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Shown here in a 15th-century illumination, the Battle of Courtrai saw the victory of an all-infantry
Flemish army over a French mounted army.
LEGNANO
GUELPH AND GHIBELLINE
CONFLICT
1176
■
NORTHERN ITALY
■
LOMBARD
LEAGUE VS. HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
In the late 12th century, northern Italy
was divided by ghting between the
Guelphs, supporters of the papacy, and
the Ghibellines, supporters of the Holy
Roman Emperor. In 1167, the major cities
of Lombardy formed a league, with
papal approval, to defend themselves
against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa,
who engaged in ve campaigns to
combat them. After failed peace talks in
May 1176, Frederick led his 3,000-strong
army around Milan to meet with
reinforcements from Germany at Lake
Como. The Lombard League deployed
3,500 men to intercept him north of the
city at Legnano, where they positioned
themselves around the Carroccia, Milan’s
sacred battle wagon. The erce battle
that ensued was evenly matched until
eventually the Lombard League’s cavalry
regrouped and attacked, scattering the
Imperial army. The Imperial cause in
Lombardy was damaged, and in 1183
Frederick had to concede self-
government to the cities there.
XIANGYANG
SONG–YUAN WARS
1268
■
CENTRAL CHINA
■
MONGOLS
VS. SONG FORCES
In 1267, Kublai Khan, the Mongol Great
Khan, turned his attention to conquering
southern China. His key objectives were
the twin fortresses of Xianyang and
Fancheng; these controlled the Han river,
which fed into the Yangzi, in the heart
of the Song empire. Despite their huge
forces, the invading Mongols were
thwarted by the defenders’ ability to
resupply the fortresses’ garrison using
hundreds of river junks. The Mongols’
attempts to build ramparts in the river
to dam it failed, as did outright assault,
and the siege dragged on for ve years.
Finally, Kublai Khan obtained heavy siege
catapults from his nephew, the Ilkhan
of Persia. The projectiles hurled by
these catapults broke down Fancheng’s
wall within a few days and it fell to a
Mongol assault. Seeing the battle was
lost, the Song commander of Xiangyang
surrendered. With the fall of both
fortresses, the way into southern China
was clear and Song morale collapsed. By
1279, Kublai Khan had completed his
conquest of southern China.
3COURTRAI
FRANCO–FLEMISH WAR
1302
■
MODERNDAY BELGIUM
■
FRANCE VS. FLANDERS
In 1302, the towns of Flanders were
in revolt against ve years of French
occupation. To quell this uprising, Philip
IV of France sent an 8,000-strong force
to Courtrai, north of Tournai, where the
Flemish were besieging a castle. The
Flemish militia, armed with pikes,
crossbows, and goedendags (pikes with
a club mounted on the end) took position
in an area of marshes and small streams.
When the French knights charged, they
became bogged down in the marshes and
were knocked from their horses by the
Flemish goedendags. The remaining
knights retreated and the French infantry
ed, pursued by the victorious Flemish.
Over 1,000 French soldiers died, including
many knights whom the Flemish chose
not to keep for ransom. The encounter
became known as the “Battle of the
Golden Spurs” for the quantity of valuable
spurs looted from their corpses, and
showed that drilled foot soldiers could
overcome mounted knights; however,
later French victories denied Flanders
its independence.
BANNOCKBURN
FIRST WAR OF SCOTTISH
INDEPENDENCE
1314
■
SOUTHERN SCOTLAND
■
SCOTLAND VS. ENGLAND
Robert the Bruce took the Scottish
throne in 1306 and led a military
campaign to drive out the English,
who had gained control of many areas
of Scotland following Edward I’s invasion
in 1296. By 1314, Stirling Castle, the
only remaining English stronghold, was
under siege by the Scots, and Edward II
led an army of about 2,500 cavalry and
15,000 infantry to defend it. The English
army was met by an 8,000-strong force
of Scots (mainly infantry) in the New
Park, south of the town. The battle
lasted for two days—English cavalry
charges were unable to penetrate the
Scottish formations of spearmen, and
when the English pulled back they fell
victim to pits and ditches that the Scots
had laid in the marshy ground. A hasty
retreat by the English saw 34 barons
killed, along with thousands of soldiers.
Stirling Castle fell and the English never
recovered their positions in Scotland,
ultimately having to recognize Scottish
independence in 1328.
POITIERS
HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR
1356
■
CENTRAL FRANCE
■
ENGLAND
VS. FRANCE
In 1355, an eight-year truce in the
Hundred Years’ War between England
and France expired. While Edward III
attacked northern France, his son
Edward, the Black Prince, led a force
of 8,000, including about 2,500
longbowmen, north from Aquitaine on a
raid into central France. The French army,
led by King John II, crossed the Loire to
intercept the English, and the two armies
met just east of Poitiers. Outnumbered by
the French, the English army positioned
themselves on a narrow front protected
by a marsh and stream. An initial French
charge faltered under a series of volleys
from the longbowmen and the retreating
knights were forced into hand-to-hand
combat. They attacked again, but the
Directory: 1000 –1500
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83
DIRECTORY
◼
1000–1500
Depicted here in a 16th-century miniature, Nancy was the nal and decisive
battle that ended the Burgundian Wars.
English led a surprise advance and
the French army disintegrated. Many
French knights were captured, including
King John. A weakened France was
forced to agree to a treaty in 1360
expanding English holding around
Aquitaine and Calais.
LAKE POYANG
RED TURBAN REBELLION
1363
■
EASTERN CHINA
■
MING
DYNASTY VS. HAN DYNASTY
The Mongol Yüan dynasty of China had
collapsed by the early 1360s, and three
principal contenders for power emerged:
the Han, the Wu, and the Ming. The Ming
arose out of a smaller rebel group, the
Red Turbans, and in 1363 their leader
Zhu Yuanzhang began consolidating his
power around the Ming capital, Nanjing.
When the Han attacked the Ming-held
town of Poyang using a eet of large
warships positioned on the adjacent
lake, Zhu sent what reinforcements he
could. The Han commander failed to
block the lake entrance, allowing a Ming
eet in, but the smaller Ming ships
struggled to surround and board the
Han vessels. Instead the Ming used re
ships to attack the Han eet, burning
many ships. The Han retreated and
much of their eet was destroyed
trying to ee the lake. Poyang was
soon relieved by land and Zhu, with
Han power broken, emerged as the
dominant force in China, declaring
himself emperor in 1368.
KOSOVO
OTTOMAN WARS IN EUROPE AND
SERBIAN-OTTOMAN WARS
1389
■
MODERN-DAY REPUBLIC OF
KOSOVO
■
SERBIAN-BOSNIAN ARMY
VS. OTTOMANS
The Ottoman Turks had made
signicant advances in the Balkans in
the 1370s–80s, absorbing Bulgaria and
taking the important Serbian town of
Niš. Serbia itself had been weakened by
civil wars, but in 1388 the ruler of the
northern part, Prince Lazar, defeated
the Ottomans, provoking their leader,
Sultan Murad I, to retaliate. The Ottoman
army of up to 40,000 men paused
at Kosovo, where Lazar had a force
just over half the size, including
reinforcement troops from another
Serbian nobleman, Vuk Branković.
Ottoman archers rebued an initial
Serbian charge, but the Serbs still forced
the Ottoman center back. The Ottomans
then launched a full counterattack that
destroyed the Serbian center: Lazar
was killed and Branković withdrew
from the eld with the surviving Serbian
forces. Losses on both sides were vast,
but Serbia, with fewer resources, was
unable to resist subsequent Ottoman
advances; it became an Ottoman vassal
in 1390, and nally lost its
independence entirely in 1459.
CASTILLON
HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR
1453
■
SOUTHWESTERN FRANCE
■
FRANCE VS. ENGLAND
In 1435, the English were abandoned
by their Burgundian allies, leaving
them to continue the Hundred Years’
War against France alone. By 1451,
the French under Charles VII had
recaptured all their lost territory except
for the city of Calais, but in October
1452 the Earl of Shrewsbury seized
Bordeaux with an English force of
3,000 and advanced inland. The French
countered by besieging the strategic
town of Castillon, where the English
confronted them on July 17, 1453.
Although reinforcements had doubled
the size of the English army, the French
had built a temporary defensive
fortication with over 300 eld guns.
When Shrewsbury impetuously gave the
order to charge, he and his men were
destroyed by waves of cannonballs. With
their commander dead, the English
retreated and were slaughtered by the
advancing French. Bordeaux fell to
the French soon afterward, leaving
England again in possession of just
Calais and bringing the Hundred Years’
War to an end.
MURTEN
BURGUNDIAN WARS
1476
■
WESTERN SWITZERLAND
■
OLD SWISS CONFEDERACY VS. BURGUNDY
The steady advance of the Duchy of
Burgundy’s army down the Rhine in the
1460–70s brought it in conict with
the ercely independent Swiss cantons
(allies of the Holy Roman Empire). In
1474, war broke out between the two
sides, and Charles the Bold, Duke of
Burgundy, led a series of invasions into
Swiss territory. Burgundy’s army was
defeated by the Swiss Confederate army
at Grandison in March 1476, but during
the following June, Charles led an attack
on the town of Murten. The Swiss
cantons assembled a force of around
25,000 soldiers armed with pikes to
relieve the siege. The Burgundians were
caught by surprise, and though they had
occupied the side of a hill with artillery
the Swiss pike formation pushed
forward and forced the Burgundian army
into retreat during which thousands
were killed. Charles ed with his
remaining troops back to Burgundy.
1NANCY
BURGUNDIAN WARS
1477
■
EASTERN FRANCE
■
OLD
SWISS CONFEDERACY VS. BURGUNDY
In 1477, Charles the Bold, Duke of
Burgundy, laid siege to the strategic
city of Nancy in Lorraine. The region,
formerly under his control, had broken
away under Duke René. Charles led a
mixed force of Burgundians, Italians,
and Dutch, while Duke René countered
with 20,000 troops, half of them
Swiss mercenaries. The outnumbered
Burgundians tried to reduce their
disadvantage by positioning themselves
along a narrow front protected by
a stream and thick woods. But the
Swiss phalanx advanced, pushing the
Burgundian left wing back and, crucially,
displacing their artillery. Although
Charles tried to redeploy troops to
plug the growing gaps, the Swiss
superiority in numbers overwhelmed
the Burgundian army which collapsed.
Charles was killed, making René’s victory
complete, and the Duchy of Burgundy
fell apart—one portion went to the
Austrian Habsburgs, and the remainder
was taken over by Louis XI of France.
BOSWORTH FIELD
WARS OF THE ROSES
1485
■
CENTRAL ENGLAND
■
HOUSE
OF LANCASTER VS. HOUSE OF YORK
The Wars of the Roses, fought between
rival claimants to the English throne the
Houses of York and Lancaster, seemed
to have ended in 1471. The controversial
accession of the Yorkist Richard III in
1483, however, reignited the conict.
Many nobles ocked to support exiled
Henry Tudor, the remaining Lancastrian
candidate. In August 1485, Henry landed
at Milford Haven in Wales. He advanced
into England, and while he gathered
reinforcements Richard rushed to head
him o. At Bosworth, near Leicester in
central England, the two armies met.
Although Richard’s army was larger,
contingents under the Earl of
Northumberland and Lord Stanley
remained slightly apart from the main
force. When an attack by Henry’s army
put pressure on Richard’s line, the king
ordered Northumberland to join him,
but the Earl refused. Stanley allied
with the Lancastrians which led to a
Yorkist retreat, during which Richard
was unhorsed and killed. Henry was
crowned and later married Richard’s
niece, Elizabeth of York, to unite the
Yorkist and Lancastrian dynasties.
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