The French Border in 1340
By 1340, Flanders had been a reluctant part of France for centuries and frequent uprisings and wars of independence between the two nations had studded the Middle Ages. In the late 1330s, Flanders again struck out for self-determination, the French ruler Louis I of Flanders being overthrown in a bloody coup and replaced with the dictator Jacob van Artevelde. Edward III, seeking allies for his war against France, made an alliance with Artevelde and promised to fund his government and supply the wool vital for the Flemish economy provided the Flemish supported his operations and allowed Flanders to be used as a staging point for an invasion of France.
Artevelde agreed, but was secretly unwilling to commit all his resources to this war and also was not fully in control of the mercantile city states which emerged in the semi-independent region. Thus when Edward demanded 150,000 Flemish troops to be awaiting his arrival in 1340, he was somewhat surprised to discover on arrival that barely a fraction of this number had gathered. On Edward's passage he had won the great naval victory at Sluys and buoyed by this success determined to press his advantage on land too. He ordered Robert III of Artois, an old pretender to the title of Count of Artois to take 1,000 English and over 10,000 Flemish troops which had gathered into the Artois region and conduct a miniature chevauchée in the region, attempting to provoke the French into action and perhaps to capture an important fortified town such as Saint-Omer. Meanwhile, Edward would remain in Flanders and attempt to raise a second force which he would use to march on the border fortress of Tournai and lay siege to it.
The French were well aware of Edward's preparations and targets and so began their own campaign of strengthening their forts and positions in the region, as well as conducting a levee in Northern France to gather an army together for service against the Anglo-Flemish alliance. By July, King Philip VI had 25,000 men gathered to him in the region, many of them set up in well-prepared defensive positions, including Saint-Omer and Tournai.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Saint-Omer
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