The Marchiennes account of the Battle of Bouvines
The Relatio Marchianesis de Pugna Bouvinis was probably one of the first accounts of the battle to be written after the event. Marchiennes is a monastery close to Bouvines.
In the year of our Lord 1214, on the sixth calend of
August, something worthy of remembrance occurred at the bridge of Bouvines, in
the confines of the Tournaisis. In this place, on one side, Philip, the noble
King of the Franks, had gathered a part of his kingdom. On the other side Otto
who, having persisted in the obstinacy of his wickedness, had been deprived of
the imperial dignity through the decree of the Holy Church, and his accomplices
in wickedness, Ferrand, Count of Flanders, and Renaud, Count of Boulogne, many
other barons, and also those receiving a stipend from John, the King of England,
had assembled in order, as the events were to show, to fight against the French.
Driven by insatiable hatred, the Flemings, in order to recognize each other more
easily, had, while preparing themselves to attack the French, sewn a small sign
of the cross on the back and front of their coats of arms. But it was much less
for the glory and honor of Christ's cross than for the growth of their
wickedness, the misfortune and harm of their friends, the misery and damage of
their bodies. This was clearly shown by the outcome of the battle. Indeed, they
did not remind themselves of the sacred precept of the Church which states:
"The one who communicates with an excommunicate is excommunicated."
Persisting in their alliance with Otto who, by the judgment and authority of the
Pope, had been bound into anathema and had been separated from the faithful of
the Holy Mother Church, they were mocking this sentence with impudence and
dishonesty. Inflamed by cruelty, they were planning while boasting with each
other to reduce to nothing, if they could, the scepter and the crown of royal
dignity: However, divine mercy and compassion which everywhere saves and
protects its own, disposed of the matter differently. Philip, the very wise king
of the Gauls, troubled by the imminent danger he saw his army facing, decided in
a prudent and discreet council to withdraw himself and his people from the
enemy's aggression if lie could. He gradually retreated. However, seeing that
his adversaries were pursuing him terribly, like enraged dogs, and also bearing
in mind that he could not retreat without too much dishonor, he put his hope in
the Lord; he arranged his army into military echelons as is customary for those
who are about to fight. But first, with a contrite heart, he addressed a prayer
to the Lord. Then having called upon the noblemen of his army, he started to
exhort them humbly, modestly, and with tears in his eyes: they should resist the
adversaries with virility as their ancestors had been accustomed to doing, and
so as not to suffer a loss that neither they nor their heirs could repair. These
things, said with so much humility and earnestness, strongly warmed the hearts
of his audience to act well and fight with virility. As soon as the order of the
royal power was heard in the army, tile knights and the auxiliaries, armed and
arranged into ordered echelons, prepared ill all haste for the battle. The
horses' bridles were tightened by the auxiliaries. The armor shone in the
splendor of the sun and it seemed that the light of day was doubled. The banners
unfolded in the winds and offered themselves to the currents; they presented a
delightful spectacle to the eyes. What then? The armies, thus ordered for battle
on each side, entered into combat, full of ardor and desire to fight. But very
quickly the dust rose toward the sky in such quantities that it became hard to
see and to recognize each other. The first French echelon attacked the Flemings
with virility, breaking their echelons by nobly cutting across them, and
penetrated their army through all impetuous and tenacious movement. The Flemings,
seeing this and defeated in the space of all hour, turned their flacks and
quickly took to flight. At this perilous moment, dependants abandoned to
distress their lords, their fathers, their sons, and their nephews. However,
Ferrand, Count of Flanders, and Renaud, Count of Boulogne, remained in the
battle and resisted the onslaught of the French with virile fighting. In the
end, they were wounded and taken by the French along with innumerable nobles
whose names we will not give; they were jailed in a number of castles in Gaul.
As for Otto who, by the authority of the Pope, we refrain from calling Emperor,
deprived of everyone's help, thrown three times to the ground from his horse, or
rather his horses as some claim, almost alone except for a single count, he
hurried to take flight. Thus, surreptitiously fleeing from the King of France's
hand, he escaped, vanquished in battle. In this manner, the providence of divine
mercy ended this battle which had been fought, as we have said, near the bridge
of Bouvines, for the praise and the glory of His Majesty, and for the honor of
the Holy Church. May its honor, its virtue, and its power remain through the
infinity of centuries to come. Amen.
These translations were all originally published in The Legend of Bouvines: War, Religion and Culture in the Middle Ages, by Georges Duby, translated by Catherine Tihanyi (University of California Press, 1990). We thank Catherine Tihanyi for allowing to republish this material.