Until 1830, the state of Belgium did not exist on the European map. At this time, several French-speaking principalities were located on the territory of modern Belgium, the most prosperous of which in the 13th century was Flanders. The first signs of capitalist production began to appear here earlier than other European lands. Flanders was a state of traders and artisans.
These lands often became the subject of claims from the neighboring French state. On July 11, 1302, the famous battle of Courtras (Kortrijk) took place, in which the rebels defeated the Flemish knights.
The royal army of France, consisting of representatives of the feudal militia, Lombard crossbowmen and Spanish javelin throwers, led by a close relative of the king, the Count d'Artois, met with the militia of Flanders. Captain-General d'Artois had 7, 5 thousand horsemen and about 3-5 thousand foot mercenaries at his disposal.
The city militia of Flanders was about 13-20 thousand people, but it included no more than a dozen knights, the rest were infantrymen (archers, crossbowmen, pikemen). In addition, simple artisans and townspeople stood up to protect their native land.
Commoners were then strictly forbidden to carry weapons with them. However, they were entitled to the long knives they needed for the job. During the uprising, the Flemings lured French noble horsemen to the swampy lands, where their horses were tied under the weight of knightly vestments and weapons. After that, the militias dragged the knights from their horses and finished them off with knives.
The Flemings won an unconditional victory then and collected more than 700 pairs of golden spurs from the corpses of the French knights, therefore the Battle of Courtras is also called the Battle of the Golden Spurs. And although since then Flanders has passed from hands to hands of stronger neighbors more than once, July 11 is annually celebrated in Belgium as a great national holiday.
Traditionally, on the Day of the Flemish Community, mass costumed processions are held in the country, designed to remind the Belgians of the price at which they won independence. In the town of Courtras, a theatrical performance is shown annually, which reproduces the course of the famous battle.
