Matins of Bruges

[2] This made the merchants that comprised the bourgeosie very rich and powerful, so much so that they were able to force Margaret II, the Countess of Flanders, to allow them to become autonomous communities.

When Margaret abdicated in 1278 to her son Guy of Dampierre, the nobles sought an alliance with the French king Philip the Fair (Flanders being a vassal to France at the time).

Guy, like his mother, favoured more local control of the territory and chafed at this, but the king saw an opportunity to bring a troublesome county to heel.

[4] This led to the Franco-Flemish War in 1297, during which time royal troops took over the city, a highly unpopular action that caused widespread fear and anger among the Flemish in Bruges.

Taking advantage of the fact that the knights would be tired after partying all night, at dawn the next morning,[7] armed insurrectionists led by Pieter de Coninck and Jan Breydel entered the houses where the French were garrisoned and massacred them in their sleep using their "goedendag",[8] a sharp pike they stuck into the victims' throats.