However, he was disgruntled that none had answered him, and was especially displeased with some of the wealthiest and most distinguished citizens of the town who were present, such as
Gilbert de Grutere and
Simon Bette. He showed no sign of it then but they bore the brunt of his resentment during that year, as you will hear recounted in this history before long.
SHF 2-204 syncWhen the
lord of Enghien, the
lord of Montigny, the
Hase de Flandres and their companies had returned to the
count at
Nevele and had relayed what they had seen, the
count departed
Nevele and returned towards
Bruges, sending the men from the chartered towns and the
Franc of Bruges, the lords of Enghien and the
Hainaulters, to the garrison at
Oudenaarde. When the
Ghenters heard that the
count had withdrawn to
Bruges and given leave to all of his men, they were stirred to action once more by
Pieter van den Bossche, who said to them,
"Let us go to
Kortrijk and not shrink from making war. Let us show that we are spirited and enterprising men."
And so over fifteen thousand left
Ghent and arrived in hordes outside
Kortrijk where they laid a siege during the feast and procession of
Bruges which took place in 1381. They remained there for ten days and burned all the suburbs of
Kortrijk and the surrounding countryside.
When the
count heard these tidings, he recalled all of his noblemen, and the men of the garrisons and the common people of
Ypres and the
Franc, and departed
Bruges. They numbered over twenty-five thousand in the field and set off on their way to
Kortrijk to combat the
Ghenters and raise the siege.
When
Pieter van den Bossche and the
Ghenters discovered that the
count was closing in on them with such a great force, they resolved not to wait for him there at the siege, but decamped and went to seek lodging at
Deinze and
Nevele where they declared that they would wait for the
count and make their situation known to the townsmen of
Ghent, requesting that the town's reserve forces might be sent to give them greater strength in numbers. And so a good fifteen thousand men marched once again out of
Ghent to meet their men at
Nevele and
Deinze, and encamped in the fields to await the
count. When the
count had arrived at
Harlebeke near
Kortrijk, he heard that the
Ghenters had left and were retreating towards
Ghent, and that they had taken lodgings at
Deinze and
Nevele. The
count judged it to be unwise to pursue them then, and gave leave to his men-at-arms and the common people, leaving a substantial number at
Kortrijk and sending the lord of Enghien and the
Hainaulters and his bastard son, the
Hase, to the garrison at
Oudenaarde.
When
Pieter van den Bossche and the
Ghenters saw that the
count was no longer in pursuit, they departed
Deinze and
Nevele, taking the road towards
Oudenaarde to return that way
21 to
Ghent. On the day they passed
Oudenaarde, they sent out a detachment of men captained by
Arnould de Clerk to skirmish right up to the barriers of the town. The knights and squires within could not restrain themselves from skirmishing with them, and there were men killed and wounded on each side. On that occasion the
Ghenters gained little from the skirmish and returned with their men to
Ghent where they retired to their own homes.
pb 65 r