Editing Louis X of France (section)

===Challenge of Flanders===
[[File:Louis X of France Flandre.jpg|thumb|right|Louis campaigning in [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], where he sought a military solution to the ongoing problem of the "immensely wealthy", quasi-autonomous province of France. Painting circa 15th century.]]

Louis X continued the effort of his predecessor to achieve a military solution to the vexing problem of [[County of Flanders|Flanders]]. The count of Flanders ruled an "immensely wealthy state"<ref name="Holmes, p.16">Holmes, p.16.</ref> which enjoyed a largely autonomous existence on the margins of the French realm; French kings claimed to exercise [[suzerainty]] over Flanders, but heretofore with little success.<ref name="Holmes, p.16"/> Philip IV had attempted to assert royal overlordship, but his army, led by [[Robert II of Artois]], had been defeated at [[Battle of the Golden Spurs|Courtrai]] in 1302;<ref name="Holmes, p.16"/> despite a later French victory at the [[Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle]] the relationship remained testy and unsettled.

Louis mobilised an army along the Flemish border, but the French position rapidly became strained by the demands of maintaining a wartime footing. Louis had prohibited exports of grain and other material to Flanders in 1315. This proved challenging to enforce, and the king had to pressure officers of the Church in the borderlands,<ref>Jordan, pp151-2.</ref> as well as [[Edward II of England]], to support his effort to prevent Spanish merchant vessels from trading with the embargoed Flemish.<ref>Kulsrud, p.212.</ref> An unintended result of the embargo was the rise of smuggling activities that reduced the advantage (and consequently the amount) of trading in compliance with royal restrictions in the border region. Louis was also forced to requisition food directly for his forces, resulting in a series of complaints from local lords and the Church.<ref>Jordan, pp.169–170.</ref>