The Battle of Bouvines, which took place on July 27, 1214, was a medieval battle that ended 12 years of the Anjou-Flanders War. This happened in 1214 with the French side led by Philip Augustus and the Allied army led by Otto IV of Germany. It ended with the victory of the French and the strengthening of the French royal family. At the Battle of Flanders on July 27, 1214, King Philip Augustus of France defeated a group including Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV, the Counts of Flanders and Holland, and the Duke of Brabant , the Duke of Lorraine and the Duke of Limbourg, including the enemy coalition, and the British army from King John.
In early 1214, united against King Philip Augustus of France, including Otto IV, King John of England, Ferrand, Count of Flanders, Reynolds, Count of Boulogne, Henry I, Duke of Brabant, William I, Count of Holland, Duke Theobald. Lorraine I and Henry III, Duke of Limburg. As a result, he turned his back on his loyalty to Philip and formed an extensive alliance that included Emperor Otto IV, King John I of England, Henry I, Duke of Brabant, William I, Earl of Holland, and Theobor, Duke of Lorraine. Germany I and Henry III, Duke of Limburg. In 1214, Ferdinand, Prince of Portugal and Count of Flanders, wished to regain the cities of El Suraris and Saint-Omer, which he had recently ceded to King Philip II of France under the Treaty of Pontus. A Wending. On July 12, 1214, King Philip II of France defeated a combined army of Emperor Otto IV, Count of Flanders, and King John of England near Boignes in northern France.
On July 27, 1214, a battle took place near the Bridge of Bouines, west of Tournai in Flanders, in which most of the major principalities of Western Europe took part. King Philip II of France Augustus (1165–1223) defeated an allied army led by Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV of Brunswick (c. 1180–1218). Battle of Bouvines, July 27, 1214, during the Anglo-French War of 1202-1214, the army of King Philip II Augustus of France and the Anglo-Flemish army led by Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV – Spread out between German coalition forces. This led to a decisive French victory, after which the German and British kingdoms were greatly reduced in strength. Decisive was the attack on the right flank of the French at the start of the battle, followed by the organized attack of the Dukes of Burgundy, the Counts of Beaumont, Montmorency II and the Viscount Mellon.
The battle itself was intense, and it was ultimately decided in the French army’s favor. The Allies, believing they could easily defeat the French, cared only about fighting them, not where the battle would take place or whether the terrain was in their favor. In response, the Allies sent part of their forces to Coulter and Lille to bypass the French left flank and head straight for Paris, breaking it if the king decided to go to war.
The Count of Flanders counterattacked with all his force of 600 knights and drove the French back. A counterattack by the French knights destroyed the isolated Allied infantry, and Otto’s entire central division retreated. Otto and his knights had almost reached the French king when they were stopped by the French knights.
The Germans, led by the Emperor, moved into the center of the French positions, almost changing the course of the battle, but a wounded horse caused Otto to fall, and Otto had to flee on foot until his men found another horse. Otto fled the battle, and his knightly followers were defeated by the French knights, who went on to capture the Imperial Eagle Flag. The imperial banner with the eagle and the dragon was captured by the French knights who took it to their king.
The allied infantry attacked Philip and a handful of his fellow knights, unsaddling him with their hooked pikes. As a result, King John hired Philip in July 1214, but immediately refused. King John, having lost the battle as part of the coalition, was forced to surrender all his continental territories to France.
The defeat was so decisive that Otto was deposed and replaced by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen; Ferrand and Renault were captured and imprisoned, and King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta by his disgruntled barons. In the year of the birth of Christ 1214, at the time when King John of England was fighting at Poitou, as we have already said, and fled, he and all his army, at the approach of my lord Louis, Otto, accursed and excommunicated emperor, whom the king of England John delayed against King Philip, gathered his army in Hainaut in the castle of Valenciennes, in the land of the Count of Ferrand, who united against his lord. On the other hand, Otto, who had persisted in his villainy and had been deprived of his imperial dignity by a decree of the Holy Church, and his accomplices in villainy, Ferrand, Count of Flanders, and Renault, Count of Boulogne, many other barons, and even those who received a salary from John, King of England, gathered to fight, as events showed, against the French.
The battle ended with the famous position of Reginaldo of Boulogne, a former vassal of King Philip, who formed a ring of seven hundred Brabant lancers and not only repulsed every charge of the French cavalry, but himself made repeated attacks or sorties. the strength of the little knight. The battle ended with the famous resistance of Reginaldo of Boulogne (Renaud de Damartin), a former vassal of King Philip, who formed a ring of 400-700 pikemen from Brabancon. The French army formed up in the same order in front, the cavalry on the flanks, the infantry, including the city militia, in the center.
The allied army turned to face south-west towards Bouvines, heavy cavalry on the flanks, infantry in a large mass in the center, supported by a cavalry corps under the command of Otto himself. The Battle of Bouvines began with a confrontation between the left wing of the Allies and the right wing of the French. The Battle of Bouvines was historically a decisive battle between the French army and a coalition army made up of soldiers and knights from various European kingdoms. The English king’s obsession with regaining lost French territories led to a 12-year war, culminating in the standoff at Bouvines in northern France.