The Burgundian Wars
Grandson, Murten, Nancy, Héricourt, Bern
Key figures: Charles the Bold, Niklaus von Diesbach, Adrian von Bubenberg, Louis XI
HLS (German): Burgundian Wars, Battle of Murten
An awkward neighbour (1469–1474). In 1469, by the Treaty of Saint-Omer, Duke Sigismund of Austria pledges his Alsatian possessions to Charles the Bold in return for protection against the Confederates. Burgundy, which stretches from the Low Countries to the Franche-Comté, thus becomes a direct neighbour of the Confederation. The Burgundian bailiff Peter von Hagenbach blocks the grain trade with the Rhine towns: Basel and Strasbourg ask Bern for help, and Bern fears losing its routes to the Geneva fairs. In 1474 Austria and the Confederates make peace, the so-called Perpetual Peace, and ally with the Alsatian towns; Hagenbach is executed at Breisach, and on 13 November 1474 the anti-Burgundian league wins at Héricourt.
Bern on the attack (1475). Charles the Bold, busy besieging Neuss on the Rhine, would like peace with the Confederates. But in Bern the interventionist party of Niklaus von Diesbach prevails over the moderates of Adrian von Bubenberg. In 1475 bands from Bern and Fribourg invade the Vaud, which belongs to Savoy, Burgundy’s ally, and take 16 towns and 43 castles; the other cantons disapprove. That autumn the Upper Valaisans defeat the Savoyards at La Planta near Conthey and occupy the Lower Valais as far as Saint-Maurice.
Grandson and Murten (1476). Early in 1476 Charles marches against Bern and Fribourg. He takes Grandson and has its garrison executed, but on 2 March, at the Battle of Grandson, his army flees and abandons its whole camp: tents, tapestries, artillery, jewels. The duke wants revenge: with some 20,000 men he besieges Murten, defended by Adrian von Bubenberg. On 22 June 1476 about 24,000 Confederates and allies attack at midday, after heavy rain, and take the Burgundian army by surprise. Between 8,000 and 20,000 Burgundians die, against a few hundred Confederates.
Nancy and the end of the duke (1477). The third attempt costs Charles the Bold his life: he dies on 5 January 1477 in the Battle of Nancy, where the Confederates fight alongside the Duke of Lorraine. The Burgundian state falls apart, to the benefit of the Habsburgs and King Louis XI of France. For a long time the Confederates were described as unwitting tools of the French king; the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland points out that it was Bern, Strasbourg and Basel that wanted the war.
Booty and mercenaries. The territorial gains are modest: as early as 1476 the cantons return the Vaud to Savoy for money, and in 1479 they sell their rights to the Franche-Comté to Louis XI. Bern and Fribourg keep Murten, Grandson, Orbe and Échallens; the Lower Valais remains with the Upper Valaisans. The victories, however, lead European princes to recruit the Confederates as mercenaries: pensions and foreign money enter the politics of the cantons. The chronicler Diebold Schilling curses the “wicked and damned booty”.
Towards Stans. The wars strengthen the towns, and the rural cantons react: in 1477 with the “Mad Life” expedition, in 1478 with the Amstalden affair. When the allied towns conclude a co-citizenship pact with Fribourg and Solothurn, the Confederation is on the verge of breaking apart. The crisis is resolved only by the Compact of Stans of 1481 (see the stage).
Diebold Schilling the Elder, the Confederates pray before the Battle of Grandson, 2 March 1476, official chronicle of Bern, 1474–1483
Burgerbibliothek Bern, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Diebold Schilling the Younger, the Battle of Grandson, 2 March 1476, Lucerne chronicle, 1513
Zentral- und Hochschulbibliothek Luzern, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Diebold Schilling the Younger, the Burgundian booty on display in Lucerne after Grandson, Lucerne chronicle, 1513
Zentral- und Hochschulbibliothek Luzern, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Diebold Schilling the Elder, the Confederates plunder Charles the Bold’s camp at Grandson, official chronicle of Bern, 1474–1483
Burgerbibliothek Bern, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Louis Braun, panorama of the Battle of Murten, 1893 (detail)
Wikimedia Commons, public domain