A street battle in Flanders

Manuscript image of a Welsh archer

#OTD in 1298 a riot blew up at Ghent in Flanders, when the soldiers of Edward I clashed with the Flemings.

The king's army had been billeted at Ghent since the previous September. He was in Flanders to help his ally, Count Guy Dampierre, fight the French. Unfortunately their soldiers were more interested in fighting each other.

The sources of this tension are unclear. English chroniclers blamed the Flemings for the riot, and claimed they had entered into a conspiracy with the French to kidnap Edward. Flemish writers claimed that Edward's Welsh and English footsoldiers (mostly Welsh) were out of control, attacking and robbing Flemish citizens.

On balance, the Flemish version of events is more likely. Welsh infantry were notoriously undisciplined, and had a bad habit of attacking civilians: they behaved the same way in Scotland, Norway, Ireland, Gascony, England, or wherever else Welsh troops were deployed. One of Edward's officers even refused to lead Welshmen into Scotland again, unless he was given a guarantee of immunity from prosecution.

Edward himself had gone off to Brabant, to visit his daughter and negotiate a trade deal with his son-in-law, Duke Jan. He returned to Ghent in time to witness the riot, which erupted into a full-scale street battle.

Things only quietened down when Edward threatened to hang all of his infantry. He was talked out it by Antony Bek, Bishop of Durham, but the people of Ghent demanded compensation. When the king's army left the city, a few days later, every footsoldier was thoroughly searched before he was allowed to pass through the gates.