Why Knights Lost to Farmers With Sticks

You're a French knight – one of the best-armed warriors in Europe. Across the field stand a few thousand weavers, butchers and farmers holding wooden clubs. This should be the easiest day of your life. By nightfall, 500 pairs of golden spurs will hang in a church as trophies. This is the story of the Battle of the Golden Spurs (Kortrijk / Courtrai, 11 July 1302) – the day Flemish townsmen on foot destroyed the flower of French chivalry, and Europe learned that a knight is unstoppable only as long as the people in front of him run away. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 The Easiest Day of Your Life 0:40 July 11, 1302 – Who You Are 1:12 Why France Wanted Flanders 1:43 The Bruges Matins: "Schild en Vriend" 2:13 Kortrijk – Meeting the Enemy 2:47 The Goedendag 3:02 How Cavalry Was Supposed to Win 3:22 The Trap: Streams, Ditches and a River 3:50 The Crossbowmen 4:21 The Charge 5:02 The Wall That Didn't Run 5:37 The Wall Starts Moving 6:13 No Prisoners, No Ransom 6:44 Escape Across the Stream 7:01 Robert of Artois' Last Charge 7:17 The Battle of the Golden Spurs 7:36 Why the Knights Lost 8:15 Not Farmers After All 8:32 Only the Beginning 9:02 The Dangerous Secret