Battle of Grandson
| date | March 2, 1476 |
|---|---|
| place | Grandson in the canton of Vaud , Switzerland |
| output | Victory of the Confederation |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
Confederation : Zurich Bern Lucerne Uri Schwyz Unterwalden Glarus Zug Addressed locations: Solothurn Freiburg City of St. Gallen Biel Schaffhausen Lower association : Basel Strasbourg Schlettstadt Colmar, Upper Austria |
| Commander | |
|
Duke Charles "the Bold" of Burgundy · Louis de Chalon , Seigneur de Châtel-Guyon |
Wilhelm Herter von Hertneck , steward and field captain · Hans Waldmann , heap of violence · Hans von Hallwyl , vanguard · Oswald von Thierstein , cavalry |
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 20,000 infantry, heavy cavalry, artillery, English longbow archers | approx. 18,000 infantry, Habsburg cavalry |
| losses | |
|
about 1000 men |
approx. 100 men and 412 men of the crew of Grandson |
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The Battle of Grandson is one of the three great battles of the Burgundian Wars . It took place with minor losses on both sides on March 2, 1476 near Grandson on Lake Neuchâtel between the troops of the Burgundian Duke Charles the Bold and the Confederates . The confederates were able to put the Burgundians in a panic-like flight and made rich booty in their abandoned camp. This included over 400 Burgundian guns as well as u. a. precious tapestries that are exhibited today in the Historical Museum of Bern .
prehistory
During the first phase of the Burgundian Wars , Bern declared war on October 25, 1474, Duke Charles "the Bold" of Burgundy and, together with the allied city of Freiburg im Üechtland, first began to conquer neighboring Burgundian lordships and cities, while Karl in Germany was in conflict with the Archdiocese of Cologne was bound. After the first battle at Héricourt on November 13th, in which a Burgundian army was successfully repulsed, the Bernese advanced to Pontarlier in the spring of 1475 . On the way back they attacked the towns of Grandson , Orbe , Jougne and Echallens in Vaud , which were owned by Burgundian vassals but were under the sovereignty of the Duchy of Savoy . After the death of the Bernese army commander Niklaus von Diesbach in the summer of the same year (after the conquest of Blamont), Niklaus von Scharnachtal took over command and advanced again to Vaud. He conquered Murten , Avenches , Cudrefin , Payerne , Estavayer-le-Lac , Moudon and Yverdon as well as numerous other castles. In the meantime, the Roman-German Emperor Friedrich III. Peace with Charles the Bold, so that he could move from Nancy to Vaud on January 11, 1476 after the occupation of Lorraine . When the Burgundian army approached, the Bernese and their allies evacuated all occupied cities in Vaud except for Grandson and Yverdon. Both cities had only small Bernese garrisons.
On January 13th, Prince Jacob of Savoy attacked Yverdon by surprise. However, the Bernese occupation managed to escape to the castle. Since the Bernese relief troops arrived the next day, the Savoy began to withdraw. At the beginning of February, since they had no knowledge of the size of the approaching Burgundian army, the Bernese asked for help from the rest of the Confederation. At first they were not ready to move because they had rejected the Bernese autumn campaign in Vaud in 1474.
On February 10th, Charles the Bold occupied the Jougnepass while Prince Jacob of Savoy occupied Vaud. The Bernese then withdrew their crew from Yverdon and moved them to Grandson. On February 16, 7,000 men set off from Bern under the leadership of Niklaus von Scharnachtal and Hans von Hallwyl towards Murten . It was assumed that Karl was staying near Payerne . The Bernese met their allies near Murten, Count Oswald von Thierstein with his cavalry and the troops of the Lower Association .
On 18 February, decided Diet , but still send the Bernese troops and strike out on 23 February. On February 19, however, Charles the Bold reached the city of Grandson with an army of around 20,000 men. At that time there were about 500 men in the city under the command of Captain Wyler von Bern. Karl now set up a heavily fortified and artillery-secured main camp northeast of Grandson on the Arnon River , as he had to take Grandson in order to have his back free on the way to Bern. On February 21st, the Burgundians began to storm the city, using their artillery in large numbers. Neither the city nor the castle were structurally designed to withstand fire for a long time. The crew therefore had to retreat to the castle after a few days. On February 27, the Bernese gathered their troops in Neuchâtel , but had to wait for the Swiss to move in when the crew of Grandson surrendered the following day with the assurance of safe conduct. At the instigation of the Vaudois towns, which had suffered greatly from the Bernese, Duke Karl, contrary to his promise, left the entire surviving crew of 412 men hanging and drowning. This slaughter, which was probably intended to intimidate the Bernese, led to a strong anti-Burgundian mood in the Confederation, which was additionally fueled by the propaganda exploitation of the atrocities.
While Karl lost in Grandson over ten days with the siege, were up on March 1 to Bevaix all federal troops with immigration from the allied cities Freiburg southwest of Neuchatel. Ü., Biel, Solothurn, St. Gallen and Schaffhausen as well as the Lower Association, Basel and the Austrian foothills with the Bernese gather in peace. The federal army is said to have numbered around 18,000 men in total, mainly infantry with a small contingent of cavalry from the Austrian foothills and the Lower Association. When Karl heard of the federal approach, he had advanced posts set up on the two roads leading from Neuchâtel to Grandson, in Vaumarcus Castle and on the Rivière de la Vaux . The Confederates tried to lure Karl from his good position in his fortified camp by attacking Vaumarcus Castle on the night of March 1st. Although the coup failed, Karl allowed himself to be provoked and left his superior position on March 2nd. From today's point of view, this decision is difficult to understand and can only be explained by Karl's underestimation of the opponent and his impatience. Duke Karl did not attack the Confederates directly, but only ordered his army to advance to Concise, where, on his instructions, a camp was to be set up in an open field and without artillery cover. On the same day, federal departments advanced in the direction of Grandson at two locations. On the one hand above the lake, where around 2500 Schwyzer, Thuner, Bieler, Zürcher, Lucerne and St. Galler alerted the Burgundian guards on the Rivière de la Vaux, on the other hand along the lake, where Vaumarcus Castle was enclosed. At the news that the troops advancing above had encountered the enemy, the two contingents united except for one troop from the Simmental who remained to siege the castle .
The battle
While the Burgundians gathered faster on the level of Concise on news of enemy contact, the federal vanguard reached an elevated position on the edge of the forest above the level via Vernez . In view of the Burgundian strength, the Confederates did not go directly to the attack as usual, but waited until around 10,000 men had reached the area in order to carry out a concentric attack on the Burgundians from the lake side and the mountain side. Shortly before noon, the Confederates said a battle prayer according to their custom, in which they allegedly asked God's help against the "Wüthrich from Burgundy". The confederates now formed a large quadrangle made of semi-artefacts and the spies around them.
Around noon the English longbow archers and the artillery of the Burgundian army began to bombard the federal vanguard and the Confederates suffered their first losses. Karl had his heavy cavalry carry out a frontal attack on the Confederation's quadrangle in order to blow it open. However, the federal hedgehog made of spear carriers withstood the repeated attacks and bloody threw the cavalry back. Despite the attacks, the Confederates remained in position because they wanted to await the advancing main force. In this situation, Karl had his army reformed, because he wanted to lure the Confederates into the plain where the Burgundian artillery could develop better. Apparently he assumed that the Confederates were already fully assembled and ready to fight. Karl therefore let his infantry step back in order to open up space for a federal advance into the plain, and also ordered the cavalry, archers and artillery to change positions.
Exactly at the moment when the Burgundian army was trying to regroup, the second contingent of Confederates arrived on the battlefield at about the same time from the forest on the heights and from the gorge at La Lance . According to the chroniclers, all three groups of violence went over simultaneously to the attack on the regrouping Burgundians with a loud roar of the Harsthorns . Panic broke out among the retreating infantry, which began to flee wildly, which soon spread to the part of the army behind it and finally seized the Burgundian main force and rearguard advancing in a disbanded formation, which had no longer expected it, was deployed that day to become. Without a proper fight, the Burgundian army disbanded and could not be stopped by Karl even on the Arnon. Finally, Karl had to flee his main camp at Grandson with part of his war chest and his life guards.
Afterwards, the Confederates continued to pursue the Burgundians for several hours, but this did not end with the annihilation of the Burgundian army due to the limited strength of the Swiss cavalry. The Burgundian occupation of Grandson Castle and the refugees who had escaped there surrendered after the battle and were executed in retaliation.
The depiction of the battle in the Zurich Schilling shows the moment when reinforcements arrive. The army of the allies is still incomplete and consists of members of the Lower Association and the Confederation. Only the banners of Freiburg, Bern and Schwyz are unfolded. There are already fallen on both sides. The reinforcement arrives in the upper right corner of the picture. As in the illustration of the Battle of Murten , the most important participants are highlighted individually. In the foreground, Oswald von Thierstein attacks the Burgundian cavalry. Wilhelm Herter fights supported by one of his black uniformed guardsmen. At the upper pole, Hans von Hallwyl has his crossbow ready. The federal reinforcement is led by Hans Waldmann.
The more recent woodcut of Pfettisheim's rhyming chronicle from 1477 shows the moment when the allies kneel down in prayer. Wilhelm Herter can be recognized by his hat feather and kneels next to the Bernese standard bearer. The Latin white cross was the common mark of the allies.
prey
The Battle of Grandson was lost before it really began. The confederates pursued the fleeing as far as they could follow them on foot. Then they returned to the intact Burgundian camp, where they got their hands on huge booty.
The booty included the traditional trophies: weapons, flags, artillery, horses. The chroniclers also report storage of food and sweet wine. In the Burgundian camp, the confederates found gold and silver drinking vessels, purple and other clothes, a ducal treasury, a complete ducal chancellery and a complete sacristy in the magnificent tents.
Practically the entire artillery of the Burgundians fell into the hands of the Confederates. These included 419 guns, 800 hook rifles and 300 tons of gunpowder. The Burgundian artillery was ahead of its time. Philippe de Commynes described them as “très grande et puisante, bonne et belle”. It included hundreds of guns with trunnions were mounted in bronze, the invented on just 1,450 guns. At the beginning of the war, the Burgundian army had 600 to 1000 gunsmiths and their servants.
In the Burgundian camp, heaps of various weapons (e.g. crossbows) and supplies were added. They also looted the hat adorned with pearls, Charles' pompous sword, his golden chair, his golden seal, his golden reliquary box , his prayer book and his diamonds. There were also tons of valuable tapestries and other objects. The so-called "Burgundy booty" from Grandson became the epitome of exceptional booty in history.
Artillery, flags and weapons as well as some showpieces from the Duke's personal belongings were regarded by the victors as common booty that had to be shared, brought to Lucerne and kept there in the water tower until the division.
The picture that eyewitness Diebold Schilling the Younger inserted in his handwritten Lucerne Chronicle from 1513 gives an impression: On the left of the tower chamber are two flags with a Burgundian emblem, a hermelin-lined gold brocade coat, the gilded throne, and the large state seal on the table as well as a smaller, Karl's rosary, a portable altar, gilded tableware, as well as the duke's sword and a piece of jewelry with two pearls on the floor.
Only the money that was redeemed for the sold booty during the division could be passed on to those involved in the battles without any dispute. The rest of the booty disappeared in many ways. Traders and rabble traversed the country, offering stolen goods for sale. A black market flourished behind the backs of the authorities, which neither threats from the daily statutes nor the taking of oaths could prevent. The estates inquired about secret booty in cities and landscapes. Items found were auctioned at auctions, for example on four days in the summer of 1476 in Biel.
Various estates issued ordinances, created loot and appointed loot masters. Although Murten's booty was much smaller, the authorities demanded that it be delivered to a central location as soon as the camp was occupied. The episode with Duke René II of Lorraine, who fought as an ally on the Swiss side, was also plundered by the Confederates without further ado, shows that this did not prevent disorder and private lust for prey.
Three groups of prey were distributed on the spot: the food, 3,000 sacks of oats, 2,000 tons of anchovies, barrels with smoked herrings and eels, with boiled eggs, salted meat from chickens, geese and stockfish, figs and dried grapes were captured . The horses in the train quickly found their buyers, there must have been thousands of animals. There were allegedly 2,000 Burgundian camp girls in the Grandson camp; these are not mentioned in the texts, but are shown all the more vividly in the illustrations of the chronicles.
The exhibition organized by the Bernisches Historisches Museum in 1969 gave a good overview of the booty that still exists today. The exhibition catalog describes, lists and partially depicts all the objects from all over Europe that could be compiled for this exhibition:
- Flag books and picture inventories (pp. 89–151, cat.-nos. 49–65)
- Burgundian flags (pp. 153–166, cat.-nos. 66–83)
- Artillery (pp. 167–181, cat.-nos. 84–102)
- Weapons and armaments (pp. 183–193, cat.-nos. 103–114)
- Burgundian textiles (p. 197–217, cat. nos. 117–132), under the tapestries the thousand flower carpet , a booty from Grandson (made in Brussels in 1466), cut into three strips in Bern and hung as paraments in the until the Reformation Bern Minster , two of them with the dimensions 306 × 705 cm have survived, today in the Bernisches Historisches Museum
- Church vestments (pp. 218–230, cat.-nos. 133–141)
- Books and manuscripts (pp. 231–234, cat.-nos. 142–144)
- Sovereign insignia, jewelry and vessels (pp. 235–258, cat.-nos. 145–163)
- Church gold and silver work (pp. 259–270, cat. nos. 164–171), as well as
- individual coins (pp. 271–273, cat. nos. 172–177).
Why did Karl bring all these treasures with him on the campaign? This was considered a Burgundian tradition. He wanted to impress negotiating partners and opponents with his pomp and courtship. He had also been in the field for two years. The accumulation of war material, the huge field camps that could be packed on carts, the train with its thousands of draft horses is unique in European war history and was only surpassed in terms of organization by Napoleon's armies.
Conclusion
The confederates lost a total of about 600 men, including the crew of Grandson. The losses of the Burgundians were also relatively small at around 1,000 men. The military victory in the battle was politically not exploited by the Swiss Confederation, as the allies were unwilling to pursue the Burgundian army into Vaud despite Bern's insistence. No further conquests in western Switzerland were made either. After a few days, the contingents of the various federal locations and their allies moved back home with their share of the booty, making it possible for Charles the Bold to set up a new army in Lausanne within a very short time to move against Bern again. Only around 1000 men remained in Freiburg for protection under the command of Hans Waldmann . Bern also posted 1,500 men under Adrian I von Bubenberg in Murten to support the Freiburg garrison, which had been stationed in Murten since October 14, 1475. It was not until the battle of Murten on June 22, 1476 that Charles's power in western Switzerland was definitely broken. From a military point of view, Grandson was the first great success of the Confederates' new pike tactics, with which a square protected by long pikes could successfully assert itself against the attack of heavy cavalry even in the open. - “The huge size of the Burgundy loot contributed significantly to the fact that the Swiss people ran into foreign services. The associated difficulties in the management of a uniform policy and the social upheaval caused by the acquisition of cash in the military service should give rise to disagreements for the Confederation in the future ”.
literature
- Heinrich Brennwald: Swiss Chronicle . Basel book and antiquarian bookshop, Basel 1910.
- The Burgundy Booty and works of Burgundian court art , [catalog of the exhibition 1969]; Bernisches Historisches Museum, Bern 1969, 399 pages, ill.
- J.-M Cauchies: Louis XI et Charles le Hardi . 1996.
- Philippe de Commynes: Memoirs: the Reign of Louis XI . Penguin Books, Baltimore 1972.
- Florens Deuchler : The Burgundy Booty: Inventory of booty items from the battles of Grandson, Murten and Nancy 1476/1477 . Publishing house Stämpfli & Cie, Bern 1963.
- B. Geiger: Les guerres de Bourgognes . 1996.
- Georges Grosjean: The Burgundian Army , in: The Battle of Murten, analysis of an event , in: The Battle of Murten, International Colloquium for the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Murten, Murten 23. – 25. April 1976, colloquium files, Freiburg and Bern, 1976, 198 pp.
- Hans Rudolf Kurz: Swiss battles . Second, revised and expanded edition. Francke, Bern 1977, ISBN 3-7720-1369-4 .
- Wilhelm Oechsli: Source book for Swiss history . Schulthess, Zurich 1901.
- Richard Vaughan: Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy . Longman Group, London 1973.
- Albert Winkler: The Swiss and War: the Impact of Society on the Swiss Military in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries . Diss. Brigham Young University, 1982.
Web links
- Dimitry Queloz: Grandson, Battle of. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kurz, Swiss battles , p. 96
- ↑ Kurz, Swiss battles , p. 97
- ↑ a b Kurz, Swiss battles, p. 104.
- ↑ Kurz, Swiss battles , p. 98.
- ^ Hans Rudolf Kurz: The battles of the Burgundian Wars , in: Die Burgunderbeute and works of Burgundian court art , [catalog of the exhibition 1969]; Bernisches historisches Museum, Bern 1969, 399 pages, ill., Pp. 22–30, esp. P. 25.
- ^ Florens Deuchler: Die Burgunderbeute , in: Die Burgunderbeute and works of Burgundian court art , [catalog of the 1969 exhibition]; Bernisches historisches Museum, Bern 1969, 399 pages, ill., Pp. 31–34, esp. P. 34
- ^ The Burgundy Booty and Works of Burgundian Court Art , [catalog of the exhibition 1969]; Bernisches Historisches Museum, Bern 1969, 399 pages, ill.
- ↑ Florens Deuchler: The thousand flower carpet from the Burgundy booty, an image of paradise ; Verlag von Oppersdorf, Zurich 1984, 76 pages, ill .; ISBN 3-85834-007-3
- ↑ Inventory No. 14; Pp. 205-210, cat. No. 125–126, with figs. 204–206.
- ↑ Kurz, Swiss battles , p. 106.
- ↑ Gerrit Himmelsbach: Burgunderbeute , in: Bern's great time, the 15th century rediscovered , ed. by Ellen Beer u. a .; Berner Lehrmittel- und Medienverlag, Bern 1999, 685 pp., Ill., P. 292; ISBN 3-906721-28-0 .