Battle of Othée
The Battle of Othée took place on September 23, 1408 on the plain of Othée south of Tongeren . There were 30,000 rebellious residents of Liège and an aristocratic army of 35,000 men under the command of Johann Ohnefurcht , Duke of Burgundy , William IV of Hainaut and William II of Namur (the information on the strengths of the two sides depending on the source diverge). The battle ended with a decisive victory for the royal army.
background
Johann von Bayern , younger son of Albrecht I of Bavaria , Count of Hainaut , Holland and Zeeland , also grandson of Emperor Ludwig IV and brother of Wilhelm IV of Hainaut, succeeded Arnold von Horn as bishop at the age of 17 elected by Liège and enthroned in July 1390.
His haughty and authoritarian character meant that he did not get along with the people of Liège, who made sure that their long-established rights and freedoms were not compromised. A minor incident - residents of Seraing , as was customary, cut wood in a bishop's forest and were convicted of it - provoked a population uprising led by a radical group, the Hait-droits . After some signs that the situation had calmed down, the reign of Johann finally drove the city into revolt: Johann was deposed and fled to Maastricht , Heinrich von Horn , Herr von Perwez , a cousin of the late bishop, was appointed mambour (administrator) of the diocese, his son Dietrich was appointed bishop. Johann von Bayern called on his family to help and was all the more willing to receive them because the Duke of Burgundy had long sought to gain control of the region.
Before the battle
The Burgundian army marched on Liège. Heinrich von Horn was aware of the inferiority of his armed forces compared to the duke's professional soldiers, and therefore proposed that the Liège troops be distributed to the surrounding villages in order to force Burgundy into a war of attrition. The Hait-droits defied the plan and forced Horn to face the attackers. Heinrich von Horn now planned to attack the opposing vanguard immediately, which he knew was far removed from the main Burgundian army. Johann Ohnefurcht found out about the intention from spies and brought his troops back together.
The battle
The Liège took up position on a small hill, which they had quickly equipped with defenses. Their army consisted mainly of foot troops, some (English) archers and horsemen who were placed on both sides of the foot troops. In the middle was the gonfanon of St. Lambertus , which should encourage the troops. Opposite were riders from Flanders , Hainaut, Brabant and Burgundy. Johann Ohnefurcht retained thousands of foot soldiers and 400 horsemen as reserves with whom he wanted to attack the flanks of the enemy as soon as the battle began.
The outcome of the battle remained open until the Burgundian reserve intervened. The civil army was now constricted on all sides, so that many were trampled and suffocated. The rest were slaughtered on the battlefield because the Duke had forbidden to take prisoners. Heinrich von Horn, his son and other important leaders of the Liège died in the fighting.
Effects
The victory of the Burgundian army was followed by a complete suppression of the enemy. In addition to the dead on the battlefield, Johann Ohnefurcht had the Hait-droits and the families of the rebels executed, including the widow Heinrich von Horns. All rights and privileges of the citizenship were abolished. The leadership of the city has since been appointed by the bishop, the citizens had to pay a fine of 220,000 Écus . Only the Roman-German King Sigismund reached a compromise between the bishop and the city in 1417, in which Johann von Bayern recognized Liège's old rights again.