The Golden Spurs of Kortrijk
How the Knights of France Fell to the Foot Soldiers of Flanders in 1302
Randall Fegley sets out to discover how the knights of France fell to the foot soldiers of Flanders at Kortrijik in 1302, "[t]he first major battle in which urban infantry defeated noble cavalry"(142). He also conjectures as to why the Flemish townsmen succeeded in besting their social betters. No mono-causal explanation is proffered. Nor is a single historical interpretation adhered to. The slim volume is a curious amalgam of Marxian and Whig determinism. In the former case, class struggle is glorified. Obviously Fegley's effete and tradition-bound French knights are the aristocracy, the increasingly assertive guildsmen embody the bourgeoisie, and the sturdy peasants bearing pole-weapons are the proto-proletariat. "For the first time in history an army of common soldiers defeating a major force of knights had confirmed a popular revolution" (140).
Kortrijik is as much about social war as it is about war between "nations", so the author analyzes Flemish urban culture, particularly in Bruge, and how these prosperous trading centers never really fit into the feudal system. Their "guild socialism" is identified with "primitive communism" (21). The focus on Bruge is sometimes over the top: "The city's center retains much captivating medieval charm. Rich in artistic and architectural treasures, its quiet canals and handsome step-gabled buildings have attracted numerous visitors, who amble along its cobbled streets and glide by in canal boats" (178). McFarland Publishing deserves a hefty subvention from the Belgian Tourist Board in return for lines like that.
Fegley's unabashed partisanship for the Flemings accounts for the book's Whiggish tone. His commentary is steeped in national pride and romanticism, punctuated with rude asides about the French (and English, i.e. 190). The author depicts the battle as a manifestation of the inevitable emergence of (and exercise of) self-determination by the people of Flanders. Although it is unclear if the author knows the work of Thomas Bisson, this book does further illustrate the intriguing relationship between representative government and medieval warfare. The guilds and civil government of the Flemings seized the political (and hence military) power commensurate with their economic power. Fegley thus fuses together a Marxian and Whiggish explanation as to how socially calcified, economically stagnant and tactically blinkered knights received their just comeuppance.
The Golden Spurs of Kortrijik also contributes to the "military revolution debate", most obviously by underscoring Kelly DeVries's case for an infantry revolution in the 1300s (190). Fegley is particularly effective at explaining the deadly versatility of the goedendag. Wisely, the author has drawn inspiration from J. F. Verbruggen's scholarship, much of which was not available in English in 2002, when The Golden Spurs of Kortrijik appeared. Since then The Journal of Medieval Military History has published DeVries's translations of Verbruggen's work (as readers of this website doubtless know), a development that should increase interest in the subject of the Flemish urban militias.
The author goes on to argue that Kortrijik was a "turning point" in the transformation of warfare, so that by the end of the Hundred Years' War "gunpowder, standing armies, and patriotism" had emerged to dominate the conduct of war. Most specialists would take issue with that conclusion in its entirety, but few would denigrate the battlefield performance of the medieval infantryman. Specialist academicians will (and should) quarrel with many of the sweeping generalizations found in this book. However, those generalizations make this book a useful tool for classroom discussions. This reviewer assigned Fegley's monograph in an upper division course on "western" warfare circa 490 B.C. to 1648 A.D. The book sparked spirited debate amongst the undergraduates. The author's efforts to connect the outcome of the battle with "larger" historical phenomena encourage student readers to ponder the macrocosmic impact (and causes) of warfare. "The Battle of the Golden Spurs is not a mere detail in history. In the spirit of the early fourteenth century, one can see the roots of capitalism, socialism, labor unions, Protestantism, the world economy, the nation-state and the Industrial Revolution. Flanders stood in the forefront of a new era of mass politics, mass production and mass armies"(194). While that is a lengthy grocery list, it provides assertions that provoke student discourse about the nature of military history.
Finally, the author ought to be congratulated for bringing to fruition a substantial scholarly project while simultaneously serving in academic affairs. It would be a better world if more college administrators emulated Fegley, or at the least shared his devotion to scholarship.