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Family history · Kortrijk

11 July 1302 — When our ancestors fought each other at the Golden Spurs

One ancestor commands the French army. Another family line stands among his opponents. Seven years later, their lines unite.

Kortrijk · Flanders1302–1309Published 4 September 2026
BHistory and published genealogiesCRoute transmitted by the family treeTAncestry accepted by JohnnyOpenDe La Hamaide–Jacquet link to document

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The battle, its two camps and the joining of the family lines.

On 11 July 1302, thousands of men met near Kortrijk. None could imagine that their lines would one day share a family tree. Yet the Deman–Lebon–Wauthy story leads us to both sides of the Battle of the Golden Spurs.

Medieval miniature showing Flemish and French forces at the Battle of the Golden Spurs
The Battle of Kortrijk. Miniature from Giovanni Villani’s Nuova Cronica, 1341–1348 — Vatican Library, public domain.

A wealthy Flanders under strain

Bruges, Ghent and Ypres were among Europe’s great commercial and textile cities. Count Guy of Dampierre opposed King Philip IV of France. The count’s imprisonment and French administration fuelled resistance. This was not a national war in the modern sense: feudal, urban, economic and family loyalties crossed every boundary.

Robert II of Artois in the French camp

Philip entrusted his army to Robert II, Count of Artois. In the family tree, Robert’s ancestry passes through the Capetians, Brabant and the Hohenstaufen to Frederick Barbarossa.

Fourteenth-century miniature of Robert II of Artois fighting the Flemings
Robert II of Artois fighting the Flemings, British Library Royal 20 C VII — public domain.

The clash on 11 July

Streams, ditches and wet ground on the Groeninge field hampered the heavy cavalry. Flemish foot soldiers held close formations with polearms and goedendags. The French charge lost momentum, and Robert II died in the battle on 11 July 1302.

Miniature showing French knights retreating before Flemish foot soldiers
The French retreat in the Grandes Chroniques de France, c. 1390–1401, BnF Français 2608 — public domain.

Across the field: Namur

Guy of Namur, a son of Guy of Dampierre, was a leading commander on the victorious side. His brother John I of Namur is a direct ancestor in the family tree. Belgium’s Biographie nationale describes John as active in the rising and fighting at Kortrijk alongside his brother. Historians continue to discuss details of the Namur contingents’ movements.

1309: enemies become family

Marie of Artois, Robert II’s granddaughter, married John I of Namur in 1309. Seven years after the battle, their marriage joined the line of the fallen French commander to the house that had stood in the opposing camp.

Where the two camps meet:
Robert II of Artois → Philip of Artois → Marie of Artois × John I of Namur → William I → John III → John of Namur of Trivières → De La Hamaide → Jacquet → Wauthy → Paula Wauthy → Annie Lebon → Carole, Johnny and Sandrine Deman.

Why the “Golden Spurs”?

After the battle, the victors gathered the equipment of fallen knights. Tradition says their spurs — symbols of knighthood — were displayed as trophies in the Church of Our Lady at Kortrijk.

One family on both sides of history

Robert II died in the French camp in 1302. In 1309, his granddaughter married John I of Namur. Victors and defeated men ultimately shared descendants — a vivid reminder of how warfare, alliances and marriage were woven together.