Battle of Axspoele
| Battle of Axspoele | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| William Clito | Thierry of Alsace | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
William Clito Riquart of Woumen |
Thierry of Alsace Gervase of Praat Frederick Daniel of Termonde | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 450 mounted knights | 300 mounted knights, 1,500 infantrymen | ||||||
The Battle of Axspoele (sometimes Axpoele[1] or Thielt[2]) took place on 21 June 1128 in Flanders between William Clito and Thierry of Alsace. The two men were rivals for the title of Count of Flanders. William had been appointed to the title by Louis VI of France following the 1127 murder of Charles the Good but Thierry, grandson of Charles, had the support of Henry I of England.In 1128 Thierry secured the support of a number of Flemish cities, although most of the nobility supported William.
Thierry led a force of 300 knights and 1,500 infantrymen to Axspoele from 19 June to lay siege to a castle held by one of William's supporters. William had knowledge of Thierry's movements and moved with a force of 450 knights to raise the siege. On arrival he recognised that most of Thierry's army was infantry and decided to attack. He positioned two-thirds of his force on a hill in sight of Thierry's army and held the remainder in reserve on the reverse slope. Thierry ordered his cavalry to attack; after a brief engagement William ordered a retreat and his reserves crushed Thierry's pursuing horsemen. This caused panic among the infantry who broke and fled, with William's men in close pursuit. William's victory was short lived; he died around a month after the battle from a wound sustained in another action and Thierry became Count of Flanders.
Background
[edit]
Charles the Good, Count of Flanders was murdered in March 1127 by local enemies. Louis VI of France, overlord of Flanders in this period, installed, by means of an invasion, Charles' cousin (and a pretender to the Duchy of Normandy) William Clito as heir, in preference to Charles' grandson Thierry of Alsace. Thierry had the support of the English King Henry I who was also Duke of Normandy and an uncle to William Clito.[1] Henry supported Thierry with bribes paid to William Clito's supporters to switch allegiance, with proved especially successful in Ghent and eastern Flanders.[3]
Lille had come to Thierry's side in August 1127 and Saint-Omer rebelled against William Clito in February 1128 after he had appointed an unpopular castellan. The general assembly of Ghent then rebelled over failure of William Clito to honour a promise of a court session over his violation of the liberties of the cities of Flanders. Thierry promised to respect the liberties of the cities and Bruges, where William Clito had imposed liability for tolls, decalred for Thierry on 30 March.[3] Most of the nobility remained supporters of William Clito but Iwain of Alost and Daniel of Termonde declared for Thierry, bringing a number of Flemish knights to his cause.[3][2] Additional military forces came from the cities, augmented by men from Ypres which first secretly and then openly supported Thierry.[2]
On 18 and 19 June Thierry was at Ghent gathering an army. He afterwards moved to Axspoele, near Thielt, to lay siege to a castle belonging to a knight named Fulk, a supporter of William Clito. Thierry was joined there on 20 June by soldiers from Bruges, led by Gervase of Praat, and men from the coastal settlements.[2]
Battle
[edit]Thierry's army was under observation by William Clito and he moved at dawn with 450 mounted knights on 21 June to relieve the siege.[2][4] That morning William Clito's force called at the Abbey of St. Peter in Oudenburg to receive the sacrament of penance.[5] William ordered his men to cut their hair short and remove any opulent clothing, as a sign of their penance.[6] Thierry's army amounted to 300 mounted knights and 1,500 infantry, though 500 of the latter may have been left to continue to siege.[2][4] On arriving at Axspoele William Clito noted that the majority of Thierry's force was dismounted and resolved to attack.[4]
William Clito split his army into three approximately equal portions. Two of these were positioned on a hill overlooking Axspoele, in full view of Thierry's force, and the third was hidden on the reverse slope.[4] William Clito was positioned in the front rank of one the forward units and Riquart of Woumen commanded the other.[2][6] Thierry, with Gervase, led one portion of his infantry and Frederick, a count, led the other; his cavalry was commanded by Daniel of Termonde.[2]
Thierry sent his cavalry, in two units, against William Clito's army. They charged, probably quite slowly, uphill with the lance.[4] This was a rare instance of a mass cavalry charge bya western European army during the High Middle Ages.[7] The first clash saw Riquart dishorsed and taken prisoner before the knights of both sides discarded their lances and engaged with the sword.[2] At this point William Clito gave the order to retreat, potentially as a ruse to lure Daniel's cavalry to pursue him.[4][2] As Daniel's troops followed they were hit by William Clito's 150-strong reserve which overwhelmed the tired attackers within seconds.[2]
Thierry's cavalry was destroyed and as William Clito's men advanced panic struck Thierry's infantry who broke and ran, discarding their weapons.[2] They were charged by William Clito's cavalry who discarded their armour to better pursue their foe.[8] Thierry reached the safety of Bruges accompanied by only ten knights.[2] Thierry's defeat was attributed by contemporaries to his failure to observe the rituals around inviting an enemy to enter battle at a mutually agreed time and place.[9]
Aftermath
[edit]
During the battle William Clito captured a number of nobles and burghers for ransom.[10] He afterwards marched 40 miles (64 km) south-west to Aalst near Brussels which he laid siege to from 12 July.[6][1] The siege progressed well for William Clito but he suffered a minor wound to his hand that became infected and led to his death, without an heir, on 28 July. His death left Henry I more secure in his position as Duke of Normandy.[1] Thierry assumed the title of Count of Flanders and was confirmed in this role by Henry I and Louis VI, the latter with some reluctance.[11][12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Spencer, Charles (2020). The White Ship. London: William Collins. pp. 211–213. ISBN 978-0-00-829684-1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Verbruggen, J. F. (1997). The Art of Warfare in Western Europe During the Middle Ages: From the Eighth Century to 1340. Boydell & Brewer. p. 229-232. ISBN 978-0-85115-570-8.
- ^ a b c Nicholas, David M. (14 January 2014). Medieval Flanders. Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-317-90155-6.
- ^ a b c d e f France, John (16 September 2020). Western Warfare In The Age Of The Crusades, 1000-1300. Routledge. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-000-15920-2.
- ^ Hariulf’s History of St Riquier. Manchester University Press. 9 July 2024. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-5261-5409-5.
- ^ a b c Crouch, David (15 October 2006). The Normans: The History of a Dynasty. A&C Black. p. 332. ISBN 978-1-85285-595-6.
- ^ France, John (15 May 2017). Medieval Warfare 1000–1300. Routledge. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-351-91847-3.
- ^ DeVries, Kelly; France, John; Rogers, Clifford J. (25 June 2024). Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume XXII. Boydell & Brewer. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-83765-070-5.
- ^ Hartmann, Anja V.; Heuser, Beatrice (November 2002). War, Peace and World Orders in European History. Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-134-54198-0.
- ^ Hartmann, Anja V.; Heuser, Beatrice (November 2002). War, Peace and World Orders in European History. Routledge. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-134-54198-0.
- ^ Bradbury, Jim (27 February 2007). The Capetians: Kings of France 987-1328. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-8264-3514-9.
- ^ Oksanen, Eljas (13 September 2012). Flanders and the Anglo-Norman World, 1066–1216. Cambridge University Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-1-139-57650-5.