On the pages of VO, we have already talked several times about the commander Karl the Bold - the Duke of Burgundy. A man, undoubtedly, brave and not devoid of organizational skills, he did not understand people well, was a mediocre military leader and frankly a bad politician, and as a result he ruined both himself and his duchy. Many asked if he had any victories at all, or in his life he went from one defeat to another. Well, there were victories, but they all ended in one big defeat. That is why, apparently, it makes sense to tell now about the Duke Karl the Bold himself, and about those battles in which he, as a commander, still managed to win victories! Well, let's start with the fact that we note that Charles the Bold was the last Duke of Burgundy from the Valois dynasty, the son of Duke Philip the Good, who was not afraid to take up arms against the King of France for the sake of independence and greatness of his little Burgundy … A man who has forgotten the wise rule: never fight with those who are smarter and richer than you!
This is not him, but only Jean Mare in the role of Count de Neuville from the movie "Secrets of the Burgundian Court". The time of the "Burgundian fashions" is correctly shown, the knights began to wear a coat of arms caftan over the cuirass. But where is the chin on his plate collar? Well, how could one forget about it in the duel of God's judgment?
Here the helmet of the arme is shown correctly, but again the plate collar with the shoulder should have adhered to the armor so that the tip of the enemy spear would not fall between these parts!
Undoubtedly, Charles the Bold, who presided over the throne in Burgundy in the middle of the 15th century, was one of the most notorious figures of that time. Historians often refer to him as “the last knight”. Obviously, Karl received such a nickname for a reason, most likely precisely for those qualities that especially clearly characterized him as a strong, charismatic person. Although the time in which he lived was famous for its inhuman morals.
Karl the Bold did not have a bad pedigree. His dad, Philip the Good, (despite the nickname, who managed with surprising ease to give the British Jeanne d'Arc), at one time elevated and strengthened Burgundy, thanks to which its prestige in Europe was raised to a significant level.
But this is just him - Karl the Bold. Portrait in battle armor (Museum in Bourgogne).
The Duke loved beauty, so he contributed in every way to the development of the arts at court. In addition, Philip himself was an ardent adherent of the knightly code. Thanks to this passion, the Duke established the Order of the Golden Fleece, which has survived to this day. Philippe's favorite pastimes were jousting tournaments and minnesinger competitions. Naturally, the boy who was born on November 10, 1433, the successor of the Philip family, named Charles, his father tried to instill the features inherent in a real knight. Philip's efforts were not in vain: the heir was not a stupid child, obedient, diligent and inquisitive to all sciences, and therefore his father's passion for duels, hunting, military campaigns safely passed to Charles.
The army of Philip the Good enters Ghent. Miniature from "Chronicles of the reign of Charles VII" by Jean Chartier, 1479. National Library of France, Paris.
Where does childhood go …
Firmly keeping his finger on the pulse of the political life of France, Philip, naturally, was always aware of events both inside the country and far beyond its borders. And therefore, after thinking carefully, Philip decides: for the good of his own state, as soon as possible, betrothal his son to the daughter of the French king Charles VII Katarina. And so that no one dared to disrupt such a profitable party, he performed the betrothal ceremony when little Karl was barely five years old. Note that the young bride was only four years older than her groom. Later, Karl was married two more times. His chosen one was the Frenchwoman Isabella de Bourbon, as well as the British Margarita of York. Both were, of course, of royal blood.
While still very young, Karl meets the heir to the French throne, Louis. For Louis, these were not the best times of his life - he was hiding from his father's anger in the neighboring Duchy of Burgundy.
Another purely "cinematic" discrepancy. See what leggings the Comte de Neuville is wearing. It is clear that they are not very visible under the clothes, but … there is no smell of historical truth here. But - yes, the actor is comfortable.
The boys' acquaintance grew over time into a strong friendship. Despite the slight difference in age, young people were very different from each other. Karl was a tall and strong young man who already had his own definite position in life, which he was ready to defend, if necessary, even with a sword in his hands. He did not live for show, luxury, idleness and red tape, which flourished at the court of his father, were not his element.
The life of knights in medieval Europe was very different from that of today. This miniature shows the burning of a knight and his servant, convicted of homosexual relationships. At that time, in the same Netherlands, and in many other places, regular examinations of all men were arranged for predication, and if traces were found, people were subject to burning, like the most notorious heretics.
Louis, on the other hand, was a young man of short stature, frail. The short stature that oppressed Louis was compensated for by extraordinary cunning and cunning.
However, on the other hand, the morals were very simple. It would never occur to us today to flaunt in such slit pants-stockings, and in the 15th century such clothes were common. Although the custom of wearing "a front cover half-open, so that the shameful parts could be exposed to an immodest gaze," the church condemned in every possible way, as did the "slippers" - trains on dresses!
The friendship of young people fell apart as soon as in July 1461 Louis became king of France, now Louis XI. From the very first days of his accession to the throne, he led a policy of joining the kingdom of the lands belonging to the feudal lords under his control. The landowners were extremely unhappy with this, the tension grew every day, and as a result, united against their overlord, they entered into an agreement called the League of the Common Good. This so-called League was joined by Charles the Bold, who had his own scores with the newly made king: a territorial dispute over the County of Charolais, to which they both claimed. And soon the political conflict escalated into military action. Philip the Good had already died by that time, and his son became the heir to his father's vast possessions. In addition to the lands, he received the title of Duke of Burgundy. Now, leading the army, which was collected by the "League of the Common Good", he had an excellent opportunity to show all his skills and knowledge, transferred to him by Philip, in action.
Burgundian soldier in uniform "uniforms". It was in the era of the Burgundian Wars that soldiers began to be dressed in clothes of certain colors and cuts with appropriate emblems. This made it possible to confidently distinguish them on the battlefield, which was increasingly clouded with thick clouds of smoke.
"War" feats of Karl
Karl's first victory was easy and impressive. At the Battle of Montleri, in 1465, he won a brilliant victory, defeating the army of his former friend. A deafening defeat forced Louis to abandon his encroachments on the County of Charolais.
Battle of Montleri. Miniature from the memoirs of Philippe Comnenus.
Inspired by the first victory, the duke was ready for new exploits. I recalled that two years ago in the "controlled" city of Liege, there were often unrest of the townspeople caused by excessive extortions. But this was not what prompted Charles the Bold to enter Liege with an army. The reality turned out to be more vile than the "official" version. There were rumors among the townspeople that Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, was not the son of Philip the Good. And he was born from the connection between the local bishop and his mother, the Duchess Isabella, who often retired with the bishop as if for confession. Karl, who firmly considered himself a true knight, could not bear the insults inflicted on his mother's name. Revenge, in the tradition of the cruel and ignorant Middle Ages, was carried out immediately. And although, breaking into Liege, Karl did not meet any resistance from the inhabitants of the city, he mercilessly destroyed everyone who got in the way, sparing neither women nor children.
In addition to "uniforms", the corresponding emblems (the Burgundians had a red oblique cross) were also applied to pavese shields.
With his head held high, Karl was leaving the place that had recently been called Liege, and now was only a heap of ruins. In a similar way, "order" was restored in several other places of the duchy.
Completely convinced of his own uniqueness, Charles wished to make Burgundy a kingdom, and to receive the crown from the hands of the Pope himself. But the duke's plans never materialized. Both the Emperor of the Great Roman Empire and the King of France protested. Neither one nor the other was interested in strengthening Burgundy. And although Charles the Bold and Louis XI had a common goal (to concentrate power in their hands as much as possible), they tried to achieve it in different ways. And if the duke considered brute force as the main and almost the only argument in conflicts, then Louis preferred to solve problems with cunning and intrigue, in which he was a great master. To remove his opponent, the king dragged him into a series of military adventures that later became known as the Burgundian Wars.
These were the coins used to pay off the warriors in 1465. Coins of Louis de Bourbon. I wonder how much they received then: a knight-Bannerer - 60 francs a month, a gendarme with three horses - 15, a kick-ass and a kranekinier - 15 francs a month with two horses; on foot kranekinier, kulevrinier and piquinier - 5 francs per month.
It was during the Burgundian Wars that he won his second victory, of which he was extraordinarily proud. It was a victory at the Battle of Bryustem on October 28, 1467. Then Liege, counting on the promised military support from King Louis XI of France, revolted against Charles. He gathered an army of up to 25,000 (the figure is clearly exaggerated, since the historian Komnenos reports about 16,000 soldiers in Burgundy) of professional soldiers and moved to Liege. Louis XI did nothing to help the city.
Battle between three cities
Liege's army consisted of 12,000 civilians and 500 cavalry. They were under the command of Rice van Heer, his wife Pentecota d'Arkel and Jean de Vilde.
The Liegese settled in the marshy area between Bruustem, Sainte-Truiden and Orlindham. Their commanders thus tried to reduce the effect of the Burgundian artillery.
Artillery of the time: vogler (serpentine or crapodo), from the castle of Castelnau in Aquitaine. Carriage of the "pre-Burgundian type".
On October 28, Karl ordered his vanguard under the command of Adolf Cleve to attack the enemy. However, the battle itself began by no means with an attack by knightly cavalry, but with artillery shelling, with which the Burgundian army tried to dislodge the army of the city of Liege from its fortified position. It is known that the Burgundians fired about 70 cannonballs from light (field) guns. The Liege detachment was also armed with cannons and coolerines and responded with fire, but for some reason their guns fired inaccurately. Then the attack of the Burgundians forced the Liege to retreat, and they withdrew, abandoning their artillery. Several thousand Burgundians, including 500 English archers, were left at St. Truden to prevent the city's garrison from interfering in the battle. Nevertheless, an attack from St. Truden followed, and in its course a significant number of archers were killed.
Graham Turner. Burgundian knight and militia from Liege.
Here, however, Karl's superiority in armament affected. His second line was armed with long, two-handed swords, perfect for close combat. The Liege militia was quickly pushed back, and it soon became apparent that this was a rout. The commanders of the Liege army hastened to leave the battlefield.
The Burgundians killed everyone who fell into their hands. Liege thus lost about 4,000 people, and the rest of the army was saved only by the evening darkness.
War is expensive …
Then Charles the Bold made an attempt to add Alsace and Lorraine to his former possessions. The beginning was promising, but then King Louis XI, through secret negotiations, managed to turn almost half of Europe against Charles.
Meanwhile, the duke, getting bogged down in campaigns, rebuilt the life of little Burgundy, forcing the inhabitants to work exclusively for the war.
The maintenance of the army demanded large expenses. Giving the state money for military expenses with one hand, the duke took the last from the townspeople with the other hand. To begin with, all amusements were forbidden. Competitions of poets and musicians have sunk into oblivion, and crafts that are not related to military affairs have been canceled. The former wealth of citizens has evaporated. And in return, the inhabitants received hunger and hopeless poverty.
Crossbowman with goat's leg charger.
Defeat at Granson
History recalls that no matter how ambitious the ruler is, he alone will not be able to resist the military alliance of developed countries. The Duke of Burgundy was no exception. If he coped at the very least with the armies of the Germans and the French, then the army of Switzerland, excellent in all respects, turned out to be a serious enemy for him. The first deafening defeat occurred in 1476 at Granson. Shortly before this, Charles captured the city, taking advantage of the betrayal of one of his defenders. They dealt with the garrison, which was captured, as they always did with the enemy: they destroyed it. One part of the soldiers was hanged, the other was drowned in Lake Neuchâtel.
Swiss "army" on the march or modern Swiss reenactors in action.
The Swiss army, rushing to help the captured soldiers, it became clear that in case of defeat, the same would happen. The same sad fate and no one will survive. No one wanted to be hanged or drowned, and therefore, mustering their strength, the Swiss rushed into battle and defeated the Burgundians. Karl the Bold barely took his feet, throwing everything that was in his hands and under his command to the delight of his enemies: modern artillery and a camp full of valuables looted during the campaign.
Miniature from a 1515 manuscript from the Zurich Library, depicting the Battle of Grandson.
Losing streak
Alas, this defeat did not cool the ardor of the commander. The next unpleasant surprise awaited Karl near the town of Murten. Here the Duke received another humiliating slap from the Swiss. Evidence from that era directly says that Charles had the opportunity, using some third party as a mediator, to try to make peace and thereby get a chance to return to his native Burgundy without going into battle. Unfortunately, the duke's self-esteem, severely wounded by the failures, played a cruel joke on him. The only chance for salvation was lost, and thus Karl signed his own death warrant. The trouble was that the desires did not coincide with the possibilities: Karl the Bold's ambitious plans did not coincide with the potential that he had.
Towards the end of the same year, at the head of a newly formed army, he approached the city of Nancy. The defenders turned out to be extremely brave, and the siege of the city dragged on. As luck would have it, there were severe cold weather, many of his soldiers got frostbite, and did not want to fight further. Karl flatly refused to retreat, believing that hunger would eventually bring the besieged to their knees and they would be forced to surrender.
Artillery of the Burgundians in action.
At this time, the army rushed to the aid of the inhabitants of Nancy, in the service of which the Alsatians, Austrians, Germans and French consisted. January 5, 1477 was fatal for Charles's army. The forces were too unequal. The battle ended with the complete defeat of the Duke's army. Karl died in battle. A few days later, his body, disfigured and stripped by looters, was found nearby in the river. The disfigured face was so unrecognizable that only a personal doctor was able to identify the duke, who recognized his master from old scars.
The crew prepares the gun for firing.
With the death of Charles the Bold, an entire era in the history of Burgundy ended. Left without an heir, Burgundy was doomed to be divided between the Hapsburgs and the French crown. The status of the duchy as an independent European state has sunk into oblivion. The irrepressible ruler Karl the Bold, whose richest biography consists entirely of wars and campaigns, to which he was pushed by exorbitant ambition and ardor of nature, also became a historical figure.
Karl the Bold was buried with honors, and his grave is still in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, next to the grave of his daughter.
A brave warrior and a weak politician
The epithets generously handed out by scientists, characterizing Karl the Bold, were very contradictory. And yet, one should not discount the efforts that Karl made to ensure that Burgundy, growing with conquered lands, rose.
Tombstone of Charles the Bold (1433-1477) by the Burgundian master Jacques Iongelinck.
Unfortunately, as a result of such an aggressive policy, the duchy found itself on the verge of ruin and complete poverty of the people. The road to hell was laid out with good intentions … Karl, who received an excellent upbringing at the court of his father Philip the Good, grew up on the principles of knightly honor, "without trial or investigation" took the life of innocent inhabitants of the captured cities. Fervor and haste in action played a fatal role in his military campaigns.
Copy at the Museum. A. S. Pushkin (the main building of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Hall №15).
So what is next?
Indeed, what happened next? After the death of Charles, who, unfortunately, had no sons, his 19-year-old daughter Maria of Burgundy became the heiress. During the reign of Mary, Charles's vast possessions, devastated by wars, were officially no longer considered the territory of a sovereign state. With one stroke of the pen, Louis XI and Mary's husband, Emperor Maximilian I, divided Burgundy. That is how the history of the glorious Burgundy ended, ruled by the "last knight", indefatigable Charles the Bold …
