In the late fifteenth century the county of Flanders formed one of the major possessions of the Dukes of Burgundy. After Duke Charles the Bold had led his armies to near total destruction in his wars against the Swiss, his successor (the Duchess Mary) could only turn to the armies of the Flemish towns and villages for defence against the onslaught of the French King Louis XI.

The County of Flanders consisted of three major towns (Ghent, Bruges and Ypres) and the area known as le Franc de Bruges (the region around Bruges). The three towns were among the biggest towns in Europe at that time and were able to raise great armies (Ghent on its own raised an army of more than seven thousand men for a siege of Tournai in the 1340s). Ypres was the smallest.

As they were however fiercely independently minded (e.g. the Ghent rebellion of 1453) their armies had only been called out twice by the dukes of Burgundy in the Fifteenth century (in 1411 for the siege of the castle of Ham by John the Fearless and, in 1436, for the siege of Calais by Philip the Good). They remained however liable for military service but preferred instead to pay a financial contribution.

Understandably their performance could have been a lot better when war came. An army consisting of soldiers from Ghent, Courtrai, Wervik and Le Franc was decisively defeated by the French at Pont de l'Espierre on 27.06.1477. The commander, Duke Adolf of Gelre, was killed. Later in the same year a force from Bruges suffered the same fate in the neighbourhood of Tournai. It was only in 1479 that victory was achieved at the battle of Guinegate.

Organisation

A typical communal army consisted of permanent forces, military associations and the guilds. Every man (clergy included) was liable for military service. Nobles who lived in the towns and rich citizens (poorters) served as cavalry and were indistinguishable from ordinary Burgundian men at arms. Bruges for instance had about 122 of such cavalry.

The size of field armies in this period seems to have been smaller than in previous times. For instance in 1477 the town of Ghent sent a force of 1587 soldiers to the frontier with France. This included commanders, handgunners and artillery crew. They joined an army from Bruges at the town of Spiere. The forces from Bruges consisted of 101 Red Hoods, 1186 guild members and 93 commanders, handgunners and artillery crew.

Flemish soldiers were traditionally pikemen. An army ready for battle arranged itself in 1 to 3 pikeblocks. These could be square, round (similar to Scottish sciltrons) or triangular (with one of the points aimed towards the enemy) in shape. Baggage wagons were kept to the rear where they formed a sort of rampart. Crossbows, archers, handgunners and artillery were in front of the pikeblocks.

Although this forms a good defensive position, Flemish armies were quite willing to go on the offensive in a battle.

The internal organisation of the different army units in the late fifteenth century is not known to me. In previous times a decimal organisation had been used and may still have been in force. Nine soldiers formed a unit under the command of a "koninkstavel" " (a constable?). Ten of such units were under the command of an "oppekoninksravel". He carried a flag.

A: Permanent Forces

All three towns had a sort of permanent police force. These were the "Blue Hoods of Ypres", the "Red Hoods" of Bruges and, most famous, among them the "White Hoods" of Ghent. Both the Red and White Hoods had been disbanded but were raised again in 1477. The White Hoods survived until 1492 and the Red Hoods until 1484. These units were between 25 and 100 men strong. There also existed ribauds who were in charge of the artillery.

B: Military Associations

The eldest of these were associations of crossbowmen. Since the end of the fourteenth century, associations of archers had been formed and, near the end of the fifteenth century, associations of handgunners. The strength of such units was between a 100 and 400 men. St. George was traditionally the patron saint of the crossbowmen and St. Sebastian of the archers. Communal accounts show us that there was one valet for each two crossbowmen to carry their targes.

C: Guilds

Most men in a medieval town were members of a professional guild. There could be more than fifty of these in a big town. Major guilds like weavers or fullers could have several thousand members. Whereas minor guilds could number only a few.

Uniform

Since the 14th century soldiers from Flanders' towns were issued with uniform clothing. This happened in towns (large and small) and even in the rural villages. The colours of this clothing were very changeable as can be seen from the following examples.

There are however no contemporary illustrations know of communal soldiers of this period so it is not possible to say exactly what they looked like. The Flemish terms used in the texts (e.g. keerle, journeye) give only a limited amount of information. They apparently all describe long, sleeveless garments. (Each example has the town, year and numbers of men who received the clothing).

• 1461 soldiers from Ghent dressed in "black with a red cross on the left side of the front and the letter G in silver on the front and on the back"
• 1467 300 soldiers from Ghent dressed in "tawny with a white St.Andrew's cross on the front" 200 soldiers from Bruges dressed in "red and blue with a white St.Andrew cross on the front"
• 1472 150 soldiers from Bruges dressed in "red and blue with a small crowned letter B in gold on the front"
• 1474 soldiers from Bruges dressed in "blue and white with a red St. Andrew's cross and a crowned letter B in gold on the front"
• 1477 38 soldiers from Geraardsbergen dressed in "red and blue with a white St. Andrew's cross on the front and the letter G in yellow on the front and back"
• 1478 80 handgunners from Bruges dressed in "red with a black St. Andrew's cross on the front"
• 1479 5600 rural militia from West Flanders under the command of Jan Van Dadizele dressed in "blue and white"
• 1480 all soldiers from Ghent dressed in "blue* and white" (*the meaning of the old Flemish word "persch" can be either purple or blue. I believe it here to mean blue, as this is more in line with the near contemporary ordinances of Duke Charles the Bold.)
• 1487 soldiers trom Ghent dressed in 'white with a yellow and blue band"
• 1488 1000 soldiers from Bruges dressed in "blue and white"

Hood

As their name implies, White (or Red or Blue) Hoods wore a hood in that colour above their equipment. In the previous century the officers of the White Hoods were issued with a white surcoat. This may still have been the case. Sometimes the hood could carry a shield with the coat of arms of the town.

The Red Hoods of Bruges carried two letters B in white on their hood. Members of the Ghent guild of crossbowmen wore, since 1423, a white fleur de lis on their clothing. The town of Bruges seems to have had its soldiers equipped in the town's colours (blue, red and white). Targes for crossbowmen carried the town's arms.

Heraldry & Flags

Like any other medieval army Flemish armies fought under a plethora of heraldic banners and flags. There were flags with the arms of the county, the arms of the town, the arms of the military associations and arms of the commanders. The following are just some examples of the above:

The county of Flanders: or, a lion rampant sable

The town of Ghent: sable, a lion rampant argent, crowned and armed or, langued yules, charged with a necklace with a cross.

The town of Bruges: barn of 8 argent and yules. a lion rampant azure, crowned armed and langued or, charged with a necklace with a cross.

The town ofYpres: per fess, 1 argent a patriarchal cross yules, 2 yules a cross vair

Le Franc: argent a bend azure (These arms date from 1494. The tinctures of the previous arms with a lion are not known.)

The Saint George guild of Crossbowmen (Ghent): argent a cross yules

Anselmo Adornes mason of Bruges in 1477 murdered in Scotland in 1482 by Alexander Gordon of Huntly: or a bend cheeky of 3 argent and sable.

Louis of Gruuthuse captain of Bruges from 1477 to 1482, created Earl of Winchester by Edward IV quarterly 1&4 or a cross sable, 2&3 yules a saltire argent.

Ian van Dadizele bailiff of Ghent and of the county of Flanders, commander of rural militia present at the battle of Guinegate, murdered in 1481 vert, 10 fusils (3,3,1) argent

Borluut a Ghent family azure, 3 deer at speed or

Utenhove a Ghent family. One member of this family was standard bearer for Ghent at the battle of Guinegate, argent, 6 bar gemel yules.

The arms and flags of the guilds frequently carried the emblems of the trade. Others were entirely heraldic. (e.g. the stockbrokers from Bruges: paly of 6 argent and sable). No contemporary illustrations of guild arms are in existence. Illustrations from a previous era can however give us some idea. A miniature in Vienna shows the aftermath of the battle Caver (14.07.1453) (0esterreichische Nationalbibliotheek Ms2583 fol349)

Several people are carrying guildbanners from Ghent. These are square and all have the same arrangement. The field shows the arms of the guild under a chief. (e.g. the fullers: az.ure, 3 shuttles or palewise, the carpenters: yules, 2 hammers palewise the sea farers: azure, a ship or with a sail argent). The chief is per pale 1 the arms of the county of Flanders, 2 the arms of the town of (Ghent. This follows an ordinance of Duke Philip the (food from 1429.

Information on flags is likewise very scarce, most of what we have comes from communal archives.

We know for Bruges that a crowned letter B on the town's colours was very popular. The Red Hoods used a pennon in red with a letter B in gold on it.

Ghent on the other hand still has one of its banners in the local Bijloke museum (see drawing). It dates from 1481 and is attributed to the female painter Agnes Vanden Bossche. The dimensions are 2.65 by 1m. The shaft is 2.15m long. It shows the communal lion being held by the Virgin of Ghent.

The lady has blond hair, a golden dress with red flowers, a green belt and ermine embroidery. She and the lion are standing on a small green hill. The letter G is in gold. The fringe is blue and white. Similar representations are mentioned in archive sources. Some were up to 4.90m long.

There also existed square banners with the arms of the town and with the arms of the county. The fringes on these were green. Small flags with the arms of the town were used for trumpetbanners. The existing flag is oil on silk. Other flags were in watercolours.

Weapons

Flemish soldiers were famous as pikemen since their victory over the French at Courtrai in 1302. Pikes in this period, at lengths of 5 to 6 meters, were considerably longer than in the fourteenth century when they were only 2 to 2.5 meters long. The typically Flemish weapon known as the "Goedendag" had completely disappeared. Its place was taken by warhammers in lead.

In 1477 the town of Ghent bought 300 pikes 13 Flemish feet long, 300 pikes 16 feet long and 383 warhammers to add to its armories. Similar figures are known for Bruges. In the same year they hought 100 pikes 20 feet long, 200 pikes at a length of 14 feet and 300 warhammers.

Personal armour was probably quite extensive and of a good quality. We know that several guild members were willing to pay almost an entire year's salary for the purchase of arms and armour.

Concerning the weapons of the Hoods, we only know that the Red Hoods from Bruges were archers.

Equally typical for Flemish armies is the extensive artillery. For instance the town of Ghent buys in 1477, 16 serpentines, 331 arquebuses (their weight varied between 11 and 16 kg). The serpentines were between 2,52 and 3,56 meters long and weighed between 224 and 601 kg. Still in existence is the "Great Cannon" of Ghent (which weighs 16.400 kg and is more than five meters long).

In the arsenal of Bruges there were 90 ribaudequins ready. Guns were painted. Lieven Vanden Bossche of Ghent, for instance, received in 1475 the commission to paint all the guns of Ghent in red.