The siege of Ypres occurred between 8 June and 8 August 1383 as part of Despenser's Crusade and the Revolt of Ghent (1379–1385). It was conducted by English forces and forces from the Flemish city of Ghent. The siege was a failure. Prelude The city of Ghent in the County of Flanders rebelled in September 1379 against its count Louis of Male, who supported France against England in the Hundred Years' War, which was against the economic interests of Flanders. After their defeat at the Battle of Roosebeke in November 1382, the citizens of Ghent requested English assistance, and the English sent a force under Henry le Despenser, the Bishop of Norwich. The English landed at Calais in May 1383 and took Gravelines, Dunkirk, Poperinge, and Nieuwpoort. On 25 May the crusaders put to flight a Franco-Flemish army, under the command of Louis of Male, in a pitched battle fought near Dunkirk. Despenser was then persuaded by his Ghent allies and some of his officers to besiege Ypres, which had remained loyal to the count and to France. The siege The inhabitants of Ypres were well prepared for a siege by the time the English and their allies arrived and attacked the city on 8 June 1383. Dwellings in the outlying suburbs had been abandoned; the timber from them was used to strengthen the earth ramparts and the stone gates of the city. A mission had been dispatched to Paris to replace artillery powder stocks. The city was well-organised under the command of the Castellan of Ypres, John d'Oultre, and had been divided into different defensive sectors. Although the ramparts were low, they were well protected with a double wet ditch, a high thorny hedge reinforced with stakes, and a wooden stockade and fire-step. The English attacked the Temple Gate on the first day but were beaten off. Over the next three days the city gates were attacked simultaneously, without success. Before the end of the first week of the siege, reinforcements arrived to completely encircle the city walls and the outer ditch was breached using soil. On the eighth day (15 June) Despenser attacked the defences with artillery, firing on the Messines Gate and damaging it, but not enough to cause the city defences to be breached. Over the following days of the siege, sustained artillery attacks had little overall effect and the assaults of Despenser's troops were all