Although not as famous as Hastings, Crécy or Agincourt, the 1214 Battle of Bouvines would have far-reaching consequences. In fact, the little-known clash indirectly contributed to the rise of modern-day constitutional democracy.
A fighting bishop unhorses and captures a royal bastard in an obscure medieval battle and in one swift blow changes European history for centuries. The event leads to the downfall of an emperor and a king and brings new justice to the whole world.
WHEN THE CRUSADER clergyman Philip of Dreux went to war for his king in 1214, he expected merely to kill a few Englishmen. Instead, the ringing blows he struck with his heavy mace on the helmet of William Longsword, the Third Earl of Salisbury echoed down through the centuries. They still resonate today.
The obscure yet momentous event occurred at the Battle of Bouvines. The stunned English earl crumpled to the ground under Philip’s wallops and was swiftly captured. Demoralized at the sight of their felled lord, the English soldiers fled, leaving their entire army’s right flank exposed and and tipping the battle in France’s favour. The resulting rout set off a chain of events that would change European and ultimately world history.
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