Information Board Battle of Gavere Semmerzake

On 23 July 1453, a heavy confrontation took place here between the army of the Burgundian Duke Philip the Good and the people of Ghent. It was one of the ten largest battles in the Low Countries, known as the “Battle of Gavere”.
The battle began approximately on this plain.
The Ghent army arrived after a three-hour march under the burning sun, the vanguard of the Burgundian army was waiting for them here. The battle was still evenly matched until the gunpowder supply of the people of Ghent exploded with a bang. This caused panic and many people of Ghent fled towards the Scheldt, where most of them drowned.
The battle was particularly bloody, with many victims on the Ghent side.

A monument dedicated to this battle can be found in the cemetery of Semmerzake.
In 2003, on the occasion of the commemoration of “550 years Battle of Gavere”, an information board about the battle was unveiled on the initiative of V.V.V. ’t Gaverland and in collaboration with the Gavere municipal council.
Today, it is hard to believe that so many people lost their lives in this beautiful and quiet piece of nature.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck