The assassination of Artevelde was followed a short time after by the death of his enemy, the Count of Flanders himself. Louis of Nevers fell among the French knights on the battlefield of Crécy, where the English King won a decisive victory. The new count, Louis of Male, was an enemy of democracy. He had to meet a serious revolt of the craftsmen of Ghent, under the leadership of Philip, the son of Artevelde. The son of the “wise man” had no particular military or political talents; his extraction alone had commended him to the restless people of Ghent. He tried to renew the alliance with England, but failed. A French army was sent to Flanders in order to assist the Count against his subjects. In the battle of Roosebeke, near Courtrai (1382), the Flemings were defeated and Philip Van Artevelde was killed. The whole of Flanders fell into the hands of the victors, except the commune of Ghent. That mighty city, thanks to the courage of Peter Vanden Bossche and his troops, resisted the kingdom of France for two years. Finally, Louis of Male, the last of the family of the Dampierre, died in 1384. His death opens the rule of the Burgundian dukes in the history of Flanders. The many years of internal struggle had seriously injured the prosperity of Flemish trade and industry. The finances of the communes were ruined; poverty was on the increase; the income from licenses had diminished; foreign merchants complained of the insecurity of their goods. Edward III invited many Flemish to emigrate to England, which they did, and the Flemish counts, by punishing the rebellious cities, had themselves cut off many sources of production and wealth. From 1350 on, the German Hansa, whose members resided at Bruges, complained of the heavy taxes, and of the complete lack of peace and safety. In 1380 the Count banished the merchants, charging them with having plotted against his authority and with having assisted the Flemish rebels. This was a serious blow to the prosperity of the country. The Hansa left Bruges for Antwerp. Here began the decline and fall of the once famous seaport. If we look back at this stage of the political development of the Belgian principalities during the time of the communes we note a growing tendency to consolidation on the part of most of the duchies and counties. At the end of the fourteenth century, Flanders, Brabant, and Limburg were united under one dynasty; the same thing occurred in the case of Hainaut and Holland. Little by little the separation resulting from the treaty of Verdun in the ninth century had disappeared, and all parts of Belgium had gradually experienced the imperceptible drawing together which time had effected. They were ultimately to be united, as a political body, by the dukes of Burgundy. To explain that result is the task of the next chapter. CHAPTER V THE UNION OF THE BELGIAN PRINCIPALITIES UNDER THE DUKES OF BURGUNDY