Battle of Cassel (1328)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Cassel
partof=the Peasant revolt in Flanders 1323-1328


caption=
date=August 23, 1328
place=Cassel, France
result=Decisive French victory
combatant1=Flemish peasants
combatant2=Kingdom of France
commander1=Nicolaas Zannekin
commander2=Philip VI of France
strength1=15,000.
strength2=
casualties1=3,200 Casualties
casualties2=

The Battle of Cassel was fought on August 23, 1328 by Philip VI, the King of France, and first ruler of House of Valois (reigned 1328-1350), against the peasant revolt in Flanders, led by Nicolaas Zannekin. The battle took place near the city of Cassel, 30 km south of Dunkirk in present-day France. It decisively brought the revolt to an end and brought Flanders under French control.

Campaign and battle

The French aimed to divide the Flemish troops by advancing along the river Leie and by forcing the Flemings to cover the approaches from Lille and Tournai.

The French royal army stationed itself near the abbey of Waasten. The Flemish army, led by Nicolaas Zannekin and Winnoc le Fiere, had stationed 15,000 men about four kilometers from the French on a hill near Cassel. For three days the French and Flemish engaged in a stalemate as the French tried to lure the Flemish out of their advantageous position up the hill. On August 23 the French torched some villages in order to provoke the Flemish to come down from the hill, to no avail.

On August 23 the weather was very hot and, as the Flemings did not seem to budge, the French knights retired to their camp to shelter themselves from the heat. Zannekin used this opportunity to surprise the French and attacked the French camp. The Flemings used three divisions to attack the French army. One division was held in reserve and the other two attacked the camp. Of the attacking divisions, only the one led by Zannekin in person met a level of success; the other division was easily held by the French and then attacked in the back by the returning French raiding party. When the French knights recovered from the surprise, they counter-attacked and defeated the Flemings. Zannekin and le Fiere and about 3,200 Flemings were killed in the battle.

References

*Juliaan Van Belle, "Een andere Leeuw van Vlaanderen", 1985
*Leo Camerlynck and Edward De Maesschalck, "In de sporen van 1302 Kortrijk Rijsel Dowaai", 2002William H. TeBrake "A Plague of Insurrection: Popular Politics and Peasant Revolt in Flanders", 1993