Battle of Cassel ( 1328 ) On 23 August 1328 , the Battle of Cassel took place near the city of Cassel , 30 km south of Dunkirk in present - day France . Philip VI , ( King of France from 1328 to 1350 ) fought Nicolaas Zannekin , a wealthy farmer from Lampernisse . Zannekin was the leader of a band of Flemish independence rebels . The fighting erupted over taxation and punitive edicts of the French over the Flemish . The battle was won decisively by the French . Zannekin and about 3200 Flemish rebels were killed in the battle . Beginnings . The Count of Flanders , Louis I , was collecting taxes for Charles IV of France . Residents of the bailiwicks of Veurne , St . Winoksbergen , Belle , Kassel , Poperinge and Bourbourg united and refused to pay . The Count threatened reprisals and the people rioted , under the leadership of Nicolaas Zannekin . In 1325 , Zannekin captured Nieuwpoort , Veurne and Ypres . He also captured Kortrijk and the Count of Flanders himself . Later attempts to capture Ghent and Oudenaarde failed . In February 1326 , Charles IV intervened and Louis I was released and the " Peace of Arques " was agreed . Role of the Church . On 6 April 1327 , at the request of Charles IV , Pope John XXII of Avignon renewed an interdict which denied those in Flanders , other than the aristocracy and the clergy the sacraments of the church and a sacred burial . The Pope was seen as a puppet of the King . The Flemish clergy disagreed about whether or not to apply the rule . Some clergymen ( who feared they would be killed by opponents of French rule ) laid the papal regulation aside . Jean Laing , Dean of St . Winoksbergen , asked the clergy of his diocese to apply the regulation . Jacob Peyt , a leader of the Flemish rebels in Hondschote , tried to capture Laing and pressure the clergy to ignore the edict . The rebels ' actions had some success . Influence of the French and English royalty . Louis I feared the Flemish and Edward III would form a coalition against him . He asked Charles IV of France to intervene . Louis I departed from Ghent , ( the last French stronghold in Flanders ) to Paris to plead his case . On 24 January 1328 Edward III married Philippa of Hainault ( 1314 - 1369 ) . Phillipa was the daughter of William I , Count of Hainaut of Avesnes and Holland , who was an ally of Charles IV . On 1 February 1328 , Charles IV died unexpectedly . Edward III claimed the throne of France but the aristocracy favoured Philip , the son of Charles of Valois who ascended the throne as Phillip VI . The Pope urged Phillip to ' sort out ' the Flemish rebels . The King re - established the rights of the Flemish aristocracy but violence erupted and some were overrun and slain by the Flemish rebels . Louis I , Count of Nevers , fled to seek help from Phillip VI . William Dean , Mayor of Bruges , an ally of the Flemish rebels , hoped the marriage of Phillipa and Edward III would assuage the English King in his dealings with Flanders . In June 1328 , Dean travelled to England seeking support for the Flemish movement . Even though Edward III was troubled with a Scottish rebellion at the time and still held a desire to claim the French throne he was reconciled with Phillip VI and did not lend his support . Situation in the Flemish lands . Louis I gained the upper hand against the Flemish rebels when the Bishop of Paris signed a document to the effect that anyone causing unrest would be beaten and their property confiscated with half the proceeds going to the Treasury of France . Nevertheless , the unrest continued . For example , in 1322 , Louis I had forbidden cloth production outside Leper - Ypres . The town of Poperinge ignored the monopoly and the Leper Militia formed . Again , on 8 August 1328 , in Bruges , rebels were led in uprising by Jan Breydel . The French army . The English Queen ' s father , Count William I of Hainaut - Holland was a leader of part of the French army ; the Hainault , Holland , Zeeland and Friesland riders . Philip VI sent archers from Provence , Languedoc and Genoa and soldiers from Bohemia . Other rulers , the King of Navarre ; the Crown Prince of Austria ; the Dukes of Burgundy , Brittany , Lorraine and Bourbon , the Counts of Alençon , Bar and Savoy all sent military support . Altogether , the army which amassed in Arras included 2500 heavily armed knights on horseback and 12000 light infantrymen and archers . However , Louis I was not present ; he was most likely raising troops in and around Oudenaarde and Ghent . The battle . Phillip VI was confident of winning the battle and paying the costs of his army with the plunder . He positioned a force along the Lys river . The Flemish rebels were forced to guard Lille and Tournai . The military forces in Bruges were strengthened to control the Flemish rebels around Ghent . The French army arrived at the Augustinian abbey at Warneton . They aimed to divide the Flemish troops by advancing along the river Leie , forcing the Flemings to cover the approaches from Lille and Tournai . Zannekin , with 15000 soldiers , encamped on the higher ground at Cassel approximately 4 km from the French . Nothing happened for about three days . The French tried to exhaust the Flemish rebels and lure them away from their position . On 23 August , the French soldiers set fire to several villages near Cassal to distract the Flemish but the manoeuvre failed . Zannekin attacked in three divisions . He commanded the division which attacked the French centre . He surprised the French infantrymen and in panic , they fled towards Saint - Omer . The Duke of Lorraine was killed but Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany and the Counts of Bar , Boulogne and Savoy were badly wounded but did not die . The French knights , because it was a very hot day , had removed their armour to rest but under Robert of Cassal they regrouped and attacked the first Flemish division from the rear . The second division was assigned to attack on the left wing to take the Henegouwers , the Dutch and the Frisians . They had little success and were captured or killed . The third division remained in reserve .