Sunday 27 July 2014 marks the 800th anniversary of the Battle of Bouvines in Flanders which effectively ended the Anglo-French War of 1202 - 1214. It was a narrow but significant victory for the French and the beginning of a 'golden era' for the French monarchy. An indirect outcome of the battle in England was the Magna Carta, as outlined in this BBC News magazine article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28484146 The Battle of Bouvines: "The most important battle you've probably never heard of". ouvines is situated in the 'Nord' department of France to the south-east of Lille and a short distance from the Belgian frontier. For most of the First and Second World Wars Bouvines was occupied by the Germans.
