The Lion of Flanders, or the Battle of the Golden Spurs (Dutch: De Leeuw van Vlaenderen, of de Slag der Gulden Sporen) is a major novel first published in 1838 by the Belgian writer Hendrik Conscience (1812–83). An early example of the historical fiction genre, the Lion of Flanders focuses on the medieval Franco-Flemish War and the Battle of the Golden Spurs of 1302 in particular. It is written in Conscience's typical stylistic romanticism and has been described as the "Flemish national epic".Unusually for its time, the work was written in Dutch and it is considered one of the founding texts of Flemish literature. This gave it an enduring political influence within the Flemish Movement and its contemporary success also confirmed Conscience's reputation as a novelist.