Burgdorf War
The Burgdorferkrieg from 1383 to 1384 was a conflict between the city of Bern and Rudolf II , Count of Neu-Kyburg , for supremacy in the Landgraviate of Burgundy .
This conflict broke out due to a thoughtless and unsuccessful attack by Count Rudolf on Solothurn on November 11, 1382, with which he, as the head of the heavily indebted count family, wanted to force the surrender of pledges ( Solothurn Murder Night ). With this attack on the allied city of Solothurn, he offered Bern a welcome opportunity to settle accounts with Neu-Kyburg.
First there were attacks on Kyburg servants in the Emmental and Oberaargau, and at the end of March 1383, Bern started the main attack on the Kyburg administrative center, the castle and the town of Burgdorf . The Bernese-Solothurn army with reinforcements from Waldstätten , Lucerne , Zurich , Savoy and Neuchâtel besieged the city and attacked with launchers and cannons . Burgdorf resisted the 45-day siege under the leadership of Berchtold I. The armistice of April 21, 1383 between Bern and the citizens of Burgdorf was also unsuccessful.
Ultimately, the war had to be ended because of the enormous burden of war and civil unrest. By accepting federal mediation, Bern acquired the towns and castles of Burgdorf and Thun for the high sum of 37,800 guilders set by the Confederates in the purchase agreement of April 5, 1384 . Bern now had the gates to the Emmental and Oberland as well as the largest markets in the area.
With the peace of April 7, 1384, the conflict was settled, but Count von Neu-Kyburg was forced to castle rights in the Bernese town of Laupen and his freedom of movement was severely restricted.
During the Burgdorf War it is first documented that powder guns were used on the Bernese side.