Battle of Bouvines information

Battle of Bouvines
Part of the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214
La Bataille de Bouvines, by Horace Vernet in 1827. (Galerie des Batailles, Palace of Versailles).
Date 27 July 1214 Location Bouvines, County of Flanders, Kingdom of France Result French victory Truce of Chinon Collapse of the Angevin Empire
Belligerents
Kingdom of France Duchy of Burgundy County of Champagne County of Dreux County of Ponthieu County of Saint-Pol County of Beaumont County of Soissons County of Perche County of Auxerre County of Nevers Lordship of Nemours Lordship of Coucy Viscounty of Melun Duchy of Normandy Duchy of Bretagne Prince-Bishopric of Liège	Holy Roman Empire County of Hainaut Kingdom of Germany Duchy of Brabant County of Louvain Duchy of Lorraine County of Holland County of Namur Duchy of Limburg Duchy of Saxony County Palatine of the Rhine County of Tecklenburg County of Katzenelnbogen Free imperial city of Dortmund County of Flanders Kingdom of England County of Boulogne Barony of Boves
Commanders and leaders
Philip II (centre) Robert II, Count of Dreux (left flank) Eudes III of Burgundy (right flank) List centre: Bartholomew of Roye William of Garlande William II des Barres Enguerrand III of Coucy Gauthier II of Nemours Girard Scophe left flank: Philip of Dreux William II of Ponthieu Peter II of Courtenay Thomas of St. Valery right flank: Matthew II of Montmorency William I of Sancerre Walter III of Châtillon Peter of Remi Jean, Count of Beaumont Adam II of Melun other command: Thomas of Perche Stephen Longchamp	Otto IV (centre) Renaud of Boulogne  (POW) (right flank) Ferrand of Flanders  (POW) (left flank) List centre: Theobald of Lorraine  (POW) William of Holland Henry of Brabant Philip II of Courtenay-Namur Henry III of Limburg Conrad of Dortmund right flank: William Longespée  (POW) Hugh of Boves left flank: Ferrand of Flanders  (POW) Arnulf IV of Oudenaarde
Strength
6,000–7,000 1,200–1,360 knights 300 mounted sergeants 5,000–6,000 infantry	8,800–9,000 1,300–1,500 knights 7,500 infantry
Casualties and losses
Comparatively light 2 knights killed Unknown infantry losses	169 knights killed 131 knights captured Heavy infantry losses

The Battle of Bouvines was fought 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. In the centre, the allied knights and infantry under Otto enjoyed initial success, scattering the French urban infantry and nearly killing Philip. A counterattack by French knights smashed the isolated Allied infantry and Otto's entire centre division fell back. Otto fled the battle and his knightly followers were defeated by the French knights, who went on to capture the Imperial eagle standard. With the allied centre and left wing routed, only the soldiers of the right wing under Renaud of Boulogne and William de Longespee held on. They were killed, captured or driven from the field. A pursuit was not conducted as it was nearly dark.

The crushing French victory dashed English and Flemish hopes of regaining their lost territories. Having lost all credibility as emperor following the battle, Otto IV was deposed by Pope Innocent III, leading to Frederick II's accession to the Imperial throne. King John was compelled to hand over Anjou, the ancient patrimony of the Angevin kings of England, to Philip in a peace settlement. This confirmed the collapse of the Angevin Empire. The disaster at Bouvines forever altered the political situation in England, as John was so weakened that his discontented barons forced him to agree to Magna Carta in 1215. Counts Ferrand, Renaud and Longespee were captured and imprisoned. The balance of power shifted, with the popes of the 13th century increasingly seeking the support of a powerful France. Philip had achieved remarkable success in the expansion of his realm and by the end of his reign, in 1223, had not only laid the foundations for the era of Capetian pre-eminence in Europe which followed and marked much of the Late Middle Ages, but also those of the absolutism that came to define the Ancien Régime.