It is sometimes considered as one of the first battles of the Eighty Years' War.

[4] The rebel army was composed of about 200 men from the sayetterie centre of Hondschoote and its surroundings in West Flanders.

[3] Maximilian Vilain, baron of Rassenghien and since 1 June 1566 stadtholder of Walloon Flanders,[5] learned that the rebels had arrived at Wattrelos, about fifteen kilometres northeast of Lille.

[2] Two days later, on 29 December 1566, Noircarmes defeated another rebel force in the Battle of Lannoy, also north of Lille.

[1] In the night of 1 to 2 January 1567, Noircarmes' troops occupied Tournai and expelled the Calvinists there.