[MR] Wikipedia: Death of Charles the Bold

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1477, Duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold (or "The Rash" to
his detractors) was killed at the Battle of Nancy.

So let's set the stage. Burgundy was a duchy within France, and technically
owed allegiance to the King of France, who at this time was Louis XI (aka
"The Universal Spider"). The problem for Louis was that the Dukes of
Burgundy had grown immensely wealthy and powerful by
inheriting/buying/conquering a whole lot of territory outside of France, as
well was what they controlled within France itself. Burgundy owned most of
what is today Holland and Belgium, which was where the money was thanks to
the Flemish wool trade. Charles' father had bought Luxembourg for cash!
Burgundy also ruled the Free County of Burgundy, a territory along the
French border, but within the Holy Roman Empire. Essentially Burgundy and
its possessions created an almost solid ring around the north and east of
France. The missing pieces were the jointly-ruled Duchies of Lorraine and
Bar. The Dukes of Lorraine had for years resisted attempts to buy their
country. So Charles decided to take Lorraine and Bar by force, which he did
in 1475.

To be quite honest, Charles was what might be described as a "conquer
monkey". When it came to territory, if he didn't already own it, he wanted
it and would do whatever it took to get it. Although fearless in battle, he
was also a lousy general, as we shall see.

Charles had Nancy, Lorraine's capital, under siege in late 1476, but the
garrison and the town stubbornly refused to surrender. In his arrogance,
Charles refused to break the siege. Much of his army melted away during the
harsh winter, and many of his remaining troops were weak or sick, but he
was still determined to punish the people of Nancy for their defiance.
Meanwhile René II, the aggrieved Duke of Lorraine, had gathered his
scattered forces as well as a rather large army of Swiss mercenaries who
had their own bone to pick with Burgundy. Charles expected René to show up
later when spring arrived, and so had not put out any scouts (he was very
sloppy about intelligence). Thus when the Lorraine army and its Swiss
allies arrived early, Charles was taken completely by surprise. Even worse,
the van of the Lorraine army attacked from behind his position while the
rest occupied his attention in the front. Charles' impressive artillery
park was overrun from the rear. The battle, or slaughter, was over in about
two hours. Nearly all the Burgundians were wiped out, as the Swiss refused
to take prisoners. Charles himself was felled by a halberd blow to his head
during the rout.

The mounted Burgundian command staff, led by Anthony, The Bastard of
Burgundy, was able to find some Lorraine officers to take their surrender. René
quickly shopped these high-value nobles to Louis, as he needed cash fast.
His Swiss allies had been hired on credit, and were running their thumbs
along the business ends of their halberds when their pay wasn't forthcoming.

The debacle at Nancy spelled the end for Burgundian power. As soon as he
received news of the defeat, Louis moved quickly to occupy all Burgundian
territory within France. He couldn't touch most of the Low Countries or the
Free County, which were left in possession of Charles' only surviving
child,  Mary ("The Rich"). She eventually married Maximilian, son of the
Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor. Max was more than happy to pick up the pieces
of the Burdundian empire.

Charles the Bold, as well as his late father Philip the Good, had long
dreamed of making Burgundy a kingdom in its own right. Burgundy was already
a major player in European diplomatic affairs and their territories were
wealthy and vast. The history of Europe would have been quite different if
 Philip or Charles had succeeded in their plans. The fate of Europe was
changed by Charles the Bold's arrogance and a lack of military intelligence
at this one middling battle.

For more about the Battle of Nancy go to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nancy .

A bio on Charles the Bold is found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_the_Bold .

A piece on Burgundy as a state is found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgundian_State . A clickable map will show
the extent of Burgundian territory circa 1476, including how France was
threatened by Burgundy to the east and north.

 Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆