|
Battle Of Guinegate (1479)
The First Battle of Guinegate took place on 7 August 1479. French troops of King Louis XI were defeated by the Burgundians led by Archduke (later to be Emperor) Maximilian of Habsburg. This battle was the first in which the innovative Swiss pike square formation was employed by a power that was not natively Swiss. Background Charles the Bold, the last Duke of Burgundy had been killed at the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. King Louis XI immediately adjudicated his territories to be recovered fiefs of the French kingdom and campaigned in the counties of Artois, Flanders, Hainaut, and the Duchy of Burgundy. Nevertheless, Charles' only heir, Mary of Burgundy on 19 August, had married Archduke Maximilian, who, determined to protect the Burgundian inheritance, organized troops in the former Burgundian Netherlands and marched against the French army. Many of the troops that had been victorious at the Battle of Nancy had been provided by the Lower League. Among these troops wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
War Of The Burgundian Succession
The War of the Burgundian Succession took place from 1477 to 1482 (or 1493 according to some historians), immediately following the Burgundian Wars. At stake was the partition of the Burgundian hereditary lands between the Kingdom of France and the House of Habsburg, after Duke Charles the Bold had perished in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. Inheritance of Charles the Bold Charles the Bold had no male successor.''Encarta Winkler Prins Encyclopaedia'' (1993–2002) s.v. "Maria ourgondische gewesten. (in Dutch) Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. Mary of Burgundy was the only child of the deceased duke, and many lords desired her hand in marriage to acquire the Burgundian inheritance. Amongst them was Charles, son of King Louis XI of France, who was formally the Burgundian duke's overlord. Louis sought to exploit the opportunity of Duke Charles' death, which triggered unrest and uprisings (such as the Guelderian War of Independence, 1477–1499) in the Burgundian lands, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Nancy
The Battle of Nancy was the final and decisive battle of the Burgundian Wars, fought outside the walls of Nancy on 5 January 1477 by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, against René II, Duke of Lorraine, and the Swiss Confederacy. René's forces won the battle, and Charles' mutilated body was found three days later. Background Charles was besieging the city of Nancy, capital of Lorraine, since 22 October 1476 following its recapture by the forces of René II earlier in the year. Despite the harsh winter conditions, Charles was determined to bring the siege to an end at all costs as he was well aware that sooner or later René would arrive with a relieving army when the weather improved. By late December René had gathered some 10,000–12,000 men from Lorraine and the Lower Union (of the Rhine); a Swiss army of 8,000–10,000 men also arrived to help out. René began his advance on Nancy early in January 1477, moving cautiously through the snow-covered landscape until the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coutilier
The coutilier (also coutillier, coustillier) was a title of a low-ranking professional soldier in Medieval French armies. A coutilier was a member of the immediate entourage of a French knight or a squire called lances fournies. The presence of the coutilier is first recorded in a French Ordinance of 1445. The coutilier also had a place in the Burgundian army of Charles the Bold, being described in detail the military regulations of 1473. Coutiliers are also mentioned in the Breton military regulations of March 1450. Equipment The name ''coutilier'' seems to derive from their being equipped with a long knife or short sword called a ''coustille''. According to Ewart Oakeshott, the term originally meant a type of infantryman or brigand. However, by the time detailed descriptions appear in the mid-15th century, the coutilier is clearly a lightly armoured horseman. A French coutilier of 1446 was equipped with a helmet, leg armour, a haubergeon, jack or brigandine A brigandine is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gendarme (historical)
A ''gendarme'' was a heavy cavalryman of noble birth, primarily serving in the French army from the Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern period. Heirs to the knights of French medieval feudal armies, French Gendarmes also enjoyed a stellar reputation and were regarded as the finest European heavy cavalry force until the decline of chivalric ideals largely due to the ever-evolving developments in gunpowder technology. They provided the Kings of France with a potent regular force of armored lancers which, when properly employed, dominated late medieval and early modern battlefields. Their symbolic demise is generally considered to be the Battle of Pavia, which inversely is seen as confirming the rise of the Spanish Tercios as the new dominant military force in Europe. Etymology The word ''gendarme'' derives originally from the French ''homme d'armes'' ( man-at-arms), plural of which is ''gens d'armes''. The plural sense was later shortened to ''gendarmes'' and a singular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in the roles of reconnaissance, screening, and skirmishing in many armies, or as heavy cavalry for decisive shock attacks in other armies. An individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations depending on era and tactics, such as cavalryman, horseman, trooper, cataphract, knight, hussar, uhlan, mamluk, cuirassier, lancer, dragoon, or horse archer. The designation of ''cavalry'' was not usually given to any military forces that used other animals for mounts, such as camels or elephants. Infantry who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot, were known in the early 17th to the early 18th century as ''dragoons'', a class of mounted infantry which in most armies later evolved into standard cavalry while retain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swiss Mercenaries
The Swiss mercenaries (german: Reisläufer) were a powerful infantry force constituted by professional soldiers originating from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among the military forces of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Late Middle Ages into the Renaissance. Their service as mercenaries was at its peak during the Renaissance, when their proven battlefield capabilities made them sought-after mercenary troops. There followed a period of decline, as technological and organizational advances counteracted the Swiss' advantages. Switzerland's military isolationism largely put an end to organized mercenary activity; the principal remnant of the practice is the Pontifical Swiss Guard at the Vatican. Ascendancy During the Late Middle Ages, mercenary forces grew in importance in Europe, as veterans from the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) and other con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pike Squares
The pike square (German: ''Gevierthaufen'', lit. 'square crowd', or ''Gewalthaufen'' lit. 'crowd of force') was a military tactical formation in which 10 rows of men in 10 columns wielding pikes, was developed by the Swiss Confederacy during the 14th century for use by its infantry. History The pike square was used to devastating effect at the Battle of Nancy against Charles the Bold of Burgundy in 1477, when the Swiss defeated a smaller but more powerful armored cavalry force. The battle is generally seen as one of the turning points that established the infantry as the primary fighting arm in European warfare from the 16th century onwards. The Burgundian compagnie d'ordonnance was a formidable combined arms force relying on close cooperation between heavily armored knights, dismounted men-at-arms, a variety of ranged troops including archers and crossbowmen, and an early form of field artillery. It was one of the most feared and most effective ground forces in 15th-cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower League
The Lower League (''Niedere Vereinigung, inferiores confederati''), also known as the League of Constance, was a union of the four imperial cities Strasbourg, Basel, Colmar and Sélestat, formed in 1473, joined by the bishops of Basel and Strasbourg, Sigismund of Habsburg and by the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1474. The name of the league is intended to distinguish it from the "upper" (highland) league of the Swiss Confederacy. The league formed an anti-Burgundian pact, led by Strasbourg, Basel, Berne and Lucerne. The league was concluded in Constance in April 1474 as a result of trilateral negotiations between Sigismund of Habsburg, the Old Swiss Confederacy and the Rhenish towns. This collaboration contributed to the final defeat of Charles the Bold and the conclusion of the Burgundian Wars at the Battle of Nancy in 1477. In the wake of the Burgundian Wars, Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burgundian Netherlands
In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands (french: Pays-Bas bourguignons, nl, Bourgondische Nederlanden, lb, Burgundeschen Nidderlanden, wa, Bas Payis borguignons) or the Burgundian Age is the period between 1384 and 1482, during which a growing part of the Low Countries was ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy. Within their Burgundian State, which itself belonged partly to the Holy Roman Empire and partly to the Kingdom of France, the dukes united these lowlands into a political union that went beyond a personal union as it gained central institutions for the first time (such as the States General). The period began with Duke Philip the Bold taking office as count of Flanders and Artois in 1384 and lasted until the death of Duchess Mary of Burgundy in 1482 after which the Burgundian State was dissolved, and the Low Countries came under the rule of the Habsburg monarchy by inheritance. In the 15th century, it was customary to refer to the Low Countries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Of Burgundy
Mary (french: Marie; nl, Maria; 13 February 1457 – 27 March 1482), nicknamed the Rich, was a member of the House of Valois-Burgundy who ruled a collection of states that included the duchies of Limburg, Brabant, Luxembourg, the counties of Namur, Holland, Hainaut and other territories, from 1477 until her death in 1482. As the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon, she inherited the Burgundian lands at the age of 19 upon the death of her father in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. In order to counter the appetite of the French king Louis XI for her lands, she married Maximilian of Austria. The marriage kept large parts of the Burgundian lands from disintegration, but also changed of the dynasty from the Valois to the Habsburg (the Duchy of Burgundy itself soon became a French possession). This was a turning point in European politics, leading to a French–Habsburg rivalry that would endure for centuries. Early yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duchy Of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy (; la, Ducatus Burgundiae; french: Duché de Bourgogne, ) emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the Frankish Empire. Upon the 9th-century partitions, the French remnants of the Burgundian kingdom were reduced to a ducal rank by King Robert II of France in 1004. Robert II's son and heir, King Henry I of France, inherited the duchy but ceded it to his younger brother Robert in 1032. Other portions had passed to the Imperial Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles, including the County of Burgundy (Franche-Comté). Robert became the ancestor of the ducal House of Burgundy, a cadet branch of the royal Capet dynasty, ruling over a territory that roughly conformed to the borders and territories of the modern region of Burgundy (Bourgogne). Upon the extinction of the Burgundian male line with the death of Duke Philip I in 1361, the duchy reverted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
