An obelisk monument in the village of Bouvines commemorates the victory. The modern church occupies the location of a previous chapel, where, it is believed, Philippe II placed his crown upon an alter as he addressed his commanders prior to the battle. The scene has been depicted in a famous romantic painting by Emile Jean Horace Vernet (1789-1863) that now hangs in the 'Gallery of Battles' at Versailles (details from it shown below).

The fortress at La-Roche-aux-Moines (located southwest of Angers, near the modern village of Savennières) remained a formidable position until being destroyed by the duc de Mercoeur in 1592, during the Religious Wars in France. Today, the vineyard of Coulée de Serrant, Château de la Roche aux Moines occupies the commanding heights above the Loire. There are no remains of the fortress, unless such may be among of the stone walls that terrace the vast grape fields. Legend attributes two grave sites as being those of 1214 English invaders.

SOURCES

Jim Bradbury, Philip Augustus, King of France 1180-1223 (Longman, London, 1998). [Highly recommended]
Georges Duby Le dimanche de Bouvines (Gallimard, Paris, 1973) as translated into English by Catherine Tihanyi as The Legend of Bouvines, War, Religion and Culture in the Middle Ages (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1990).
Eric Niderost, 'Beyond Chivalry's Code', Military History, February 1991, pp.46- 52.
Alistair Horne, 'The Battle That Made France', MHQ, The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Winter 2000, pp.88-96.

Primary sources

Gillaume le Breton* Philippid [a poem] that provides the best tactical description of the battle.

*Gillaume le Breton was the royal historian and "inevitably was biased." However, "William the Breton gives the most detailed account of the battle, but it is well covered by other sources, and better reported than the great majority of medieval battles. It was a great military victory, and it was a great political triumph." [Bradbury states p.279]

Béthune, the Anonymous of, 'Histoire des ducs de Normandie et des rois

d'Angleterre', ed. L.V. Delisle, Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la

France, M. Bouquet et L. Delisle, 24 tomes (Paris, 1869-1904); XXIV, pt II.

Campaign of Bouvines Part 2: The 'War' of Bouvines (1202-1214)

Phase One of the Campaign of 1214
Phase Two of the Campaign of 1214
Summary and Analysis of Strengths
Battlefield Today

Battle of Bouvines Part 1: The 'War' of Bouvines (1202-1214)

Preface and Background
Emergence of the Angevin 'Empire'
Preliminaries and Initial Operations
Papal, Empire, and Flemish Factions
John Lackland's Coalition Against Philipp II