ABSTRACT
Condé, on a brief visit from the front, was one of the grandees who observed the crowd. He stayed only for brief consultations with ministers. Back in Flanders he failed to prevent the archduke Leopold from relieving the Flemish fortress town of Lens. Ordered by Madrid to seek a battle, on 20 August, Leopold experienced a crushing defeat. Since the treaty of Munster the Spanish had been relieved of the burden of fighting on two fronts. The French fought furiously to sustain, the Spanish to recover, their reputation. Condé’s generalship was superb: no wonder the hawk-faced prince came to see himself as the pillar of monarchy, deserving of a special place in the realm. Besides the 4,000 left dead on the field he took 6,000 prisoners and all the Spanish artillery.
