Courtrai Chest

The Chest of Courtrai (Kortrijk), also known as the Chest of Oxford, is an oak chest dating to the Middle Ages. The chest was discovered around 1909 in New College, Oxford. On the front of the chest are carved scenes of the Battle of the Golden Spurs and the Bruges Matins from the Franco-Flemish War. The chest is among the few surviving contemporary depictions of the events themselves. It is now on display at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

The maker of the chest is unknown, although it is assumed that he was Flemish, and that, based upon all the details found on the scenes, he had fought in the battle himself. The processed front measures 107 cm by 71 cm.

Scenes

The Bruges Matins
Arrival of Guy of Namur and William of Jülich at Bruges
Siege of Wijnendale Castle
Line-up of the town militias on the battlefield
The Flemish line of battle during the Battle of the Golden Spurs
The attack of a French garrison at Courtrai
Collection of the booty: the Golden Spurs

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chest of Courtrai.

Ffoulkes, Charles (July 1912). "Carved Chest at New College, Oxford". The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 21 (112): 240–1. JSTOR 859053.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, February 17, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.