Bruges Matins: Flemish Militia Slaughter French Garrison
Flemish rebels launched a coordinated night attack on the French garrison occupying Bruges on May 18, 1302, an event known as the Bruges Matins. The rebels reportedly used the phrase "schild en vriend" (shield and friend) as a shibboleth to identify French soldiers, who could not pronounce the Flemish words correctly. Estimates suggest 2,000 to 5,000 French soldiers and their Flemish collaborators were killed. The massacre was organized by Pieter de Coninck, a weaver, and Jan Breydel, a butcher, whose statues now stand in Bruges' main square. The uprising provoked Philip IV of France to send a punitive army, which was destroyed by Flemish militia at the Battle of the Golden Spurs on July 11, 1302, a victory that shattered the myth of feudal cavalry's invincibility.
May 18, 1302
724 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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