The Battle of Brustem was fought on 28 October 1467 in Brustem, near

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; french: link=no, Saint-Trond ; li, Sintruin ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium, and has over 41,500 inhabitants, which makes it one of the largest cities in Limburg. The muni ...

(present-day Belgium) between the

Burgundian State The Burgundian StateB. Schnerb, ''L'État bourguignon'', 1999 (french: État bourguignon; nl, Bourgondische Rijk) is a concept coined by historians to describe the vast complex of territories that is also referred to as Valois Burgundy. It de ...

and the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial State, Imperial Estate, so the List of ...

, as part of the Second Liège War.

Prelude

In 1465,

Philip the Good Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonge ...

had won the First Liège War against Prince-Bishop

Louis de Bourbon Louis de Bourbon may refer to: * Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (1279 – 1342), Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis and La Marche, and the first Duke of Bourbon * Louis II, Duke of Bourbon, called the Good (1337 – 1410), third Duke of Bourbon * Louis de B ...

, newly-appointed by himself. This had led to the humiliating Peace of Sint-Truiden. When Philip died in 1467, the people from Liège rose again against the hated Prince-Bishop, who fled the city. Liège counted on the promised military support from King

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revo ...

, also at war with the new Burgundian Duke

Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

. Charles gathered an army of some 25.000 professional soldiers in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

and moved on Liège. Louis XI did nothing.

The battle

The army of Liège was composed of 12.000 civilians and 500 cavalry. They were commanded by Raes van Heers, his wife Pentecote d'Arkel, and Jean de Wilde, lord of Kessenich. Raes positioned his troops in the marshy area between Brustem, Sint-Truiden, and Ordingen to do battle. In this way he tried to diminish the effect of the Burgundian artillery. Charles came from the direction of Sint-Truiden, where he left a few thousand men behind, including 500 English archers, to prevent an intervention of the city's garrison. On 28 October, Charles ordered his vanguard under

Adolph of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein Adolph of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein (1425–1492) was the youngest son of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves, and of his wife Marie of Burgundy, a sister of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. Marriage and issue Philip the Good of Burgundy and his wif ...

to attack. Raes commanded his troops to hold position and wait for the arrival of reinforcements, but the militia from Tongeren counter-attacked nevertheless, and drove back the troops of Ravenstein, killing a considerable number of archers.
But this was what Charles had been prepared for. His second line was armed with long two-handed swords, ideal for close combat. The Liège militia was quickly stopped in their advance and pushed back, in what soon became a rout. Raes van Heers and the French envoy François Royer, Baillif of Lyon, were amongst the first to flee the battlefield. The Burgundians killed everybody that fell into their hands. Liège suffered some 4,000 casualties and the rest of the army was only saved by the evening darkness.

Aftermath

After the battle, Charles moved on Liège and forced the city to surrender on 12 November.
The Prince-Bishopric became a Burgundian protectorate under Guy of Humbercourt and all cities in the

County of Loon The County of Loon ( , , ) was a county in the Holy Roman Empire, which corresponded approximately with the Belgian province of Limburg. It was named after the original seat of its count, Loon, which is today called Borgloon. During the middle ag ...

were forced to remove their defences.

External links

History of Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, Volume 1 (Google eBoek)

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017

Brustem Sint-Truiden (; french: link=no, Saint-Trond ; li, Sintruin ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium, and has over 41,500 inhabitants, which makes it one of the largest cities in Limburg. The muni ...

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

Sint-Truiden