27.7. 1214 Battle of Bouvines

According to many historians, Jan Bezzemek was not a good ruler. He did not enjoy ruling, he did not gain the support of his English subjects and he allowed very powerful and dangerous opponents to stand against him. He failed even at the Battle of Bouvines, which took place in July 1214.

No wonder that the English described the reign of John the Landless as one of the most unhappy. This unflattering characterization of his monarchy was, among other things, reflected in his private life. After he annulled his first childless marriage in 1189 to the English Isabella ofcounty of Gloucester, in 1200 he married the young Breton Isabella of Angoulême, who gave him five children. John devoted virtually all his attention to her.

"Though he is said not to have neglected permanent adventures, so that he had many left-handed children. He therefore overlooked that his marriage to Isabella had caused a fast against him in her native country. For Brittany was famous for its old friendship... against the English king."writes Stanislava Jarolimkova in her book World figures as you (may) not know them.

The uprising was initiated by the powerful French nobleman Hugo. He was originally betrothed to the aforementioned Isabella and did not like John's "theft" of his fiancée, so he complained to King Philip II of France. Augustus, but he took him at his word and promised to help. He therefore invited John first to a court hearing on the "theft" of Hugo's fiancée, but this was only a pretext. When the criminal failed to appear, he began to sharpen his sword.

Subsequently, Philip II was victorious on the 27th. July 1214 at Bouvines in northern France against a coalition of England, Germany and Flanders, and by finally being able to annex almost all the French Plantagenet territories to his empire, he weakened the position of John the Landless. It was indeed a great battle, unmatched perhaps by any in those days.

The Allied wing was the first to attack. But the French broke through the Flemish lines until the wing completely disintegrated. The French confirmed their experience and quality. There were no infantrymen in the battle. Philip further lined up his infantry in front of his cavalry and awaited the attack. The allies rushed the French centre and fought. The French faltered, a few men even made it as far as King Philip, but he had good equipment, and especially skilful knights. The French eventually won, benefiting from the incoming reinforcements from the two victorious divisions.

"Even Ota Brunswick never recovered from the crushing defeat at Bouvines. He did maintain the independence of his dominions in northern Germany, but that was only because Frederick of Stauff stopped attacking him. Four years after the battle, Ota Brunswick died. Frederick returned to Italy, where he had very different interests. In the following twenty years he was rarely heard of beyond the Alps," writes Vlastimil Vondruška in his book The Premyslid Epic II.

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