Battle of the Golden Spurs
The spurs of medieval knights were gilt and those of squires were silvered. To "win his spurs" meant to gain knighthood, as gilded spurs were reckoned the badge of knighthood. In the rare cases of ceremonious degradation, the spurs were hacked from the disgraced knight's heels with the cook's chopper. After the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, where the French chivalry suffered a humbling defeat, the victors hung up bushels of knights' gilt spurs in the churches of Kortrijk as trophies of what is still remembered by the Flemings as the "Guldensporenslag" (the battle of the golden spurs). The English named the French rout from Thérouanne as the Battle of the Spurs, due to the rapidity of the French cavalry's flight.