The reason for the battle was a French attempt to subdue the County of Flanders, which was formally part of the French kingdom and added to the crown lands in 1297 but resisted centralist French policies. In 1300, the French king Philip IV appointed Jacques de Châtillon as governor of Flanders and took the Count of Flanders, Guy of Dampierre, hostage. This caused considerable unrest among the influential Flemish urban guilds. As far back as 1297, Guy had broken feudal ties with Philip in favor of forming an alliance with Edward I of England, to whom Guy had engaged his daughter Philippina in 1294.