- Bruges Matins (history)
The Bruges Matins or "Brugse Metten" was the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in
Bruges by the members of the local Flemishmilitia on18 May ,1302 . The title of the massacre was an analogy to theSicilian Vespers . The massacre has been compared toSt. Bartholomew's Day massacre . This revolt led to theBattle of the Golden Spurs , which saw the Flemish militia defeat French troops on11 July 1302 .Bruges had had the exclusive rights for the importation of sheep's wool from England. This trade was in the hands of the
bourgeois but when Edward I began to deal directly with the customers, the traders lost their advantage. They and their political agents, thealdermen , called upon their liege, Philip the Fair, to maintain their dominant monopolistic position. To do so, he garrisoned French troops in the town.During the night of
18 May ,1302 , armed insurrectionists withPieter de Coninck andJan Breydel at their head entered the houses where the French were garrisoned. According to tradition, to distinguish the French from the natives, they asked suspects to repeat theshibboleth : "schild en vriend" which means "shield and friend" a sentence difficult to pronounce for a French speaker. Another version suggests the alternative "des gildens vriend", "friend of the guilds". Only the governor,Jacques de Châtillon , and a handful of the French managed to escape with their lives.After the Bruges, Matins Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck were celebrated as the leaders of the insurrection. Their statue, which was an initiative of
Julius Sabbe , has decorated the market in Bruges since 1887.References
*This article is a translation of the versions found on the Dutch and French Wikipedias on
17 November 2006 .
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