Battle of Bouvines 1214
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1214 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Anglo-French War of 1213–14 | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | County of Boulogne, County of Flanders, Ferdinand of Portugal, Henry the Courageous, Holy Roman Empire, House of Welf, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of France, Odo III, Duke of Burgundy, Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Philip II of France, Philip of Dreux, Renaud I, Count of Dammartin, Robert II, Count of Dreux, William IV, Count of Ponthieu | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.5800, 3.2250 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Bouvines took place on 27 July 1214 near the town of Bouvines in the County of Flanders. It was the concluding battle of the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214. Although estimates on the number of troops vary considerably among modern historians, at Bouvines, a French army commanded by King Philip Augustus routed a larger allied army led by Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV in one of the rare pitched battles of the High Middle Ages and one of the most decisive medieval engagements.
In early 1214, a coalition was assembled against King Philip Augustus of France, consisting of Otto IV, King John of England, Count Ferrand of Flanders, Count Renaud of Boulogne, Duke Henry I of Brabant, Count William I of Holland, Duke Theobald I of Lorraine, and Duke Henry III of Limburg. Its objective was to reverse the conquests made by Philip earlier in his reign.
After initial manoeuvring in late July, battle was offered near Bouvines on 27 July. The long allied column deployed slowly into battle order, leaving the allies at a disadvantage. The superior discipline and training of the French knights allowed them to carry out a series of devastating charges, shattering the Flemish knights on the allied left wing.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Bouvines (revision 1377726466), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Anglo-French War of 1213–14
All 3 battles of the Anglo-French War of 1213–14 →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · Medieval battles