Burgundian Wars

The Burgundian Wars (1474–1477) were a conflict between the Burgundian State and the Old Swiss Confederacy and its allies. Open war broke out in 1474, and the Duke of Burgundy,

Charles the Bold

, was defeated three times on the battlefield in the following years and was killed at the Battle of Nancy in 1477. The Duchy of Burgundy and several other Burgundian lands then became part of France, and the Burgundian Netherlands and

Franche-Comté

were inherited by Charles's daughter

Mary of Burgundy

and eventually passed to the House of Habsburg upon her death because of her marriage to

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

.

Background

The dukes of Burgundy had succeeded, over a period of about 100 years, in establishing their rule as a strong force between the Holy Roman Empire and France. Their possessions included, besides their original territories of the and the

Duchy of Burgundy

, the economically-strong regions of

Flanders

and Brabant as well as

Luxembourg

.

The dukes of Burgundy generally pursued an aggressive expansionist politics, especially in

Alsace

and Lorraine, seeking to unite their northern and southern possessions geographically. Having already been in conflict with the French king (Burgundy had sided with the English in the Hundred Years' War but then the Yorkists in the Wars of the Roses, when

Henry VI

sided with France), Charles's advances along the Rhine brought him into conflict with the Habsburgs, especially Emperor

Frederick III

.

Conflict

Initially in 1469, Duke Sigismund of Habsburg of Austria pawned his possessions in the

Alsace

in the Treaty of Saint-Omer as a fiefdom to the Duke of Burgundy for a loan or sum of 50,000 florins, as well as an alliance,

Charles the Bold

, to have them better protected from the expansion of the (or Old Swiss Confederacy). Charles' involvement west of the Rhine gave him no reason to attack the confederates, as Sigismund had wanted, but his embargo politics against the cities of

Basel

,

Strasbourg

and , directed by his

reeve

, prompted these to turn to

Bern

for help. Charles' expansionist strategy suffered a first setback in his politics when his attack on the Archbishopric of Cologne failed after the unsuccessful

Siege of Neuss

(1474–75).

In the second phase, Sigismund sought to achieve a peace agreement with the Swiss confederates, which eventually was concluded in in 1474 (later called the or Perpetual Accord). He wanted to buy back his Alsace possessions from Charles, who refused. Shortly afterwards, was captured and executed by decapitation in Alsace, and the Swiss, united with the Alsace cities and Sigismund of Habsburg in an anti-Burgundian league, conquered part of the Burgundian Jura () when they won the Battle of in November 1474.

Louis XI of France

joined the coalition by the Treaty of Andernach in December. The next year, Bernese forces conquered and ravaged , which belonged to the

Duchy of Savoy

, who was allied with Charles the Bold. In the , the independent republics of the , with the help of Bernese and other confederate forces, drove the Savoyards out of the lower after a victory in the Battle on the Planta in November 1475. In 1476, Charles retaliated and marched to Grandson, which belonged to of Savoy but had recently been taken by the Swiss, where he had the garrison hanged or drowned in the lake, despite its capitulation. When the Swiss confederate forces arrived a few days later, he was defeated in the Battle of Grandson and was forced to flee the battlefield, leaving behind his artillery and many provisions and valuables. Having rallied his army, he was dealt a devastating blow by the confederates at the Battle of Morat. Charles the Bold raised a new army, but fell in the Battle of Nancy in 1477 in which the Swiss fought alongside an army of René II, Duke of Lorraine.

Aftermath

With the death of Charles the Bold, the Valois dynasty of the dukes of Burgundy died out. The northern territories of the dukes of Burgundy became a possession of the Habsburgs, when

Archduke Maximilian of Austria

, who would later become Holy Roman Emperor, married Charles's only daughter,

Mary of Burgundy

. The duchy proper reverted to the crown of France under king

Louis XI

. The initially also became French but was ceded to Maximilian's son

Philip

in 1493 by Charles VIII at the Treaty of Senlis in an attempt to bribe the emperor to remain neutral during Charles's planned invasion of Italy.

The victories of the (Swiss Confederation) over what was one of the most powerful military forces in Europe gained it a reputation of being nearly invincible, and the Burgundian Wars marked the beginning of the rise of Swiss mercenaries on the battlefields of Europe. Inside the Confederacy itself, however, the outcome of the war led to internal conflict; the city cantons insisted on having the lion's share of the proceeds since they had supplied the most troops. The country cantons resented that, and the disputes almost led to war. They were settled by the of 1481.

See also

* Battles of the Burgundian Wars
* Cologne Diocesan Feud

Further reading

*.
*.

References

External links

*
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{{Authority control

15th century in the Old Swiss Confederacy
1470s in the Holy Roman Empire
1474 in Europe
1475 in Europe
1476 in Europe
1477 in Europe