to select five thousand of the bravest and
most capable men. The gates were immediately closed,
and no one was allowed to leave the town under any
pretext, so that no tidings should be carried to Bruges
of the desperate resolution taken b} r the men of Ghent.
The town, it will be observed, was not, strictly speak-
ing, besieged. It was blockaded within a circle of
considerable circumference, but the larger the inclosed
territory the greater was the difficulty of rinding food for
the people. Agriculture had been too much neglected
and despised even by the rural population, and the
country itself had of late been so frequently devas-
tated, that no supplies could be obtained except from
a distance, and those sources had been cut off by the
Count's allies or by his own partisans. Neither does
xvi.J I'll 1 LIP VAN ARTEVELD.
255
it appear that capital was employed, to any sensible
extent, in laying up corn and flour against seasons of
danger and scarcity, and thus it came to pass that
within an exceedingly brief space of time the populous
town of Ghent more than once passed from the un-
rcstrairfed enjoyment of luxuries to the absolute want
of the commonest necessaries of life. But never had
the people been reduced to such positive destitution as
on this occasion. When the small army of fighting
men was declared ready to take the field, it was found
that no more provisions could be scraped together for
their sustenance than could be put into five carts,
while two more were devoted to the transport of two
pipes of wine, all that remained within the town.
Two hundred carts, however, were loaded with cannon
and with machines for hurling projectiles. As the
host defiled through the gate, priests with uplifted
hands blessed them in the name of the God of Battles,
and bade them go forth with brave hearts, for Heaven
was on their side ; while the people told them they need
not return if discomfited, for they would only find
their families buried beneath the ruins of their homes.
Towards the close of the first day halt was made
near the village of Somerghem, but on the following
day the men of Ghent pushed on to Oedelem, where
they suddenly turned aside and took up a position on
the extensive Common of Beverhoutsveld. In front
they were protected by a wide and impracticable marsh,
and on their flanks they made a sort of laager of their
carts, besides driving in long stakes and digging en-
trenchments, to check the onslaught of the men-at-
arms. During their march they had contented them-
256 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
selves with such provisions as they had succeeded in
obtaining from the fields and villages, for they desired
to hushand for the last effort the scanty store they
had brought withshem. After despatching another
message to the Count praying for pardon, they laid
themselves down in their ranks and sought in* sleep a
respite from care and hunger. At dawn on Saturday,
May 3rd, 1382, Van Arteveld and the other captains
went round the camp, exhorting every man to do his
duty, for as they acquitted themselves that day so
would it fare with their aged parents, their wives and
little ones, already at the point of starvation. Seven
Grey Friars, who had accompanied the militia,
celebrated mass, and preached at great length to
inspire them with the courage of faith. Yery many
confessed themselves and received the Sacrament, in the
firm resolution to win or die. The provision carts
were then unloaded, and a frugal breakfast was
provided for each and each knew that it was his last
meal unless victory was on their side that day.
Meanwhile the minor crafts of Bruges gave them-
selves up to feasting and drinking, and, blinded by
their miserable jealousy, hoped to make an end of the
rivalry of Ghent. Heated with wine and beer, they
suddenly sallied out of the gate leading to Beverhouts-
veld in a broken disorderly mass, shouting and singing,
and already imagining themselves the conquerors. In
vain the Count and his war-trained knights and
barons strove to restore order, and to persuade the
citizens to wait yet another day, by which time their
enemies would be too exhausted by hunger to offer
any serious resistance. The presumptuous and intoxi-
en. xvi.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 257
catcd mob would listen to neither advice nor com-
mands. They still pressed onward, their confusion
increasing as they rolled and staggered along the
league of sandy road that led to the enemy's position.
Confronted by the marsh, they turned aside and were
dazzled by the rays of the setting sun shining on their
eyes. At the same time, the Ghent artillery opened at
close quarters a heavy fire of iron and stone balls upon
their exposed flank, while, with ringing shouts of
-" Ghent ! Ghent ! " the militia of that town sprang
out of their entrenchments and fell upon their assail-
ants sword in hand. The shock was irresistible.
Terror took the place of arrogance, and the un-
organised mob fled for their lives. Trampling upon one
another as they fell in their headlong route, and never
pausing to strike a single blow in self defence, they
were struck down, stabbed, and speared by the pursuers,
to whom their unexpected victory had imparted a
feverish strength and fury. After a feeble attempt to
rally the fugitives at Assebroucke, the Count's officers
were swept away by the panic-stricken crowd, and at
last, when the sun had gone down, Louis de Maele, at
the head of a small band of men-at-arms, galloped into
the town and sought safety in his palace.
His first step was to send orders to the guards at the
gates of the town to close them alike upon friends and
foes, but it was already too late, for the enemy had made
good their entrance and were advancing in excellent
order to the market-place. Meanwhile the Count had
sent messengers throughout the town, summoning the
inhabitants to meet him in front of the Town-hall,
whither he himself proceeded with as many armed
258 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v,
retainers as he had been able to collect, and lighted
by torches. On the way he was met by a knight named
Robert Maerschalck, the husband of one of his ille-
gitimate daughters! who warned him that the Ghent
men were in possession of the market-place. He was
in no mood, however, to listen to words of caution r
and pushed forward till he perceived the banner of
Ghent where he had intended to plant his own.
Awakening to a sense of his supreme peril, he instantly
ordered the torches to be extinguished, and told his
followers to shift every man for himself. Concealing
himself for a moment behind the chapel of St. Amand r
he borrowed a cloak from a valet to throw over his-
armour, and stole away into the darkness, for it was-
then midnight.
Presently he encountered a citizen of Ghent, named
Hegnier Campioen, who at once recognised him, but
compassionating his mischance, helped him to gain a
hovel, the door of which was half open. An elderly
woman was seated in front of a few pieces of smoulder-
ing peat, the smoke from which hung heavy in the
scantily furnished room, from which a ladder com-
municated with the loft in which her children were
asleep. The woman was naturally startled on seeing
two men walk in at that hour, but the Count ex-
claimed : " Save me, I am thy lord, the Count of
Flanders." Happily, she knew him by sight, for she
had many a time received alms and doles of broken
meat from his steward. Forgetful of herself, she
hastened to entreat him to mount the ladder, and
hide beneath the wretched bed in which her children
were laid. Campioen, after seeing that Louis was
CH. xvi.] PHILIP VAN AIlTEl'ELD. 259
safe for the moment, returned into the street and fell
in with a party of men who were looking for the
Count. Joining himself to them he again entered the
hovel, where the woman was founcP seated by the fire,
nursing her youngest child. Anticipating his com-
panions, Campioen mounted the ladder, and affected to
search about the loft, of which he made a good report
to those below. A few minutes afterwards they
retired, and the Count was left to meditate on the con-
sequences of his misrule.
During the darkness of the night many scenes of
violence inevitably occurred. The weavers and fullers
had united themselves to the men of Ghent as soon as
they entered the market-place, but several of the
smaller crafts, such as the butchers, fishermen, jerkin-
makers, and furriers* remained faithful to the Count,
and prepared to renew the struggle. They were, how-
ever, easily overpowered, and not a few of them were
put to the sword. It may also have happened, as
Froissart affirms, that there was a good deal of pil-
laging, and that women were occasionally ill-treated ;
but he also admits that never was a captured town
more leniently dealt with, and that only those suffered
against whom strong evidence was forthcoming. In
reality, the only offence of which the Bruges men had
been guilty was that of loyalty to the Count, and of
thinking more of their own immediate material inte-
rests than of those of their neighbours. This was the
case with each of the good towns, which in many
* Colonel Johnes renders "miners" into "glassmen," after the
fashion of those who gave Cinderella a glass slipper instead of a
slipper lined with miniver mistaking " vair" for "verre."
I
260 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
respects, and especially in selfishness, resembled the
ancient Greek and more modern Italian Republics.
Against a foreign enemy they were capable of a tem-
porary coalition, tfut in ordinary times they were
divided by mutual rivalries and internecine contests.
When daylight returned, Philip van Arteveld and
Peter van den Bossche applied themselves vigorously
to the restoration of order. Prompt measures were
taken to provide for the safety of foreign traders, and
particularly of Englishmen. All rioting and plun-
dering were strictly prohibited. Solemn thanksgivings
were offered up in the different churches. Long trains
of carts and waggons, laden with wine and provisions,
were hastily despatched to Ghent from Bruges,
Damme, and Sluys, so that plenty took the place of
privation. Business was everywhere re-established.
Confidence revived, and the people acknowledged that
Van Arteveld was worthy to rule them. No traces,
however, could be discovered of the Count. The 4th
of May was spent by him in his humble asylum, but
at night he contrived, dressed like a labourer, to cross
the town moat in a small boat. He knew nothing of
the country, and, after wandering about for some time
at random, the sound of human voices made him
crouch behind some bushes. Presently he recognised
the voice of Sir Robert Maerschalk, his own son-in-
law, who naively asked him by what means he had
got away from Bruges. " Come, come, Robert," cried
the Count, with some humour, " Is this a time to be
tolling one's adventures ? Try to get me a horse, for
I am tired of walking, and put me on the road to
Lille if you know the way." This happened at St.
PHILIP VAN AHTl-:\'l-:i.l). 261
Michael's, near Crrcnenberg, but it was easier to
for a mount than to obtain one. At last, a peasant
was persuaded to part with his mare, and without
saddle or pad Louis de Maele jogged on till he reached
Roulers, where he alighted at a humble hostelry, and
threw himself on the loyalty of the innkeeper.
" Save me," he again cried, " I am thy lord, the Count
of Flanders ; " and again the Flemish sentiment of
fidelity was his safeguard. The good man furnished
him with the best horse in his stables, and accompa-
nied him to Lille, where many Leliaerds speedily
assembled, and where ho heard of the death of his
mother, who bequeathed to him the County of Artois.
The inheritance came at an opportune moment, for hi.s
treasures were exhausted. But the lessons of adver-
sity were thrown away upon his light and heedless
disposition. He had learnt nothing and forgotten
nothing, and was only solicitous to master his rebel-
lious subjects, and punish them without mercy.
CHAPTER XVII.
The rival Popes Wreckage of the Count's chateau at Maele
Magnificence of Philip van Arteveld Siege of Oudenaerd
Gallant defence Use of artillery Destitution of the garrison
The Flemish camp Louis de Maele appeals to the Ihtke of
Burgundy Charles VI. summons ban and arriere-ban Philip
van Arteveld claims the king's mediation Flemish mission to
Kichard II. Charles VI. takes nominal command of his army
Passage of the Lys Van den Bossche's position turned
His defeat.
THE task was every day growing more difficult.
The effect produced by the rout of Beverhoutsveld
was far greater than the nature of the disaster merited.
It was everywhere represented as the victory of the
commonalty over the nobles, whereas it was simply the
discomfiture of a drunken, disorderly rabble by a
handful of desperate men, to whom defeat would have
been synonymous with death and the destruction of all
that was dear to them. The Roman Pope, Urban
VI., rejoiced that his adherents had triumphed over
those of Pope Clement VII. at Avignon, though in his
heart he must have sympathised with the Count,
driven from his territories by a noisy democracy. In
France and in England the plebeians were stimulated
to cherish hopes doomed to early disappointment,
while throughout Flanders, Brabant, and Hainault the
utmost enthusiasm was exhibited. The Ghent leaders,
<-H. xvii.] PHILIP V<AN ARTEVELD. 263
however, were not disposed to loosen their hold upon
the faithless and inconstant inhabitants of Bruges.
They resolved to demolish two gates and a consider-
able extent of curtain on the sif^e facing the Ghent
a-oad, and to fill up the moat with the materials and
rubbish. Philip van Arteveld is described by Froissart
.as living in great state and splendour, occupying the
Count's town residence, and being served with lordly
magnificence. In this description there is probably
rsome exaggeration, though it cannot be denied that he
was much more addicted to pomp and pleasure than his
more earnest and statesmanlike father. A detachment
of the men of Ghent, it is added, repaired to the Count's
country house at Maele, about two English miles
beyond the walls, and carried off everything that was
portable. An immense quantity of booty, including
the Gilded Dragon* that now surmounts the belfry at
Ghent, was removed to that city, whose inhabitants
Avere soon taught the wholesome, if bitter lesson, that
no town or country that abuses victory will long escape
defeat. Two hundred hostages were likewise selected
from among the most respectable of the Count's par-
tisans, and marched off into a sort of honourable
.exile.
From Bruges- Van Arteveld proceeded to Ypres,
where he was received with joyous acclamations.
From that town he returned to Ghent, which he
* According to M. Delepierre, this famous dragon, which was
.made of copper gilt, originally surmounted the done of St. Sophia
:;it Constantinople, and was sent by the Emperor Baldwin, Count of
Flanders, to Bruges, where it was placed over the Cloth-hall tower.
1 ts removal to Ghent produced bad blood between the two quarrel-
.some towns.
.264 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEl'ELD.
entered in triumph. Even his partial historian, M.
Kervyn de Lettenhove, is compelled to confess that
success had thrust aside simplicity and moderation,
and that the Cou^it himself would have displayed
less prodigality. The new Belieder van de Stad
had as many valets in hourly attendance, and as-
many noble coursers in his stables, as if he had been
some mighty potentate. Every day trumpets sounded
at the gates of his lordly mansion, in which, dressed
in scarlet robes, lined with miniver, he entertained the
fairest ladies of the land at sumptuous banquets. It
may here be noted that James van Arteveld was never
as is generally stated appointed Rewaerd of Flanders.
He was never more than the Belieder van de Stad r
nor was his authority so unconstitutionally despotic
as the power assumed by his son. By virtue of his-
assumed leadership, Philip van Arteveld summoned
the' towns of Flanders to send their militia to
combat the common enemy. The summons was
obeyed with such alacrity that, in the early days of'
June, 100,000 armed men were encamped on the banks
of the Scheldt. The point of attack was Oudenaerd,
garrisoned by a valiant body of knights under the
command of Sir Daniel d'Halewyn, an intrepid and
experienced captain, who had pledged his word to-
Louis de Maele that he would hold out to the last
extremity, and nobly did he redeem his pledge.
Louis himself had quitted Lille as too exposed to a
sudden surprise, and had withdrawn first to Hesdin, and
then to Bapaume. In the town last named he was guiltv
of the unpardonable cowardice and cruelty of striking off
the heads of his hostages from Courtrai, on the ground
CH. xvii.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 265
that their townsmen had leagued themselves with the
inhabitants of Ghent. But, however personally
unworthy may have been the Count, too much praise
cannot be awarded to the devoted courage of his
adherents. Their knightly valour, indeed, would have
availed them but little, had Yan Arteveld listened to
the enthusiastic counsels of his companions. One and
all demanded the signal for the assault, the success of
which was a certainty, though it might be at the cost
of many valuable lives. At that supreme moment,
Philip van Arteveld was wanting alike to himself and
to his country. Whether he shrank from "blood-
guiltiness" an idea conceived in a degenerate age
or whether, which is more probable, he affected the
sustained exhibition of supreme power, the result was
the same. He refused to give the signal, and declared
his intention of reducing the place without the effusion
of a single drop of blood. He put his faith in his
multitudinous artillery of all sizes, shapes, and deno-
minations ; and, had the art of making gunpowder
attained its present excellence, the monstrous projec-
tiles of those days must speedily have battered a breach
in stone-built walls, unless, indeed, a greater explosive
power had proved fatal to the machines themselves.
According to Froissart, an enormous engine, forty
feet in length and twenty wide, was erected on the
summit of a low hill overlooking the town. It was
called a Sheep,* and cast huge stones and beams of
* The " Truye, " or Sow, was a more formidable engine even than
the "Mouton,"or Sheep, for it not only cast stones 200 Ibs. in
weight, but could be wheeled close up to the battered walls. Its
name was derived from the number of soldiers it was capable of
266 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
wood that crushed everything they struck. An im-
mense mortar, fifty feet in length, was also employed
to "alarm the garrison," the report of which " was so
loud that it seemeM as if all the devils in hell had
broken loose." The detonation " might be heard five
leagues off in the daytime and ten at night," but
nothing is said about the damage it inflicted.
Christine de Pisan, quoted by M. de Lettenhove,
makes mention of 248 pieces of artillery of iron or
copper, designed for recovering Calais from the English
in 1377, some of which were capable of discharging
stones four to five hundred pounds in weight. The
largest was called the Montfort, for which 150 bits of
rock were provided by way of ammunition ; but these
monstrous machines were seldom fired more than half-
a-dozen times in a day, and not often with much
effect. The smaller pieces, called ribaude in French
i-ibaudcquins which were used at Tournai and else-
where, consisted of several barrels bound together by
a band of iron, but they do not appear to have wrought
much mischief to the walls.
The blockade was more efficacious than the uproar of
-the artillery. The commander of the garrison had at an
early period turned out of the town the greater part of
the population, and those w r ho remained were locked
up in the churches and monasteries, so that their cries
and lamentations should not unnerve the fighting men.
containing when run up to the foot of a breach. There was also
another engine employed in this siege, the missiles from which were
large bars and bolts of hot copper. These various machines appear
to have been full of sound and fury, but were of very little actual
efficiency.
CH. xvii.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 267
Nevertheless, they had to be fed as well as the
soldiers, and, although they were put on short rations,
(they helped to diminish the small store of provisions.
Disaffection, however, first showed itself among the
regular troops, whose pay had fallen into arrears, and
who could only be silenced by a burgher offering to
advance six thousand francs, provided that sum were
iodged by the Count in the hands of a certain money-
changer at Valenciennes. A serving man undertook
to notify this arrangement to Louis de Maele, who was
then idling away his time at Hesdin. The brave
fellow succeeded in crossing the Scheldt at night and
in making his way through the camp of the besiegers,
and the Count was roused from his shameless indo-
lence to make an appeal to his son-in-law, the Duke of
Burgundy, one of the uncles of the weak-minded boy-
king, Charles VI.
In the meanwhile, the Flemish leaguer resembled a
fair rather than a camp. Van Arteveld had caused
piles to be driven into the bed of the river to impede
navigation, but this did not prevent the ample pro-
visionment of his own mighty host. Wooden buildings
were constructed for the display of. cloths, furs, and
merceries. A regular market was held every Saturday,
which was frequented by dealers in agricultural pro-
duce for miles round, while taverns for the sale of
French and Khenish wines were as plentiful as in
Brussels. Frenchmen alone were denied access to
this gathering of festive warriors ; but from Brabant,
Ilainault, Liege, and even Germany traders and
visitors were continually going to and fro. All this
ill-timed luxury was, however, injurious to discipline
268 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD.
always difficult to be maintained in an army of civic
volunteers. A band of marauders, for they cannot be
called soldiers, detached themselves from the host with
the avowed purpose' of plundering and destroying the
country houses of the great Leliaerd lords, who-
favoured the Count. In the course of their ravages-
they arrived at Maele, where "they found the silver
cradle in which he (the Count) had been nursed, and
the bathing-tub in which he had been washed, both
of which they entirely demolished " the font in which
he was baptised had been broken to pieces immediately
after the Count's flight from Bruges. The chapel was
now pulled down by these sacrilegious vagabonds, who
carried the bell to the governors of Bruges, and were
thanked for their services. From Bruges they wandered
away to the environs of Lille, where they fired some
windmills and burnt some villages, but this time they
did not escape with perfect impunity, for some of the
inhabitants sallied forth and attacked them with so
much spirit that a considerable number were slain on
the spot, and others, being made prisoners and carried
into Lille, had their heads struck off. The survivors,
however, took their way to Tournai, and set fire to
Seclin and some other places situated in French
territory.
The Count of Flanders had now a decent pretext
for claiming the aid of France. He accordingly set
out for Bapaume, where he laid before the Duke of
Burgundy a piteous account of the straits to which he
was reduced. The Duke naturally compassionated
one of his own order who had suffered so much at the
hands of the baser sort, nor was he less anxious to
< ii. xvn.J PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 269
restore peace and tranquillity to the noble territory
which would one day devolve upon himself and his
heirs. His cause, moreover, had become the King's
also, in consequence of the fooliSh incursion of the
Flemings into France. He therefore hastened to
Senlis, where the Court then resided, and was en-
gaged in consultation with his brother, the Duke do
Berri, when the young King sauntered into the room,
hawk on wrist, and demanded to know what they
were talking about. He was then told how Philip van
Arteveld was besieging Oudenaerd after driving the
Count of Flanders out of his own land, and how, not
content with defying his own lord, he had sent his
troops to burn and ravage the frontiers of France.
Charles VI. had long indulged in silly dreams derived
from listening to the romances of chivalry, and had
vainly fancied that he too could be a hero. He easily
lent himself, therefore, to the interested designs of his
uncles, for a brief space living in harmony and working
in unison, and when the Duke do Bourbon added his
influence to that of his brothers, the King issued
orders to summon the ban and arriere-ban of the realm
to meet him at Arras.
Philip van Arteveld seems to have been under the
impression that the youthful monarch would side with
the Communes against their Count, and had therefore
delayed making overtures to the King of England,
lie still adhered to his design of reducing the garri-
sons of Oudenaerd and Dendermonde by famine, and
in the long run he would, of course, have succeeded.
Frequent sallies were made with varying fortune, but
no perceptible progress had been achieved by the
270 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. v,
besiegers when Philip resolved to appeal to Charles VI.
to mediate between the Communes and their liege
lord. A humble and respectful letter was accordingly
addressed to the Eing, setting forth the wrongs and
grievances of which the people of Flanders justly com-
plained, and entreating his gracious intercession. The
letter was read aloud at the Council Board, and
greeted with derisive laughter. The bearer of it was
even thrown into prison for presuming to approach
the Court without a safe-conduct, nor was he liberated
for three weeks. The King's uncles were nevertheless
reluctant to drive the Flemings to despair. It seemed
a safer course to create disunion among them by
reviving their ancient jealousies of one another, and
by promising to these the privileges which were denied
to those. Certain knights and bishops were therefore
instructed to repair to Tournai as if to open negotia-
tions, but the Communes demanded, as a preliminary,
the evacuation of Dendermonde and Oudenaerd. The
envoys were consequently compelled to content them-
selves with writing identical notes to the magistrates
of the three good towns, in which they expressed their
readiness to open direct communications with them.
If their intention was to act secretly without Van
Arteveld's knowledge, the envoys were doomed to
disappointment. Philip chanced to be in Ghent when
the letter for that town arrived, and it was imme-
diately placed in his hands ; those directed to Bruges
and Ypres were also forwarded to him. On the 20th
October, 1382, he brought these irregular proceedings
to a close by publishing a manifesto in which he
reviewed and justified the conduct of the Communes,
CH. xvii.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 271
and held Charles VI. responsible for whatever might
ensue if he refused to mediate between the Count
and his subjects. As for his armies and the puis-
sance of his kingdom, nothing, h% added, was to bo
apprehended from that quarter. The King's uncles
were not unreasonably angered by the tone of this
remonstrance, and applied themselves seriously to the
equipment of a force which should bear down every-
thing before it.
Philip van Arteveld, convinced too late that nothing
was to be expected from Royal mediation, persuaded
the Communal magistrates to send envoys to London
to solicit the alliance and protection of Richard II.
Among them were Francis Ackerman, Rasse van de
Voorde, and John de West, a learned theologian who
had made himself of some importance in the papal
schism. On their safe arrival in London they were
admitted to audience of the King, in presence of the
Duke of Lancaster, and of the Earls of Buckingham,
Kent, and Salisbury. They were received with much
kindness, and the English commonalty even mani-
fested great sympathy for those of their order in
Flanders who stood in such peril of their lives and
liberties. But it must be confessed that the Flemish
envoys exhibited little tact or knowledge of the world,
if it be true that they required of Richard the prompt
payment of 200,000 old crowns each worth seven
shillings and sixpence alleged to have been borrowed
by his grandfather, Edward III. Had they withheld
that impracticable demand, it seemed to Froissart not
improbable that the King would have crossed the
Channel to their assistance at the head of a powerful
272 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
army. As it was, the Lords of the Council " looked
on the Flemings as proud and presumptuous, in thus
demanding a debt of 200,000 old crowns of so very
ancient a date as foVty years."
Notwithstanding the great exertions made by the
King's uncles to assemble an army before the season
for warlike operations had closed, it was the 4th
November before Charles VI. arrived at Arras. He
had previously received the homage of the Count of
Flanders, and had promised to make his quarrel his
own, but it was still undecided at what point the
invasion of Flanders could be safely attempted. With
ordinary vigilance and promptitude of action on the
part of the Flemings, it would have been impossible
to cross the Lys. On that head no blame can be
attached to Philip van Arteveld. He had done all
that a prudent commander could be expected to do.
He had instructed Peter van den Bossche to repair to
Comines, to break down the bridge, and hold the
post against all comers. To Peter de Wintere, one of
his best captains, he had assigned the bridge at
"VVarneton, and the charge of breaking down all the
bridges on either side of that hamlet, while he himself
proceeded to Ypres to rouse the citizens to a courageous
defence of their liberties.
Much diversity of opinion prevailed in the French
camp. Some were in favour of ascending the Lys to
its source, but to this it was objected that owing to the
heavy rains the surrounding country must be a morass
impassable for men-at-arms. Others proposed to cross
the Scheldt at Tournai, and march direct upon Oude-
naerd. But the constable, Oliver de Clisson, insisted
CH. xvn. ] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 273
that they must cross the Lys somehow at .the nearest
point, and give battle to the Flemings before they
were joined by their English auxiKaries. For it had
been given out by Van Arteveld that an English fleet,
impelled by a westerly breeze, was making for Calais,
whence powerful reinforcements would speedily march
to his aid. These vain boastings may have encou-
raged his own men, but they had likewise the effect
of hastening the movements of the French army. A
Flemish knight, a partisan of the Count, served as the
Constable's guide, and undertook with a body of 1,800
labourers to repair the roads and facilitate the advance
of the van-guard, which consisted of 6,400 men-at-
arms, 14,000 crossbow men, and 5,000 foot soldiers
recruited in Artois, and of much the same type as the
Communal militia. The Count of Flanders had raised
some 16,000 men to ravage his own territory, and it
is estimated that the entire army, nominally com-
manded by Charles VI. in person, amounted to 80,000
men, including a large number of undisciplined Bretons,
good for mere fighting, but hard to hold in hand, and
grievously addicted to plundering.
It had been planned that the Lys should be crossed
at Comines, but on arriving opposite that little
town, it was discovered that the bridge was partially
destroyed. The art of reconnoitering a country about
to be traversed appears to have been unknown in
those days. Armies inarched straight forward till
they were pulled up by an unfordable river, a fortified
town, or an enemy in battle array. On this occasion,
the van-guard halted on the right bank of the Lys,
and looking across beheld Peter van den Bossche,
274 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. v.
armed with an axe, in front of a body of nine to ten
thousand Flemings. There was no ford on either side
of Comines, and ^the Constable was constrained to
acknowledge the necessity of ascending the course of
the river to Aire, where a bridge still existed. The
wisdom of the veteran was, however, outrun by the
happy audacity of a few young lords, to whom a
retreat was an unacceptable operation. It happened
that three small boats had been brought from Lille,
which were now secretly launched at some little
distance below the town. Posts were driven into the
bank on either side as soon as these boats had made
their first passage, and strong ropes were carried
across to work the ferry. By this means, the lords of
Saimpy, Enghien, Vertaing, and some other knights
established themselves on the other side behind the
shelter of a belt of alders. Marshal de Sancerre
presently joined them with 400 mail-clad warriors, on
foot, but armed with long lances, against which the
Flemish pikes were futile. The Constable was almost
driven to despair when he heard of this rash proceed-
ing, and indulged for a while in vain exclamations.*
But " Oliver, the Butcher," was a thorough soldier,
and quickly conformed his plans to the exigencies of
the moment. While his bravest knights continued to
make good the passage of the river, he occupied the
* "Ah, St. Ives ! ha, St. George ! ha, Our Lady ! what do I
see there ? . . . Ah, Rohan ! ah, Laval ! ah, Rieux ! ah, Beau-
raanoir ! ah, Longueville ! ah, Rochefort ! ah, Mauny ! ah, Males-
troit ! ah, Conversant ! ah, such a one and such a one, how afflicted
am I for you all ! when, without consulting me, you have run into
.such imminent danger. And why am I Constable of France ? "
&c., &c. Johnes' "Froissart," vol. vi., ch. xxxv. Edit. 1808.
CM. xvii.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 275
attention of the Flemings by a furious discharge of
artillery, as though he were determined to gain pos-
session of the ruined bridge. ^Towards nightfall,
Peter van den Bossche discovered to his dismay that
his flank was turned, but rejected the advice of those
who urged an immediate attack upon the Frenchmen
before they could be further reinforced.
It was a terrible night for the brave De Saimpy and
his adventurous comrades. The wind blew cold and
shrill, rain, mingled with sleet, fell without cessation,
and a thick, slabby mud was their only couch. Pro-
visions had they none, and sleep came to few. With
the -earliest dawn, the Flemings advanced confidently
to the attack of these wearied, frozen, hall-famished
Frenchmen, who stood firm, and with their long
lances and well-tempered Bordeaux blades made
terrible havoc in the ranks of their assailants. These
presently fell into disorder disheartened by the death
of " a wise woman," who had predicted that she
would be the first to shed the enemy's blood as the
signal of victory, whereas she herself was the first to
ML. At this critical moment, Peter van den Bossche
was disabled by two severe wounds, one through the
shoulder, and one on the head, while his brother was
slain in attempting to defend him. He was, however,
extricated and borne to the rear, and his followers had
begun to rally and show a bold front, when shrieks of
despair were heard from the ramparts of Comines.
In the general confusion, the Constable had sufficiently
repaired the bridge to render it passable, and the
entire van-guard, supported by the Count's contingent,
defiled across and gained the left bank of the Lys.
T 2
276 JAMES AND PHILIP I'AN AETEVELD. [FT. v.
The town was sacked, and the inhabitants were cut
down even at the foot of the altar. The flames of the
blazing houses wei^ soon rivalled and surpassed by the
conflagration of the opulent town of Wervicq, the
plunder of which enriched the barbarous Bretons-
beyond their most covetous dreams.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Charles VI. crosses the Lys Disturbances in Paris Louis de
Maele ignored by the King's uncles Devastation of the Franc
Van Arteveld takes post at Roosebeke Evil auguries
Battle of Roosebeke Death of Philip van Arteveld Slaughter
of the Flemings Destruction of Courtrai Submission of
Flanders Cruel ravages Charles VI. returns to Paris Re-
ligious war between the Count and his subjects The bishop of
Norwich invades Flanders His successes Repulsed at Ypres
Returns to England Surprise of Oudenaerd by Ackerman
Agitation in France and Flanders Mysterious death of Louis
de Maele His obsequies Decay of Feudalism Growth of
democracy A few last words.
CHARLES VI. was at the abbey of Marquette when
the news arrived of the forcing of the pass of Coni-
ines, and that the vanguard had crossed the Lys.
Having heard mass and drained a cup of wine, the
King rapidly followed, rode over the bridge, and
lodged for that Tuesday night amid the smouldering
ruins of the town. On the morrow, the camp was
pitched on Mount St. Eloi, barely a league from
Ypres, whence the foragers ravaged the country far
and wide. The French camp resembled a fair even
more closely than did the Flemish camp before Oude-
naerd, except that articles of great value were sold
for ridiculously low prices. The Bretons were not
disposed to encumber themselves with furs or richly
embroidered cloths and brocades. They even despised
278 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. A-.
jewels, and cared only for silver and gold. Discipline
was fatally loosened. It was impossible to keep the
soldiers with, their colours. Many went off to their
distant homes loa&ed with booty. Disquieting news
also arrived from Paris. The commonalty had
broken out in a truly Parisian fashion. They had
stopped the convoy of provisions intended for the
army, and threatened to destroy the Louvre and the
other royal castles and residences in the city and
suburbs. They were fortunately restrained from the
work of destruction by Nicholas the Fleming, who
advised them not to commit themselves too far until
they heard the result of the operations against the
men of Ghent. They went on, however, forging and
purchasing armour and weapons, and preparing for
the defence of their ancient privileges, which they
knew to be in danger from the headstrong wilfulness
of the half-mad young King. Everything depended
upon the success of the Royal army in Flanders. A
defeat would have been followed by a general rising of
the peasantry throughout France, and by the massacre
of the nobility. That disaster, at least, was averted
by the devastation of Flanders and the complete over-
throw of the Flemish militia.
The approach of the French army could not fail to
raise the courage of the Leliaerd faction in Ypres.
A tumult accordingly ensued, in which the Count's
partisans gained the mastery. Communication was
then opened with the camp, and in the end Van
Arteveld's governor, Peter van den Broucke was
delivered over to the French, and a fine of 40,000
francs paid by way of indemnifying in part the costs
CH. xvin.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 279
of the expedition. The inhabitants of the towns of
the Franc, after being cruelly plundered, saved them-
selves from extermination by paying a fine of 60,000
francs, and by surrendering their fespective governors,
all of whom were beheaded on the bridge of Ypres.
In all these proceedings Louis de Maele was abso-
lutely ignored. His advice was neither asked nor
adopted. His own contingent were forbidden to
speak Flemish, or to carry the national scharmsax, or
sharp-pointed iron-bound stave, somewhat similar to
the Indian lathee. The untranslatable war-cry of his
race, rendered by the French " Flandre au Lion,"
was prohibited, and in its place French and Flemings
alike were required to shout " Montjoye ! Saint
Denis ! " The Count submitted in silence. He was
gathering the fruit of his own misconduct, though
that reflection could have been no consolation.
As for Philip van Arteveld, adversity revealed the
noble qualities of the man, and showed that he had
inherited from his father something more than a great
name. The passage of the Lys at Comines was a
great disappointment, and at such a time he could
little spare the services of Peter van den Bossche, his
most valiant captain. Peter de Wintere had also
been compelled to abandon his post at Warneton, but
Van Arteveld had reason to expect that Ypres and the
Franc would hold out until reinforcements could reach
them from Ghent and Oudenaerd. A still greater
discouragement was the arrival of envoys from Eng-
land, requiring his ratification of the agreement that
had at last been made with his indiscreet representa-
tions, before any succours could be despatched to his
280 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
aid. His position, however, was by no means des-
perate. By avoiding a general action, and confining
himself to watching and harassing the enemy, he
would have gainecK time for the arrival of a more
potent ally than even the King of England. A
northern winter was close at hand. In a few weeks,
it might be in a few days, the roads would be imprac-
ticable for men-at-arms and wheeled vehicles heavily
laden. The ill-drained fields would become a swamp,
and every rivulet would swell into a river. So wanton,
besides, had been the ravages of the Bretons, that the
French must soon have been straitened for provisions,
especially since the convoys ordered from Paris had
been prevented from starting. By prosecuting the
blockade of Oudenaerd, he would have compelled the
enemy to attack under great disadvantages, or from
Courtrai he might have threatened the flank of the
French army, which could not have molested him
without again forcing the passage of the Lys in pre-
sence of a powerful enemy. But M. de Lettenhove
is probably correct in supposing that Van Arteveld
was moved by the necessity of protecting Bruges not
only from the French, but also from the Leliaerds,
who were always formidable in that town. The
leaguer before Oudenaerd was therefore maintained,
but 20,000 of the best men marched under Van Arte-
velde to Roosebeke, where he was shortly afterwards
joined by some 40,000 militia from Damme, Sluys,
and the district known as the Quatre Metiers. His
camp was pitched on the brow of a small hill covered
with brushwood, at the foot of which ran a brook
swollen by the recent heavy rains. The position was
CH. XVIIL] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 281
inaccessible to the heavy cavalry of those days, and
dismounted knights were incapable of sustained exer-
tion over unfavourable ground. What alone was
wanting was the fixed resolve to $ct solely on the de-
fensive, and guard the road from Ypres to Bruges.
The French army, which had been largely rein-
forced by the Duke de Bern, halted on the heights
of Passchendael. Eight knights, renowned for their
prowess, were selected as the personal bodyguard of
the King, who was impatient to distinguish himself by
some brilliant feat of arms on a field of battle. Mes-
sengers were then sent to Philip van Arteveld to offer
peace, on condition that he and his associates threw
themselves upon the Count's mercy, and engaged to
furnish six months' pay to the French soldiers. These
terms, however, were without hesitation rejected by
the leaders of the Communes, who refused to recognise
the authority of the Count until he restored and ratified
the privileges accorded by Robert de Bethune after
the battle of Courtrai the day of the Golden Spurs.
The victory at Beverhoutsveld was in part the
cause of the defeat at Roosebeke. Van Arteveld
and his captains had formed an inflated opinion of
their own skill and valour, and foolishly underrated
the difference between an ill-armed and undisciplined
civic militia and the mail-clad chivalry of France,
trained to martial exploits from their boyhood. Frois-
sart is, therefore, justified in deeming it "highly pre-
sumptuous in Philip van Arteveld and the Flemings
to think of fighting with them." In fact, many of
Philip's captains were averse from acting aggressively.
They were in favour of standing on the defensive and
282 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. v.
waiting for the arrival of their two allies, the English
and winter weather. It was all in vain. On the 26th
November Van Arteveld entertained his chief officers-
at a sumptuous banquet, and informed them of his
intention to give battle on the morrow. He pointed
out to each his particular duty, and exhorted all to
acquit themselves as brave soldiers and loyal Flem-
ings. So confident was he of victory, that he had
brought with him his wife, Yolande van den Broucke,
sister of the unfortunate governor of Ypres, beheaded
only a few days previously by command of Charles YI.
A great injustice has been done to the memory of this
remarkable man by Froissart, who speaks of "a
damsel" who had accompanied Philip from Ghent as
his paramour. The lady, however, was no " light o'
love," but his lawfully wedded wife, and she, unable
to sleep from over-excitement, is said about midnight
to have stepped out from the tent to cool her heated
brow. Looking straight before her, she beheld on the
opposite hill the camp fires of the French. Presently
she heard, or thought she heard, the war-cries of the
enemy, as though they were advancing to attack the
Flemish position under cover of the night. Under
this impression, she hastily roused her husband, and
bid him arm for instant battle for the enemy was close
at hand. Listening for a moment at the tent door, he
too fancied that he heard the shouts of warriors and
the clash of arms. So convinced was he of the reality
of those imaginary sounds, that he caused his trum-
peter to sound the alarm. His captains, who had
noticed the phenomenon sometime previously, hastened
to his tent and assured him that they had already
'ii. xviu. J PHILIP VAN ARTEl'ELl). 283
sent out scouts, who reported that all was still in the
hostile camp. " Some said," remarks the chronicler,
" it was the devils of hell running and dancing ahout
the place where the battle was tft be, because of the
great prey they expected there."
An alarm of this kind is never construed as a good
omen, but as dawn was approaching the Flemings
took their arms and fell in at their appointed places,
after making a substantial breakfast for, like the
English, they do not affect fighting on an empty
stomach. In the front line were placed the men of
Ghent, Alost, and Grammont ; in the second those of
Bruges, Damme, and Sluys ; while the militia of the
Franc were posted as a reserve a little in the rear.
They had stout hearts and strong arms, but their
weapons were unsuited for a combat at close quarters
with the flower of the French chivalry. Many of
them had neither helmet nor cuirass, and still more
were armed only with stakes pointed with iron, or
with iron-bound cudgels, or with sledge-hammers,,
though most of them carried a sort of hunting-knife
suspended from their girdles. A small body of Eng-
lish archers had found their way from Calais, and
might have been eminently useful had the Flemings
awaited the enemy. Their costumes were not less
varied than their weapons, but that, under the circum-
stances, was matter of quite secondary importance.
The Count's contingent had kept watch and ward
throughout the night. He had the bad taste to be
accompanied by his executioner and his sixteen assist-
ants, which seems to have disgusted the French
knights. In any case, he was instructed at daybreak
284 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT.
to withdraw his " battle," or division, because, as the
Count and his retainers held by the Pope of Rome, it
was impossible to fight by the side of heretics. Louis
de Maele accepted ftie insult without a murmur, but
many of the Leliaerd knights were greatly pained,
and, it is said, secretly warned the Flemings that
they were about to be attacked. Such .a dense mist,
however, covered the country that neither side could
tell what was going on in the opposite camp. Three
or four knights accordingly volunteered to reconnoitre
the Flemish position, and approached so near that
they were seen, and taken for the forerunners of the
advanced guard. It was then about eight o'clock,
and the militia were growing impatient. Van Arte-
veld was no more self-possessed than his comrades.
He forgot his duty as the general, and descended to
the level of a mere fighting man. He bade the
Flemings to stand shoulder to shoulder, their arms
even intertwined, and their schannsttx held firmly
before them, and by sheer weight of numbers force
back and break up the enemy's ranks. To do this,
however, it was necessary to leave the entrenchments
and abandon the advantages of their splendid position.
They had besides to defile along a comparatively
narrow road winding through a peat moss, and then
to ascend a considerable hill, called the Goudberg or
Mont d'Or, on which the Royal army was drawn up
in order of battle.
The old chronicler relates how the fog lifted as
soon as the oriflamme* was displayed, and how a
* The Oriflamme is thus described in an ancient inventory of the
treasury of St. Denis, Avhere it was religiously preserved a copy
en. xvin.] PHILIP VAN AETErELV. 285
white dove wheeled round and round over the
King's battalion, and finally alighted on one of his
banners. " It was a fine sight to view those banners,
helmets, and beautiful emblazoned arms : the army
kept a dead silence, not uttering a sound, but eyed the
heavy ' battle ' of Flemings before them, who were
marching in a compact body, with their staves ad-
vanced in the air, which looked like spears, and so
great were their numbers, they had the appearance of
a wood." As the Flemings pressed onward, their
archers and crossbowmen galled the French knights,
while a certain number of "bombardiers" flung
" bombardes," or hand-grenades, which made the
horses restive, and occasionally killed their riders.
There were also larger pieces of artillery which dis-
charged bars of iron, and several distinguished knights
were killed or disabled. The first shock of that
mighty host was irresistible. The French vanguard
were borne backwards, and with loud shouts the
Flemings possessed themselves of the Royal Standard,
but it was not the genuine oriflamme, for that never
left the Abbey of St. Denis. The wary old Constable,
Oliver de Clisson, had foreseen this moment and pro-
vided against it. He had extended his two wings,
under the respective commands of the Dukes de Berri
nlone being exposed to the danger of capture by an enemy :
" Etendart d'un cendal fort e*pais, fendu par le milieu, en forme do
<ronfanon, fort caduque, enveloppe d'un baton convert de cuivre
lore", et un fer longuet et aigu au bout."
Oriflamme est une banniere
Ancien, poi plus forte que guimplo,
De cendal rougeiant et simple,
Sans pourtraiture d'autre affaire. Guyart.
286 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
and de Bourbon, and had enjoined the knights to send
their horses to the rear while they used their long
lances as they did at Comines. The manoeuvre was
completely successful. Those long lances, tipped with
heads of Bordeaux steel, impaled the helpless Flem-
ings, ripping up their armour as though it were tinsel.
The ironbound scJiarmsnx was useless in such an en-
counter, for the militia was pressed so close together
that they could not use their staves as cudgels.
Assailed in front and on either flank, they were forced
more and more closely upon one another, till the
weaker men were stifled and sank unwounded to the
ground. It was butchery, not a battle.
The famous Bourcicault here witnessed his first
stricken field. He was barely twenty years of age, and
slightly built. A burly Fleming, despising his apparent
insignificance, told him mockingly to go home to his
mother. "Are these," cried Bourcicault, as he buried
his dagger in the giant's side, "Are these the children's
sports in your country ? " Now and again the Flemings,
still preserving their serried ranks, would stand at bay,
and several knights would bite the dust ; but they were
again driven back, until they had almost reached the
stream at the foot of the hill they had so foolishly
quitted. In the wet mud they began to slip and
flounder about, and suddenly fell into irreparable dis-
order. The men-at-arms had battle-axes, which cleft
right through the Flemish helmets, and heavy leaden
maces which crashed through helmet and skull. Philip
van Arteveld had not spared himself that wretched
morning. Fighting in the foremost ranks, he had
received several wounds, but none very serious. He
CH. xvin.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 287
now strove to the utmost to rally the fugitives, but his
voice had lost its charm. He talked of honour, while
they thought only of life. He was borne backward by
the throng, and at last was beaten aown by the fugitives
and trampled under foot in a deep narrow road, over-
shadowed by the boughs of trees, which wound round
the foot of a gravelly hillock, thence named Keyaerts-
berg, and which leads to Staden and Thorout.
Nine thousand men, says Froissart, were left dead
on the field of battle, and for one who died of honour-
able wounds nine were suffocated. The dead men
lay in a heap, one upon the other all struck down
in less than one hour. A body of some 3000 citizens
of Ghent made a brief stand on a common covered
with brushwood, and hastily threw up entrenchments,
but being surrounded and attacked on all sides, they
broke and ran, and were terribly cut up. According
to the lowest estimate, upwards of 25,000 men fell in
battle and the pursuit. No quarter seems to have
been given or asked. The young King was taken by
his uncles over the field thickly strewed with corpses,
and deluged with blood. He demanded the body of
Philip van Arteveld. It was believed that he was
among the slain, though nothing certain was known
at that point. The promise, however, of a reward of
one hundred francs caused a close search to be made,
and the body of the dead leader was at length dis-
covered in the hollow way, buried beneath a heap of
the slain. No fatal or serious wounds were found
on his person, and it was judged that he had been
smothered to death. After surveying the body for a
little while perhaps with the same feelings that
288 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. v,
moved Henry III. to gaze on the giant form of the
murdered Duke de Guise the King commanded that
it should be hanged from the bough of a tree, and
prohibited the rites of sepulture to the slain, who for
many a day furnished an ample feast to beasts and
birds of prey. " This battle on Mont d'Or took place
the 27th day of November, on the Thursday before
Advent, in the year of Grace, 1382 ; and at that time
the King of France was fourteen years of age."
On the following day the King marched to Courtrai,
which was plundered by the Bretons. No mercy
was shown to the Flemings concealed in the town,
for Charles VI. hoped in that way to avenge the
defeat of the French army in 1302. He had also
heard that five hundred golden spurs were hung up
in the church of Our Lady, and that a festival was
held every year in celebration of the Battle of the
Spurs. On his return to France, therefore, a few
days later, he ordered the town to be committed to the
flames, though Louis de Maele went down on his
knees to pray him to forego that dreadful resolution.
The Duke of Burgundy also interceded in vain, and
only succeeded in saving from the universal destruc-
tion a clock with a curious piece of mechanism, which he
had conveyed to Dijon, but " many knights, squires,
men-at-arms, fine children, both girls and boys, were
carried away captive, to be ransomed." At Courtrai
the King received with much honour the gallant
knight, Sir Daniel d'Halewyn, who had so bravely
defended Oudenaerd.
As soon as the rout at Roosebeke was known
in the Flemish camp before that town, the leaders
CH. xviii.] PHILIP VAX ARTETELD. 289
hastily broke up the siege, and retired with the
greater part of their men to Ghent, where they
were soon afterwards joined by the stout Peter
van den Bossche, who, with his wounds still un-
healed, inspired something of his own indomitable
spirit into the hearts of the trembling citizens. Had
the French army marched from Roosebeke straight
upon Ghent, the gates would have been thrown open
and no resistance offered. The great riches and
defenceless condition of Bruges were, however, a
temptation not to be overcome, and Charles VI. lost
his only chance of gratifying his mad fury amid the
smoking ruins of that turbulent city.
At Thorout deputies from Bruges, including two
Grey Friars, were introduced into the Royal presence.
They had come to sue for mercy and to offer a heavy
ransom, and they found powerful intercessors in the
Duke of Burgundy, Marshal de Sancerre, the Con-
stable, and many other noble knights who had deigned
to accept their gifts of great price. Charles VI.,
however, was for a time obdurate, and only gave way
at last on the citizens engaging to indemnify the
Bretons for their disappointment. The sum of 60,000
francs was accordingly paid down at once, and the
like amount was agreed to be paid at Candlemas.
The inhabitants of Bruges then did homage as liege
men, not to their own Count but to the King of
France. They consequently swore to renounce all
alliances made with the English by James or Philip
van Arteveld, and acknowledged Pope Clement VII.
to be the supreme pontiff of Christendom. The
country around was, nevertheless, cruelly devastated
290 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
by the Bretons, Burgundians, and Savoyards, to the
number of 1200 spears, who are described as sparing
neither rank, age, nor sex. The widow and the
orphan, the young 1 man and the maiden, the babe at
the breast, and its aged grandsire, were massacred
without mercy. Even the Count no longer pleaded
for clemency. He surrendered his lands, his towns,
and his people, to his sovereign lord, and begged him
to do with them according to his will. But Charles VI.
had had enough of Flanders, and was eager to return
to Paris to punish the rebellion of its citizens. His
royal uncle was also anxious to remove him from the
frequent scenes of bloodshed and conflagration, which
excited him to frenzy, and made of him for the time
a raging maniac. He went at first no further than
Tournai, where he celebrated Christmas, and that
town was compelled to pay the enormous ransom of
1,200,000 crowns, because the inhabitants had refused
to accept the Pope of Avignon. The Bretons con-
tinued to lay waste the country as the army slowly
marched towards the capital, but it is not the pro-
vince of this little volume to speak of the reduction
of Paris, or of the monstrous excesses which marked
the restoration of the Eoyal power.
Louis de Maele walked in the steps of Charles VI.,
though in his case the plea of madness cannot be
urged in extenuation of his wanton barbarity. His
executioners had no respite from their labours. The
estates of the partisans of the Communes were con-
fiscated entirely, or redeemed only by a ruinous fine.
Bartholomew Coolman, Philip van Arteveld's admiral
of the fleet, was hanged from a gibbet in sight of the
CH. xvi ii.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 291
shipping in Slays harbour. Great numbers of artisans,
though promised an amnesty, preferred to seek their
fortune in England. Every town was summoned to
surrender its charters, and in almost every instance
they were destroyed, together with the treaties made
by the Communes either with one another or with
Edward III. of England. But the men of Ghent
still remained in rebellion. Their three captains,
Peter van den Bossche, Peter de AVintere, and Francis
Ackerman, inspired them with an invincible deter-
mination to defend their rights and privileges. On
the 27th January, 1383, Ackerman stormed the for-
tified town of Ardenburg, expelled the garrison of
Bretons and Burgundians, and ran up the banner of
Pope Urban VI.
The contention between the Count and his re-
fractory subjects now became a religious war.
Urban VI. proclaimed a crusade against the schisma-
tics who supported Clement VII. Henry Spencer,
bishop of Norwich, more famous as a warrior than
as a theologian, was enjoined to appeal to the
people of his diocese to enrol themselves under his
banner. A large sum of money was collected fur
the purposes of this holy war, and towards the end
of April the bishop landed at Calais, eager for martial
glory. Impatient to commence operations on his own
account, he refused to wait any longer for Sir William
Beauchamp, the marshal of the projected expedition,
and, setting out at the head of 3000 English soldiers,
speedily made himself master of Gravelines. Shortly
afterwards he received reinforcements, which raised
his little army to a considerable force. Near Dunkirk
u 2
2&2 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ART EV ELD. [PT. v.
he encountered the Haze of Flanders, one of Louis'
illegitimate offspring, and totally defeated him. The
towns of Bergucs, Cassel, and Bourbourg then threw
open their gates, as did also Saint-Yenant, Bailleul
Poperinghe, and all the seaboard towns from Furnes
to Blankenberghe. Early in June Francis Ackerman,
with 20,000 of the Ghent militia, effected a junction
with the Bishop, and their united forces marched
against Ypres. The garrison of that important
frontier town happened just then to be unusually
weak in numbers, but it included the valiant knights
who had successfully defended Oudenaerd against the
communal militia of all Flanders, wielded at will by
Philip van Arteveld. The Bishop of Norwich had
been led to believe by the men of Ghent that the
place would be yielded in three days, instead of which
he found himself reduced to the necessity of besieging
it in regular form. His movements were further
hampered by the arrival of a mob of priests and
fanatics from England, who seemed to imagine that
the miracle of Jericho would be repeated for their
sake, and that the name of Urban VI. would suffice
to cast down the walls of Ypres. More useful auxili-
aries came from Ghent, under the command of Peter
van den Bossche and Peter de Wintere, but at the
same time it was reported that Louis de Maele had
again stooped to implore aid from the Duke of Bur-
gundy, and that a powerful French army was already
on the march. The garrison, however, was reduced
to extremities. A party of Bretons, hurrying forward
to the relief of the besieged, were surprised and cut
to pieces, and the Count is said to have offered to
CH. xvni.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 203
join the Bishop of Norwich with five hundred lances,
provided he would lead his troops into some other
country. The proposition was a rejected through
distrust of Louis' sincerity, and the Bishop adopted
the extraordinary measure of excommunicating
the garrison as schismatics. For a moment the
sentence of interdict filled those good churchmen
with dismay, until it was pointed out to them that
an appeal lay from the Bishop to Urban VI., whom
they also recognised as the only infallible Pontiff.
The quarrel was not to be decided by churchmen.
A final and most resolute assault was given early in
August, but was repulsed at every point. After which
Ackerman and his friends withdrew their contingent
to Ghent, while the English slowly retraced their steps
to Gravelines. The French army was already on the
frontiers, when news arrived at headquarters that, on
the 17th September, Francis Ackerman had surprised
and carried the fortress of Oudenaerd, which secured
for the Ghent people the navigation of the Scheldt.
The King's uncles, moreover, were already at strife.
Each sought for himself ascendency in the troubled
kingdom. The French army melted away. The
Duke of Burgundy alone remained at St. Omer with
a small party of knights, negotiating with the English
for the surrender of Gravelines. Guided by the im-
pulse of the moment, the Bishop of Norwich suddenly
wrote to Richard II. that never would there be a more
favourable opportunity for the invasion of France.
Equally reckless, the young King galloped at headlong
.speed from Daventry, in Northamptonshire, to West-
minster, where he as quickly renounced his project of
294 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
breaking the French power. The Duke of Lancaster,
however, seriously applied himself to the task of fitting
out an expedition i proportioned to the end in view,
but on reaching the coast was doomed to view
with unavailing disgust the disembarkment of
the troops commanded by the Bishop of Norwich,
who, disheartened by the non- arrival of the pro-
mised succours, had surrendered Qravelines to the
enemy.
Louis de Maele now persuaded the King's uncles to
authorise him to open negotiations with Richard II.,
pointing out that, if peace were established between
the two kingdoms, the Flemish Communes would be
left to their own resources. The plenipotentiaries of
France and England accordingly met at Lelinghen,
near "Wissant, through the Count's mediation, but
neither treaty nor truce seemed likely to be concluded,
because the English insisted that it should be extended
likewise to the Flemish Communes. While matters
were in this unsatisfactory condition, their aspect was
changed by the audacity of the men of Ghent, who
crossed the Lys and threatened Lille, while the militia
of some other towns advanced towards Calais. At the
same time a sympathetic agitation pervaded the com-
monalty of France, which so alarmed the Duke de
Bern that he at once consented to include the county
of Flanders within the provisions of the truce. Louis
de Maele opposed all concessions to the utmost of his
power, until the Duke de Berri harshly remarked :
" Cousin, since your imprudence has brought upon
you so much shame and misfortune, it is time to re-
nounce your furious projects and to follow wiser
CH. xviii.] PHILIP VAN AUTEVELD. 295
counsels." The Count thereupon withdrew to St.
Omer, where he learnt that on the 26th January,
1383, a truce had been concluded to last till the
following Michaelmas.
Only three days later Louis de Maele summoned to
his presence the most valiant and discreet leaders of
his adherents, and when they were gathered round
his sick couch, the Duke of Brittany being also pre-
sent, he took leave of them for ever in kindly and
gracious terms, and said : " I make known to all that
I, considering the great honours, goods, and posses-
sions which our Saviour Jesus Christ, of his pure grace,
without desert on my part, hath given to me in this
world, which I have never used or converted to His
service and honour, as I ought to have done, but in
vain glory, commend my poor sinful sotfl, as humbly
as I may, to Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the blessed
Virgin Mary, fountain of mercy, and to all the saints
of paradise, whom I humbly supplicate to obtain
pardon and remission of my sins, more numerous and
greater than I can describe." He then wrote, or
dictated, a few lines in which he besought the Duke of
Burgundy to govern his people better than he had
done, and to repair the breaches made by his misrule.
On the morrow he expired, and the old chroniclers
affirm that on the night of his death a terrible hurri-
cane swept over the County of Flanders without bend-
ing a single tree or doing the slightest damage, and
that the bodies hanging from gibbets shook and twisted
about, for the demons of hell were hurrying past
clutching the soul of the last Count of Flanders. A
rumour, perhaps not equally groundless, ascribed his
296 JAMES AND PHILIP VAX AllTEVELD. [IT. v.
death to a more material cause than the insulting
words addressed to him by the Duke de Berri.* In
those days it was the custom to assign a sudden ill-
ness, followed rapioJy by death, to poison or the
poniard, and too often with good reason. The mortal
remains of the unfortunate Count were conveyed
to the abbey of Looz, and finally interred with
great pomp and state in the church of St. Peter
in Lille. The body of the Countess, who had died
and been buried a few years previously at Bethel,
was laid by his side, and, if often separated in life,
they were at last united in death. Nearly all the
great lords of Flanders were present at the obsequies
of the Count, to whom they had ever been loyal and
true.
Modern historians, judging the past by the present,
are too fond of accusing the Leliaerd knights of a
want of patriotism, forgetting that, in those times,
the idea or sentiment of nationality had not been de-
veloped. Patriotism, indeed, was incompatible with
feudal institutions. A vassal followed his lord to the
field, indifferent as to the cause of quarrel or the
nationality of the enemy. The only thing to be
avoided was to bear arms against a prince or noble to
whom the vassal of another lord might owe fealty for
an estate or pension. It has been narrated how the
Earl of Hainault, in his character of a vassal of the
Emperor of the West, served under Edward III. until
* Mezeray states that the Duke de Berri and the Count of
Flanders each claimed Boulogne as his' appanage, and that in the
course of a hot dispute the Duke, losing his temper, "jetta sa
dague contre le Comte qui mourut trois jours apres de sa blessure.'
" Hist, de France," vol. ii., ch. lii., p. 518.
c u. xvi ii.] PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. 207
the army crossed the Scheldt and entered French
territory, when he at once went over to Philip de
Valois as his liege lord for lands situated within the
kingdom of France. Edward Il was his brother-in-
law and Philip his uncle, but family ties were no more
considered than those of nationality when they clashed
with feudal obligations. In those days every civilized
country in Europe may be said to have been divided
into two nations, the nobility and the commonalty.
Between these there existed no sort of sympathy.
The knights and nobles of France sympathised with
those of England and Flanders, just as the French
and English commonalties were deeply interested in
the struggles of their order in Flanders. But in all
these countries the nobles in the fourteenth century
had learned to fear, as well as despise, the lower orders,
who could at least set fire to their proud castles and
lordly mansions, however incapable they might yet be
of withstanding the shock of mail-clad men-at-arms.
And in Flanders, as in Italy, the nobles of the sword
were confronted with the nobles of commerce, with the
militcs buryenses, who had the martial qualities of
knights while they sprang from and sided with the
commons. These men were peculiarly hateful to the
feudal lords, whose excesses they repressed with a
strong hand, and against whom they so frequently
led the civic militia not without honour. But the
Leliaerds were not necessarily nobles. In Bruges
especially many of the most opulent burghers favoured
the Count, as against their rivals and competitors in
Ghent. The minor crafts, again, in all the three
good towns were driven by the tyranny of the superior
298 JAMES AND PHILIP FAN ARTEVELD. [FT. v.
guilds to look to the Count for protection, and this
feeling extended in some measure to all the small
towns whose prosperity was hindered by the exclusive
privileges and monopolies conferred by particular
charters upon Bruges, Ghent, and Ypres. With the
death of Louis de Maele a new era may be said to
have begun. The Counts of Flanders made way for
the Dukes of Burgundy princes who cared nothing
for civic rights and charters, and who favoured com-
merce as subservient to their luxury, but disliked the
Communes as so many hot-beds of insubordination and
tumult.
If it be asked how far James and Philip van
Arteveld may be regarded as benefactors of their
country, the answer must be unsatisfactory. James
was undoubtedly a greater statesman than his son.
He had formed a policy calculated to benefit his
countrymen in the highest degree had they been true
to him and to their own interests. The close .alliance
of Brabant, Hainault, and Flanders, cemented by
commercial relations with England, would have made
those States thoroughly independent of France, and
would have secured their material prosperity. Un-
fortunately, however, James van Arteveld inscribed,
as it were, two lesser circles within this larger one.
He wished his native town to be dominant in Flanders,
and he further desired that his own, and his fore-
fathers', guild should be dominant in his native town.
Upon that sharp rock and in that narrow channel the
vessel of his main policy was wrecked.
With regard to Philip van Arteveld it is less
easy to summarise. He does not appear to have
C-H. xvm.J PHILIP VAN AETEVELD. 299
possessed any originality, or any very marked indi-
viduality. The master mind was Peter van den
Bossche, who at a critical moment had the sagacity
to divine that Van Arteveld was a good name to
conjure with. Peter stood, head and shoulders,
above the men of Ghent after Philip's death, as
well as during his lifetime, and at all times of diffi-
culty and danger he occupied the foremost position.
He was probably not an orator, and was therefore
glad to make use of Philip's ready eloquence. At
Comines, indeed, he suffered himself to be surprised,
but it may be doubted if he would have committed the
unpardonable blunder of quitting a practically impreg-
nable position, to grope his way through a dense fog
in search of an enemy strongly posted, infinitely better
armed and disciplined, and to whom fighting was as
the breath of their nostrils. At the same time it will
hardly be disputed that Philip van Arteveld was a
man of high courage and constancy, who scorned to
despair of his countrymen or of himself, and who in
the hour of action was intrepid and self-possessed.
But, on the other hand, he appears to have been
naturally indolent and self-indulgent, and rather
speculative than energetic. His father's fate may well
have given him a distaste for public life ; and if it be
true that he was wont to pass much of his time in
angling in the two rivers which bathed his native
town, it is not fanciful to suppose that his object may
have been to escape the notice of his towns-folk, and
to pass among them as a careless, easy-going burgher,
content to fish for gudgeons while others were battling
for monopolies. That he was, however, made of
300 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. v.
sterling stuff is apparent from the ease and complete-
ness with which he assumed the part suddenly thrust
upon him by Peter van den Bossche. In fine, it must
be conceded that both father and son stand out con-
spicuous in an age that produced many men of master-
ful minds and virile qualities; but it may still be
questioned if Flanders would not have suffered less
had neither the one nor the other come to the front.
That country might, perchance, have fallen a little
short of the surprising commercial wealth, and in-
dustrial prosperity, it enjoyed for a few years, but
neither would it have been brought so low, nor would
it have undergone such terrible calamities, as con-
temporary writers have picturesquely chronicled. And
it should not be lost sight of, that neither Philip nor
his father appears to have understood the importance
of raising and strengthening the rural population, the
true backbone of every country that is subjected to
severe trials. It is, however, somewhat unfair to
demand that statesmen of the fourteenth century
should have been wise with the experience of the
five centuries that separate them from our own
times.
PAET VI.
DECLINE AND FALL OF THE COMMUNES.
PAET VI.
DECLINE AND FALL OF THE COMMUNES.
CHAPTER XIX.
Bruges under Philip the Bold Ghent Recovery of Oudenaerd
True meaning of the Battle of Roosebeke " Les Pourcelets de
la Raspaille" Francis Ackerman Heroism of the Flemish
leaders Plot against Ghent Tumult in Bruges John the
Fearless Philip the Good Siege of Calais Philip's attempt
upon Bruges Treachery of the Men of Ghent Miserable
Condition of Bruges Mournful Festivities.
UNDER' the dominion of the Dukes of Burgundy it
was in the power of the Flemish Communes to have
attained a degree of commercial prosperity hitherto
unprecedented in their past history. This splendid
opportunity, however, they recklessly flung away with
characteristic levity and short-sightedness. Towards
the end of April, 1384, Philip the Bold (fe Hardi),
Duke of Burgundy, made a state entry into Bruges,
for the purpose of receiving the homage of the muni-
cipal magistrates. He was particularly gracious and
conciliatory, and appeared sincerely disposed to efface
the unpleasant memories of former dissensions he-
tween the gflod towns and his predecessors. At that
time, as we learn from the picturesque memoirs of
304 JAMES AND PHILIP TAX ARTEVELV. [PT. vi.
Philip de Comines, Bruges was an immense emporium
of commerce, and the most frequented resort of foreign
merchants. More business was probably transacted
in that " quaint old\Flemish city," than in any other
town in Europe. The destruction of such a place,
the philosophic chronicler remarks, would have been
an irreparable loss, though he seems disposed to look
upon Ghent in a very different light. He marvels,
indeed, that its very existence had been so long
tolerated by the Deity, in view of the evil it had
so often caused, and seeing that it was of such little
utility to the kingdom, or to the country in which it
was situated, and still less to its immediate prince.
The citizens of Bruges being more sober-minded, would
possibly have been inclined to set an example of
orderly obedience to their Count, had they not been
so easily led astray by the mischievous counsels of the
other good towns, and especially of Ghent. And yet
even the Ghent folk are acknowledged by De Comines
to have had some good points. Their town, for one
thing, was favourably situated at the confluence of
two considerable rivers. Then, the citizens, though
addicted to pleasure, pomp, and luxury, were good
Christians, and served and honoured the Deity in a
becoming manner. His wrath, indeed, burnt most
fiercely against them because they were unable to
cope in subtilty with Louis XI. He laughs to scorn
their clumsy, blundering attempts at diplomacy, and
says, truly enough, that they had no experience of
the management of great public affairs. He admits
that they always began by being well disposed to
their Counts, especially while these were minors, but
CH. xix.] DECLINE OF THE COMMUNES. 305
they could brook no contradiction, and thought only
of what was immediately good for themselves. In
short, the deputies who waited upo^n the French King
at that time " n'estaient que bestes et gens de ville la
plus part."
The new Count was destined to have an early
opportunity of testing the impracticable character of
the townsmen of Ghent. In the temporary absence
of Francis Ackerman the Atremen, or Aterman of
Froissart and his copyists the important fortress of
Oudenaerd was surprised by the Sire d'Escomay, and
when deputies from Ghent pointed out to Philip that
such an outrage was a violation of the existing truce,
he curtly replied that he was not answerable for the
martial enterprises of individual knights. It was,
indeed, impossible that a Seigneur should long submit
to the exigencies of a truce between himself and his
vassals. Such an engagement was an admission of
their right to take up arms against their lord and
resist his authority. Oudenaerd was clearly a fief of
the County of Flanders, and had been forcibly captured
and retained by the men of Ghent, contrary to the
laws and usages of feudalism. During the continu-
ance of an arrangement which recognised the posses-
sion of Oudenaerd by the citizens of Ghent, Philip
was clearly debarred from marching against the place
in person, but, in view of the confusion and lawless-
ness that still prevailed in France and Flanders, he
may be pardoned for conniving at acts of violence
which tended to restore his own authority and to
diminish the influence of the Communes. It must
not be forgotten that the affair at Roosebeke was not
306 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. vi.
merely the outcome of a contest between a somewhat
capricious and arbitrary Seigneur and his refractory
vassals. Upon the fate of that battle had depended
the very existence of the French monarchy, and the
continuance of the feudal system in opposition to the
French and Flemish Communes. These latter insti-
tutions may not have been republican in the begin-
ning, but their tendency was throughout towards
republicanism. They bore with the lordship of their
Count and the over-lordship of the King of France,
because they were more jealous of one another than
they were of their seigneur and suzerain, and because
this jealousy prevented them from putting forth their
united strength to cast off a yoke which restrained the
freedom of their commercial relations. But whenever
victory, no matter in how fugitive a fashion, crowned
the arms of either the Ghent or the Bruges militia,
both France and Italy were for a time stirred from
their lowest depths, and the principle of democracy
seemed on the point of a signal and disastrous triumph.
Had James van Arteveld been allowed more time in
Flanders, had Bienzi been spared a little longer in
Rome, democracy might have emerged from its normal
chaotic condition, though only to develop into an
oligarchy as the transition to monarchical power".
But, as it happened, the successes of the Communes
were written in blood, which could only be effaced by
their own. Their own inconstancy was their worst
enemy. They were never true to themselves. While
the slightest affront to their selfish monopolies and
mischievous privileges sufficed to throw them into the
wildest state of agitation, when they ran a-mok
en. xix.] DECLINE OF THE COMMUNES. 307
against all who strove to moderate and guide their
frenzy, they were at once quieted by a few plausible
promises from their Count, and quietly looked on
while their late leaders were banished, or tortured and
beheaded.
The recovery of Oudenaerd by a vassal of Philip
Duke of Burgundy, now Count of Flanders, excited
the citizens of Ghent to such a degree, that nothing
would satisfy them but recourse to arms. A Burgun-
dian knight, the Sire de Jumont, who had quite
recently been appointed Grand Bailiff of Flanders, is
described by Froissart as increasing their exaspera-
tion, by his excessive severity towards prisoners taken
with arms in their hands. He would accept no ran-
som, and if he did not straightway put them to death,
he would deprive them of eyesight, or cut off their
hands, ears, or feet, " et puis les laissoit aler en eel
etat pour exemplier les autres." These cruelties
brought about terrible reprisals. The thickets of La
Raspaille, between Renaix and Grammont, swarmed
with peasants driven from their homes, who massacred
the Burgundians without ' pity, whenever they came
upon them singly or in small detachments. These
" franc- tireurs," as they would now be called, were held
in contempt by the Burgundian knights, who spoke of
them as " les pourcelets (porkers) de la Raspaille,"
but who nevertheless suffered fearfully from their
despair. But Philip's ambition soared far beyond the
woods of La Raspaille and the blood-stained streets of
Ghent. He aimed at the supremo direction of the
kingdom of France, and at the invasion, if not the con-
quest, of England. To carry out this double project,
x 2
308 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. vi.
he strengthened his own position by marrying his
daughter Margaret to "William of Bavaria, heir to
the county of Hajnault, and by accepting for his
eldest son, John de Nevers, the hand of Margaret
of Bavaria, while, a few months later, he persuaded
Charles VI. to espouse another daughter of the Duke
of Bavaria.
Heedless of the manosuvres and intrigues of this
" haute politique," Francis Ackerman dreamed of re-
calling the days of James van Arteveld. He renewed
the alliance with England, and received a welcome
supply of provisions, together with a reinforcement of
a thousand English archers and a handful of men-at-
arms, but he soon learned to his cost that Richard II.
had not inherited the martial character of his grand-
father. It does not, however, enter into the pro-
vince of these supplementary chapters to recount
the varying incidents of the desultory warfare
which ensued. Francis Ackerman acquitted himself
alike as a daring partizan and a skilful general,
and for awhile made head against the superior dis-
cipline and numbers of the Franco - Burgundian
armies, assisted by the militia of Bruges and other
Flemish towns, more careful of their own safety than
emulous to imitate the spasmodic heroism of their
fellow-countrymen in Ghent. But it was easier to
devastate the country than to conquer its inhabi-
tants. Sixteen men of Ghent, barricaded in the
church-tower at Arteveld, held at bay the entire
army of Charles VI. until the walls were demolished
by engines of war. The highest order of courage
and self-devotion was, moreover, manifested by the
oji. xix.] DECLINE OF THE COMMUNES. 30D
wealthiest burghers and land -owners of the Pays
de Wacs. That fertile district had been barbar-
ously wasted by the French troyps, who even fired
the woods to which the women and children had
fled for refuge from their brutality. A consider-
able number of prisoners whose easy circumstances
seemed to promise a generous ransom, were brought
to the camp of Charles VI., but were immediately
ordered out to execution by the King's uncles. At
last, there remained only twenty-four, all kinsmen
one of the other, and all of good family and great
local influence. Some of the French knights inter-
ceded on their behalf, and their lives would have
been spared had they exhibited any signs of yield-
ing. Not one of them would purchase life by a
meanness. Their senior said with a firm voice that,
although the power of the King might prevail over
the resistance of brave men, he could not make them
change their opinions. Even, he continued, if the
King were to put to death every Fleming then alive,
their dry bones would rise up again to combat him.
He and his gallant comrades perished, one after the
other, without a murmur, without the movement of a
muscle. With unflinching eyes and unaltered brow
they met death calmly and serenely, as it behoves free
men ever to do. They died not in vain, for their
heroic demeanour, while it inspired the French knights
with admiration, filled the heart of the King with
terror, and a few days later Charles VI. and his army
returned to France.
By the truly patriotic exertions of three citizens of
Ghent, ultimately supported by Francis Ackerman, a
310 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN AUTEVELD. [IT. vi.
treaty of peace was concluded at Tournai on the 18th
December, 1385, which secured the privileges of that
opulent city, and ajso those of its allied towns, and
pledged the Duke's favour to all law-abiding subjects.
On their part the Ghent burghers renounced the
English alliance, repudiated their homage to the King
of England, and engaged themselves for ever to render
due obedience to the King of France, and to the
Duke and Duchess of Burgundy, so long as their
privileges and franchises remained untouched.
Peter van den Bossche, however, distrusted Philip,
and took refuge in England, in company of the
archers and men - at - arms commanded by John
Bourchier.
In the following year vast preparations were made
for the invasion of England. A large army and an
immense fleet were collected at Sluys, and had the
King's uncles acted in unison much mischief might
have been wrought in the eastern counties, against
which the expedition was particularly directed. For-
tunately the Duke de Berri loitered on the way till
the season was too far advanced for maritime opersf-
tions, and the mighty host melted away. The Duke
of Burgundy was for awhile furious at being baulked
of his revenge, for he had never forgotten or forgiven
his imprisonment in England. But he suddenly re-
covered his composure. The Duke de Berri had
pointed out to him a surer and safer gratification.
Charles VJ. gave out that, in token of his kindly
feelings towards the citizens of Ghent, he intended to
celebrate the Christmas festival in that town. He
was preceded by a long train of waggons loaded, appa-
en. xix.] DECLINE OF THE COMm'XKX. 311
rently, with casks of wine, in charge of 800 servants
and drivers. Suspicions were excited. The wooden
horse was once more being led into Troy. A
burgher, more audacious than* bis fellows, struck
one of the casks, and stoutly averred that its contents
were not liquid. His fellow-townsmen gathered
around, mastered all opposition, and broke open the
casks, which were filled with weapons. The King's
servants were publicly beheaded, after confessing that
they had been charged to open the gates to the royal
troops, and that it was intended to destroy the town
and massacre the inhabitants. The conduct of the
irregular levies from Picardy seemed to confirm this
strange tale. They pillaged the .town of Sluys, out-
raged wives and maidens, and attempted to act after
the same manner in Bruges, but the townsfolk took
to their arms, struck down the Duke de Berri, and
chased the French knights to their lodgings. It
seemed as if the ''Bruges Matins" were about to be
repeated, and Froissart acknowledges that, had not
the Sire de Ghistelles interposed his powerful local
influence, not a French knight or squire would have
escaped death.
Under John, nicknamed, rather than surnamed, the
Fearless, the Flemish Communes recovered a large
portion of their ancient influence. The nobility and
clergy thought it no shame to sit in council with the
Communal magistrates, under the title of the " States
of Flanders." To secure their personal safety they
caused the fortifications of Ghent, for it was in that
town they held their meetings, to be greatly strength-
ened, and in times of trouble they made their voice
312 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. vi.
to be heard and respected even in Paris. But their
influence was, after all, factitious. During the frightful
anarchy which marked the internecine strife of the
Burgundians and Af magnacs, there was no supreme
constituted authority to inspire either terror or con-
fidence. Those who were able to do so protected
themselves the defenceless were pillaged alike by
friend and foe. Had a James van Arteveld appeared
at this juncture, the independence and union of Flan-
ders might have been attained without bloodshed ;
but no one arose to serve as a cloud by day and as a
pillar of fire by night, and the opportunity was lost for
ever.
John sans Peur, though certainly not sans Reproclic,
was succeeded by his son Philip, miscalled the Good.
The most extravagant magnificence prevailed at the
Court of Duke Philip. Medieval pageantries, jousts,
and knight errantry, flickered their last feeble flamo
before they finally expired. At times the Flemish
Communes were in profound repose, and enjoyed ma-
terial prosperity to a demoralizing extent. At other
times, however, they cried havoc ! and let loose the.
dogs of civil war. Now it was Bruges that raised its
standard against that of the Duke, and clamoured for
privileges which it invariably abused. Now it was
Ghent that, for sheer jealousy, turned upon its sister
town, or with loud uproar and some bloodshed de-
manded the immediate redress of apocryphal griev-
ances. Things were in much the same state as in
Northern France in the twelfth century, when a
contemporary writer complained, in his barbarous
Latin,
en. xix.] DECLINE OF THE COMMl'XES. 313
Discordant omnes, praesul, conies, atque phalanges,
Pugnant inter se concives, contribulesque,
Urbica turba strepit, machiuantur ct oppida bellum.
In the beginning of his reign, Philip the Good was
too much occupied with the affairs of France to pay
much attention to the wants and wishes of his Flemish
subjects. It was in 1436 that he first thought of
utilising them in the great work of expelling the
English from that kingdom. "With some trouble, and
by the exhibition of much tact and forbearance, he at
length prevailed upon the Communes to place at his
disposal a considerable force of their militia for the
purpose of besieging Calais. The English garrison,
however, offered a determined resistance, and was
revictualled and reinforced, while the Burgundian
Admiral, John de Homes, did not venture to put out
from the Zwyn. Discouraged by frequent reverses,
the militia suddenly raised the fatal cry of treachery.
Striking their tents, and loading their waggons, they
started off for Flanders during the night, shouting to
one another, "Go, go, icy z//n al rerraden !" let us be
off, let us be off! we are all betrayed! The Duke
followed them to Gravelines, but his entreaties and
promises were alike disregarded, and he became pain-
fully aware of the danger of placing reliance upon
such wayward and inconstant supporters.
In the following year a serious disturbance occurred
at Ghent, and two influential citizens were put to
death. Tranquillity, however, was soon restored, but
the evil spirit of sedition reappeared only three days
later, though this time at Bruges, where both the
burgomaster and his brother were cruelly murdered.
314 JAMES ASD PHILIP J'AX ARTEl'ELD. [i-r. vi.
A deputation was promptly despatched to Arras, to
solicit forgiveness from the Duke, who carelessly re-
plied that matters o moment required his immediate
presence in Holland. Under this pretence he col-
lected a considerable army, and marched at the head
of his troops to Roulers. Thence he wrote to the
magistrates of Bruges that he proposed to pass through
their town, but with a very limited number of fol-
lowers, and that not a single common soldier should be
suffered to enter within their wails. In the afternoon
of the 23rd May, Philip stopped at the village of
St. Michael, but his army continued to advance, and
halted only at the Bouverie Gate. Thereupon the
chief magistrates hastened to St. Michael's, and in-
sisted that the Duke should fulfil his engagements.
Equivocal answers were all they could obtain, until
tidings came that the gate was in possession of the
Burgundians, when Philip exclaimed, " I will not
separate from my men-at-arms," and turning to his
knights and officers, he added, " This is the Holland
I mean to subdue." Refusing to listen to the clergy,
who boldly protested against the infamy of delivering
up to his soldiery such a town as Bruges, Philip rode
a little way beyond the gate, but the populace looked
so threatening that he slowly retreated to the Friday
market-place the site of the present railway station.
His archers were commanded to sweep the streets,
and their arrows pierced the women at the windows,
and the old people and children at a distance. The
Duke, drawing his sword, so far forgot himself as to
cut down a citizen who was standing quietly by his
side. An immense tumult arose. The tocsin rang
CH. xix.] DECLINE OF THE COMMl'XI'.s. 315
out furiously. Armed men came running to the spot
from all quarters. The archers were struck down and
trampled under foot. The ligljt-armed pillagers fled
to the city gate, and regained the country. The
people then closed in upon the men-at-arms with pike
and knife. Many were unhorsed, and speedily de-
spatched. The Duke himself was in imminent danger.
In vain the burgomaster, Louis van de Walle, called
upon the citizens to respect their Seigneur. They
were maddened by Philip's duplicity, by the uproar
and the bloodshed, and would listen to no remon-
strances. With the aid of a journeyman blacksmith,
the burgomaster burst open the nearest city gate, and
Philip escaped to Roulers, while Louis van de Walle
lived to repent of his devoted loyalty.
The Bruges militia, confiding in the dispersion of
the Duke's army, surprised Ardenburg, and carried
oft' a rich and welcome booty in corn and wine. They
next proceeded to attack Sluys, though held by a
stout garrison, and had already effected a breach,
when deputies arrived from Ghent, and entreated
them to stay their hand, as the Duke was willing to
concede all that they could reasonably desire. With
characteristic fatuity the militia immediately re-
turned to Bruges, and, as they withdrew, the Bur-
gundians sallied forth and pillaged all the surround-
ing villages and hamlets, until one of their bravest
captains was defeated under the Avails of Bruges
by an inferior force, and narrowly escaped with
his life.
This success emboldened the men of Ghent to
venture forth beyond their walls. They even advanced
316 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. vr.
as far as Mariakcrke, and summoned to their camp
the militia of their military circle.* But while await-
ing the arrival of l^hese reinforcements they were
joined by one Rasse Onredene, who was secretly in
the service of the Duke, but who so worked upon the
silly burghers that they elected him their Captain.
He then easily persuaded them that their wisest
course was to avoid violence, and to offer their media-
tion. Delegates from Bruges hastened to join the
proposed conference at Eecloo, and were astonished
at finding the Ghent army prepared to compel their
acceptance of the Duke's terms. For awhile they
refused all submission, but an epidemic suddenly broke
out and carried off upwards of 20,000 victims. A
great scarcity of food ensued upon a winter of extreme
rigour, and an attack of leprosy was added to their
other miseries. Peace was now demanded on alt
sides. Deputies were sent to Arras to pray for
pardon, and were kept for three months in horrible
suspense. At length the Duke was pleased to spare
the town, but imposed the most humiliating and re-
volting conditions. Not a few of the wealthy burghers
left their homes, under pretext of making pilgrimages
to distant shrines, but even this means of escape was
speedily cut off, as the penalty of death was pro-
nounced against all pilgrims from that town. The
executioners had enough to do just then. Even
women of good social position were subjected to tor-
ture, and among them was the wife of the burgo-
master who had saved Philip's life. His son was one
* See p. 175.
CH. xix.] DECLIXE OP THE COMMUNES. 317
of those who were beheaded, and he himself and his
tortured wife had already ascended the scaffold, when
a joyful peal of bells announced the arrival of the
Duchess. The further effusion of innocent blood was
stopped, and Louis van de Walle and his wife were
sentenced to imprisonment for life in the chateau of
Wynendael.
Chiefly through the remonstrances of the foreign
merchants, commercial relations were at length re-
stored between Flanders and England, and by degrees
industry revived. In December, 1440, Philip con-
sented once more to visit his "good town " of Bruges,
and was welcomed with the most fulsome and abject
demonstrations of submission. Scriptural pageants
and devices represented the Duke as the Saviour of
his people. Tournaments were held, minstrels pa-
raded the streets singing the praises of the Duke, as
though he were the Deity incarnate, stately banquets
were offered by the magistrates, lengthened, if not
enlivened, by the ponderous conceits which still sur-
vived in Flanders, the darkness of the coming night
was made resplendent with thousands of torches, and
the church-bells rang their loudest and most musical
peals. The lesson, however, was not forgotten.
"Remember Bruges!" said Philip to the citizens of
Ypres, when they at one time seemed on the point of
a tumult. They did remember, and there was peace
in the land for ten years. Industry and commerce
made rapid strides. The arts began to be understood
and admired. Literature was esteemed, but luxury
\vas never more rampant. For corruption was pre-
ceding death, and the funeral baked meats had already
318 JAMES AXD PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. vr.
been served up in Bruges. And it was the treachery
of the men of Ghent that had hastened this decay.
We shall presently see how their children's teeth
were set on edge, because of the sour grapes their
fathers had eaten.
CHAPTER XX.
Disputes between Philip and the town of Client Insurrection
Death of the Bastard of Burgundy Battle of Gavre Treaty
of Gavre Charles the Rash at Ghent Mary of Burgundy-
Maximilian of Austria Philip the Fair Charles Quint-
Confiscation of the liberties of Ghent Conclusion.
FOR a time the power and riches of Ghent were
aggrandized by the obscuration of Bruges. It be-
came the chief city in all Flanders, and consequently
an object of jealousy to the Duke, who removed the
sessions of the Grand Council to Ypres, and shortly
afterwards to Dendermonde. The Bruges people
had for some years past submitted to the gabrlle,
or duty upon salt, and in 1447 Philip attempted
to impose it upon the citizens of Ghent, promising
various concessions in return for this subvention,
but his application was promptly and energetically
refused, and, as a mark of his resentment, for the
three following years he absented himself entirely
from that town. The inhabitants desired nothing
better, and would have been quite contented to be
abandoned to their own devices for ever. That was
precisely what the Duke had no intention of doing.
He first tried, though unsuccessfully, to influence the
municipal elections, and when foiled in that effort, he
refused to recognise Daniel Sersanders as one of the
320 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AHTEVELD. [PT. vi.
echcvins, on the ground that he was one of those who
had opposed the tax upon salt. The States of Flan-
ders then proffered their mediation, and the Ghent
hurghers finally consented to cancel the previous elec-
tion and to choose another set of magistrates. En-
couraged hy their yielding on this point, the Duke
made further demands, which were rejected as being
contrary to their rights and privileges. He even went
so far as to summon to his presence the magistrates
whose election had been annulled, and declared that
he would never enter the town so long as there was
any chance of encountering Daniel Sersanders, Lievin
Potter, or Lieven Sneevoet. These three citizens
forthwith resolved to sacrifice themselves for their
fellow-townsfolk, and proceeded, under protest, to
place themselves at the Duke's disposal. Untouched
by their self-abnegation, he compelled them to appear
before him in the attitude of supplicants, bareheaded
and barefooted, and sentenced all three to banishment
from Flanders for periods varying from ten to twenty
years. They were then escorted to the frontier, and
there turned adrift upon the world.
When it was known in Ghent that the Duke had
thus violated their privileges, the people gathered
together in the market-places, and implored Heaven
to send them another James van Arteveld. Two
Burgundian agents, Peter Tincke and Louis Dhamere,
endeavoured to direct this agitation in such a manner
as should favour the revival of the Ducal influence, but
they only succeeded in creating a wild disturbance
and in bringing their own heads to the block. The
Duke's officers were at the same time constrained to
CH. xx.] DECLINE OF THE COMMIXES. 321
leave the town, and the magistrates let it be clearly
understood that it might become their duty to appeal
to Charles VII., whose enmity ty wards Philip was of
long standing. The banished echevins were straight-
way recalled from exile, and were entreated to use
their utmost efforts to restore tranquillity. But mat-
ters had gone too far to leave the door open to persua-
sion. The populace had gained the upper hand, and
had chosen as their leaders three men totally unworthy
of their confidence. A fruitless expedition against
Biervliet drove them to cover their incompetence by
acts of violence and bloodshed. The more moderate
and respectable citizens vainly struggled against the
surging waves of anarchy, and sought to effect a
reconciliation with their liege lord.
So long as military operations were prevented by
the winter season Philip temporised, and affected to
lend a willing ear to their representations, which were
warmly supported by the States and by the Count de
St. Pol. But on the 15th March, 1452, the mask
was dropped, and war was formally declared against
the good town of Ghent. Imprisonment in irons was
to be the punishment of those who supplied the rebels
with corn. The bravest captains, and among them
were the three Lalaings, were appointed to the chief
commands. The other Communes, with the noble
exception of the comparatively weak and exposed
town of Ninove, declared themselves against their
fellow countrymen and espoused the Burgundian
cause. The Bruges citizens, indeed, were so far ex-
cusable that their own ruin was the handiwork of
their Ghent rivals, but they might have taken a
322 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. vi.
nobler revenge by wiping out the past and striking
one more blow for the independence of Flanders.
Had they boldly pronounced in favour of Ghent, not
(TIG Flemish Commune would have stood aloof.
United, they might have braved and baffled the
utmost might of Burgundy, Brabant, and Hainault, nor
would Philip have ventured all upon such a perilous
cast. But, as it has been so often remarked, the
ideas of nationality and patriotism were not as yet
understood by the traders and artizans of Flanders.
Each Commune thought only of its own particular
interests, and took its separate course without regard
to the fate of its neighbours. The result of such
selfish shortsightedness may be briefly set forth.
In Ghent itself the citizens began by squabbling
with one another. Some were beheaded, others were
banished, others, again, fled from a city that knew
neither how to make war, nor how to live in peace. A
few half-hearted negotiations having failed, the tocsin
was rung out from the belfry, a icapcninghe or arma-
ment was proclaimed, and some 20,000 armed men,
with a fine park of artillery, took the road to Oude-
naerd. But that important post was held by Simon
de Lalaing, whose renowned nephew, James de La-
laing, performed prodigies of valour to be the first to
succour his almost equally redoubtable uncle. The
militia of Ghent fought with desperate courage, but
without discipline or concerted purpose, and more
than once, when at the very point of victory, they fell
into disorder, and were ruthlessly massacred by the
heavy-armed Burgundians, supported by the militia of
the other Flemish Communes. The struggle was long
cir. xx.] DECLINE OF THE COMMUXES. 323
and splendidly sustained. The men of Ghent were
desperate. Their own lives and all that was dear to
them were at stake, and they felV in their close ranks,
without yielding an inch of ground. It was all in
vain. Philip's captains hemmed them in on all sides.
There was no hope of succour, though at one time
Henry VI. promised to send 7000 men to their assist-,
ance. Charles VII. also interposed his good offices,
but without enforcing his mediation by the approach
of an army. The death of James de Lalaing was
regretted even by his enemies, but Philip was 'carried
beyond his usual accesses of ungovernable fury
when he heard that his favourite illegitimate son,
Corneille, Bastard of Burgundy, had fallen on the
well-stricken field of E-upelmonde. In his first out-
burst of grief he hanged from a tree Walter Leen-
knecht, the leader of the Ghent militia, already
grievously wounded, nor did he find much greater
consolation in the magnificent obsequies celebrated by
the .Duchess, forgetful of her own wrongs. The dead
body was laid in the tomb sacred to the allied Houses
of Brabant and Burgundy, and with it were interred
his banner, his standard, and his pennon, as was usual
with knights who died sword in hand.
For a brief space a truce was concluded, but it was
only a breathing time, during which both parties pre-
pared for the last and conclusive struggle. The kings
of France and England were alike too much occupied
with their own. affairs to do more than offer useless
counsels. Unhappily for themselves, the Ghent
militia had learnt nothing from the terrible experience
of past reverses and defeats. They were always
Y 2
324 JAMES AND THILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [FT. vi.
ready to force the fighting, but took no thought about
protecting their flanks or covering their retreat. They
fought on stolidly apd stupidly, shoulder to shoulder,
but without developing the most rudimentary strategy,
and seemingly only anxious to slay and be slain. In
that respect they they were amply gratified at Gavre.
It is said that they were betrayed by an Englishman,
named John Fox, who commanded a small body of
archers. This miscreant led their army straight to
the Burguudian camp, when he galloped over to the
enemy. For all that, the battle was for some time
doubtful. The position of the Ghent militia was de-
fective at every point, and they were destitute of
cavalry, though they possessed a formidable artillery.
But their powder barrels blew up early in the day,
and fatal disorder ensued. They were, besides,
formed in three large divisions so badly handled that
they gave no support to one another. At one moment
Philip himself was surrounded and in great danger,
from which he was rescued by his son, the Count do
Charolais, afterwards Charles the Rash. In the end,
however, 20,000 citizens of Ghent were either slain in
fair fight or drowned in the Scheldt, and so piteous
was the spectacle of the scene of slaughter that even
Philip exclaimed, " "Whoever may be the victor my
loss is great, for it is my people who have perished."
Nevertheless, he desired to push forward and finish
the war at a blow. But no one knew the road across
the marshes, and through the woods, which at that
time stretched between Gavre and Ghent. Just then
a peasant came up, and was commanded, at the peril
of his life, to lead the army by the straightest road to
cu. xx.] DECLIXE OF THE COMMUTES. 325
the foot of the walls. He placed himself at the head
of the advanced guard, and, by a circuitous route,
conducted it to the camp from w^ich it had originally
started. "How is this?" cried Philip; "I ordered
you to guide me straight to Ghent, and you have
brought me back to my own quarters." The guide,
however, had disappeared in the thickening shades,
and the city was spared the horrors of a storm and
sack by night.
Among the slain were eight magistrates and t\vo
hundred monks in their sad-coloured garments. Early
next day, however, the ramparts were manned by
the citizens, resolved to die at their posts, when a
herald came in sight and proposed a suspension of
hostilities. A few of the burghers still insisted on
fighting on to the bitter end ; but wiser counsels ulti-
mately prevailed, and on the morrow, July 23rd,
1453, was concluded the Treaty of Gavre. The terms
accorded to the insurgents were severe, but not more
so than they must fairly have expected. The muni-
cipal magistrates were naturally shorn of much of
their local influence, the white hoods were suppressed
and prohibited, the banners of the guilds were sur-
rendered and deposited, some in the church of
Notre Dame at Halle, and some in the church of
Notre Dame at Boulogne ; a heavy fine was imposed,
and the magistrates, accompanied by 2000 burghers,
were required to meet the Duke half a league from
the town, bareheaded and barefooted, and with other
tokens of humility, and there on their bended knees
and in the French language to confess their delin-
quencies and pray for mercy. On the other hand, their
326 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [PT. vi.
most useful privileges were reserved to them, personal
liberty was assured to all, the salt tax was remitted,
and the fine was afterwards considerably diminished.
Finally, Peter Baudins, whose double-dealing had
excited the citizens against the Duke, and the Duke
against the citizens, was closely imprisoned in the
castle of Rupelmonde. On the 30th July, Philip rode
at the head of his army to Ledeberg, situated a short
distance from the St. Lievin Gate, and was there met
by the magistrates and burghers of Ghent in abject
attire and suppliant attitude. In answer to their
appeal for mercy, Duke Philip replied : "Be to us
henceforth good subjects we will be to you a good
and loyal lord." * He did not, however, enter the
city, but turned his charger's head and took the road
to Oudenaerd.
Philip had no further trouble with the Communes of
Flanders. He 1 had crushed the spirit, as well as the
power, of the citizens of Bruges and of those of Ghent.
There was nothing to fear from that generation, but
the boys of 1453 had become strong men in 1467, the
year of his death, and had ceased to remember the
terrors of their childhood. It was reserved for his
son, Charles the Rash, to discover that the scotch'd
snake had still strength to bite. After solemnizing
with great pomp his father's obsequies at Bruges, the
young Duke proceeded to Ghent to receive from his
subjects their oath of allegiance. At first he was wel-
comed with respect, if not with much rejoicing, but no
sooner had he entered the Friday market than he was
* "Soyez -nons doresnavant bon.s sujets, nous vous serous bon
et "loyal seigneur."
CH. xx.] DECLINE OF THE COMMUXES. 327
petitioned by the principal burghers, on their knees,
to restore the ancient rights and privileges of the
Commune. In reply, and probably to gain time, he
desired them to make their wisfles known in writing,
and promised to give an answer in three days. But
in the interval a terrible commotion was raised by the
dregs of the populace, and in the end almost the
entire population was carried away by the vehemence
of their improvised leaders. Charles was at one time
in danger of his life, and, through his own rashness,
would certainly have been massacred but for the
courage and popularity of the Sire de la Gruuthuse.
The presence of his little daughter Mary, however,
constrained him to control his fur}*, and on the follow-
ing day he virtually cancelled the most objectionable
articles of the Treaty of Gavre. That he would have
fulfilled these engagements had his hands been free is
at least problematical, but his brief reign was too
fully occupied with his disputes with Louis XI. and
the Swiss Cantons to allow any leisure for the punish-
ment of Ghent.
During the whole course of their tumultuous career
the inhabitants of Ghent never appeared in a worse
light than through their treatment of Mary of Bur-
gundy. They took the most cruel advantage of her
youth, innocence, and natural timidity. They seemed
to derive a thoroughly savage gratification from work-
ing upon her fears for her own safety, and for that
of her attached friends and faithful counsellors. They
put to death under the most revolting circumstances
her devoted adherents, Guy d'Humbercourt, John de
Melle, and the Chancellor Hugonet. They struck off
328 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN AllTEVELD. [IT. vr.
the heads of several notable citizens on frivolous pre-
texts. They extorted from the Princess the formal
renunciation of the Treaty of Gavre, and of all imposts
levied since the year 1450, and compelled her to
swear to the maintenance of all charters, franchises,
and privileges enjoyed by the Commune previous to
that date. The same coarse selfishness and barbarity
were displayed at Bruges. Though clamorous for
their own licentious independence, the citizens of that
town gave themselves no rest until they had con-
strained their hapless Princess to suppress the fourth
"member," and again subject the Franc to the juris-
diction of Bruges. On the day of her betrothal to
the Archduke Maximilian of Austria a new charter
was promulgated, confirming and enlarging the most
favourable concessions of former times, and practically
recognising the pretensions to self-government so often
put forward by that inconstant and restless Commune.
She was suffered, indeed, by the population of both
Bruges and Ghent to marry the husband of her choice,
but her brief wedded life was embittered by their
rancorous jealousies and low-born arrogance.
Maximilian's personal experiences after the death
of his ill-fated Consort were of the most poignant and
humiliating character. He was incessantly embroiled
in hostilities against his own subjects. At Bruges he
was imprisoned for some days in the Craenenburg,
the largest house overlooking the Grande Place, and
which remains to the present day, a melancholy me-
morial of the former greatness of that decayed city.
Many of his personal friends and adherents were
executed almost under his very eyes, and when he
CH. xx.] DECLINE OF THE COMMUNES, 329
was subsequently removed to a more stately mansion
between St. James' Church and the Ezel-brugge,
executions were still more frequent. The fear of the
speedy approach of a German army at length wrought
his deliverance; but even then the short-sighted
populace, instead of setting him unconditionally at
liberty, and trusting to his generosity for their for-
giveness, wrung from his necessities all manner of
stipulations which he was not, in the least, likely to
respect on escaping from duress. On both sides much
duplicity and an insatiable vindictiveness were exhi-
bited, by which the country was brought to the verge
of ruin. Maximilian himself was unstable as water.
He was of a kindly, indolent disposition, and in an
humbler sphere of life might have passed through a
harmless and irreproachable existence. His personal
bravery was beyond all doubt, but it was the animal
courage of a common soldier. Through his own skill
he never gained a victory, and if perchance a battle
was won without his aid as a general he knew not
what to do with his unexpected good fortune. As
mainboury, or Regent, of Flanders, he was never in
harmony with the Communes, and his military opera-
tions were conducted as in an enemy's country, and it
must be acknowledged that the resentment he bore
towards the Flemings was not without cause.
His son Philip the Fair was proclaimed Count of
Plunders on the 26th December, 1494. He had
shortly before completed the sixteenth year of his
age, and two years later he married Joan of Aragon.
From this union proceeded great issues, which
changed the political aspect of Europe. On the 24th
330 JAMES AND PHILIP VAX ARTEVELD. [IT. vr.
February, 1500, was born in Ghent a prince, who
became known in the fulness of time as Charles-Quint,
for a while the most powerful monarch the world had
seen since the days of Charlemagne. At the death
of Isabella, of Castile, her crown descended to the
youthful Count of Flanders, who enjoyed this new
honour for less than two years. His death occurred
at Bruges on the 25th September, 1506, and the
Emperor Maximilian was declared guardian of his
grandson, Charles, Prince of Castile, and heir to all
the States that had nominally paid allegiance to
Mary of Burgundy. At the age of nineteen, Charles,
now King of Aragon and Castile, was elected Emperor
of the Holy Roman Empire, and by virtue of his
being the fourth Emperor since the death of Charle-
magne who bore the name of Charles, he assumed the
title of Charles- Quint.
It does not, however, lie within the scope of this
little work to trace, even in outline, the history of
that remarkable monarch. The Communes of Flanders
had ceased to exercise any appreciable influence on the
politics of Europe. What was more to be regretted,
was the decay of Flemish industry. The gradual, but
rapid, silting up of the Zwyn had deprived Bruges of
its importance as a maritime port. Its traffic had
passed to Antwerp. Foreign merchants, with the
exception of a few Spaniards, removed from a town
that had lost its commercial advantages. Agriculture
was in so elementary a condition that the soil of
Flanders was pronounced too sterile, and the climate
too cold, to produce cereal crops, and, consequently,
wheat, as well as wine, was imported from France.
in. xx.] DECLINE OF THE COMMl'XI-X. 331
l>ut when the great rivalry commenced between
Charles-Quint and Francis I., the Flemish Communes
were reduced to sore straits. ,They could neither
dispose of their manufactures and merchandize, nor
procure the necessaries of life for their own consump-
tion. Spanish wool now supplanted wool from Eng-
land, but there was no corresponding demand for the
produce of the Flemish looms. Ghent, however, had
to a certain extent profited by the misfortunes of its
rival. It was the largest, the richest, and the most
densely peopled city in Europe. It covered a larger
area even than Paris, a statement confirmed by
the bon mot, attributed to Charles- Quint, who once
facetiously remarked : " Je mcttrais tout Paris clans
mon Gaud (grinf)" Unhappily for themselves the
Ghent burghers never understood the virtues of
patience and forbearance. They were in a state of
chronic feverishness as to their franchises. In the
time of Charles-Quint the citizens were accused of
being as unfaithful to their God as to their seigneur.
They were prone to heresy and schism as well as to
tumult and strife. They had, moreover, grown disso-
lute and corrupt, and were eager to acquire wealth by
other means than honest industry. A sect arose, called
the Crccsers, who aimed at making Ghent a free and
independent city, owing allegiance to neither King
nor Kaiser. Their ambition was unimpeachable, but
they sought to gratify it through the aid of Francis I.
To emancipate themselves from the German yoke, they
proposed to acknowledge the King of France as their
liege lord. At that moment 1538-39 Francis I.
wa- in no condition to break with Charles-Quint, and
332 JAMES AND PHILIP VAX AHTEVELD. [IT. vi.
accordingly declined the overtures of the good towns
of Flanders.
The pooi-tcrs and +he craftsmen were divided on
this point. The former were content to rest and be
thankful the latter desired nothing so much as a
change. An insurrection was on the point of break-
ing out the Crecsers relying on the immediate sym-
pathy of the German Protestants, and on the ultimate
assistance of the French monarch. But Francis I.
was just then affected by one of his chivalrous fits of
generosity, and in that mood invited Charles -Quint
to pass through France as the most direct route from
Spain to Flanders. In this way, the Emperor was
enabled to make his entry into Ghent before the in-
surgents had made any preparations for resistance.
The streets and open spaces were promptly occupied
by his troops, and the citizens awaited their fate with
dismal forebodings. The first measures were severe.
Three of the most influential citizens were executed
in front of the Gravesteen, while a considerable number
of scarcely less note were fined or banished. The
next step was to raise a citadel on the site of the
church and monastery of St. Bavon, which should bo
as a curb iu the mouths of the Ghent men for all
future time though no fortifications of any kind
now remain to provoke an attack which they could
not repel. The charters, franchises, privileges, and
particular jurisdiction of the Commune were then
declared forfeited for ever. The houses, chattels,
revenues, guns, and munitions of war belonging to the
Corporation were seized, and even the bell RocJandt
was confiscated. A heavy fine was further imposed,
CH. xx.] DECLINE OF THE COMMUNES. 333
and the municipal magistrates, the dckenen of guilds,
representatives of the different crafts, and fifty of the
Creesers, were compelled to apjpear before the Em-
peror in penitential garb, and, with humble voice, to
implore his mercy. The number of trade-guilds was
reduced to twenty-one. The dekcncn, for the future,
were to be burghers retired from business. The pro-
cession of the precious casket containing the .sacred
relics of St. Lievin, which had so often preluded
scenes of strife and uproar, was prohibited, as well as
several other gatherings of citizens under pious pre-
texts. In short, as M. Jules van Praet succinctly
remarks, "After having finished with the men,
Charles-Quint addressed himself to the institutions,
and replaced the Communal privileges of which the
Ghent population had made such a dangerous use, by
a celebrated law which aimed at providing for the
future, as well as for the present, and at definitively
subjecting to the monarchical system a city which
had grown into the possession of a republican govern-
ment. The ground-work of the innovation was, that
the elective magistrates of the people became, through
the working of the new institution, officers of the
Empire."*
Now, we are invited by Mr. Motley to admire the
"violent little commonwealths" of Holland and Flan-
ders. He affirms, perhaps with reason, that "the
most sanguinary tumults which they ever enacted in
the face of day were better than the order and
* "Essais sur 1'Histoire Tolitique des Derniers Sifccles." Par
Jules van Pract, p. 164.
334 JAMES AXD PHILIP FAX ARTEVELD. [IT. vi.
silence born of the midnight darkness of despotism"
but was there no middle course ? M. de Lainartinc
somewhere observes, that revolutions begin from
above it is only seditions that spring from below.
Surely, that is the experience of our own history.
The Magna Charta was wrung from the sovereign by
the great lords and barons, and -not by the common-
alty. No doubt, those barons thought chiefly of their
own interests in the first instance, but they also stipu-
lated that the ancient customs and liberties of cities
and boroughs should be secured to them, that justice
should be equally administered to all men, that- every
freeman should be tried by his peers, and they even
demanded in the original rough draft that no " talli-
ages and aids " should be exacted from the city of
London and other cities, without the consent of the
general council of the nation. Simon de Moiitfort,
again, who restored the Saxon Witangemote, though
Sir Edward Creasy prefers to found the English Par-
liament upon the political constitutions of Spain
was a nobleman of the highest rank, and neither a
rich burgher nor the ambitious headman of a guild.
Had the French nobility at the close of the last cen-
tury been less frivolous and self-indulgent, had they
frankly placed themselves at the head of the popular
movement, a revolution might have been effected
without the shedding of innocent blood, and without
the permanent demoralization and degeneracy of a
great people. The mediaeval aristocracy of Flanders
were in many respects similar to the French nobles in
the eighteenth century, except that they were actually
the proprietors of their ancestral estates, and exercised
rn. xx.] DECLINE OF THE COMMUXEX. 335
a proportionate influence over their vassals and de-
pendents. They had, however, an equal contempt
for commerce and industry, and^ided with their liege
lord in all his disputes with the democracy of the
Communes.
Mr. Motley's error, however, consists in coupling
Flanders with Holland. There was, in fact, no
analogy between the conditions of the two kindred
peoples. The Hollanders were primarily addicted to
agriculture, to which they subsequently added com-
merce, but the feudal institutions never struck root
in their country. They were essentially republicans,
and were united as a nation in a far higher degree
than the Flemings attained until comparatively recent
times. Their love of liberty was an instinct, and not
a spasmodic sentiment. At times, indeed, their
normal tranquillity was vexed by tumults and even by
massacre, but the disturbing causes were never so
mean and narrow as sufficed to excite the citizens of
Bruges or of Ghent to ac!s of madness. The Hol-
landers found their reward in the possession of free-
dom and in the enjoyment of great material prosperity,
gilded with the universal respect of mankind ; while
the Netherlands passed under the yoke of Austria, of
Spain, and of France, and were never really free
until the Revolution of 1830 31. At the same
time the study of Flemish history in the middle ages
is not without interest at the passing moment, when
the flood of democracy in our own country threatens
to submerge the ancient landmarks. As it was in
the Flemish Communes, as it is in the United States,
so will it be in the British Isles should the populace
336 JAMES AND PHILIP VAN ARTEVELD. [IT. vi.
succeed in gaining the upper hand. Men of birth,
position, and mental culture will withdraw from the
management of public affairs, and will abandon the
arena to men of the baser sort, pushing, pretentious,
and self-sufficient. The prospect is not pleasant to
contemplate, nor is there much reason to expect that
the experiences of past ages will avail to check or
modify the downward tendency of the present gene-
ration.
INDEX.
ACKEKMAX.
A.
ACKEHMAX, Francis, 249, 250 ; en-
voy to Richarl II., 270; storms
Ardenburg. 291 ; joins Henry
Spencer, 292-93 ; surprises Oa-
danaerd, 233 ; agrees to peace,
309
Adolphus of Nassau, 26, 31, 32
Agriculture, 89, 90, 173
Albert of Austria. 33 ; of Bavaria,
239
Alfred the Great, 3
Alsace, Margaret of, 13 ; Thierry
of, 9, 10
Amadens of Savoy, 28
" Amicitiae," 4
Anjou, Charles of, 18, 21
Antoing, conference at, 168 ; Hen-t-
il", 232
Antwerp, convention of, 140-41 ;
Edward III. at, 142; ceded* to
Flanders. 214 ; supplants Bruges.
330
A rag- .n. Joan of, 329
Anh-nburg, Edward III. nt, 1G2 ;
riot at. 172 ; stormeJ, 2'J1 ; sur-
prised. 315
ABTEVELP.
j Arimathea, Joseph of, 11
Aristocracy, The Burgher, 67, 70,
84, 334-33
Armentieres stormed, 157
| Arnold Declercq, 232, 234, 236
Arnulf, or Arnold, the Great, 3, 5 ;
the Simple, 6 ; the Younger, 5
Arteveld, James van, 25, 53, 75 ;
favours the weavers, 82, 83, 84 ;
his policy approved by artisans,
85 ; moves the clergy, 94 ; mis-
represented, 123, 124 ; birth and
parentage, 1 26 ; coat of arms,
128 ; accompanies Charles de
Valuis to Rhodes, 128, 129 ; at
the Court of Louis X., 129 ; as
an agriculturist, 129 : the Brewer
tradition, 129, 130 ; marries
Catherine de Courtrai, 130 ; ap-
pealed to by the citizens. 130.
131 ; propounds his policy, 131 ;
chosen "Beleeder van de ."-tad,"
132 ; reported mission to Eng-
land, 133 ; alleged murder of
Fulk de Roden, 135 ; body-guard
increased, 135 ; counteracts ex-
communication, 137; conducts
expedition against BisrrlicMSS ;
1SDEX.
holds an assembly at Bruges,
139, 140 ; meets Edward III. at
Sluys, 142 ; urges Edwaii to
quarter arms of France. 149 ;
entertains Queen Philippa. 150 ; j
concludes alliance with Brabant j
and Hainault, 133; his son Philip :
named after Queen Philippa, j
156; threatens Tournai. 157:
marches to relief of Count of
Hainault. 157 : at Valenciennes,
162 ; meets Edward III. at Ar-
denburg. 162 ; commands Flem-
ings at Tournai, 164 ; returns
to Ghent, 166 ; procures loan
for Edward III.. 167 ; slays
Peter Lammens at Ardenburg,
172 ; embroiled with J. de Steen- :
beke, 173, 174 ; revives old insti-
tutions. 174-176 ; enrolled in
Brewers' guild, 17 5 ; elected
"souverainen deken," 175; his'
policy, 176 ; takes part with the
weavers on Bad Monday, 177 ;
accused of desiring to supplant
Louis de Crecy by Prince of
Wales, 179 ; rumour refuted, 180,
181 ; returns to Ghent, 181 ; slain
by rioters, 181-183 ; his burial,
184; his character, 186, 298;
his widow, 198, 199
Arteveld, John van, 126, 127
Arteveld, Philip van. 156; chosen
Captain of Ghent. 245 ; his cha-
racter, 245, 246. 298-300 ; issues
proclamation. 24!) ; attends Coun-
cil at Tournai. 251 ; returns to
Ghent, 252 ; addresses the peo-
ple. 253, 254 ; encamps at Bever-
houtsveld, 255, 256 ; defeats
BAILLEUL.
Louis de Mcale, 257 ; at Bruges,
260, 263 ; proceeds to Ypres, 263 ;
lives in great state, 264 ; sum-
mons Communal militia. 264 ;
besieges Oudenaerd. 265 ; turns
siege into blockade. 266 ; block-
ades Dendermonde, 269 ; appeals
in vain to Charles VI., 270;
sends envoys to Richard II., 271,
272 ; makes suitable prepara-
tions, 272 ; great in adversity,
279 ; takes post at Roosebeke,
280 ; accompanied by his wife,
282; his death, 287; hanged
after death, 288
Arteveld, village of, 127. 308
Arteveld, Walter van, 128, 129
Artevelds, The van, 39. 40, 75, 127
Artillery, use of, 164, 265, 266,
285
Artisans, The, 65, 75-78, 80. 85
Artois, Robert of (Sec Robert of
Artois)
Arundel, Earl of, 192
Aspremont, Sire d', 50
Athies-sur-Orge, treaty of, 40-42
Avesbury, Robert of, 195
Avesnes, Bouchard d', 14. 17, 18 ;
John d', 18
Austria, Albert of, 33 ; Maximi-
lian of, 328
Axel, Philip d', 50
B.
" BABYLONIAN Captivity," The, 93
"Bad Monday,'' 177
Baert. family of Damme. 219
Bailleul, 21 ; Hugh de, 15
339
Baldwin, the Bald, 3 ; the Bearded,
5 ; Bras de Fcr, 2 ; Emperor
of Constantinople, 14, 263 ; the
Good, 6 ; the Magnanimous, 13,
14 ; the Pious, 5, 6 ; the Seventh, 7
Bar, Count of, at Grammont, 31
Barbavara, corsair, at Sluys, 158.
159
Bardi of Bruges, The, 144
Baronaigc, House of, 128 ; John,
19!)
Bartholomew Coolman hanged, 290
Basserode, J. van Arteveld at, 129
Baths, public hot, 107
Battle of Beverhoutsvcld, 257;
Bouvincs, 15 ; Bulscamp, 82 ;
Cadzand. 132 ; Comincs, 274-75 ;
Courtrai, 38, 39 ; Deynzc, 52 ;
Grammont, 52 ; Gavrc, 324 ;
Mont-en-Pevele, 40 ; Mount Cas-
sel, 6, 55, 56 ; Nevele, 237 ; Poi-
tiers, 212 ; Rooscbeke, 280-287 ;
Kuisselede, 9 ; Rupelmonde, 323;
Sluys, 158-1GO ; West Capelle,
18 ; Winchclsca, 206-7
Bavaria, alliance with Burgundy
and France, 308
Baudins. Peter, 326
Beatrice of Fresca, 17
Beauchamp, Sir William, 29?
Becket, Thomas-si-, 12
Bcgards. Tlie, 102
Beguiiies, The, 102
Behuchet, Nicholas, 158-161
- Beleedur van de Stad.'' 75, 137,
139, 184.264
Benedict XII., Pope, and Edward
III. and the Communes, 151. I.V,
IVrgm.'s. surprisi-d. 144
Berii, Duke de, urges war against
BOURCICAULT.
Communes, 269 ; at Roosebcke,
285 ; accused of the death of I..
de*Maele, 294-296 ; prevents in-
vasion of England, 310; struck
down in Bruges. 311
Bethune, 42, 47 ; Matilda of, 18 ;
Robert of, 18, 25; idealised by
H. Conscience, 28 ; shut out from
Douai. 30 ; defends and surren-
ders Lille, 32 ; imprisoned at
Chinon. 34 ; succeeds his father.
40 ; signs Treaty of Athies, 40,
41; signs Treaty of Pontoisr. l~2 :
guilty of contumacy. 44 ; refuses
to go to Paris. 46 ; does homage
to Philip the Long. 47 ; death
of. 1S
Bette, Simon, 231, 237, 247 248
Beverhoutsveld, Battle of, 2.V. 257
Beyts, James, slain in a riot, 177
Biervliet. taken by J. van Arteveld,
138, 139
Biloke, monastery of, 131, 183,
184
Black Death. The, 102. 201-203
Black Prince. The. 179. 206, 218
Blois, Charles de. 1 70
Bohemia. King of. 56. 136. 191
Bolle, John. 226. 232. 284, 235
Boniface VII I.. Pope, 28, 33, 129
Bordeaux, agitation at. 39
Bosschc, P. van den (,SVr Peter van
den Bosschc)
Bouchard <!'.\vr-ncs 14, 17
Bouillon. Codfivy de, 7
Bourlion. Ihike do. favours wnr
n'_r:iinst Communes Ji'i'.i : ;it
Mourrliicr. .lohn, 310
Bourcicault, Marslial, 280
/ 2
340
IXDEX.
BOUVIXES.
Bouvines, Battle of, 15
Brabant, submits to Philip the
Bold, 24 ; alliance with Flauders
and Hainault, 119
Brabant, Duchess of, assists Ghent,
250-251
Brabant, Duke of, at Grammont,
31 ; harbours Kobert d'Artois,
115 ; subsidized by Edward III.,
120 ; double-dealing, 142, 158 ;
at Tournai, 165 ; excited jealousy
of J. van Arteveld, 182 ; fate of
his daughter, 213 ; defeated by
Flemings, 214
Breteuil, Count of, G
Bretigny, Treaty of, 214
Brewer's Guild, 175
Breydel, John, 36, 37, 38
Breydels, The, 59
Brittany, Wiliam of, 1 1
Brittany, War of Succession in,
170
Broucke, Peter van den, 278 ; Yo-
lande van den, 282
Bruges, foundation of, 3 ; rise of,
4 ; Charles of Denmark mur-
dered in, 8 ; memorialises Louis
VI., 9 ; theological seminaries
at, 20 ; fairs at, 21 ; " Hanse of
London " founded at, 21 ; cloth-
hall burnt, 22 ; riots in, 23 ; '.
wool-staple promised, 31 ; Ed- |
ward I. at. 33 ; Philip Augustus
at, 34 ; disturbance in. 35 ;
Matins, 37, 38 ; citizens exiled,
41 ; citizens imprison John de
Namur, 49 ; militia arrest Louis
de Crecy, 51 ; cruelties of Louis
de Crecy at, 57, 58 ; in the
XIYth century, 8G ; decline of,
BURGUNDY.
87 ; militia at Cadzand, 122 ;
Louis de Crecy driven out, 139 ;
militia chase Count from Dix-
mude, 145 ; selfishness of citi-
zens, 152 ; Edward III. at, 162 ;
militia before St. Omer, 163 ; de-
puties to Edward III. at Sluys,
179 ; militia repulse Duke of
Normandy, 195 ; divert waters
of the Lys. 219 ; welcomes John
Yoens. 226 ; massacre of Ghent
militia in, 233 ; rout of Bever-
houtsveld, 256, 257 ; surprised
by Ghent militia, 259, 260;
Philip van Arteveld at, 263 ;
submits to Charles VI., 289 ;
under Philip of Burgundy, 303 ;
Duke de Berri attacked, 311;
great commotion, 313-315 ; be-
trayed by Ghent, 316 ; submits
to Philip the Good, 316 ; enter-
tains Philip the Good, 317 ; de-
clares against Ghent, 321 ; ex-
torts concessions from Mary of
Burgundy, 328 ; decline of, 330
Brugge, 2
Bruggensele, 3
Brussels, Edward III. at, 146;
sends food to Ghent, 250
Buironfosse, 146
Bulscamp, Battle of, 32
Burchard, Rose, 213
Burgher aristocracy, 67, 70, 84 r
334-35
Burgomaster, 70
Burgundy, Charles the Rash (See
Charles the Rash)
Burgundy. Duke of, claims crown
of France. 4(> ; duke repulsed at
St. Omer, 163
INDEX.
341
BURGUNDY.
Burgundy, John the Fearless (See
John the Fearless)
Burgundy. Margaret of, 45
Burgundy, Philip of, married to
Margaret de Maele, 215 ; his
death, 216
Burgundy, Philip the Bold (See
Philip the Bold)
Burgundy, Philip the Good (See
Philip the Good)
" Buyten-Poorters," 73, 74
C.
CADZAND, Island of, 122, 158, 193
Calais, taken by Edward III., 196
Calanderberg, 123, 181
Cambrai, fief of Empire, 143 ; siege
of, 145, 146 ; Bishop of, at
Eecloo, 132
Campioen, Regnicr, saves Count's
life, 258 259
Canterbury, Archbishop of, 159
Cassel, burnt, 56; Battles of Mount,
6, 55, 56
Casse'l, Philip de, 48
Cassel, Robert de, 41, 49 ; sympa- j
thises with Communes, 50 ; es- !
capes assassination, 51 ; chosen i
llewaert, 52 ; joins Philip de Va- !
lois, 55 ; at Mount Cassel, 56
Cardinal Gosselin, 47
Carmelites, The, 101
Castile, Charles of, 330 ; Isabella
of, 330
Catherine de Courtcnay, 129
Catherine de Courtrai, 156 ; sent to
England, 170; wrecked off Brest. |
CTAKLEP.
170 ; concerned in truce of Mal-
estroit, 171 ; returns to Flau-
d(*s, 180
Cauter, The, 139
Charlemagne, 2, 330
Charles the Fair, 48 ; restores com-
merce, 49 ; internes between
Count and Communes, 52 ; suc-
ceeded by Philip de Valois,
53
Charles V. marries his brother
Philip to Margaret of Maele,
216 ; reconciled to Louis de
Maele, 230
Charles VI. proclaims war against
Flanders. 269 ; rejects Philip van
Arteveld's ap}>eal, 270 ; arrives at
Arras, 272; invades Flanders,273 ;
at Comines, 277 ; at Roosebeke,
287, 288 ; at Courtrai, 288 ; at
Bruges, 289 ; returns to France,
290 ; executes burghers of the
Pays de Waes, 309
Charles VII. opposed to Philip the
Good, 321
Charles, Count of Anjou, 18, 21
Charles de Blois, 170
Charles the Bold, 2
Charles of Denmark, 8
Charles, King of Navarre, 209,211,
212
Charles de Valois, 33. 114 ; rlaim
throne of Constantinople, 128,
129
Charles the Rash of Burgundy. Hi' I ,
proceeds to Glu-nt. I5J6 : in JK.T-
sonal danger, 327 ; makes con-
cessions, 327
Charles-Quint, elected Emperor
330 ; crushes insurrection in
342
IXDEX.
CHATILLOX.
Ghent, 332. 333 ; confiscates all
charters. 333
Chatillon, James de. 35, 37 *
Chaucer, Geoff rev. in Flanders. 218
Chinon, 34. 40
Choremanni. or Coremanni. 10.17.
70
Cistercians, The. 94
Clement V., Pope. 98
Clement VI., Pope, 1(58
Clement VII., 93. 262, 289, 291
Clergy, The. 73. 94, 100
" Clerici uxorati." 9
Clisson, Oliver dc. 272. 274. 285
" Cnaep," 77, 132. 135
Cobham, Lord, 193
Comines, 273-276
Communes, rise of the. 10; pros-
perity of, 20 ; courted by Philip
Augustus, 29 ; slighted by Robert
de Bethnne, 41 ; excesses of, 65 ;
character, 67, 68 ; privileges,
73 ; military power, 74, 75 ; de-
cline of, 87, 91 ; disunion of, 92,
297 ; assembly at Eecloo, 132,
133 ; convention with Edward
III., 134 ; represented at Eeck-
hout, 140 ; accept Edward IK.
as overlord, 149 ; receive from
him three charters, 150-152 ;
Pope Benedict XII., 154, 155 ;
send Catherine of Courtrai
to England, 170 ; adhere at
Damme to English alliance, 171;
renovated by James van Arteveld,
174-176 ; represented at Sluys,
179, 180; excuse themselves to
Edward III., 185 ; adhei-e to
English alliance, 189, 191 ; de-
feated by Godfrey d'Anuequin,
CRAEXEXBURG.
190 ; welcome Louis de Maele.
192 ; favour marriage with Isa-
bella of England, 193 ; courted
by Philip de Valois, 194. 1!).") ;
' apply in vain to Edward III.,
197; congratulate Edward III.,
I 208 ; alienated from England,
212 ; besiege Oudeuaerd. 227 ;
accept leadership of Philip van
Arteveld, 264 ; blockade Oude-
naerd, 266, 267 ; refuse to sub-
mit to Charles VI., 281; defeated
at Roosebeke, 283-287; oppressed
by Louis de Maele, 290, 291 ;
pass under Philip of Burgundy,
303 ; recover influence under
John the Fearless, 311 ; under
Philip the Good, 312 ; desert
Ghent, 321 ; decline of, 330,
331
Comnenus, Alexis, 7
Compiegne, Guy de Dampierre at.
34 ; conference at, 47
Coninck, Peter (See Peter Coninck)
I Conscience, Hendrick. 28
Constantinople. Robert of Flanders-
at, 7 ; Charles de Valois claims
throne of, 128 ; Baldwin. Em-
peror of, 14, 263
Coolman, Bartholomew, 290
Corneille, Bastaixl of Burgundy.
i 323
' Corporation of London and Edward
III., 155
! Coudebrouck, Giles de, 198
Courtrai, Battle of, 38 ; riots in,
43,51 ; fortifications demolished,
58 ; execution of the d'Halewyns,
211 ; burnt by Charles VI., 288
Craenenburg, The, 328
143
Crecy, Battle of, 190, 11)1 ; Lou:>
de (See Louis de Crecy).
" Creesers," The, 331-33
" Cyre, Cyre-ath," 10
D.
DAMME, foundation of, 11 ; burnt
by Philip Augustus, 14 ; member
of the Hanse of London, 21 ;
taken by William de Juliers, 315 ;
executions at, 57 : decline of, 87 ;
Communes meet at, 171 ; John
Yoens dies at, 226
Dampierrc. Guy de (Sec Guy de
Dampierre)
Dampierre, John de, 18, 28
Dampierrc, William de, 18, 34
Dampierres, The, 19
Daniel d'Halewyn defends Oude-
naerd, 2G4, 288 ; Scrsanders. 319.
320
" Day of the Golden Spurs." 39
Death, The Black (&< The Black
Death)
Deelercq, Arnold, 232. 234
Dedeken, William. .17
' Dekens," <;r,. C-'.i, 7'.*
Dolepierre, M., 213. 2(!3
Democracy, The. 30(i. 335
Dendermonde blockaded by Philip
van Arteveld. 2C9
Denmark, Charles of. 8
Den vs. (S.'ranl. 17*. 188, 200, 213
Denys. Thomas. \*'.'<
Derby, Earl of, pillages Cad/and.
122; ai rested for kind's debt.
1.17
Derycke, James, 247
EOWABD.
Deynze. Battle of, 52; Louis dc
Maele at. 229
Dha^icre. Louis. 320
Dieriex, Chcralicr, 184
Dixmude. Louis do Crecy cscajKis
from, 145
j Domestic comforts, 103
Dominican Friars, The, 101
Dordrecht, 122. 133
Douai, Kobert dc Bethune shut out
; from. 30
" Doyens." Cd, <;'.. 7!>
Dragon. Tlie (iilded, 263
, 121
E.
Kchevins. 17, 15(5. 70-72, 92
Education. 73, 9ii
Edward I.. 27, 31, 33
Edward II.. 27. 31, 43, 113.
Edward III., 53, 54, 59 ; claim to
French Crown, 113, 114 ; friendly
to the Flemish Communes, 116 ;
makes overtures, 119, 120 ; sends
amba>sadors to Antwerp, 140;
proceeds to .Sluys and Antwerp,
142: appointed Vicar-General,
143; passes winter at Louvaiu,
144 : assumes arms of France,
149 ; leaves the Queen at Ghent,
150; returns to Ghent, l.lu ;
issues three charters, 150: issues
manifesto, 154 : receives letter
from Pope P.enediet XII. 15.1 ;
overrules ( 'orporation of London,
15.1 ; destroys French fleet at
Sluys. 15S-IU1 ; receives freedom
, 1(52; challenges Philip
344
INDEX.
of Valois, 163; besieges Tournai.
164 ; agrees to truce of Esple-
chin, 165 ; raises a loaji at
Ghent, 167 ; returns to Lon-
don, 167 ; mandate as Vicar-
General recalled. 168 ; grants
a charter to Bruges, 168 ; in-
vades Brittany. 170 ; revisits
Sluys, 179 ; confers with depu-
ties, 179, 180 ; returns to Eng-
land, 181 ; pardons the Com-
munes, 185 ; invades France, 190,
wins battle of Crecy, 190 ; visits
Flanders, 191, 192 ; betrothes
Isabella to Louis de Maele, 193 ;
acquits the Communes, 194 ; re-
fuses aid to the Communes, 197 ;
intercession asked by Louis de
Maele, 199 ; wins battle off Win-
chelsea, 206, 207 ; tries to or-
ganise a league, 208 ; concludes
Treaty of Bretigny, 214, 215 ;
demands Margaret for Edmund,
Earl of Cambridge, 215 ; his
death, 218
Eeckhout, monastery of, 140
Eecloo, assembly at, 132, 136 ; con-
ference at, 316
Elizabeth of England, 31
Elizabeth of Flanders, 163
Eltham Palace, 133
Enghien, Walter d', 233, 236, 237.
238
Enguerrand de Marigny, 42, 43,
44
Episcopacy, Flemish, 93
Escornay, Sire d', 305
Esplechin, Truce of, 165, 167
Eu, Baldwin VII., killed at, 8
Eustace de Montigny, 238
F.
FERDINAND of Portugal* 14, 15,
17
Feudal incongruities, 118, 296, 297
Fitz-Osborn, William, 6
Flagellants, The, 102, 203-205
Flamangerie, La. 146
" Flamisch," 108
Flanders, first Count of, 3 ; East,
13 ; election of Count of, 9 ;
Lion of, 40 ; social view of,
63-109 ; all'.ed with Brabant
and Hainault, 119 ; feudal re-
lations of. 143 : prosperity of,
173 ; profligacy in, 218 : devas-
tation of, 289, 290 ; decline
of, 330 ; different from Holland,
334, 335
Flanders, Robert of, 6, 7, 13
Flanders, West, 13
\ Fleanderland, 1
, Florence, agitation in, 40
Flotte, Peter, 49
Flotte, William, 49
Flymings, 1
Fontainebleau, secret treaty of,
209
Fontenelle, abbey of, 165
Forestier, 2
Fox, John, 324
Franc, The, 139, 279. 328
i Francis I. and Charles-Quint, 321,
I 322
Franciscans, The, 101
Fresca, Beatrice of, 17
Friesland, 1
Friesland, Robert of, 6
Fullers, The, 82, 83, 84, 177
; Fumes, 13, 21, 32, 38, 50
IXVEX.
GABELLE.
G.
" GABELLE,'' The, 212, 219
Gavre, battle of, 324 ; treaty of,
323, 327, 328
Genoese traders, 21
Geoffrey Chaucer, 218
Gerard Denys, 178, 183, 200, 213
Gerard de Steenhuyze, 211, 232, 23(5
" Geslachten," 70
Client, cradle of, 3 ; port of, 4 ;
seized by Baldwin the Pious, 5 ;
complains of William Long
Sword, 9 ; thirty-nine magis-
trates, 17 ; theological semi-
naries, 20 ; Council of Thirty,
23 ; conciliated by Robert
<le Bethune, 25 ; magistrates
imprisoned by Count, 27; alli-
ance with Edward I., 31 ; Ed-
ward I. at, 33 ; Philip Augustus
fit, 34 ; citizens banished by I
Louis de Crecy, 59 ; looms, I
79 ; distress, 122, 123, 130 ;
appeal to James van Artevekl.
130, 131 ; James van Artcveld j
chosen Captain-General, 132 ;
excommunicated, 137 ; Queen
Philippa at, 150; Edward III.
issued three charters at, 150 ;
after siege of Tournai, 106 : '
under James van Artevekl, 174 j
177; "den quaden maemlng,''
177 ; adheres to English alii- ,
ance, 197 ; distress of the poor, j
198 ; serious disturbance, 200 ; I
massacre, 211 ; attack on Bruges
diggers, 219 ; Yocns and Ma-
hieu factions, 222, 223 ; Mis- j
sion rated by the Count, 224 ; |
GILES.
visited by Louis de Maelc, 229,
230 ; cruelty of Oliver de Haute-
riv, 231 ; militia attacked in
Bruges, 233 ; besieged by Louis
de Maele, 235, 23(5 ; militia de-
feated at Kevcle, 237 ; equips
five armies, 238 ; anarchy in,
243 ; Philip van Artevekl ap-
pointed Captain. 245 : execution
of Leliaerds, 247, 248 ; in great
distress, 249-254 ; militia march
against Bruges, 255, 256 ; battle
of Beverhoutsveld, 256, 257 ;
militia occupy Bruges, 259, 260 ;
battle of lloosebeke, 280-287 ;
refuses to submit, 291 ; accord-
ing to Philip de Comines, 304 ;
at war with Philip the Bold,
307-310 ; plot to seize, 311 ; com-
motion in, 313 ; treachery to-
wards Bruges, 316 ; refuses to
pay salt-tax, 319 ; great disturb-
ance, 320, 321 ; war declared
against, 321 ; battle of Gavre,
324 ; treaty of Gavre, 325 ; ex-
torts concessions from Charles
the Rash, 327; cruel treatment
of Mary of Burgundy, 327, 328 ;
prosperous and profligate, 331 ;
agitated by the " Creesers." 331-
333 ; crushed by Charles-Quint,
332, 3:!3 ; charters confiscated,
333.
Ghilde, 4, 10
Gilbert de Gruutere, 231, 237, 247,
248
Gilbert Mnhieu (fre Mahicu)
" Gilded Dragon," The, 263
Giles de Coudebrouck, arrest of
198
346
1XDF.X.
GILES.
Giles de Meulenaire, 244
GillesliMuisis, 123,202
Godfrey de Bouillon, 7 c
Godwin, Earl, 5
" Goedendag," 38, 39, 56
Golden Spurs, Day of the, 39
" Good Towns," The, 20, 66, 69, 85,
176
Gosselin, Cardinal, 47
Goswin Mulaert at Ghent, 219
Goudberg, The, 284
Grammout, 31, 52, 238
Gravelines, 291. 293, 313
Grey Friars, The, 101
Groeninghe, 38, 45
Gruutere, Gilbert de,231, 237, 247,
248
Guelders, Count of. 120, 133. 136.
159
Guild, 10, 76
Guines, 14
-Guy de Dampierre, defeated at
West Capelle, 18 ; marries Ma-
tilda of Bethune. 18 ; his Court.
19 ; grants a charter to Bruges,
22 ; a match-maker. 23 : con-
ciliates the Communes. 25 ;
makes overtures to Edward I.,
27 ; imprisoned in the Louvre.
28 ; returns to Flanders, 29 ;
punishes the Thirty-nine, 30;
tried before Royal Court at Paris,
30 ; Flemings defeated at Buls-
camp, 37 ; applies to Albert of
Austria, 33 ; imprisoned at Com-
piegne, 34 ; death of, 40
Guy, Bastard of Flanders. 122, 150
Guy d'Humbercourt, 327
Guy de Namur, 36, 38
Guyenne. Duchy of, 114. 119
HOLY LAN'D.
H.
" HAGHE-POORTERS," 73
Haiiiault, excitement in, 40 ; alli-
ance with Flanders. 119
Hainault, Count of, at Mount
Cassel, 56 ; counsels Edward 111..
120 ; deserts Edward III., 14.%
296 ; relieved by James van
Arteveld, 157 ; at Tournai, 165
Hainault, Kichilda of. 51!
Halewyn, Daniel d', 264, 288
Halewyn, Joseph d - , 200, 210, 211
Halewyn, Walter d', 210, 211
"Hanse" of London, 21. 22. (;<> r
86, 87
Harold of England, 5
Hautekerke, Sire de, !!).">
Hauterive, Oliver de, 231 -
Hauterive, Eoger de, 221, 223, 230-
Haze of Flanders, The, 291
Hector Vilaiu, 53
Henry ITI. of Brabant. 5
Henry V., Emperor, 8
Henry I. of England, 9
Henry of Flanders, 190
Henry Spencer, 291-294
' Herberg," 78
Herve d'Antoing, 232
Herzeele, Easse d', 226, 232, 237.
238
Heyst, John d', 247
' Histoiiael Spiegel,'' 19
Holland, alliance with England
and Flanders, 31 ; not analogous
with Flanders, 335
Holland, Count of, at Bruges, 11
Holy Blood. The, 11, 53, 252
Holy Land, The, 7, 14. 46, 118
INDEX.
347
Honorius III., Pope, 16, 93
"Hooftman," 75, 17t>
Homes, John de. 313
Hove, Peter van den. 132
Hugh Quieret, 161
Hugonet, Chancellor. 327
Humbercourt, Guy d', 327
Huntingdon, Earl of, 120
Huse, William van, 132
" Hutin," Louis le. 44. 4:,. 111!
I.
INIQUITY. Pact of, 41
Innocent VI.. Pope, 212
Interdict, 16, 52, 93, 97, 137
Ipswich, Treaty of, 31
Isabella, daughter of Edward III.,
150, 193, 194
Isabella of Castile, 330
Isabella of England. 31
Isabella of France, 33, 43. 53. 113,
114
Issoudun, 34
Italy, 17, 40
.1.
JAMES van Arteveld (See Arteveld)
James Beyts, slain in a riot, 177
James de Chatillon, 35
James Derycke, 247
James van Maerlant, 19
James Peyt, heads a revolt, 50
Jansonne, Sohier, 58
Jehan le Bel, 123
Jerusalem, 7, 8
Jews, Treatment of, 100
Joan of Aragon, 329
Joan of Flanders, her first hus-
band, 14 ; signs Treaty of Melun,
16 ; her second husband, 17
Joan. Countess of Montfort, 11<
170
Joan of Navarre, 24, 34
John Baronaige, 199
John Bolle (See Bolle)
John Bourchier, 310
John Breydel, 36, 37, 38
John de Dampierre, 18
John, King of England, 15
John the Fearless, 311, 312
John Fox, 324
John d'Heyst, 247
John de Lannoy (Sec Lannoy)
John de Melle, 327
John de Namur in the Louvre, 28 ;
at Bruges, 36 ; after Courtrai,
40; suspected by Communes. 41 ;
courted by Louis de ^recy. t'.i :
defeated at Grammont, 52 ; har-
bours llobert d'Artois, 115
John Pruned (.Sec Pruned)
John de Valois succeeds Philip,
206 ; frivolous and oppressive.
208 ; secret treaty with Louis de
Made, 20!) ; defeated at Poitiers,
212 : at Calais, 215
John van de Velde, 200
John de West, 271
Jolin Voens (ti-c Yoens)
John van der Zichele. 231
I " Jonc-wivcn," 99
Joseph of Arimathea, 11
Joseph d'Halewyn, 200, 210, 211
I Judith of Flanders. 5
Judith of France, 2
I Ji.licrs, Marquis of, 31, 120, 165
348
IXDEX.
Juliers, William de, 36, 38
Jumont. cruelty of Sire de, 307
KEURES," 10, 68, 174
Klauwaerd." meaning of, 32
Katherine," The, at Sluys, 179
"L.ETARE" Sunday, 136
" Laeten," or " Lseti,' 1 1
Lalaing, James de, 322, 323 ; Simon
de, 322
Lamartine, M. de, 334
Lammens, Peter, 172
Lancaster, Earl of, 199, 208, 209,
211, 271, 293
Lannoy, John de, 232, 237, 238
*' Ledechgangers," 70
Leenknecht, Walter, 323
* Leliaerd," meaning of, 32
Lens, de, defends Courtrai, 38
Lenz, Gelnot van, 132 ; Professor,
135
Lettenhove, M. Kervyn de, 124
Liege, excitement in, 40 ; Bishop
of, 115, 137,250,251
Lieve, The, widened, 173
Lievin, Potter, 320 ; Sneevoet, 320
" Lignages," The, 70, 71
Lille, defended by R. de Bethune,
32 ; John Pruneel beheaded at,
232 ; plunderers attacked near.
268 ; Louis de Maele buried at, 296
Lincoln, Bishop of, 119, 121, 140
" Lion of Flanders," 40
Lisseweghe, Baldwin de, 154
Louie.
Littus Saxonicum," 1
London, Hanse of, 21, 22, 69
Longman, Mr. William, i25
Looz, Abbey of, 296
Louis VI., 7, 9
Louis VII., 12
Louis VIII., 16
Louis IX., 16, 48,114
Louis X., 44, 45, 113
Louis of Bavaria, 143
Louis de Crecy recognised by the
Communes, 48 ; imprisoned iu
the Louvre, 48 ; flees to Paris,
49 ; returns to Bruges, 49 ; mis-
governs Flanders, 50 ; arrested
at Courtrai, 51 ; promises am-
nesty, 53 ; at Kheims, 54 ; after
Mount Cassel, 57 ; brings home
the Countess, 58 ; banishes citi-
zens of Ghent, 59 ; arrests Eng-
lish traders, 119 ; signs allianco
with Brabant and Hainault,
119 ; arrests Sohier de Courtrai,
121 ; invites James van Arteveld
to a private conference, 134 ;
adopts white hood, 135 ; flees to
Bruges, 136 ; ratines convention
with England, 136 ; beheads
Sohier de Courtrai, 137 ; driven
out of Bruges, 139 ; ratifies Re-
solutions of Eeckhout, 140 ; pro-
ceeds to Tournai, 141 ; escapes
from Dixmude, 144 ; deceives
the deputies at Courtrai, 146,
147 ; confirms Truce of Esple-
chin, 166 ; courts the Communes,
171; stimulates rivalries, 178;
escapes to France, 185 ; causes
death of Simon de Mirabel, 189;
slain at Crecy, 190, 191
IXDEX.
349
Louis Dhamere, 320
Louis de Maele, birth of, 59 ;
breaks up union of Guilds, 83 ;
propitiates the clergy, 96 ; Ed-
ward III. desires to betroth him
to his daughter Isabella, 150,
181 ; does homage to Philip de
Valois, 191 ; refuses to marry a
(laughter of Edward III., 192 ; j
betrothed to Isabella of England, j
193 ; escapes to Paris, 194 ; re-
turns to Bruges, 198 ; marches
against Ghent, 198 ; grants an
amnesty, 199 ; violates his en-
gagements, 200 ; true to his alle-
giance, 207, 208, 214 ; secret
treaty with John de Valois, 209 ;
reported death of his Countess, \
214 ; defeats Duke of Brabant,
214 ; does homage to John de
Valois, 215 ; agrees to marry
Margaret to Edmund, Earl of
Cambridge, 215 ; engagement
annulled by Pope, 216 ; gives
Margaret to Philip le Hardi, 217 ;
dissolute life, 218 ; creates dis-
turbance in Ghent, 218; dis-
misses John Yoens, 220 ; mission
from Ghent, 223 ; chateau de
Wondelghcm burnt, 224 ; accepts
mediation of Philip the Bold,
228 ; proceeds to Ghent, 229 ;
escapes to Paris. 230 ; cruelty at
Ypres, 232 ; makes and breaks
]>eacc, 233 ; makes terrible ex-
ample of Ypres, 235 ; besieges
Ghent, 235 ; grants amnesty,
23tt ; defi-ats Ghent militia at
Ncvelc, 237 ; marches against
Ghent, 238 ; suspension of arms, [
MAGISTRI.
239 ; offers intolerable terms to
Ghent, 251 ; defeated at Bever-
houfcveld, 256 ; personal adven-
tures, 258, 259 ; escapes to Lille,
260, 261 ; beheads hostages, 264 ;
appeals to Duke of Burgundy,
267. 268 ; joins army of Charles
VI., 273 ; insulted by the French,
279 ; at Roosebeke, 283, 284 ;
vainly intercedes for Courtrni,
288 ; oppresses the Communes,
290 ; insulted by Duke de Berri,
294 ; his death, 295 ; his burial,
296
Louis de Nevers imprisoned, 42 ;
escapes to Ghent, 43 ; resides in
Paris, 44 ; does homage to Philip
the Long, 46 ; administers oath
to his father, 47 ; his death, 48
Louis van de Walle, 198, 315, 317
Lou vain, Convention of, 133 ; Ed-
ward III. winters at, 144
Louvre, Tower of the, 15. 28
Lys, passage of the, 274, 275
M.
MAELE, Chateau de, 12 ; taken by
Bruges militia, 36 ; birth-place
of Louis de Maele, 59 ; Louis de
Crecy retires to, 139 ; sacked by
Ghent militia. 263, 268
Maele. Louis de (-See Louis de
Maelc)
Macndag, don quaden, 177
Maerlant, James van, 19
Maerschalk, Sir Robert, 2fiO
Maestricht. Provost of, 3(5
" Magistri Communiae," 71
350
IXDBX.
MAHIEU.
Mahieu, Giltort, supplants Yoens,
220 ; driven from Ghent, 223 ; :
his brother beheaded, 248^
' Mainbourg." or llegent, 329
" Mainmorte," 88
Malestroit, Truce of, 171, 178
Maltote, The, 29, 43
Maltravers, Hugh de, 180
Manny, Sir Walter, 122, 201
Mare, George de, 246
Margaret of Alsace, 13
Margaret of Brabant, 192. 213
Margaret of Burgundy, 45
Margaret of Flanders, her first
marriage, 14 ; marriage annulled,
18 ; her second marriage, 18 ;
abdicates, 19 ; confiscates Eng- j
lish wool, 21
Margaret of France, 58, 216, 227, '
296
Margaret de Maelc. 208, 212 ; her j
first marriage, 215 ; her second j
marriage, 217
Marigny, Enguerrand de, 42-44
Markgraf , 3
Marquette, Abbey of", 157, 277
Mary of Burgundy, 328, 329
Masmines, Sir Philip de, 232
Matilda of Bethune, 18
Matilda of Flanders. 5, 9
Matins, Bruges, 37, 38
Maximilian of Austria. 328-330
Mechlin, conflagration at, 169. 214
Mediaeval warfare, 147, 148
" Meilleur cattel," 88, 89
Meire, George de. 246
Melle, John de, 327
Melun, Treaty of, 16, 25
" Monitors," The three, 83, 174,
175
NICHOLAS.
Mendicant Friars, The, 101
" Metiers," 7(i, 7!)
Meulenaire. Giles dc, 244
Meyer, 124, 127, 128, 135
Mezeray, 124
Michelet (footnote), 18
" Milites burgenses," 127, 297
' Minne," 4, 21
Mirabel, Simon de, 162, 166, 189
Mount Cassel, battles of, 6, 55, 5 j
Mont d'Or, 284, 288
Mont-en- Pevele, Battle of, 40
Montford, Countess of, 116, 170
Montigny. Eustace de, 238
Morals, 106-108
Motley, Mr.. 333-335
Muisis, Gilles li, 123, 202
Mulaert, Goswin, 219
NAMUB. united to Flanders, IS) ;
submits to Philip the Bold, 24
Xaniur. Guy de, 36, 38, 40
Xaniur, John de (Sre John de
Xaniur)
Nassau. Adolphus of. 26, 31. 32
Xavarre. Charles the Bad, King of,
209, 211, 212
Xavarre. Joan of. 26, 34
Neeringhen." The, 53, 174
Xesle, Raoul de, 34, 35
Xevele, Battle of, 237
Xevers. Louis de (See Louis dc
Nereis)
Xevers. William de. 36
Nicholas IV., Pope, 94
Nicholas Behuchet, 158-160
351
Nicholas the Fleming, 278
Nicholas Zannequiii (Sec Zannc-
quin)
Xopcnt-lc-Roi, Philip de Valois dies
at. 206
Northampton, Earl of, 140. 1.2
Norwich, Bishop of, 291-2H4
-Xotitia Imperii," 1
0.
OLIVER de Clisson (,SVr Clisson)
Oliver de Hauterive, 231
" Onnutte," 107
Onredene, Basse, 31(5 ,
Oriflamme, The, 284
Orwell, The, 158, 159
Ostend, 58
Oudenaerd, 79 ; siege of, 227 ; sur-
prised by Pruned, 231 ; besieged
by Philip van Arteveld. 201
280 ; surprised by Ackerman,
293 ; recovered by D'Escornay,
305
P,
" PACT of Iniquity," Tlie, 41
Paddenhock. The' 1 23
Palestine, 11
Papal schism, 93
Paris, oommotion in, 278
PaMChendael, French army at, 281
" Pax civitatis," 72
Percy. Sir Thomas. 218
Peter isaudins. 32;
Peter van den Bosschc. 22l> ; lakes
the field, 232 ; rescues Yprcs
militia, 234 ; defends I. :i !)_' r-
l>ruggc, 23(J ; accused of trca-
chery,237 ; brings forward Philip
van Arteveld, 244 ; serves under
Phili|) van Arteveld, 247 ; his
high courage, 252 ; at Bruges,
2UU; at Comincs,272, 274; posi-
tion turned, 275 ; defeated and
wounded. 275 ; encourages the ci-
tizens of Ghent, 289 ; joins Henry
Spencer, 292 ; his character, 298,
i-".'!' : escapes to England, 310
Peter van den Broucke, 278
Peter Coninck, his character, 34 ;
quits Bruges, 35 : returns to
Bruges, 36 ; with John Brcydcl,
37 ; his widow pensioned, 59
Peter the Cruel. 20(5
Peter Flotte. 4!>
Peter the Hermit. 7
1 Peter Lammens. 1 72
i Peter Tinckc. 32<>
; Peter de Winterc, 232, 272, 279,
292
Pevele, Mont-en-, 40
Peyt, James, heads a revolt, 50
Philip van Arteveld (,*r Arteveld)
Philip d'Axel, 50
Philip of Burgundy, married and
dies, 215
Philip de Casscl, 48
Philip deConriiu's. :{o|
Philip I. of France, 6
Philip Augustus, ward of Flanders,
12 ; assumes the government, 13 ;
sets fire to Damme. 14 : defeats
FK'inings at Itouvincs, 15
Philip the Bold, 23, 24. Ill
Philip the Fair. 24 : imprisons Guy
de Dampierre, 2H : ivlra-.^ ih.-
Count. 2'.i : summons the fount.
to Paris, 30 ; invades Flanders,
352
INDEX.
32 ; betrothes Isabella of France
to Edward of Carnarvon, 33 ;
his progress through Flknders,
34 ; after battle of Courtrai, 40 ;
arrests Louis de Nevers. 42 ; his
death, 43; his issue, 113
Philip the Long, regent, 45 : king,
46
Philip de Valois ascends the throne
53 ; consecration of, 54 ; at
Mount Cassel, 55, 56 ; his title
disputed by Edward III., 114
persecutes Robert of Artois, 115
prepares for war, 118 ; summons
his vassals. 132 ; receives depu-
ties from Ghent. 136 ; sanctions
Convention of Antwerp, 141 ;
raises interdict, 141 ; declines
battle at Cambrai, 145 ; launches
an interdict, 156 ; sends a fleet
to Sluys, 158 ; retires to Arras,
163 ; challenged by Edward III.,
163 ; makes peace with Com-
munes, 166 ; at Crecy, 190 ; re-
ceives homage of Lcuis de Maele,
191 ; makes overtures to the
Communes, 194, 195 ; invades
Flanders, 195 : advances to Sand-
gate, 196 ; disbands his army,
196 ; devastates Cassel, 197 ;
his death and burial, 206
Philip the Bold of Burgundy,
marries Margaret de Maele, 216,
217 ; mediates between Count
and Communes, 227 ; incites
Charles VI. to war, 269 ; inter-
cedes for Courtrai and Bruges,
288, 289 ; succeeds Louis de
Maele, 303 ; forms matrimonial
POUBCELETS.
around Ghent, 308 ; makes peace
with Ghent, 310
Philip the Fair of Burgundy, suc-
ceeds Mary of Burgundy, 329 ;
marries Joan of Aragon, 329 ;
succeeds Isabella of Castile, 330 ;
his death, 330
Philip the Good of Burgundy,
magnificence of his court, 312 ;
besieges Calais, 313 ; deserted by
the Flemings, 313 ; marches
upon Bruges, 314 ; escapes with
difficulty, 315 ; imposes harsh
terms on Bruges, 316.317 ; mag-
nificently entertained in Bruges,
317 ; tries to levy the gabelle in
Ghent, 319 ; a great commotion
arises, 320 ; declares war against
Ghent, 322 ; infuriated by death
of illegitimate son, 323 ; battle
of Gavre, 324 ; concludes Treaty
of Gavre, 325 ; overawes the
Communes, 326
Philippa, Queen, 142, 144; at
Ghent, 156 ; at Sluys, 161 ; at
Ypres, 191
Philippine of Flanders, 29, 31
Piet, family of Damme, 219
Poitiers, battle of, 212
' Polders," 129
'ontoise, Treaty of, 42
'Poorters," The, 6!!, 68, 69, 71, S3,
174, 332
'operinghe, tumult in. 177
Portugal, Ferdinand of, 14, 15, 17 ;
Matilda of, 13
" Postern," The. 230
Potter, Lievin, 320
Poucke, Roland de, 198
alliances, 308; devastates country I " Pourcelets de la Raspaille," 307
ISDEX.
353
PR A EX.
Praet, M. Jules van, 333
Prince of Wales, 28, 179, 206, 218
Pruned, John, 220, 228, 231, 232
Ptolemais, Philip of Alsace dies at,
13
Public Hot Baths, 107
Q.
QUIKUET, Hugh,
PV.
RAOUL DE NESLE, 34, 35
Raspaille, les Pourcelets de la, 307
Rasse d'Herzeele (Sen Herzeele) ;
Onredene, 310 ; van de Voorde,
247,271
" Rectores civitatis," 71
Regnier Campioen, 258, 259
" Reinart de Vos," 19
" Rewaerd," or " Rewaert," 52, 1G2,
180, 195, 264
Reye, the river, 2, 3, 219
Rheims, Philip de Valois at, 54 :
Archbishop of, 2, 16, 93
Rhine, The, coveted by Philip
Augustus, 54
Rhodes, 129
; Ribaude," 164, 266
' Ribaudequins," 266
Richard II., 270, 293
Richilda of Haiuault, 5, 6
Robert of Artois at Mt. Cassel, 38 ;
the forged deeds, 114, 115 ; re-
pulses Duke of Burgundy, 163 ;
killed at Vnnnes, 116, 170
Robert of Avesbury, 195
Robert of Bethune (See Bethunc)
Robert of Cassel (Sec Cassel)
SCAB INI.
Robert of Flanders, 6, 7
Robert of Fricsland, 6
Robert, King of Sicily, 140, 164
Roden, Fulke de, 135
" Roclandt," The bell, 138, 332
Roger de Hauterive, 221, 223, 230
luiland do Poucke, 198
Roosebeke, Battle of, 280, 287, 300
Rose Burchard, story of, 213
Royghem, monastery at, 184
Ruisselede, Battle of, 9
Rupelmonde, Sohier de Court rai at,
121, 137 ; Bastard of Burgundy
slain, 323
Rural population, 88-91
S.
SAIMPY, DE. 274-275
St. Uasil, 11, 53
St. Bavon at Ghent, 332
St. Denis, Abbot of, 52, 137, 156
St. Donatus, 2, 8
St. Lieven, relics of, 333
St. Martin's Abbey. 4.1
St. Omer, 55, 145, 146, 295
St. Pol, Count of, 35
St. Quentin, 146
St. Valery-sur-Somme, 5
St. Winoc, Abbey of, 193
Salic Law, 45, 53, 113
Salisbury, Earl of, destroys French
fleet, 14 ; Ambassador to Com-
munes, 120 ; taken prisoner. M7
San.-erre, Marshal dc, 274,289
Sancho, King of Portugal, 14
Sanitation. 103, 104
Savoy. Amadeus of, 28 ; Thomas
of, 17
"Scabini,"Thc, 17
354
INDEX.
SCEPENEX.
" Scepcnen," The, 17, 70
" Scharmsax," The, 279, 284, 286
" Schilt ende Vrieudt," 37 y
Senlis, Bishop of, 16, 52, 137, 143,
156
Sersanders, Daniel, 319, 320
Shirts, introduction of, 105
Sicily, Robert, King of, 146, 164
Simon Bette, 231, 237, 247-248
Simon de Mirabel, 162, 166
Sluys, 15-17, 49 ; Edward I. at, 33;
decline of, 87 ; Edward III. at,
142, 179 ; naval battle at, 158-
161 ; the Black Death intro-
duced at, 202; expedition against
England, 310 ; attacked by
Bruges militia, 315
Sneevoet, Lievin, 320
Sohier de Courtrai, 53 ; favours
English alliance, 120 ; arrested,
121 ; father-in-law of J. van
Arteveld, 127; beheaded, 137;
his son chosen Rewaert, 180, 195 ;
his grave desecrated, 184
Sohier Janssone heads a revolt, 58
Soissons, Bishop of, 6
" Souverainen deken," 175
Spencer, Henry, 291-294
'' Spiegel Historiael," 19
Spurs, Day of the Golden, 39
" States of Flanders," The, 311, 319
Steenbeke, John de, 173, 174
Steenhuyze, Gerard de, 211, 232,
2ae
Suffolk, Earl of, 140, 157, 199
Superstition, 96-100
T.
TtfBOUANXE, Bishop of, 93
Theodosius, Notitia Imperil of, 1
VAEHNEWYCK.
Thierry of Alsace, 9, 10, 11
Thirty-nine, The, 17, 23, 25, 30, 7O
Thomas-a-Becket, 12
Thomas Denys, 183
Thomas of Savoy, 17
Thorout, meaning of, 7 ; fairs held 1
at, 20
Tincke, Peter, 320
Torbay, Flemish ships destroyed
in, 217
Tostig, the Saxon, 5
Toulouse, agitation in, 39
Tournai, Louis X. refused shelter
in, 45 ; interdict launched from,
52 ; council held at, 251 ; ar-
tillery used at, 164 ; Charles VI,
at, 290
Towns, The Good (See The Good
Towns)
Treaty of Melun, 16, 25 ; Ipswich,.
31 ; Athies-sur-Orge, 40-42, 137 ;
Bretigny, 214 ; Pontoise, 42 ;.
Gavre, 325, 327, 328
Tronchiennes, 121, 184
Truce of Esplechin, 165 ; of God,
5 ; Malestroit, 171
U.
URBAN V., 93, 216
Urban VI., 93, 262, 291
Utrecht, 93
Uutenhove, Fulk, 131
Uutenhove, John, 179
Uutenhove, William, 16
VAERNEWYCK, 127
Vaernewyck, Thomas de, 132, 277,
183
INDEX.
355
VAERXEWYCK.
Vaernewyck, William de, 132, HO
" Vaghes," The, 17
" Vairiers," 259
Valenciennes, English envoys at,
120 ; James van Arteveld at
lf>2
Valois, Charles de, 33, 114. 123,
129
Valois, Joan de. 1G5
Valois, John de (See John de
Valois)
Valois, Philip de (See Philip de
Valois)
Velde, John van de, 200
Vienne, Sir John de, at Calais, 19G
Vilain, Hector, 53
Villani. 120
Vincennes, Louis X. dies at. 45
" Vinders," 79
" Viri probi," 71
Vironfosse, 146
Voisin, M. Auguste, 124
Voorde, Rasse van de, 247. 271
Vriendt, Schilt ende, 27
" Vriheden ende Neeringhen." 123
Vyre-Saint-Bavon, massacre at,
211 *
W.
WAES, heroism of burghers of the
Pays de, 309
Walle, Louis van de, 198, 313, 317
Walsingham, 117
Walter d'Enghien (secEnghien)
Walter Leenknecht, 323
Walter Manny, Sir, 122, 201
Warfare, mediaeval, 147, 148
Weavers, The, 82, 83, 84, 174. 177
Wervicq, burnt, 276
TPRES.
\Vest Capelle, Battle of, 18
West Flanders, 1, 13
Wesf, John de, 271
White Hoods, 135, 221, 222, 230-
231
iVilliam of Brittany, 11
William dc Dampierre, 18, 34
William Dedeken, 57
William Fitz-Osborn, 6
William Flottc, 49
William de Juliers, 36. 38
William Long Sword, 9, 10
William de Nevers, 81;
William of Normandy, 5
William Uutenhove. 19
Winchelsea, Battle off. 206-207
Wintere, Peter de, 232, 272, 279,
292
Witte Caproenen," 174, 222
Women of Flanders, The, 105-108
Wondelghem, chateau de, burnt,
224, 228
Worcester, Earl of, 218
Worst ead, 123
Woumen. camp at, 234, 235
Wyuendael, 7, 31,35
YOEXS, John, consulted by citizens,
219 ; disgraced by L. de Sfaele,
220 ; restores the White Hoods,
221 ; expels Mahieu faction, 222,
223 ; proceeds to Bruges, 225 ;
his death at Damme, 226
Yolande van den Broucke, 282
Ypres, 9, 35, 43, 54, 56 ; Theologi-
cal Seminaries at, 20 ; Fairs at,
21 ; member of the Hanse of
356
IXDEX.
YZENDIKE.
London, 21 ; riots at, 23 ; deci-
mated by Louis de Crecy. 67,
58 ; woollen manufactures in,
79 ; affray with citizens of the
Franc, 177; Edward III. at,
191 ; massacre, 200 ; unites with
Ghent, 226 ; surprised by Louis
de Maele, 232 ; militia cut to
pieces, 234 ; cruelly punished by
Louis de Maele, 235 ; Philip van
Arteveld at, 263 ; yields to
Charles VI., 278 ; repulses Henry
Spencer, 292-293
Yzendike, 21
ZANXEQUIN, Nicholas, 50; defeated
at Mt. Cassel, 55-56 ; conse-
quences of defeat, 58, 91
Zichele. John van der, 231
" Zoene," The, for J. van Arteveld,
183
" Zweerd-draegers," The, 175
Zwyn, The, 15, 37, 86-87, 122,
207 ; Edward III. enters, 142 ;
French fleet moored in, 158 ;
silting up of, 330
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