The Battle of Guinegate or Battle of the Spurs took place on August 16, 1513. As part of the Holy League

War of the League of Cambrai

The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and by several other names, was a major conflict in the Italian Wars...

 under the on-going Italian Wars

Italian Wars

The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy and sometimes as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western...

, English and Imperial

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 troops under Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 and Maximilian I

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...

 surprised and routed a body of French cavalry under Jacques de La Palice

Jacques de la Palice

Jacques de la Palice was a French nobleman and military officer. His full name and titles are Jacques II de Chabannes, Lord of La Palice, of Pacy, of Chauverothe, of Bort-le-Comte and of Héron...

.

The English army was provided by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and combined several different types of martial forces, and included cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

, artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

, infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 and longbow

Longbow

A longbow is a type of bow that is tall ; this will allow its user a fairly long draw, at least to the jaw....

s using hardened steel arrows designed to penetrate armour more effectively. The French forces were mostly companies of gendarmes and pikemen, with some other mixed forces as well.

Called the "Battle of the Spurs" because of the haste of the French horse to leave the battlefield, it took place at Guinegate (now Enguinegatte, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

), hence its name:

A French cavalry force, which had come to succour the besieged town of Therouanne, suddenly found itself opposite the Anglo-Imperial army, the size and position of which it had misjudged. Repelled by the latter’s artillery, the French turned and fled, with English and Burgundian cavalry in hot pursuit.

At the end of the battle the cities of Therouanne

Thérouanne

Thérouanne is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Thérouanne is located 10 miles southwest of Saint-Omer, on the D157 and D341 road junction.-Population:-History:...

 and Tournai

Tournai

Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....

were in the hands of Henry VIII of England.