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Publi hed in 1983 by Author's

I
note:
sprey Publishing Lrd, Th aUlhor and arli t wouldlik t thank ryon \ ho
Micelin Hou e, 81 Fulham ROJ-d, London W3 GRB ha b n kind enough t h Ip th m compl t this book
© opyrighr 1983 0 prey Publishing Lrd, and in patti ular the fall \ ing p rsons and in titution ':
Reprinred 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993 ~lax \ntonini Swi:, alional Mu cum Zurich' laud
Blair i toria & Ib rt Mus um, London' H 1 n
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purp se fprivale study, rc 'arch riti ism or I' \'iew, ~fuseunl' ~tfartin :haun y, Biblioth'qu Put Jiqu cI
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e leva

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JZIJYJil'ucnon Loui ,;.}?' O rlea ns. The antagonism was such that
Duk~'john himself was treacherously cu t down in
the very presence of the you ng king of France, and
,

died a t his feet. From then on, far from being allies
This book d eals with the orga nisa tion and of France, the powerful dukes of Burgundy were to
functi oning of the Burgundi an armies und er the represent the g reatest threat that France was to
Val ois Dukes of Burgund y: know after the H und red Years \Va r. Only the
Ph ilip th e Bold ( 1342-1404; reigned 1364- 1404) violent d eath of the last d uke, C ha rles the Bold , and
J ohn th e Fearless ( 137 1-14 19; reigned 1404-1419 ) the extinc tion of the male line, allowed the king of
Philip the Good ( 1396- 1467; reigned 1419-1467 ) France (the h Louis X I ) to sleep easy in his bed.
Charl es the Bold ( 1433- 1477; reigned 1467-1477 )
They a ,re known as the V al ois Dukes because
Philip the Bold , the first duke, was the son of King
J ohn th e Good of France, of the H ouse of Valois, in
the same sense tha t the English ruling house a t the
time was Plant agenct. King J ohn the G ood was
cap tured by the English at the ba tt le of Poiti ers in
1356; his ,,~-yea r-o l d son Phili p fough t valian tly by
his sid e un ti l the bitte r end, a nd as soo n as he was in
a posi tion to clo so, King J ohn reward ed his son's
courage a nd devo tion by d esign ating him Duke of
Burgund y, a title that by cha nce had just become
•
ex tinc t.
Th e new' Duke Philip'Slands consisted only of th e
Duchy of Burgundy, whose ca pital was D ijon (see
ma p), bu t he and his successors enla rged their
terri tory by sh rewd mari tal a llia nces or by conq uest
until it became one of the g rea tes t powers in
Europe.
Philip the Bold remained on the most fri end ly
terms with his father, the king of France, and after
John's death with his elder brother, who was
crowned King Charles V in 1364. France and
Burgund y su p ported each other econom ica lly and
militarily, send ing each other contingents of troops
in wartime and co-opera ting in all respects.
After the first duke's d eath , however, the fami ly
bond between the French royal house and the dukes
Philip the Bold, the first Valois duke of Burgundy, from an
of Burgundy grew progressively weaker. DukeJohn anonymou s portrait in VersaiIle s Museum. Philip's irnmense
the Fearless had designs on ,the French throne, a nd e n e rgy, ambition, and closenes s to the king s of France enabled
him to in c rease his new duchy enormously, and to hand over a
openly admitted murderi ng the king's brothe r, powerful political s ta te to hi s s o n .

3
 •
C ha rles th e Bold hat ed Louis and was convinced Alexand er the ;rcat and H a n nibal , and it was he
that he intend ed to in vad e Burg un d y. Louis who com p le tel y rest r uc tu red Burgund y's army,
th ought C ha rles was m a d ; a ltho ug h he himself was m aking it a m od el for a lmost a ll Euro pea n a rmi es
o ne of the ugl iest of F rench kings, he was fond of lor well o ve r a cen turv, after his d eat h .
imitating C ha rles's ma nia cal ges tu res !
C ha rles! was thc m ost m ili ta r y-m ind ed o f th e • •
dukes a nd loved the rigours of ca m paign ing. Hi s r. nmsauon
fa vo uritc rcadi ng was the works and Ii vcs of the ,

g rea t classica l ge ne ra ls such as .Julius acsar, It is of

,I
co urse wro ng to im a ginc a si ngle Burg u nd ia n
a rm y. T he sta te of Burgund y was not o nly
surro u nded by poten tiall y a gg ressive neighbours,
' His appel.uion ' the BollI" is 110 1 a mistranslation or thc 1!Jlh-ccntury b u t was split in four geogra p h ica lly, from cast to
Fn'nch historians' lahel 'Ir T imhairl (' the ra sh' ), hil l is in I:](,t w h at he
was called during his lifi-ri uu-: ' (;//llIl r J I" Ilardi', west by the D uchy of Lorraine, and from north to
so u th by the frontier be tween Fra nce and the
Empire (sce m ap ). For a lt hough the dukes of
NOR T H
Burgundy longed to wea r a rega l crow n, they in
a theory a t , least owed a ll egiance to t he king of
S EA 00
Cl • France for their lands to the west of the frontier, a nd
I? ..,.... to the Emperor fo r all that la y to the east.
These rills in the Burgundi an sta te, togethe r wit h
the Val ois dukes' aggressive politi cal ambitions,
I)u,;h, .,,
G
Ht .ah .. nr ....-J'~ ........ necessit ated from ea rly times not o n ly a m ain a rmy,
c ." bu t on e o r more second a ry a rm ies, no t to m ention
Ht' , ,
C
the maintenance of mo re o r less su bs ta n tia l
Juh,h
H" l.l l.· C
ga r ri o ns in towns a nd fortresses,
. n ti l ,' +7' , Bu rg und y's armi es were rec ruited
O u( h , _"
from four so u rces : nobles a nd their numerous
I U\ C''''' '',-U I IJ
, fo llowers; the du cal g ua rd (ho u chold t roops); town
C
F R A NCE
militi a ; a nd foreign m ercenaries. These , foll owing
the French m odel , were d ivid ed into:
( ,) H eav y ca va lry, consi tin g of arm oured
o
1_ _1_ _1_ ---'1_ _,
:00 l m
m en-at-arms, m ostl y nobles, fo r m ing the nucleus of
(!) the a rrnv.
Sir .nt"" u r~ •
(2) Light ca va lry, drawn fro m the fo llowers th at
m ost m en-at-arms were required to bring with
thcm: m ounted archers, cross bow mc n, a nd swor ds-
(' ('I Llnl ) m en , whose task was to h a rass th e e ne m y before
O ur h) " f
'"
0 ", c ,,' Burl un,,> O" ' , und )
the m ain engage me n t, and to su p port the
8 err > ' Cl CO I '
A
E
cr' .nchc Comtej m en-at-arms.
D. or A Va u,J (3) I nfan t ry, which fo rm ed but a sm a ll pro po r tion
C t' ( C u f
R ou r ~l n
•
Cn.. "lt. l\ \ t,ac o n of the army, and consis ted of p ikcmcn, a rch ers and
A C
D of S.Hl)
crossbowmen . I t sho uld h o wever be no ted that
F R A NCE
, w hat we ca ll 'cava lry' usuall y d ismou n ted to figh t,
a nd m ost battles in this period we re ulti m a tely
T errit ories of Valois Burgundy. The heavy line s how s the ba ttles of infan try.
a pp roxi ma t e borders of t he Empire. A: Land s acqu ired by (4) The ' taskfo rce' : usuall y overloo ked , but
D u k e Philip the Bold. B: Lands acqui red by Duke John the
Fearless: C: Lands acquired by Duke Philip the Good. D : Lands a bsolutely vita l to a ny m ed ieval a r my, and
acquired by Duke Charles the Bold. E: Lands of th e junior a lthough never included in the num bers of
branch o f t he Valois duke s. F: Bishoprics u nd er Burgundian
con t rol. G : T errit o ry under Burgundian influen ce. , combata nts, cou ld be cou nted by h u nd reds if not

4
 •

thousands in a ny wa r or mere troop movement.

These were the miners, ca rpe n ters, sto ne masons
(fo r cutting canno n balls), blacksmiths, fa rriers,
brigandiniers (fo r repai rin g brigandi nes), cl erks,
waggoners, barrel makers (barrels were ofte n used
for cons tructing temporary bridges), ropemakers
(who were also responsible for providing bow a nd
cross bow strings), sadd lers, cooks, priests and :
surgeons.

Transport, Food, Medical and Finance

Manoeuvra bility, im port ant to a ny arm y, was
provided by a vas t tea m of waggoners a nd ca rte rs .
Oli vier de la M archc, writing a bout a n exped ition
in 1474, mentions z.ooo iwaggo ns carrying the
artillery and 400 waggons to transport 2,000 tents.
This may be a n exaggera tion, bu t it can no t have
been rare in th e 15th centm y to see between 500
and 1,0 0 0 waggons accom pa nying an arm y.
Transport had to be orga nized for every th ing from
the dukes' gold plate to dozens of leather boats, and
according to a docum ent of 1468 a bombard al on e
required a minimum of 24 horses. Apart from pikes
and swo rds, whi ch were usuall y ca rried in bundles,
most other items ca rried by a n a rmy on the march John the Fearless, perhaps the ruo st astute of the Valois dukes,
were transported in barrels, doubtless the com- and certainly the best militarist. The antagonism between
Burgundy and France started during John's reign, and reached
monest containe r of the middle ages. Anything from a peak when he was murdered by the French while talking to
the Dauphin on the bridge at Montereau. It is Irorric that Duke
herring to win e barrels were used for ca rrying John is wearing a mail s h i r t under hi s clothing in this
armour, crossbows, a m m unition, gunpowde r, mal- anonymous portrait. (M u s e c de Bcsancon ]

lets, axes and bowstrings; some were even fitt ed
with locks.
Provisions for the army were mostly obtained
locally, a nd men were expected to buy and pay for
their own food. Following the baggage train would
be numerous merchants, travelling along with the
army and selling their wares on the way. H owever,
in spite of strict orde rs to the contrary, sold iers
commonly pillaged for food, crea ting great
unpopularity and antagonism among th e civilia n
population. M ost combata n ts were expected to
cook for themselves, but the nobility brought their
own cooks with them , together with utensils and
tents. Provisions for horses always presented a
problem, and we often find servants going far afield
to buy fodder, sometimes under the protection of
men-at-arms. . travelling to j oin the main a rm y. All the ducal
Although no clear t ext~ have been discovered
proving the existence of medical fa~jli tics, there was
'"'
probably some sort of organisation. Two surgeons
were pre en t during th e siege of Veil exon ( '409),
a nd occasional mentions a re found in the lists of
personnel of con te m pora ry French a rmies on
ca m paign; there are one o r two illustrations in
Burgundian manuscripts of d octors looking a fter
wounded soldiers, a nd there exi ts a list of the
medicines a nd instruments that a surgeo n required
in the field.
Typically, the financial aspect was meticulously
organised , so much so that Charles the Bold has
been accused of being the precursor of modern
bureaucracy though unjustl y, for his predecessors
were eq ua lly meti culous. The ducal accounts
preserved at Dijon mention every detail of expend i-
ture, from the manufacture of bombards to the
number of loa ves ea ten by a small con tinge n t
accounts, whether military o r civil, were cen tralised
at the two chambres des comptes, in Dijon for the two
Burgundies, and in Lillc for th e northern pos-
•

tat r Ii d n r; II lall vi r; r th ir military r; I' .

arly m di val fI udalism, ba d on gratuitou
militar r i fr m va al had gradually be n
aband n d in Fr n luring th 14th c ntury: it
\ a unr liabl pro iding tr p fI r inad quat and
itT gular p riod of ser i . In tad, monar h
ummon d th ir _va sal wh n ne d d, and paid
them for th ir I' i as rt f mi-feudali m lying
bet\\/ en tru r; udali m and th ration of tanding
•
annl .
Th nu I us f th rmy \ a th man-at-arms.
part from major arist ra yuh as duk ounts
and baron , the m n-at-arms con ist d of:
(I) lzevaLiers bannerets: p w rful and ri h nobles
who had th right to rais a banner a qual' or
r tangular flag baring th ir arms.
('2) hewHers bacheliers I' ba chevaliers: m. m b rs f
the lesser aristocracy. who bore a f()rkcc!' pennoll.
( ) ECll)'erS ( quir s): min I' ari t rat or bourg oi
wh \ r affill nt n ugh t pI' id th ms 1 es
\ ith th near a utr m nt : armour hors
r h I' and al t _Through ut th \Vh 1 P riod f
th aloi duk s th majority ofm n-at-arm am
from the t\ 0 Buro-undi nd t a I r xtcnt th
Philip the Good, by Rogier van der Weyden (C.1400 64). Under
pro\'in of rtoi. M n-at-arm w r paid a ord-
Philip' r ign Burgundy reached the zenith of its glory; ing t th ir rank. \ chevalier bacheLier ould b
although the extent of it territorial po e ion wa greater
under hi on, Charle the Bold, the decline had already t in promot d to a hevaLin bamzeret by applying to th
by the time of Charles's acce ion in 1467. A wi and abl \..a.ptain ofth arm . h \ uld ha\' t hay b t\\' en
ruler, Philip took great care to urround hitnself with the
a tutest statesmen of the titne. He founded the Order of the '25 and 5 m n-at-arms und r hi mmand to b •

Golden Fleece, whose embletn he wear here: a chivalric 'club'

loos ly ba ed upon the Engli h Order of the Garter. (Mu ee upgrad d and ifhi appli ati n \o... cr su ful th
des Beaux-Arts de Dijon) pint of hi pennon \\' uld b rcmonially ut off
I aving him with a squar r r tangular bamzeret.
s s. ion. 1 h r i occasional id n of s riou Citi and town, in Burgundian t rritory were
delays in paying the troops or of sol Ii r bing 1. 0 ubjc t to certain r; udal bligations in spit of
substantially underpaid. Ithough badly paid th ir j alou ly-guard d right. Mu h of the man-
troops wer apt to pillag and d rt, it i pos ibl pow I' and infantry weI' drawn from Fland I' ,
that thi was an intentional m a ure to discourag Holland and Ze land and th FI mi h towns in
d s rtion although rumours cir ulated at on time parti ular \ ere renowned for their pik men. They
to the (fe t that the 1ar hal had appropriated the ared rib dinana count fI47I a a hhaving
funds. Booty" as consid r d to be a part of men s a all t, brigandine, word and pik ,or a long lane
pay, whi h accounts for the total de truction of \ ith a slend r haft and a long- harp pear-head,
b ieged towns once th y had b n tak n: during utting on three id . In pite of their reputation
the pillage of Dinant in 1466 v n the I ad from th th y contributed li tie but trouble to the duk s
roofs of hou \ a tak n. demon trating a I' markabl obstinacy to mu tel'
ndl ly arguing 0 r pay and length of 5 rice,
Recruitlllent and on at last t 0 oc a ions running igno-
Right up to th iniddle of Charles th Bold's reign, miniously away in the fa e of th en my. The
wh n the fir t perman nt 'armi s w re appearing, northern town gradually nt fewer and few r
the dukes of Burgundy, like all Europ' an poten- tra p, and fulfilled th ir fi udal obligations by
6
 •
aying utag or hi ld-m ney, whi h was us d to Franc, in whos territory Burgundy lay, ould b •

hir m enarie .
I' ompletely I' Ii d on for any n cary military
assi tan . It wa , aft I' all, his land, and the duke
trength was his own on. But from thes mod t b ginnings
Ev n before officially taking p s ssion of the Du hy the dukes of Burgundy w re to reat on of th
fBUl'gundy in 1364the fir t Valois duke, Philip the mo t powerful armies of Europe, and certainly the
-".lold, set about organising its deft n . H named a most modern.
lieut nant and a marshal, and ord I' d a ompl te Wh n' Duke Ph~lip's father-in-law, Louis de
, view of the troops that could be levi d from his Mael , di d in 1384, Philip inh rited, a h had
Cluchy. From the I' cords that have urviv d in plann{':' va t lands: Fland rs, rtois, the ountyof
ijon, the capital, \ e know that this I' view Burgundy (also called the Franche-Comt') Rethel
'ecord d a total ofone chevalier banneret, 134 chevaliers and Salins. His military power was cons quently
baclzeliers, 105 ecu)'ers, 19 mounted arch rs on considerably nhanc d; and wh n h tra ell d up
rumpet I' and a farri r. If this figure of 259 to Flanders later in th same year w find him with a
ombatants s ms unbelievably' mall it hould b large cort of nin chevaliers bannerels, 76 chevaliers
rem mb red that at this time Burgundy on isted baclleliers, 216 ecuyers, two mounted ar h rs and a
nly of th du hy (s e map), and that the king of onting nt of 46 Geno s 1'OS bO\ m n th fir t
tim t)lat wel am offoreign mer nari among his
troop. In 20 year, through a brilliant marital
allianc , John had in I' as d his stat s im-
m a urably, and created an army to be r ckon d
with.
In num rating th armi s of Burgundy the
hi torian i fac d with th xagg ration a ammon •
in the middle aO' s and v ry gr at are is n d d.
1·01' xample at the Li'ge l' b Ilion f q,08
Ion trel t a ont mporary hroni I l' m ntion
30,000-35,oooBurgundian ombatant and 3 000
Li'geoi 1. Th latter figur may v n s em to b
onfinned from the report of another quite inde-
p ndent chronicl 1', hristin d Pi an. For-
tunat I hower, the truth is re al d from th
ducal alary a count, whi h show that John put
into the field no more than 3,915 men, in luding ten
trumpeters and t n minstr Is!
In pite of his xten i e lands the se and duke
John the Fear! ss, probably ne er put many more
than 10,000 combatants in the fi ld. Hi larg st
army was probably that mustered in 1417 for an
attack on Paris, of whi h we know the exact
compo ition See Table .
John's large army was, however, an exception:
the Burgundian armi s of the first three dukes
seldom numbered more than 6 500 combatants,
Charles the Bold, last of the Valoi dukes, aged about 30: after and, ere often small r. I t was not un til Charles the
Rogier van der Weyden. Charles remains the most unfor-
tunate and enigmatic of all the Burgundian dukes. Literally Bold's reign that Burgundian armies of 10,000 and
hacked to an appalling death by the Lorrainers and Swiss at
the battle' of Nancy in 1477, he left only a daughter, who more became common though ev n th n a large
married the Emperor Maxim,ilian. The Burgundian state
coUaps d shortly afterward ,and was divided between France lIt is noteworthy that the total population of Liege at this time wa no
and the Empire. (Dahlcrn Museum, Berlin) more than 20,OOO!

7
 •

Table A: Arxny of 1417

Burguudian
Iroo/)s and Dllm l FI('11/ i,IIL
, ,

IlIl'l'CI'II anes ullard conIIII,.., II I

(T (' Iolal
Seigneurs (I' Holel '" 19
,

Baunerets GG ' [ 5 II1cn - (),oB I

Baclteliers [ [9 , [ a t - a rills
-
Ecuyers
•
(un s pecilied )
5, 7°7 [54
ivl o u n ted sold icrs 4, r oz [43 H7 I o rr- »
_. ~ .) . ) -

1nfantry
Trumpeters
G2 ,
-
')
G·I,
50 r. ,)
lvl i nst rcls 3 .L
~)
()
.)
H eralds
[ I
Priest

proporti on of com ba ta n ts were m ercenaries; there The Italian mercenaries

ma y have been aro u nd [S ,ono Burgundian co m -
batants fi ghting th e Li cgcois in [4,G7 and so me
[2 , 0 0 0 at the battle of M orat in LpG.
An ana lysis o f four o f J o h n th e Fearless' armies
has provided th e Ioll owi ng breakd own by place o f
• •
o ngm :
Fland ers and Art ois
The Burgundi es
Alli e: a nd m ercenari es
Th ese proporti ons probably hold tru e fo r D u ke
J ohn 's successo rs, a nd it ma y be noticed that a thi rd
o f th e troops had to be fo und o u tside native
Burgundian territory. Ind eed , th e Burgundian
duk es a lways suffered fro m axhortagc o f troops:
th ey cou ld a lways be outnumbered by t he Frenc h,
a nd Charl es th e Bold was o u t n u m be red even by the
Sw iss and their allies a t Nancy in ''In. The usual
way of increasing mi lita ry m an power was to
persuade one's a llies to fi ght o n o ne 's side, o r a t leas t
to contribute so m e troops, an d to hire mercenaries.
A lthough all the Burgundia n dukes h ad reco urse to
m e rcena ries, Charles the Bo ld was the master of
rec ru iting these professional sold ie rs; from [4 72
onwards he used increasingl y g rea te r num bers o f
I tal ian and E nglish mercena ries, toge t her wi th
sm a lle r grou ps of Germa ns andSwiss,
The I ta lia ns, with th eir privat e a rmi es o f rondo ttirri,
were ideally su ite d fo r II1l'1'ccn ary rccru it nu- n t . ;1I1d
Charles th e Bold es pecia ll y admired i hcm '. I n q 7[
he wrote to th e sig no ry of Veni ce as king th em to
allow him to e m ploy th e g re a test rondottiere of th e
cen t u ry, Bartolomeo Collcoui, wh« a lt houg h agn l
7 0 and li vi ng in se rn i- rc tt rc mc n t in hi s cas tle still
e njoyed a legendary fame. 1t says mu ch lor hi s
reputation that th e Ven eti ans refused 10 le t him go,
fearing that his a bse nce would in vite a n a ttac k by
th e duke of Mil an ; and in sp ite of num e rous
negoti a tions at ambassadorial level, e nd less co r-
respondence a nd hu rc o ffe rs o lmoncy, C ha rles was
never able to o b ta in C ollconi 's se rvices , H owe ver,
in "l72 and [47 3 he succeeded in hiring at least
th ree o the r condottieri , incl ud in g Nicola d e M on-
forte, co unt of Campobasso, who was to betray him
dreadfully at th e battle o f an c y four years la ter.
The three I talians brought al ong Gso lour-horse
lan ces, 500 foo tsoldie rs a nd 500 mou nted c rossbow-
m en , a nd con tracted to serve C ha rles for three
years. In the followin g years mo re and more Ita lia ns
were procured, and Charles's army at the end of his
reign was probably d ominated by them, at least as
fa r as his captains a rc concerned .
'Sec ~ IA:\ I :i(i, Ital ian .IIN/if ml A rmies 1300--15uo,
 •
• Practically every rrran in medieval
Europe wore hose on the lower half
of his body. They were originally
s e p a r a t e legging s s h a p ed rather
• • • like waders, and laced to the doub-
.• \ let. (L e ft ) From s t u d ie s of hanged
Inen by Pisanello (1395-1 '155), repro-
', "1;:\
' -
.I. .• 1
I"
I,

. -
/\
,
-
•
.,
_.
•
duced by permission of the Frick
Collection, New Yor-k, This shows
~ ~ ~
.J ~ . ,i . separate hose with attached leather
•
-•t : .
.
i ~ -:'·
.'~
_... , ••....
,..- . I
... s o les. (T o p ) The method of fa sten-
,,
i
•
( " "-~. \ ing the 'points' or laces. (Bo t t orn and
J, o •
. \ •
• right ) Double hose, which super-
A ~
!
,
I '
,
~ _~ \ ,
.•
..'. ::/
.J
:\
,
I .,.'
•
o
seded separate hose, with the two
legs joined into a s in g le garlnent;
t.. ' '..1 r·
,;{.;
(. o .
• •
•
!
J
' I
0

,•
." . these were corrrrrion by the end of
• the 15th century. (Drawings by G. A.
'" / -, I, Embleton) .
I i"'--"
-
\ I

\ I r. ·
f :' ( ~
.,
,
' ". . .
.j

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lf ' 0.
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\\- .' .• .

I • • •

The English mercenaries The Swiss and German mercenaries

Ever since English a nd W elsh a rc he rs proved their These were used to a much lesser exten t. I t is ofte n
wort h against the French during the Hundred difficult to know whi ch nation is meant in con-
Years War, they had been a favourite acq uisition of tem porary accounts, fo r the term 'Germa ns' was
mercena ry-see kers. The dukes of Burgund y wh o, used ind iscrimin atel y fo r a ny peoples living within
because the wool trad e was vital to their northern the con fi nes of th e Em pire . The word 'Swiss' was
possessions, nearl y always maint ain ed fri endl y only sta rting to come into popular usage at the end
relations with the En glish , ofte n used sma ll numbers of the 15th cen tury, a nd implied the Confederate
of these reli able a rche rs befo re 14 72. I n that year can tons: th e Swiss pro bably though t of themselves
Ki ng Edward IV sen t Cha rles the Bold 1 I as Germans, after their local identities of Bernese or •

men-at-arms, 27 moun ted a rche rs a nd 16 a rchers Lucerners or Zii richers . T he reputation of the Swiss
on foot, followed by 200-300 more a rc he rs, who as a fighting force was made in the r a th century
distinguished themsc\ves a t the siege of 1 ijmegen in when the Confede ra tes repeatedly d efeated the
1473. In 1474 King Ed ward sen t another con- H absburgs' far su pe rior a rmies by a co m bination of
tingent of 13 men -at-a rms with 1,000 a rchers, who their mastery of the halberd , cun ning tactics, a nd a
fo ught bravely a t the battle of Ncuss agains t the total disregard fo r d anger together with an
Emperor's ~ rmy . From then on, we find Sir J ohn inordinate delight in fighting. By the 15th cen tu ry
Middleton cap tain of an entirely English compa ny they had d eveloped a .pike phalanx or sq uare that
of ordina nce in Duke Charles's army, and in 1476 was impenetrable by cavalry, and were the first to
there were 780 moun ted English a rchers in the bring a flexible a nd important infan try force to
l
d ucal household guard . It is strange to see names European a rmies . . .

such as Dickfield or Ebrington a p pea ring among In 1444 Philip the Good em ployed 500 or 600 91'
the combatants a t the battle of M orat in May of them at the battle of Iontlhery, where they
that year, and many must have been slaughtered by confronted the future King Louis .of France.
the Swiss after Charles's ignominious defeat. At Although they were d efeated they . made a n
Charles' last battle at ". a ncy in 1477 a bou t 1,000 impression on the you ng prince that W <l:S l!ever
British archers were present: The few survivors forgotten, a nd his successors not only remained on •

struggled back to England: one John Turnbull good terms with them, but em ployed large numbers
• •
brough t back only 34 ou t of the 96 in his com ma nd . ·Sec :-'IAA g.t. Tht Swiss at War 1]00-15 00.

9

of th em in the Fren ch a rmy during most of the I Gth
century. Both th Swiss a nd Germa n mercen ari es
rarely too k 'prisoners, massacring princes, nobles
and com mo n sold iers alike, a nd the increasing usc of
these profession al wa rriors towards th e end of the
midd le ages struck a hea vy blow to the old chivalric
cod e of honour. -,
, time of war, C ha rles now had a serious force a t his
ianes lile ()tJS
Der l110 1Zelzt J11Z
The levying of vassals and rec rui ting ofmercena ries
was inefficie nt and ex tre mely slow. In 1467 it took
over two months to muster forces for the Liege
campaign , and troops often a rrived a ft er the
fightilw was over. The only solu tion was to pay fo r a
permanen t professiona l army. There had been a
permanent d ucal household gua rd from a t least
14 I g. Powerful a ris toc ra ts also maintained simila r,
sma ller bodygua rds, a nd towns retained perm anent
garrisons, bu t there was nothi ng th at could be
ca lled a ta nding ~rmy .
In 1467, afte r the Liege ca mpaign, C ha rles th e
Bold asked his ca ptains if a ny of their me n would be
willing to co ntin ue their service beyond the normal
time, in order to assure the occ upa tion of the
principality, T hose who acce pted were garrisoned
at Liege a nd M aastricht and were im media tely
paid for 15 days, bu t un fo rtu na tely no reco rds seem
to exist that would tell us how long these men
served .
In J a nuary 1471 war erupted in Picard y, a nd
although peace was proclaimed in Marc h C ha rles
,took the un precede nted step of con tin uing to recruit
troops. In April Charles a nnou nced his intention of
mustering 1,250 lances; and an y men-at-arms,
a rchers or others wishing to serve in his ordonnance, as
it was called, were to ga the r around Arras in Artois
on 15 M a y, with their weapo ns a nd eq uip men t. On
20 M a y the duke proclaimed his wish to reinforce
. the number of his com panies with 1,200 crossbow-
men , 1,250 handgunners• and 1,250 pikemen, who
were to p rese nt• themselves, fully equip ped , before
.15] une. On 29 .J une C harles wen t down to Dijon
•
and a nnounced tha t a ny' men-at-arms, archers,
crossbowrnen, handgunners or pikemen in the two
10
'"
Burg undi es wishing to serve should muster on 2
August, a rmed a nd eq uip ped in acco rda nce with
'a n ord ina nce soon to be proclaimed' . Thi s Abbe-
ville ord ina nce of 3 1 ]uly l i~ 71 , th e first of three
principal d ocuments, was to mark the progress of
Burgundi a n military power from a n a ntiq uated,
ineffi cien t fe udal system to th at of a modern a rmy.
In add ition to feudal levi es,. the town militia and
foreign mercenaries, who ould still be called up in
perm anent di sposal. At the sa me time he trans-
formed the household troops, increasing them in
1474 to an elite force of abo u t 40 mou nted
cha m berla ins and gen tle me n, a nd a personal
bodygua rd of 126 me n-at-a rms and 126 a rchers . In ·
1476 the household troops consisted of 400 infantry,
a nd the guard included four I oo-stro ng com panies
of mounted English arche rs. On the eve of• the battle
of Morat the household troops al one numbe red
over 2,000 comba ta nts.
The Corrrpagrries d'Ordonnance
C ha rles the Bold 's military reputati on rests mainl y
on this ex traord inarily d etail ed re-organisat ion of
his arm ies: his compagnies d'ordonnance, a lt hough a t
fi rst based on earlier mod els of King C ha rles V II of
Fra nce, were to beco me the basis for most i Grh
ce ntury a rmies for long after his' untimel y death a t
the ba ttle 01'1 a ncy in 14 77, and ma y be said to ha ve
influenced the organisatio n of a ll Europea n a rmies
in ea rly mode rn times.
C ha rles in troduced many ordi nances, the first
being in 1468, which dealt mainl y with disciplinary
measu res and eq uipme n t. H owever, the most
im portant a nd enligh tening ordi na nces were th ose
of 147 I , 1472 and 1473 from which a remarka ble
pictu re of the li fe a nd organisa tion of a late
medieval a rm y m ay be gleaned : salaries, leave,
uniform, eq uip me n t, drill , inspections, flags, billet-
ing, roll-calls, punishment a ll a rc laid d own in the
detail that reflects the direct intervention of Charles
himself. It is very unusual to find C ha rles the Bold 's
military ord in ances set out in full in modern history
books, but as these are so important to the
understanding of the orga nisa tion of his armies,
pa rticularl y the rema rka ble ord ina nce of St.
Maximin, I have set down the con ten ts of almost a ll
the clauses with very little ed iting:
 •

(I) The Abbeville ordinance: 31 July 1471
The Abbevi lle ord ina nce dealt with the orga nis-
a tion of the 1,250 la nces th at were recru ited.
Around the fi rst hal f of t he 15th cen tury the word
' la nce' ca me to d esign ate not a n ind ividu al by his
weapon, but a group of combatan ts va rying in
num ber from four to nine, head ed by a
ma n-at-arms. Although m ost military histori ans
claim that the lance was purel y a n a d m inistra tive
en tity, there seems to be evide nce th at it could well
ha ve served as a ta ctical unit.
I n the Abbeville ord ina nce each lance was to
consist of: one man-a t-arms, with a mounted page
a nd a swordsma n (coustillier); three a rc hers, m oun-
•
ted; and one crossbow ma n, one handgunner, a nd
one pikeman, on foot. This gives a tota l for 1,250
la nces of 10,000 comba ta n ts in a ll (pages d id not
fight), di vid ed into 12 com pa nies. I t will be
noted tha t the distincti on be twee n chevalier
banneretsibacheliersiecuyers h as been dropped: the
a rmy is becom ing a professional one, no longer
being based on socia l sta tus, and a ll m en-at-arms
a re paid the sa me . The eq uip men t of certain
m embers o f the la nce is prescri bed: the
m an-at-arms must ha ve a fu ll armou r, th ree horses
(two being rid d en by the page a nd swords m a n), a
wa r sad d le a nd cha rn fra in, and must ha ve blue a nd
w hite plumes on his sa lle t a nd cha m fra in . H e was
a lso issued with , a ve rm ilion .velve t St. Andrew's
crossfor
.. .-,. his a r mou r, b u t we a re not told h ow it was
to be fix ed.
T he th ree m ounted archers must . each eq uip
themselves with 30 a r rows, a bow, a two-ha nd ed
sword a nd a dagger. T he swordsm a n must have a
spea r, a swo rd and a d agger, a nd both he a nd the
a rc he rs were issued with a blu e a nd white jacket
bearing a red St. A nd rew's cross.
As stated, the a rmy was organ ised into 12
•
com panies of 100 lances . eac h: a cOl:n pa n y of
ord ina nce was com ma nded by a conducteur' and the
IFro m the l ta lia n condottierr, whic h sho ws huw much C ha rles was
influenced hy thc l ialians: the usual French term was capitain«.

•
,
'f
•

• ,
•

• . ", •
• " .
. (L e ft) Duke Philip the Bold commissioned a retable, of which this figure of St. George
forms part,"from Jacques de 8aerze, a Flemish wood carver from Ghent active around
the end of the 14th century. St George's visored baseinet, by far.the most common h elmet
throughout Europe from C.1380, has a mail aventail which is attached to his jupon or
pourpoint coat armour by ' p oin t s ' . T~i s s h a pe of s w o r d pommel was in common u se
•
from c.1350 until the first quarter of the 15th century; but the lance-rest protruding
, through a cut-out in the pourpoint is a very rare feature as early a s this. (Ab o ve) The pourpoint
: of Charles de Blois, Duke of8rittany, killed at the battle of Auray in 1364. If the buttons
... were fa stened the 'wasp waist' seen in the St. George carving would become apparent.
[M use e des 8eaux-Arts de Dijon; Musee I-listorique des Tissus, Lyon )

1I
 •

treasury, but was com mo n p rac tice in order to

encou rage poten tia l d esert ers to rem ain with the
a rmy until the next pa y-d a y.

(2) The ordinance of Bohain en

I Verman dois: 13 November 1472
•
I
Besid es elabora ting the previous ord ina nce, tha t of
\ • • • 147 2 ca lled fo r asligh t reduction in the number of
c
•
•
. ",
tro,o Rs. There we re to be 1 , 2 0 0 m en-at-arms each
acco mpa nied by a m ounted page a nd swordsman,
3,000 m ounted a rche rs, 600 m ounted crossbow-
men , 2,000 pikemen , 1 , 0 0 0 archers on foot , a nd 600
handgu n ners on fo ot. I t m a y be seen tha t the
composition of the lance was not a lways the same:
.o . •
~
however, the organisa tion of th e compa ny and
hierarchy rem ained unchanged , as did the sa laries,
a pa rt from the pikema n, who now received four
•
• fran cs like th e handgu nne r and crossbowrnan .
The ea rl ies t s u rvivin g complete ho r-se a rm o u r , by Pier
Inno cenzo d a Faerno of I\lilan, c.14So. Horsc a rrrr ou r' h ad by I n this ordinance we a re in for med of th costume
this tj rrre b ecome quite efTective, due to an ever-pressing need a nd eq uip me n t of the th ree in fantr ymen:
to protect one' s rn nurrt Frorn arch ery and pj lce for-rna rions,
Much horse armour was of mail; and in 1445 Dulle Philip the The handgunner should be cq ui p pcd wi th a sleeved
Good o r de red a 's t e el h ard made in the m anner of a
brigandine '. (Ku ns t h is l o r isch e n Mus eum, Vicnna ) mai l sh irt, a gorgerin (m a il or plate a rmour p rotec-
ting the th roat a nd nec k), a sa llet and a breas tplate.
100 Jances were divided into tens, each gro u P of ten Apart from his g u n, he shou ld ca rry a d a gger a nd a
com ma nded by a diseuier. This gro u p of ten lances one- ha nded swo rd .
was itself d ivided in to two unequ al cltambres, six ' The archer sho uld wear a b rigandi nc over a
lan ces commanded by the disenier a nd four com - padded jacket, some a r mou red rei nforcem en t on his
ma nded b y ache] de chambre. T he cha in o f com mand' forearms, a gorgerin, a sa llct, and must carry a long
stipu la ted th at the chefde cliambre was su bord ina te to sha rp d agger, a lead hammer (p resu m a bly fo r
the disenier, w ho m ust o b y the conducteur. The plan ting sta kes) a nd a bow and quiver hanging
conducteur was unde r the orders of the behind.
comma nder- in-c hief. The pikeman m ust wear a sleeved jacke t re info rced
Each co m pa ny a lso enj oyed the services ofa clerk with plates, a nd a breastplate. His right arm sho uld
a nd a tru m pe te r, a nd possi bl y a surgeo n a nd a be protected by mo re p la te a rmo u r, a nd his left a rm
billeting officer. Salaries we re as fo llows: by a targe (a small rou nd shield ). ' ince he would
need both h ands free to wield h is wea pon, the ta rge
Conducteur 100 fran cs m a y h ave been fastened to his a r m .
Disenier 24 fran cs
Chef de chambte ;> (3) The ordinance of St. M a xim in de
•

Man-at-arms 15 fran cs T'revese October 1473

M ounted a rche r 5 fran cs This remarkable ordinance is by far the most
H andgunner 4 francs com plete, and involves a total re-organisation of
C rossbowma n 4 fran cs the com pany in the I talian style. I nstead of bing
Pikernan 2 patars divid ed into grou ps of te n lances, com m anded by a
disenier, the company is to consist of fou r sq uad rons
Wages we re d is tribu ted a t inspections, w hich took of 25 lances, each sq uad ro n led by a cliff d'escadre.
pla ce every q ua r ter. H owever, occasions a re found T he quadron is subd ivided in to four chambres, each
where sala ries were paid three or even four m onths of which is composed of six lances under a chef de
in arrea r : this d oes not reflect thes ta te of C ha rles's chambre. The com posi tion of the la n ce (w h ich is not
I ~
 •

Table B: C orrrp a n y O rganis a tion, 1473

,

Number in 16 chambres 4- squadrons

a lance consisting of consisting of Company
M en-at-arms I 6 25 ,
100
Swordsme n I 6 25 10 0
, , mounted
Valets I • 6 ..25 100
Archers 3 18 'I •
,' "'-J. ''
. ~ '""r 75 30 0
Crossbowmen I 6 25 100
Pikemen I 6 25 100 o n foot
Handgunners I 6 25 10 0

T otal 9 54 90 0

sta ted ) was almos t certainly based on the original with th e conse n t of th e householder in the latter •

14 71 ord ina nce, a nd a co m pa ny would have been case. Much space is devoted to discipline,' a nd th e
orga nised as in T able B. conducteurs a nd chefs d'escadre must assure the good
In practice, the com pa ny rarel y achieved the cond uct of their men towards the population. A
necessary cflcc tivcs, a nd the missing numbers were co m missa ry is to be appointed to record any
some times provided from the feudal levies or co m pla in ts from the civilia ns and make good any
mercenaries not connec ted with th e ord ina nces. d amage, th e cost being d educted from the culp rit's
After the preamble, the ord ina nce d escribes how ncx I pa y I. Th e co m mon pra ct icc of torci ng one '5
the conducteurs a re to a p ply for their positions in host to go ou t a nd bu y wine at his own expense must
writing, and th eir subseq ue n t electi on by the duke, cease forthwith , a nd victua ls are to be paid for at
which is to remain in force for no more than a yea r. ' m a rke t prices. H owever, the town is to provide
Conducteurs a re responsible for selecting their chefs cooking u tensils a nd bed d ing.
d'escadre a nd hearing their oath of loyalty to the The morning or de part ure is to be herald ed by
duke. three trumpet calls. On the first, everyone must
The chefs de chambre must furnish their supe rior pack his baggage; on th e second th e lances, cltambres
office r with a list of the names and addresses of eac h and sq uad rons must form up; and on the last call,
man under their orde rs. The chef d'escadre must they must assemble in their respective com pa nies.
similarly provide a list to his conducteur, who is to give The conducteur of each com pany must carry a n
one copy to th e duke, if present on ca m paign, and ensign of distincti ve design a nd colour. Ea ch chef
keep the othe r in a safe place: the ordina nce suggests d'escadre must carry a corne t m atching his
he keep it in his hat! conducteur' s ensign, but marked in golde n lettering
Billeting procedures are set down in d etail: the respectively 'c', 'cc' , 'ccc' , 'ecce' for each sq uad ron.
army must wait ou tside the town while a billeting Each chef de chambre is to wear a bannerole on his
officer from each com pa ny, together with a sallet, again matching his company's ensign, bear-
man-at-arms from each squadron accompanied by ing the number of c's corresponding to his sq uad -
three archers, make the necessary arrangements. ron, and designating the number of his' chambre.
Soldiers are not to leave their ranks during this time Thus . ~~i~ c ind icates the third chambre of the fourth
and may not take lodgings other than those allotted lit is ill ustrat ive to note that in ea rlier Fren ch orders conce rning
to them. Any com plaints are to be referred to the billeting, heavy punis hments were provided for billeting officers who
accepted bribes from townspeoplc not to bille t men in thei r property,
conduc/eur. . . a nd also substantial fi nes fo r townspeo ple who purposely madc thei r
For prolonged stays, however, m.en may choose c~ lod gings unin habita ble, by breaking furni ture etc. It sccmcd to be
m mo n opinio n th at a ny. civil possessions used by th c armies, from
between lodging in a hostel or-in private houses, beds ( 0 utensils, were as good as lost.
13

. squadron of th mpany. n the mar h v ryol1
must k p tog th rand r [ull fall \ hi n ign
r rn t. An on I a ing hi rank t rora CT
pillag is to b v r Iy puni h d by I ss fwa in
p a tim, by I . of quipm nt in tim o[war and
i[ in n my t rritory, by d ath. D rt r ar of
our e tr at d mo t v r Iy; and wb n a d rtion
i r port d marshals ar to b nt to th am nd r'
•
plac of r sid n to await and arT st him. Th
army mu t mar h [or t\ 0 da s progr ing t I a t
five I agu s daily, and may r st on th third day
nly if n c ssary.
ny man r quiring lea emu t apply in writing to
th man-at-arms under whos order h i gi ing
his r ason and th I ngth of tim r quir d. If hi
reque t s em l' a onabl., th - man-at-arms hould
pr nt hi a to th conducteuT for his signature.
The req u t i hand d to th chef d e cadre [or a
further ignature, th n to the chef de chambre who
mu t sign yet again th I to th reI ant m n-at-
arms \ h mu tala ign it, and finally gi e it ba k
to th original appli ant. Bur ucra y c rtainly
abound d!
In p a etim no mar than fi,' m n-at-arm
and I th I' soldier 1'1' m a quadr n may tak
I a at an on tim and in tim of war thi i
furth r l' tri t d to tw m n-at-arms and ix
soldier. 10r a 1', in ord r to di oura CT d-
rtion a man-at-arm mu t I ave hi b st horses
•
b hind him, and a soldi r all hi fighting
equipm nt. ny 0 er taying ofl a,' i puni h d by
the offend r s 10 s of wag for an qual tim to that
of his unauthori ed abs nc .
In ord r to pr v nt squabbl th haring o[
booty i. laid d wn: th conducteurs are entitl d to fiv
p rent of th valu o[ boot s iz d by th ir
ompanie ,th chefs d'escadre to t\ o-and-~-half p r
e ntofthatseiz d byth irsquadron and theclzefde
chambre to a quarter of that tak n by his chambre, but
only if he was present wh n it was acquired.
Inspection of men and quipm nt ar to be held
every three m nths in the pr nee of omm1 arie
and notari s. The borrowing or· substi tu tion of
missing equipm nt (a regular practice ven then,
•
judging from I gal r orels) is to be sever ly
punished, and the olii neling quipm nt onfi cat d,
half its value bing paid to the a euser and half to
the in peeling eommi ar:y. 'pay is di tributed at
ach in p ction as foIl w': .
14
orne helm t of types that would have been in comn~on u e in
the Burgundian arrnies during thi period.
( ) Vi ored bascin t, .1390. Perhap the mo t ammon
h 1m t dUI'ing the ond half of the 14th century, the ba dn t
r was of pointed can truction de igned to d n t word blow .
The holes around the low r edg were for fixing the a entail a
mail collar worn over thick, quilted padding. The ba dn t
with aventail weighed arond 121bs. (Swiss National Mu eum,
Zurich)
(B & C) Two 15th-century barbute OJ a uniquely Italian helmet,
the barbute i found in use from about 1430 and relnained
popular until the end of the century. (\Vallace Coll ction,
London) .
(D) Rond I armet, Netherlandish 01' English, .1475. The al met
probab,ly originated in ItalYj this uperb example ha a rondel
at the'back, the purpose of which was mo t likely to protect the
leather trap fixing another piece of annour round the neck.
The helmet weigh 911b . (Metropolitan Mu emn of Art, New
Yol'!()
(E, F & G) Chll/IlIl-tlr:ft'I-'k ttle hat '. Po sibly the IUost
common h hnet for the ordinary soldier (althou hE, probably
Burgundian C.146S, is a D'lagnificent exaUlple of metalwork),
kettle bat ofa kind are till worn by oldieI' of many IUodern
armie . F, with it trange callop d brim, i Fr ncb or
Burgundian, c.146oj it is a reminder that to di miss all
contemporary illustrations of' xotic' al'mour as fantastic i
unwise. G was found in the lake of MOI'at, and is most likely
a odated with the battle of 1476. (Metropolitan Mu eum of
Art, ew York)
(H) French or Burgundian al1et c.1480. One oJ the JUost
popular helIn t for men-at-arm and footsoldiers alike, tbe
allet could have either a vi or, a here, or JUerely a lit cut into
the skull. (Metropolitan Mu eum of Art ew York)
Man-at-arm 18 fran per month
30 pi tr + 3 franc p I'
•
'Izef d escadre
m nth
\1' h I'
3 01 P r da
~dountcd 1'0 b wman
In ca f d ath wa CT du up t th time of d ath
ar to b mad t the utaI' f th d cad.
\ \ h n th r i time or , h n garrison d th
conducleurs and chefs d e cadre and de c1zambre hould
take a deta hm nt of th ir men-at-arms into the
f1 Ids with or \ ithout •armour and train th m to
harg \ ith the Ian e to withdraw n mmand, to
rally' hila,· ring on another and to w;thstand
a harg. Th archers ar to pra ti di mounting
and hooting th ir bow, to mano uvr th ir hor es
,hil on foot and to advan rapidly without
br aking rank. Th pik men lTIll t be made to
ad anee in front of the archers and to kne I at the
latters ommand 0 that the ar h r may shoot 0 er
th ir h ads. In thi way the ordinan e declare, the
pikemen will be n ar nough th enemy to charge
them if th Y br ak rank. The arch rs should also
•
pra tiee fighting baek to ba k or in fi rmation,
alwa surrounded by pik m n to protect them
from an nemy harg. It is this d tail d tactical
., drill which s ems to sugg t that th Ian was not
 •

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Tabard of the Herald of the Duchy of Burgundy, in blue and
gold with a red border. Each region of the Burgundian tate
had it own herald. Apart from organising tournament and
prescribing chivalric ritual, they played an important part in
medieval warfare: etting out international rule of warfar ,
summoning the surrender of towns, and negotiating with the
en my. Towards the end of the 15th century the role of heralds
declined, and non-combatants uch as musician often took
over their dutie . (Kun thistori chen Mu eUn1, Vienna)
only an administrativ unit but ould p rfectly' 11
bused n the fi ld.
The pre n e of worn n in the army must b
ontroll d and the ordinan e d 'plore the wa in
whi h som m n maintain worn n a if th Y weI'
th ir \ i s \ hich w ar told leads t gr at
argum Ilt and in on enienc . No more than 30
om n ar to b allo\\ d t a ompany and no man
mu t take on a hi 0\ n 1 . Th re i to b no
wearing bad language or dicing.
The quipment of mo t of th m mber of the
lance i giv n in detail. he man-at-arms mu t
w ar a full br astplat a fauld (a skirt of metal
hoops) a sal! t barbute or armet surmounted by a
plum. H must b arm d with a long, light lane a
sharp knife hanging on th I ft ide ofhis addl ,and
a mace on the right. One of his thre hoI' es must be
capable of charging and wear a plum d chamfrain
and bard; and the oth l' t\ 0, for his pag and
cOllslillier (wordsman) must ha e cost at last 30
CCllS and 20 Ceus re pectiv ly. The cou lillier must
wear a brigandine or a split COl'S let 'in the German
manner', a gorg t (mail or plate collar) ta ets
(braies d acier, literally 'st el bre ches', which ould
also imply mail) vambrace (armour for the
IThis rule \ a obviously ov 'dooked in 1476 \ h n the Swi S, looting
hades the BoleI'. camp after dell ating him at Grandson apparently
found (to the pi asure ofsom , who are vividl. depi I d in the ",iss
chronicles with their new friends '2 00 fiUts dt joit far abO\' the
ploportion the ordinance would hay allo\\' d for his 11,000 trong
army. -"
16
•
for arm) <. nd auntl t . H mu t b qujpp d \ ith
a light Ian , that rna b I v I' d for harging if
n a r y th Burgundians int r p rs d th ir COllS-
lithers am ng th ir m n-at-arm on 0 asion, in
I'd r to d iv th n my as t th ir real numb I'
\ hich could imply that the I' \ a not much
apparent diIIer n e in quipm nt b tw nth m, at
lea t [rom a dis tan . He mu t also ha e a aood
WOJ9 and a long doubl - dg d dagger.
~.
The mounted ar h I' mu t po s s a hoI' e worth
not I than six fran ,and hould w ar a vi orle
sall t, a gorget, a brigandine or a I v I ss mail
shirt und rat n-Ia I' d jack. He should arry a
long sharp two-hand d word and a doubl - dged
dagger' his doubl t must not hay the fashionable
puffed-out upp rsl v and his fI I' arms should be
armoured, .. in su h a way as not to imp d his
hooting. Knee-length boots hould b worn with
,
hort spur and, ithout point d to in ord l' to I t
him \ alk fre ly. founted 1'0 sbO\ m n mu t ar
a brigandine or c I' let a th' coustillier, light
armour on th arm a g rg t all t and the sam
purs a th m unt dar hI's. Th ir hoI' mu t not
b worth I ss than t n ecus.
The word 'artillery' originally mbra ed any
engine capabl ofshooting projectil and in luded
giant cro sbo\ ,slings and atapult (us d in si ge
work) as w II as cann n and guns.
The first mention offir arms in Europe occurs at
the beginning of the 14th c ntury, and gunpowder
was probably used in battle from around 1320.
Guns were therefor still omething of an in-
novation when Philip the B ld took poss ssion of the
duchy of Bur undy in 1364: the inventory of the
duchy's ar enal in 1362 m ntion dellx quanons gitter
garroz (two guns for shooting bolts). rrows were
commonly used as proj til s in guns until the 16th
century, and among the in entory of w apon used
in a local Burgundian si g • in 1368 are listed: two
annon, stlbs po del' 14 quarrels, and 12 I ad
bullets.
Philip the Bold wa w 11 aware of the formidabl
artillery of the FI mish (b fore th y form d part of
the Burgundian tate), and in 1368 commissioned
 • •
the two brothers J acq ues and Roland of Majorca, a distance of nearly 40 road miles (62km). , Two
gun founders of international reput ,to cast a dozen hundr d men were ne d d to lift th biggest
large-calibre cannon. The broth rs remained in the bombard from its mould, and the two guns were
duke s service until about 1390, and regularly transport d by river, all the locks being broken
followed him on campaign. There is an account of down for greater speed. They were back at Vellexon
the man ufacture of one of their guns in the archi ves in working order, still hot from the forge, three
at Dijon: started on 12 October 1377 and finished weeks later, and we are given an account of their
on 9January 1378, it took the master founder and proving: four shots were to be fired, two at the
ight smiths 61 working days to compl teo It threw a expetJ.~,e
\ '","
of the repairers and two to be paid for by
.,
ball of4501bs, but did not resist a primary proofand the duke. If the guns burst (which they did not), the
had to be reinforced with five iron rings: cost, casters were to be fined 100 eellS.
£223 8s od. As the ready-prepared gunpowder supplied was
The Burgundian dukes all attached a great thought to be responsible for the bursting of so
importance to this extremely expensive novelty and many guns, 800lbs ofsaltpetre and 500lbs ofsulphur
spent colossal sums of money on increasing their were ordered from Paris; ten m n were then
arsenals, so that Charles the Bold at the end of his mployed for four days to mix the ingredients.
reign could boast of having the biggest and most Many enlightening events are d scribed: the bom-
•
advanced artillery park in Europe. Olivier d la bards contInually split the wooden barriers ,
fixed
Marche mentions '300 cannon not including behind th m to take the recoil, until these were
arquebuses and culverins without number', and th reinforced with iron straps. Anoth I' bombard had.
Swiss are supposed to have captured some 200 guns to have its ent drilled out as the red-hot iron rod ,

at the battle of Grand on in 1476. Unfortunately, used to fire it had broken off in ide. Special canvas
information on artillery at the end of the Valois apron had to be supplied to the gunners, who
dynasty is very scarce, as most of the documents and complained that their legs w re being burned by the
ar hive of Charles the Bold's reign disappear d back-fire from the vents of the bombards.
after hi death, on th ann xation of Burgundy to Little by little the besiegers advanced towards the
France. castle walls und I' cover of their wooden shelt rs,
The ducal account at Dijon give us an xtra- which were often knocked over by opposing
ordinary insight into the transport and operation of artillery. The impression given is one of immense
artillery, and the dangers and setbacks with which it industry: carpenters, stonemasons (18 masons were
was fraught. In Sept mber 14°9 Duke John the continually at work making cannon balls: from 2
Fearless ordered a siege to be carried out against the October 1409 to 2 January 1410 they made 1,600
castle of Vellexon, which belonged to Henri de balls), carters, artisans, workmen, miners and
Blamont, a Lorraine nobleman who had for some farriers, quite apart from the rank-and-file soldiers,
time been encroaching on Burgundian territory. all in a continuous flurry of activity.
First a palisade was constructed all round the castle In spite of the constant battering of the bombards
and the besiegers were issued with armbands (one of which threw an 850lb ball), catapults and
bearing the word 'dijon'. All the cannon used were slings, and although interior buildings' were
provided with large wooden shields to protect their effectively demolished when hit, little impression
operators from defenders on the ramparts. During was made on the outer walls ofVellexon, and any
the first days of the siege many guns exploded, small damage inflicted was immediately repaired
which was blamed on the inexperience of the by the defenders. In the end the castle fell by
gunners. More artillery was brought in, borr9wed mining, on'22 January 1410, four months after the
from towns all over the duchy, and experienced start of the siege. The accounts tell us that as soon as
German gunners were sent for from Basle and the the castles towers started to fall, all the disgruntled
Rhine. workmen packed their tools and made off without
In spite of this there was a further loss of cannon, so much as waiting for their wages, so long had the
and the archives go on to'describe how two of the siege dragged on. The castle was razed to the
largest bombards were sent to AUxOnne for repair'- ground with the help oflocal masons, but we are not
17
 told of the defi nd 1's' fat.
h author has isit d V Ilexon: th site of th
cast! i obvious from th t rrain but part from a
dubiou and d caying watch to l' now forming
part of a garage nothing l' mains but a few patch
f broken ston s. The illagers w re all unaware
that th re had e er been a astle high abo th ir
.coltag .
Types of Cannon:
It i ery difficult to la ify by name the typ s of
gun in use during the period of this book: th re seem
to have been no rules laid down for gun makers
on erning th dim nsion or alibre of pie ,and
name are u ed indis riminately. Th following
bri f Ii t is bas d on cont mporary appellations of
th guns d s rib d.
• go-mil d 'tour via B aune; it r quired .over 100
BOJnbard
Th e w I' th large- alibr gun u ed for i g -
ork. om time mad in tv 0 pie ,br hand
barr I they \ re ass mbl d in situ. om were huge:
we are told of bombards sho ting proj ctil s
w ighing from 300-950Ib. On used 36lbs f
gunpowder to shoot a 320lb ton ball, and anoth I'
n ed d 70lb of powd r to throw a 400lb ton.
Th y were mad ithcr of [org d hoop and sta
on truction (rath r lik a ylindri al barrel), or
ast from bronze.
The Ghent bombard on of the fi w r maining
Burgundian guns of this type and possibly us d at
the siege of Audenarde in 1382, icon truct d from
32 iron stav s reinforc d with 41 hoops. Eight n
feet long, it has a calibre of638mm, and used 1401bs
of gunpowd r to shoot a proj ctile w ighing 6001bs.
In use, the bombard was plac d in a shallow
tr nch of its own length and butted against massive
timber blocks in front of heavy pil s driven de p
into the ground. As we have seen in the account of
the siege of V llexon, th se timbers were prone to
split and oft !1 had to be replaced after each shot.
The recoil u ually put the bombard out of align-
m nt, and it was necessary to reposition it with
levers and cranes. These disadvantages were later
eliminated by the use ofa huge mass oflead (known
as an oreiller or pillow) b tween the br ech of the
gun and the timber blocks, and by restraining
lateral movement of the bombard by on fining it
within heavy timber walls on either-side. It was th n
18
also po sibl t ary the levation by upp rting th
muzzl n stak sins rl d thr ugh th "ails.
Th progr ss mad in th a tin' of mall I' pi es
from th middle of th 15th ntury au d
bombards with all the troubl and xp n that
their transport ntailed, to b incr asingly n glec-
ted, and most w re broken up and l' cast into more
manageable guns.
E~ h bombard was provid d with its own
waggon, or two if th gun wa large and had a
separate bree h. Th waggon were surmount d by
the ducal p nnons, and also carri d th bombard s
lifting apparatus if small; oth rwise a third waggon
was pro ided for the crane. Th huge' bombarde de
bowgogne', together with its supply of p wd 1', balls
and lifting apparatu , was transported from Dijon
to b i ge • vallon in 1433, taking eight day for the
hoI' e , six cart and up to 70 p ople.
-
Veuglaire
Veuglaires, or som tim s courtauts w r mall r than
the bombards; th y probably riginat d in Flan-
del'S and first app ar in the Burgundian ar hi s in
142. Lik the bombards, th y w re used in si ge
work, but w re not t fir t powerful nOllgh to be
u cd against castl \ ails' th y \ r probably u ful
for d moli hing Ii ht tru tur uch a h ardings.
Gun d scribed a veuglaires v ere anything
between three and ten fc et long with a alibI' of
[rom two to ten inch . They \I I' U ually to k din
a mas ive pi e of timber plac d on hug tr stl ,
but th small on s app ar fr qu ntly to ha e b n
mounted on ribaudequins, which wer no more than
waggons baring sev ral light uns load d with
hot. Som of the mall r veuglaires v er br ch-
loaders.
Couleuvrine
These guns originat d in G rmany, and they are
- first m ntioned in Burgundian docum nts at the
siege ofCompiegne in 1430, when Duke Philip the
Good purchased some from G rman casters and
arranged for German gunners to operate them.
They s m to have been from two to four feet long
with a calibre of on to two inch sand v,'ere made
ith r in one piece or supplied with thre or four
int rchangeable br ech s. One existing couleuvrine
shot 4 m I ad balls w ighing 360gms, and another
 St. George, by Antonio Pisano-'Pisanello' (c.1395 -1455)' The
saint wears a purely Italian arnlour of the Inid-15th century.
Note the great pauldrons worn over his peculiar coat arznour,
alznost overlapping at the back; and the stop-rib to prevent a
lance glancing up on to the neck His znail shirt is decorated •
with bands of'latten' or gilt Hnlcs at the sleeves and lower edge.
•
We znay presuzne that his helznet is being carried by a page, so
-- - •
that he may wear his rather becorrring straw hat. (Reproduced
by courtesy of the Trustees, National Gallery, London)
--_.... •

• ••

•
•

fired scm balls weighing 700gms. "" - - ~

They were stocked in wood, large ones being .-
placed on trestles, small ones hand-held , and were
frequently mounted on ribaudequins. In Charles the
Bold 's reign heavy couleuurines had hooks on the end
of the barrel icouleuorines a croe) to take the recoil
when shooting from ramparts. They were later
known as arquebuses.

Serpentine
• These guns, ideal for the field , a ppea r c. 1430. More
powerful than couleuurines, they were nonetheless
very mobile, and were usually stoc ked a nd mounted
on ca rriages with iron-tyred wh eels. They were
frequently eq uip ped with elevating d evices, and
were usually breechloading. From three and a half
to seven feet long, they had a calibre of between two
and six inches.

Couleuvrines a Main (Handguns)

Norto be confused with the true couleuurine, the
medieval handgun is the ancestor of the later
military musket and rifle. They occ ur infrequently
up to about 1360, but in 1411 Duke]ohn the Good
possessed no less than 4,000, and Charles the Bold
eq uipped one-third of his infantry with them.
In early times handguns were constr ucted as
small-scale bombards with short, sq ua t barrels. The
pre-1 399 Tannenberg gun in Nuremberg has a
barrel length of 16smm with a bore of 14.smm,
while a later 1sth-century gun in uremberg has a
barrel 37smm long with a bore of 21 mm. The
longer barrel allowed more time for the powder to .
burn completely before, the bullet left the muzzle..
Early handguns had no true stock, but. were set "

on the end of a long wooden stave which was held

under the arm while the smouldering match was
applied to the vent. At the sta rt of ther yth century •
•
..
two innovations, which may have been simul- •

taneous, were to transform this erra tic mini-cannon

into the dominant weapon of every European army •

up to the present time: the stock-and the serpentine •

IC)
•
10 k. Th s q nline 10 kat la t nab I 'd th sho t I'
to hold th gun with both hand and n ntrat n
his aim rath r than w rrying abou pIa ing hi
burning match qual' on to th \ ent; and th to k
all w d him to place th gun n hi sh uld rand
look down the line of th barr I. By th nd f th
I th c ntury handguns w re starting to tak on a
shap that would be famil~ar to anyone nowaday. •

Lead, iron or stone bull ts were used, but ast .,"... ,

iron bull ts w re l' puted for their armour-pi ring Pow'der and Munition
apabilities in the 15th ntury. Rent t t u ing Gunpm d l' was pI' bably mad of ix parts
imulated 15th century handgun show that iron altp tre, two of hal' oal and one of ulphur
bullets weI' quite capable of pi rcing one-t nth of ac ording to th recipe of lb rtu agnus
an inch of mild t el plate; 1 ad bull ts far d far 1 ss (d.1280). In arly tim s th ingr di nts , re
w II. imply mix d tog th l' for us usually in situ, as
during a oyage th mpon nt t nd d to parate
Organisation out with the h a iest 'inking t th b ttom. The
In arly tim s, all artill ry was und r the up 1'- main impi'o m nt in powd I' was th intr~du tion
i ion of r gional om l' ailed al'tiLLeul's dLL Due, ofw t-mix d powd r whi h probably cam about
whos 1'01 "as partly ad mini trati partly t hni- at the nd ofth 14th ntury du t th n ityof
al. Th w I' I' P nsibl for th I' pair and mixing the ompon nt ,h n clamp to I en the
maintenan f gun and for upplying and ri k ofi nition. h l' suiting v I' intimat mixtur
organi ing th fabri ation of pm d l' and an- led to a on id rabl impro m nt in th p rfor-
n nball . By th middl of Philip the Bold s r iO"n man e of guns.
how vcr, th in rea ing numb I' of guns had 1 d t unp wd l' wa at fir t extr m Iy xp n ive
th reation fa spe ial br d of t hni ian th owing to th dim ulty of manufacturin altp tre.
Maftres de Canons wh rapidly be am among th The pric of a pound of powel l' in Engl nd in 1346
most sou ht-aft l' and ,'\' ll-paid m n in Europ . ,a 18d but by 1461 it had fall 11 to 5d th nk to
Th ir independenc and t nd ncy to s rv th the lat -14th ntury d vic of tra ting altpetre
mast l' who paid mo tid to the I' ation of a n w from ontrolled nitr bed hug omp t haps of
civil post in 1415 the Maftre de LArtillerie, , ho wa earth dung urin and lime (the most fa oured
solely responsibl for artill ry in th whole tate of urin \ as that of, in -drink l' and it i· . aid that
Burgundy. This becam a most pow rful po ition, mona teries contribut d opiou ly to th pro-
and Olivi I' de la Mar he t 11 us that 'th Ma£tre de du tion of high quality gunpowd r!). How vel', the
L'ArtiLLerie has such authority that he must be obey d prevalence of uper titious beli fin al hemy and
as ifhe were a prince'. Thi po t endur d until 1477. magic commonly led to the adulteration of
P to the end of John the Fearl s ' I' ign th gunpowder with exotic products, usually m rcury
1aftre de L'Artillerie' as able to. perf! I'm his function alt ar enic and amber.
alon . But widespread war, with Burgundian troop The quantities ofpo\ del' used ar interesting: at
fighting from the Alps to Holland and requiring the the sieg of Calais in 1436 the Burgundian army
acquisition of artill ry and munitions on the spot, used IO,ooolbs of sulphur and saltpetre in 73 days,
called for a new group called the ControLeurs de giving an averag consumption of 1601bs per day.
L'ArtiLLerie. Attached to any substantial group of In th middle of the 15th c ntury it seems that most
troop, the Contl'oLeurs de L'Artillerie replaced the campaign guns w I' suppli d with nough powder
Ma£tre de L'ArtiLLene for all administrative purpo s. [or 100-200 shots.
Theirduties included th examination ofpurch , The projectiles shot by guns" er at first ofstone:
in entories oflocal aI'S nals, a sembling artillery for masons w I' empi yed for cutling these balls and
xp ditions, and, after ach campaign, listing all were considered among the m t important of
artillery captured or lost. .....-' craftsm n, being paid in 1399 the arne wages as a
I

20
 •
man-at-arms. A mason took a t least hall' a d a y to
ma ke one ca nnon ball, using a template cu t in a
wooden board to th e exact bore or the g un ,
Burgundian documents d o not me ntion the usc or
lead balls un til 1443, a nd iron balls first a p pea r only
,
111 1474-
Something of the rate of a rtillery fi re ma y be
judged from con tempo ra ry accou n ts. During the
siege of Iaastricht, from 24 [ovem ber 1407 to 7
J an uary 1408, the town was bomba rded wit h 1,5 14
large stone balls, a n ave rage of 30 a day. A t Calais in
144-3 the bombards were fired only once a day. At
the battle ofBrustem, the Liege rebels' a rtillery fired
70 shots '. I ncendiary missiles were in com mon usc:
a t the siege of V eilexon qu antities of cam phor were
ordered, and with the usc of pitch, sulph ur a nd
alcohol such projectiles we re proba bly q uite
'This is inconsistent , however, with another con t e m po r a r ~ n -port
giving the number of gu ns in the Licgcois' hand s as o ne 11In I< II I,d,
eOcc tive ,Jo hn th e Fearless, fighting the Liege rebels
in 1408, ca rried 300 incendi ary rockets. T owns-
people overed their roofs with earth as a protection
from th ese missiles.
•
Ie •
in tIe
•
.,
vVIlCjee a n arm y could not be billeted in a town ,
cam ps were set up, a nd 10,000 or 12,000 men in a
camp mus t ha ve req uired colossal organisa tion.
The ch ro nicler C has tella in described the Burgun-
di an cam p a t Eclusier V au x in 1468: ' I t was the
This archer, from a 15th century northern Bur~undian
manuscript, wears a visored sallct, a mail collar and a
brigandine. Brigandines, of which a surviving example is
s h o w n here, consisted of numerous s m a ll metal plates
attached b y: ;rivets to thick fabric. Lavish material such as
velvet was used as the outer covering on superior examples,
and the rivet heads were often gilded. (Bibliotheque Nationale,
Paris, and Mu s ee de PArmee, Paris)
most splend id sigh t in the; world , a nd so well occasiona l instan ces of night marchin g in o rde r to
orga nised ... I t lookcd likc a g rea t city, with rows o f su r prise th e ene my, but in spite of'grca t precauti ons,
ten ts forming long stree ts a nd c rossroads, large me n were so me times lost. Main roads were used
sq ua res lor asse m blies, ' and markets where the whe re possible, but these were ofte n too narrow,
wo rkme n a nd merch ants ga the red with th eir goods a nd troops marched th rou gh the bord ering fiel ds.
. .. with ta verns a nd en te rtain me n t just like in Paris; nless a battle was imminent m en -at-arms
a nd the walls we re m ad e from waggons so well wore ligh t clo thi ng on the m arch , lea ving their
forti ficd a nd cq nipped and full of a rmed d efend ers a rmour with their pages. In 1467 the Lords of
th at no-one would ha ve d ared come near. ' Braban ,r
t marching
4 '
on Malincs wore their mail
When thc ca m p was raised th e men-at-arms shii·ti; while their helmets a nd part of their a rmour
wo uld be warned of the departure by two trumpet we re wo rn by pages.
calls; on the first ca ll, horses we re sad d led, a nd on T he usu al orde r of march was th a t ado pted by
the second call they would mount their horses. the Frenc h a nd English du ring th e en tire peri od
A rmies gene rally marched by da y; th ere are dealt with in this book. A typical orde r consis ted of:
The s iege of a town, 151h century. Every conventional mel hod
( I) A d et achment ofsco u ts from th e va ngua rd, who
of s iege c r a ft is illustl'ated here: artillery, s ieg e-l a d d e rs, and an ob tained inform ation on the cond itio ns a head, a nd
abortive att empt at mining the cor-ner- tower in the fore-
g r o u n d . Miners would norm ally have been s t r o n g ly covered on the ene my if th ey were nearby. They wo uld
by both artillery fi r-e and wood en defen ces, which would some times-be accom pa nied by a few men-a t-arms,
fore stall th eir s~r1'Y s it u a t i o n in this picture. The main
b esieging army advances on the left, its di smounted men-at- a nd in I L~6 6 d uring the m arch to Dinant th e
a rrrr s to the fore, while a crossbowman in the foreground
draws his co rn pos it e weapon with a windla ss; no te his next Marsh al of Burgund y, chief of the a rmy, travelled
arrow ch a r a c te r is t ica lly stuck down the back of his n eck, and with th em.
th e rond el da g ger s lu ng at hi s waist. [Bib tiorh eq u e Royale
cr
Albert 1 ,B r uss els) (2) The va ng ua rd , com posed of:

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(Left and centre) An Italian armour ofc.1450, from a Milanese

workshop. It has been reputed tha't this armour was captured
from the Burgundians by the Swiss at the battle of Grandson in
1476. Field armour was not as heavy as is usualIy thought: an
armour very similar to this weighs 57Ibs., and a fit man could
tur-n a somersault when wearing it. (R ig h t ) A great bascinet,
, c.1450, found at Bourg en Bresse and probably of Burgundian
'. " , m a n u fa c t u r e . The rounded s k u lI a n d snout superseded the "
•
• • . , " . e a r li e r conical s t y le. (Be r n Historil;al Mu s eum, a~d Mu s e e de ' .
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(a) a detachment of forerunn ers: seven or eigh t hindered the army's progress. .
lances. The usual orde r was: (a) the heavy artillery
(b) the main va ng ua rd : up to abo ut 30 lances a nd waggons; (b) wag,gons transporting th e eq uipme n t
'mounted a rchers' commanded 'by a high-ranking '. of the va nguard; (c) wagg,ons tran porting. th e '
officer, and. accompanied by .
.civil offic
...
ials a nd . eq uipment
~
of. th e d uke a nd his household; (d)
•
her alds who' would take .m ess ~ges to tOWI)S a head, . merchants' waggQns. . .
•
or de mand the surrender of ,cas tl e~ a nd fort ified" T.he duke' (or the M arshal of B urg~I;9 Y in his ,' , .
. citi~s . ' . '.', ' '/ :--:',: ::" . '.,,:. . :.... ·.a ljs'e ncc) conl-(nanded a nd led .the l;l ~ !n ' a rmy.i'Ehe , .
, , (c};.~~vorkmef~; .under. th~ 'o rders er the ~1:aster 0( :' :' Marsh al of B~~'rguI1d . ,
y led tfi~; :~an'g ~ard , while ,
the ' '
. : '
Artillery, whose task was to cut d own fences and Master of Artillery comma nded the artillery;
gates, level di tches, a nd fac ilitate the passage of the waggon train a nd workforce. The. merchants'
mai n a rmy. . ' \vaggons were under the orders of a n official
, . called
(3) T hemain a rrny.id ivided into between oneand the prioost des mar/chaux. '
eight 'battles', each of 1,5 0 0 - 2 ,0 0 0 men. In each Due to the nature of the terrain th at Burgundian
battle the archers, moun ted or on foo t, together a rmies usually encounte red, the crossing of river.s
with the infa ntry, preceded the men-at-arms. was a most important and sometimes perilous
Interspersed a mong the 'battles', or sometimes with operation. Existing bridges were of course used .
the vanguard, were the ligflt field guns, mostly wherever possible; and sometimes the army made
serpentines: one of the first reactions in case of long detours searching for bridges, which had often
a ttack would be to assemble and mount these guns.· ' been demolished by the enemy. Where no , . .bri dges . ,
(4) T he artillery a nd waggon train though these were available, it was necessary. to construct one. A
wou ld sometimes travel along with the main a rmy, good exa mple is tlie crossing of the' River Seine .a t
protected in enemy terri tory by infantry in front M oret on 4 August 1465. The local bridges had
a nd horsemen on eitherside . In rough te ~rain, 0 1' 0 11 been destroyed on the orders of the king of France,
narrow paths these waggona..normally followed and a crossing-place was chosen at a point where
behind, as a broken axle or wheel would have there was a small island. '.
The enemy flanked th e
,
 •
SUIT unding hill on eith r ide of th ri r' and i Ll d arc! r at Barsaill s n r Paris in pt mber
althoughthy\ reinfatfiw,andhadn artillry '41Tth arhalofBurgundy a t tak th
th ount of harolai ( n t b om Duk vanguard ah ad t r onnoitr, and th n r port
CharI s th Bold) \ ho wa in harg of th ba k t Duk J 1111. Th ord r tr s that hould th
p r~lion, b ·lie ed th ir number to bc far gr at r Fr n h tak up p ition out id Pari, th mu ton
than ~h Y. l' ally \ er . ,Ii had s rp ntines at1d ~ n9.~ ~qllnt bc atta ked.lfth n my h uld atta k
•
• vellglaire b~'ought up and opened firc on' the en my; hd,}',: ,1', the anguard tw wings of ar h rs and
" '

we are informed "that hc us d thr e barr Is of cr,· bm men and the main army hould. all
pm d r,6001b oflead hot and 32 nin -inch ton di mount. The main army, nsi ting of ',000
for the veuglaire. Meanwhil se en or ight mall men'-at-arm, h uld tand to on side of, the
leather boat wer unload d from th waggons, anauard if the t rrain \Va \ id nough,oth rwi e
togeth r \ ith mat rial for constructing barr I, it hould takc up position 50 to 6 pace b hind,
ord and I er, Th oop r s t to w rk im- bm hot b hind \Va' to tand the r arguard,
m diat ly making barr I \ hile one leath l' bo t con i ting of 400 mount d m n-at-arm and 300
filled \ ith archer mad for th i,sland under th mount d bowm n \ ho wQuld p rform the vital
co ering , fire of the artillery, The ar h r th n ta k of pur uing th n my in a e of i tory and
,
row d to th oppo it qank wher. th y prepa,r d .' pre ntin th ir r grouping. Finally th b~ggage
tn rground ror' a 1;Jridg head \ hie w rkm r. ~m .~ ,train' wa 1.0 ,b
,

, , ,
rgani d into a'. ort of fortifi d.'
•
OV r' in ,rh :1' mC1~ning b at. h double' briCl ' camp b hind all th : a~tion: .
, , on tru lion ouid then be cairi d out 'by th·, . If the t pical Burgundian' battl xi tit, i be t
ta kforc und r the protection of the arch r ' and in illu trat d by th battle of Brust m fought aaain t
•
two day th bridge made of barrel and plank th Lieg r bels on 28 ctob r 1467. Th Burgun-
, \ r llni~hed. , , dian army \ a b i ging th t \ n of t. rond,
\ hen a r Ii f fore from Li' g in tall d th m Iv
Military Tactics in Bru t m, a \'illag' orne t\ 0 mil to the
It is only r ntly that it ha b com po ible to ulh- a t. Duk ha~l s d cid d to atta k th
peak r Il1cdi val military tacti , and it i till Lieg oi , H r again w ha an example of plans
dangen" ' fround. ~lost historian u d to tress th~ beii1 dra\ n up: Ii,t) s (\ ho had inh rit d his
uttcr confu ion ofmedi val battles .and it is c rtain duk dom nly orne month pre iou ly) w.orked
, tha't ther~ were frequent occurr n e of ·th . ouc'hi tacti .th e\: ning b for the battl and the
•
" , QV1bat .9f ,rabble wl).',re an han~e of ,iugl : ,next mornirig rod~ .F, • nd hi trqQps gi ing the!U
': .' o~ba~ ~ith aIJ ad er a~y worthy, f o~e's rarjk. ~ a~' in tru' tions, i: a i~i ~ q Engli h.:~r h rs to cat:ry..
. sotlgh t 'out, often "to' ~'the detri:m nt' of fell~w-' on'th'e iege at- St: trond, he tool(u p the foliowing
•

combatant, and where the gr atest pr occupation pos~.tions: .

, wa .the seizing of booty and the capture of prisoner The vangua-rd and artillery w re set up very near
,
for indivi~ual ~ansom. But it.i b CJJmiog .clear that to t'j"le iUage and since the tenain was too irregular,
m dieval armies were not 'quite so disorganised as for ca aIry charg ,.. both the men'- t-arm and
has been claimed: it is a dangerous to 0 er- archers di mounted.
dramatise the confu ion and lack of di ipline of a The anguard was flanked on both sid by 1,200
battle as it is to analyse and reconstruct the fighting mount d m n-at-arms who were ord red to (a)
in ord r to 'discover' a plan of tactics that was attack the men ofLi 'ge,ifthey came OJlt from their
possibly never 'dreamed ofby,the armies thems Iv s. entrenchm nts in th~e villag on to ground flat
Bearing this in mind, tl}.ere is evidence of,care enough for a cavalry charge; (b) riqe back to St.
,
tak~n before a battle to in,struct th troops on the· Trorid to a ist the Engli h archers in case the
tactics and pfocedure to be followed. hether thi besieged rebels made"a sorti ; or (c) pursue the
occurred before every fixed combat is unsure, but dell at d Liegeois and 'pre ent their regrouping.
we are certainly fortunate in that on of the earli t B hind th vanguard stood the duke with a
known plans of battle ha . urvived. Duke John th reser e of 800 mount d men-at-arms,
Fearless, expecting an attack.- from the Fr n h h battle started with th van uard opening
• •
 •

flre with the artillery. This was ammon b gin- The d s I-iption of th Burgundian amp by
ning to a battle, the idea bing to cau haos and e ral ind p nd nt y -witn xed v n that
disord r in th en my ranks, \ h r upon the m n at of hast lIain: w ar told that it look d lik a great
arm would engage in hand-t hand combat. fortifi d town with wall, moat and drawbridges,
How v r, th t rrain was a h~lly and the Lieg 'ois a ,stre ts and all ywa y . Th r wer two mark t , one
,...e11 ntr n hed that the shots \ ent ov r th ir of \ hi h was in the I talian quart r lIing e ry
h ad , bringing <;fawn branch s of tre s 'as thick pas ibl kind oC m rchandis : an apoth cary had
•
leg- and arms'. fi ~ waggons ofgoods deliv r d, and 'set up his hop
The first assault was I d by the arch rs closely stun; d with wares as if h had be n in Ghent or
followed by pikem n. The mount d men-at-arms Brug s'. Th re were lothi rs, fishmong rs, grocers,
on the wings tried to harge with th ar her, but , barber, prie ts mu icians, hundreds of tents and
\ ere almost immediately halted by the rough \ ood n hou , \ ind- and water-mills, forg s,
l rrain not to mention th defl nd rs' artillery, tav rns, bathhous s, r staurant , a t nnis court, a
on i ting of 100 gun, which were firing flat out, gibbet and of our the in itabl flUes de joie.
The ar h rs continu d to advance, but appal' nUy, hrist ning ,marriag s and 'fun rals took place; th
•
ran ou t of arr w ; th Li' geoi , noticing thi, am . d uk rec i d a con tant tream of foreign am-
out, charg,~d' top 'm and su ce d d in routing. ba ador ano., nt rt~irt d ih. m sumptuou Iy. It
th m. Du~c Cl'1aries, im~ diately ord red the . wa aid that th re ~ 're mo're temporary hou s
•
m n-at-arm and ar h r in th r s r' to dis- buil t by th be i g r than th r wer in 1 euss itself.
In unto th r bel w r put to flight and it i aid How v r th town was' II fortifi d tacked
that 3,00 to 4000 w re kill d. Howe r, th \ ith pi nty of fl od and fu I and strongly gar-
pur uit ofth d fl at d n m wa made impo ibl ri oned' th d Ii nder had onl to a\l ait re cue by
not onl by night falling but by the undi iplin d th ir Emp ror Fred ri k III. But p or Fred ri k
looti n of har! ' troop, \ ho w re far mar on tin uall y d lay d: h had Ii uk mUll' an I I 'S
int r t d in robbing the corp e and ating and pm rand \ nt to 11 rmou I n th fina ti\'ity
drinkinO' the ch e and \ in th Li' g oi had I ft and pro ra tination to a id ha ing t fa e hi
behind th m than in hasing the en my. Th pow rful n i hbour. By hristl~a 1474, after six.
importan of following up a ictory may b s 11 m nths of ieg th gat s of uss had be n'
•
\ hen we learn that har! s dared not ontinue hi ,r duced to rubbl by harl ' 229 glll1s, every- ,

pur uit ofth r b Is th next day, fl aring that they . thing down to th last .rat had b n aten,. and there.
~

had regrqup d duting the l1ight. ... . ' 'was no ign fJ:rederidk .'r lief army. Life wa nof'
The Burgundian army ~imila:rly b , nefit d from ,as gay as b tore in th Burgundian 'amp either:
lh \ i s Confl d rates lack of cavalry after the oldiers had to go many mil to find fodder, and the
battl of Grand on in 1476, when th y were peasants in th outlying country idew re beginning
ma i ely defeated, but scaped with very few to r sisto I .

casualti ,the Swiss'not having the wherewithal to Incredibly, eu s was till holding out five
pursue th m. ' m o n t h s lat r living on pro i ions obtained by
Th last encounter we shall describe, the siege of nocturnal armed raids on harl s's camp. By th n,
u / in 1474-5, was caused by the citizens of Fred ri k had be n unable to a aid gathering an
ologne rebelling in 1473 against their archbishop, army, and h nter d Cologne
•
on 6 ay. Ever
Rupert ofBavaria, a Burgundian puppet. Although hopeful ofs 'me turn ofe ents diat would spare him
Cologne was not in the Burgundian sph re of thi onfrontation, Fr d rick managed to spend 16
influence Charles the Bold declar d hims If pro'- da, <; trav lling the 24 mi\f'<; to. Teuss , a record e en'
t ctor of the.town, ,and came to Rupert'.s aid. In by mcdi val standards~ e,

June 1474 Cologne its Ifwould have been too much On '23 ay 1475, in spite of desperate nego-
en for Charles to attack, and he started his tiations by papal legat s riding from one party to
campaign by b sieging tht to:-"n of euss, one of the th oth r, Charl s d cid d to attack the Emperor,
most determined rebel strongholds some 20 miles who had camped nearby and \ ho demonstrated
down the Rhine from Cologne. no inclination whatever to start ho tilitie . We know
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the cxa t formation that Charles took up, thanks to C h a r les th e Bold' s order of b a ttl e at N eus s, 23 May 1475. Solid
black ind ica tes tro ops o f the ord in a nce; dia gonally c rossed,
his detailed letter to his lieutenant in Luxembourg hou s ehold troop s; a n d white, troops und er feudal obligation.
(A) M en-at-arms o f e nfeo ffe d lords , w ith one co m p a n y under
(sec diagram ), th e count of Cela no , (B) Reserve two c o m p a n ies under
In Du ke lha rlcs's wo rds: '\\ e gave th e cry of Antonio and Pietro d e Li gnana. (C) Archers (i n clu d in g Sir John
Middleton' s archers ) and pikemen mingled. (D) M en-at-arms
Notre Dame! Monseigneur St. Georg! a nd o u r of Sir John Middleton, and one company under Jacob Galeoto.
usual cry of Bourgognc! but , before we made any of (E) Re serve Ni cola d e Monforte, count of Campobas so, with
,45p lances, (F) Men-a t-a r-ms of the co m p a n i es of Berghe and
our form ations march, we m oved up our arti llery L oyecte. (G) R es e r ve 'ge n t le m e n of th e- hou e h o fd , unde r
Sain t -Seigne. (H) Archers of th e bodyguard and o f t he
three or four bowshots in front of us, together wit h co m pa n ies of Berghe s a n d Loye cte. (I) C h a m be rla i ns a n d
the I tali an infantry .which had not been in -a n v, of Gen t lemen o f t he Chambe r . (J) R es erve m en-at-arm s of the
gua r d, unde r Oli vi er de la M arche. (K) 200' G uel d~ rs h andgun-
th e above-men tioned formations, so tha t it fired at ne rs , a r-che r-s o f the gua r d, and arc he r-s of the compani es of
and shot uito ih .Em pcror's -ca m pin: such ~ way . r och uysen, C han tci-aine, M enton, Longueval and Yan p e r,ghe.
. '
that no com plete- t I1tS, pavilions or lodgings we re
,
(L) M e n -at-arm s o f. 't h e coinpa,nies o f , Brochu y s en and
Clia n ter,ain e. (M) Res e r've ' men-at-ar-ms of rh ' c o m pan i es .of
Men t o n, Longueval and Vanpceghe. "
left sta nd ing and people could only rem ai n there I • •
•
•
,
with grea t difficulty. Then , in the name of God, of I

our Lady and of Monseigneur St. George we gave Although this battle developed into no more than
the signa l for the troops to march. ' This done, the '<1. set of skirmishes it -is an invaluable source of ,

trumpets began to ou nd and everyone marched Burgu ndi a n military organisation, The next day
joyfully and with sm iling faces , making the sign of Charles and Frederick arranged a truce without loss
the cross and recommending themselv s to God; th e of face to either, and as 'soon as this had been
English, according to their custom, ma king the sign concluded thousands pf'German.troops invad ed th~
•

of the cross on the ground and kissing it, T hen they Burguncpan camp, atternpting' to catcha glimpse of
all, shouted the above-mentioned cry, ' the 'great Duke of the 'Nest', O n 18]une C ha rles
, .
• '
.gave ~, h uge banquet in hon ou r of t e I m perial
, 1

St George and the Dragon, by F ried rich Herl in, 0. 1460. The army" and raised .camp nine' days la ter. \
northern Italian armou r industry w as s o w ell org anis ed that it
even catered for the Ger-ma.nic taste. St. George i s s hown h e r e
Although sicge i tactics cannot be described at
wea ring a n Italian ' e x port arm o u r': apa r t from th e s a ll e t the leng th in this book, there . are some . splendid
a r mou r is b a sically Italian in sty le and form, but the
d ecoration a nd flutin g are e s sentially Ger~anic. Note the u se exam ples of cu nning propagand a q uite worthy of
I I • .I
of the la n ce-res t, pre ventin g the weapon' Fro'm s li p p in g back modern ' 'wa rfa re. When .the Flemish rebels were
u nde r t he fo r ce of the blow, and -'th e armoured s a d d l e. •
(Sta d t m useu m, N o r d lin g e n) , besieging the, town of M a astricht in 1408 the
27
 •
•

tuna te infantry, c u tt ing th em d o wn with g re a t casc o

\\ o u ndcd e ne m ies, ifnot ransomab le, were usua lly
fini shed o n: a lmos t ce rta in ly in o rde r to d espoil
th em rather th an fo r a ny hum anit arian reasons.
Battles in which a large proportion of cavalry
. pa r ticipa ted o n bot h sides m a y ha ve bcen a lot less
•
blood y: arm our was probabl y quite e ffec tive, and
m ost m en-at-arms co u ld offe r ransom.
• •
....
•

{
rms ana
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•
-_•. •

•
 •
during this ce n tury, whil e Ghent and Liege were
othe r important producers; as a precaution ary
measure against the Liege rebels in 1467 , lha rlcs
the Bold forbad e the forging of a r mour in the city,
and we also Ica rn that in the mid-t yt h ce n tury the
..
had the right to ca r ry a sma ll knife ca lled a taille-
pain, but swo rds were tolerated on ly o n cond ition
that the bearer cou ld prove that he intend ed to , or
had been travelling ou tside the town limits. Visiting
fo re igners were requ ired to d eposi t their weapons
•

Liege a rmoure rs dis played their ware in stalls on the with their inn keeper for. the d ura tion of their stay.
•

ca thed ra l ste ps.
U nfo rt una tely, however, it has proved im- '
possible in a ll but a few ca es to distinguish between
locally-m ade Burgundia n armour a nd imported
products. The probl em of 'origin' is furth er com':
plica ted by the number of Mil anese a r moure rs
who emigrated to Burgu nd y d uring the 15th
century, not to speak of such pitfalls as Itali an
export a rmo u rs Italian-made a rmo u rs in G er-
manic style for sa le to the n orthern m arkets.
No r is ~ it dea r to wha t exte n t a r mo u r a ncl
wea pons were issued to sold iers of the Burgundian
a rmies, or how much a m an 'was I' sponsible for
providing himself. There arc m an y instan ces of bulk
purchases of a rms by the dukes: in 1386, Philip the
Bold orde red 4,000 esc u tc heo ns pain ted wi th his
a rms in red a nd white for usc by his m en during his
planned in vasion of England. Philip the G ood
bought 48 hauberks at the Antwerp fair in 1435,
and in 1449 the d ucal acco u nts show purch ases of
[46 brigandincs, 33 a rm harnesses a nd 649 helmets.
These were probabl y for usc by the du cal household
gua rd, however: men-a t-arms were no d oubt
considered-to be of sufficien t m eans to p rovide their
~ .' .
own weapons arid armourvtogc ther with those of
The manufacture of arms othe r than armour and
swords, .which rcq uircd specia l skills a nd eq ui p-
men], fl ourished in a lmos t every town in Europe.
An y cou n try bla cksmith was capable of turning ou t
pikehcads, a rrowheads, a xes a nd m a ces, a nd these
were a ll required in vas t qu antities, Cou n tless
num bers of sm iths we re employed to satisfy this
d em and ; in G hen t a lone, 32 specia lised weapon
smiths are recorded in 135 7.
, •
,
Bows and Cr-ossbows .
ince the battle of C recy in ' 1346 the devastating
eflcc t of the English long bowmcn was wel l kn own ,
but on the C ontinent it was hardl y possible to
o rga n ise the disci pline a nd cont in ual training
,
•
I • - \ 't
•
• , .• •

their retin ue, \~hile fo reign mercenaries must have ' •

carried tlieir a rms a nd a r mour as tools of their •

trade, In spite of this not a ll the ge n try were well i ••

. I
•

equipped : at Phili p the Bold 's review a t C ha tillo n in

·e
I I •
•
. •

1364, only 108 m en-at-arms. out of 153 h ad full

bod y protection the others had no leg armour.
Armour was a lways expensive, and was frequ- I

en tly ha nd ed d own fro m generation to ge ne ra tion,

•
so that it 'ca n h ave been of no su r p rise to see
•
, •
footsoldiers wearing od d pi .ces of armour o r • •

helmets d ating back a cen tury or more. H owever, •

such was the importance a ttached to arms that in
Liege only. those citizens who possessed them had
the right to vote . Laws were also passed forbidding
the pawning of arms, or using them as collateral •
for
debts. . illustrations. The name is supposedly derived from Pavia in
The bearing of a rms in urban.areas (in northern
Burgundy at least) was strictly con trolled : everyone
•
•
,
,
The pavise was the typical s h ie ld of the cros sbowman, who
used it for cover while spanning his weapon. Of wood and
leather, it usually had a metal s p i k e at the base fC?r purchase in
the soil, and was fitted with a handle of twisted sinews behind.
In spite of the large number of medieval pavises which have
survived, they figure surprisingly rarely in contemporary
Italy. These examples-not to scale are painted with the
emblems of Burgundy. (Swiss National Museum, Zurich, and
Bern Historical Museum) .
 •
, ,,' v . ... - '...".
, l
sha ft, so that the head would stay in th e wound.
M ode rn tests h a ve show n th at these arrows were
qu ite ca pa ble of pierci ng con te m pora ry plate
a rmo ur wh en sho t a t a direct a ng le fro m fa irly sho rt
range. H owever , as th e 'a ngle o f atta ck ' increases
the penetrat ion decreas s, until at a round Goo from , ,

a 's tra igh t' sho t the head eith r frac tures or
ricochets o ff. 1 eve rthcless, a hai l o f a r rows even at
long range wou ld have kept armoured m n in a
" . •
~: d efensive position with their heads d own , p resent-
ing no chin k in their a rmo u r, and would cer ta inly
h ave m add ened a ny un p rotected' horses.
The range o f a longbow varies w ith th e weight of
the a rrow sho t, but it is p robab le that distan ces of
300 ya rds were a ttained w ith th e smaller-headed
a rrows . The g rea tes t adv an tage of th e long bow is
th e !'~ te of shoo ting, a nd to j udge from mod ern
• experts, to loose ten a rrows a minute would have
been within the capabilities of eve n a ' m edi ocre
••
Soldiers looting and pillagi ng, 15 th cen tury. Such e xcesses
were by no means Hm ited t o e rie my t e rritory, and resu lted arche r. -Accou n ts m entioning th e num ber o f a r rows
f r-o rn t r o ops b ein g expected t o prov id e fo r rh c rrrs c lvcs , (P r iv a te
coIlection) . . issued to a rc hers a re rare, b u t a ny fig ure between 18
•
a nd 30 m a y be found . .
necessary to make th e most of this weapon. The The c ross bow n eeds litt le o r no training, but
typ ical C ontinental longbow was usua lly sho rte r beca use 'of its m ech anical loading h as a shoo ting
than its Engli sh co u n te rp a r t o f six feet o r m ore. The ra te fa r inferio r to th at o f th e longbow. nti l th e
best bows were made of yew from the so ut h o f 15th cen tury c ross bows were usuall y o f com po ite
Fran ce o r M adeira , w hose wood was su perior to construc . tio n, m ade oflayers of. incw and wood, but
• ,

t ha t o f any other eou n try, but elm and a sh were earl)' exa m p les a re kn o wn to have he il o f so lid
used a nd were quite s rviceable. , T he E ngl is h war wood, probably yew . TI~ ere were seve ra l me thods of
bow pro bably drew between 80 a nd rfiolbs ten io n , drawing, the ear lies t being to sta nd o n th e bow,
and, to j udge from a l\long th e ca rli st specimens to ca tch the string jn a hook on t he belt, and straighten
• • ... • . . ' . , , '1 • • •

, t.ha ve. slll:vived '(fro in the wreck of .t}.le 1H m)I Rose 'jn .
•• • '.' " .". . ,. . .
I;: the re. were .goa t's-foo t I vel'S and co m plica ted
1 5~~5 j, \VaS a sim ple stave o f Dvseciion. The ,Hal)' ' I"angem e n ts of's rin gs andpulleys, none onvhic,h
I •
Rose bows h ad nocks cu t di rectly in the wood to take \,'1"1'1' r o nc luciv« t o rapid sh o o t i llg. : \ l ,plt -Cl'lltury
the bowstring, but these we re p robably ' is ue ' bows, so lid yew specimen found at Be rkha m stea d Castle is
. and smarter o r custom-made weapons h a d horn estimated to have a ten ion of so m e 150lbs and it is
caps on th e e nds. In 1387 the accoun ts of th e thought that a composite bo w lo ad ed with a belt
R eceiver of the Ar till ery in Burgund y m entio n hoo k had a range of abou t 200 ya rd s, H owever , ,I
painted yew-wood bows. early in the 15th cen tury progress in me ta llurgy ,
Long bow arrows we re usu a IJ y m ade fr om ash o r a llowed the firs t steel eros bows to be made; and in
willow, but the latter wood w as lighter and its effec t 1446 we find a du cal purchase orde r for 500 steel .
,

conseq ue n tly less d estructive. By th eend of the 13th crossbows, probably. still a rarity th en. These new
cent ury th e g rea t broadh ead a rrow was relegated to b ows, a lthough they had a p ropensity to break .in
j
hun ting, as it did no t have the p enetrating cold wea ther, could ta ke a far g rea ter tension than
ca pa bilities necessary to pierce ev r-i m proving o mposite bows , and required a n a ll-steel rack and
a r mour. The m ost usual head o f our p eriod was the pi nio n m echanism called a cran neq uin to load
bodkin typ , with a three- or four-sided point , th em , a lt ho ugh ill ustra tio ns still sh ow t he o rd a nd
weighing betwee n -!,oz . a nd , 1t oz. Instances ha ve pulley m ec ha nism far cheape r to m ake, in use for a
,

been found o f barbed heads very- loosely fixed to the lo ng tim e after, S ir R alph Payne-G a llway owned a

30
 •

A s u pe r b a r-rnour-, e.1450 60, made by

the lis s a gl ia workshop of Milan, t h e
mos t important family of armourers
in Italy at thi s time .
(A) Barbut e. (B) P a ufdr-on;' (C) Brea-
st p la te. (D ) Upper vam brace. (E ) M itten
gaunt let. (F) Tassets (missing) moun-
ted on these straps. (G) Cuisse. (H) ,/
Polcyn. (I) Greaye. (J) Sabaton, (K) / .
Plaekart. (L) Upper backplate. (M)
Lower backplate. (N ) Fauld. (0 ) Couter.
• (Glasgow Museums and Art Ga lleries)
•

• • •
•

•
•

( .•
•
, •

•
•
."

• •

,
r • •

I
•

15th-century G enocsc steel crossbow, and at the
beginni ng of this cen tu ry a mazed his ·friends by
shooting a bol t across• the M enai Strai ts," a distance
ofsome 450 ya rds; he calcula ted the pull at I,200lbs.
Crossbow strings were usuall y m ade of sinew.
T he use of this m a terial , which stre , . tches enor-
improved protection gave rise to a new bolt, the
qua rrel. T his was quare a nd blunt, with four sharp
corne rs' w hich, if one caugh t-a hold on a rmo ur,
could easily knock down or unhorse a man. Unlike
the feather fli ghts used on longbow a rrows, bolts
had fli ghts m ade of thin wood, parchm ent, or even •

mously when wet, explains both the com m on use •

leather. •

of crossbow covers when transporting these wcap- There are some interesting .records of the num-
- .
ons on horseback or on foot, a nd the practice of bers of a rrows sho t a t various Burgundian engage-
keeping a spare string under the helmet o r hat, ments. At the battle of -l ontlhery in .1465 the.d ucal
where it would be sa fe from rain. The composite ledgers account for.38,400 arrows in one day. At the
bow con tin ued in favour, however, particularly siege of V illy, which lasted less than a m onth, 10,200
among the poorer nations, until the end of the 15th
•
arrows and 1,500 bolts wen~ expended; while at the
century, doubtless due to its reliability
I I .
and, re- siege of Dinant, which continued f~r. only a ,week,
lativcly low cost. .. " r / " ' 1~:1 the a rmy used 27,840 arrows •
a nd I, 7Bo bolts. • •

Bolts used in warfare were usu all~• 'of the bodkin •

•

type, with a tapered sq ua re or diamond section . •

•
•
•
• •

These heads would open up the lin ks ofm ai l armour •

•

• •
with ease; but when plate·armour »:: was introduced ,
•

with its cleverly placed angles and lance-stops, the • •• •

• •

• ,
•
•
•
-
. _-.....,,~.
..
•
I
•
• •
'
his arms, and leather reinforced with ri veted metal
•

• strips on his ca lves . nd cr his coa t armour, which

bears his herald ic a rrns, he wears a oa t of plates
with a skirt or fauld of narrow horizontal strips. His
•
I
swo rd is sec u red by a j ewelled belt slu ng low on the
I
I. hips, a po pu lar fashi on in the la te I 350s, a nd his feet
a re enclosed in narrow ove rlapping plates, ec hoing
the civilia n s hoe of this period. A valet holdsJcan de
M outaigu 's banner in th e backgrou nd.
-
,
11]; Ecuyer
A row o f Burgundian archers and foot soldiers, by Master \VA One of the 105 ecuyers mu stered for Duke Phi lip's
o f Brug c s (ac t iv e C.146S-8S). Not e s t a k es in front of the review. As m an y of th e men-at-arms had no leg
archers- a lt houg h none of the arch ers s cern to ca r r y the
in a lle t required in Charles th e Bold's ordinance. Nearly all arm our for the eve nt, this ecuyer is wearing only soled
th e s e so ld ie rs wear brigandines and vi sored s a ll e ts, two of
w hi ch ma y h ave , the company pennant a tt ached (back row,
hose. His coa t of plates, buckl ed at th e back, is based
cen t re and far ri ght ). (P r iva t e c o ll ec t io n) o n the ca rving ofa knight from Verden Cathedral ,
,
•
•
a nd a lt ho ugh this type of a rmo ur was not exactly
•
• • • •

o u t of da te, it was being rapidly su perseded by true •

I
plate a rmo ur. . .
• , • •
•

Ie ,/l tes • •

Plate B: T he siege of Vellexon, I.log-1 4I 0

( Resea rch by G. A. Em bleton 131: Jl'all de Vag)'. 1\ /arJ//(/1 ~f Burgund»
,.,,, ..
,, r'-. l~ . r . .x\ lichacl:
" "-' , An a tte m p ted rcco nsuuc iion or J ean de \ erg)',
2'vl a rsha I of Burgund y, put in cha rge of th e siegc by
Plate .r. PhilijJ the Bold's ami] ill 1]6] Duke J ohn the Fearl ess. As the most im portant
Altho ugh Philip th e Bold offic ia lly took possessi on military offic ia l of th e duch y he wears a lull plain
of the Duchy of Burg undy in June 1364, he held a metal a rmo ur, which was coming to d evelopmen t
•
review of a ll tl. ' Du ch y's troops at C ha tillon ,i n a t a bou t thi s time, T he a rm 'a nd leg harnesses are
•
Augus t of the yea r before . rei nforccd wi th vand ykcd bands, a nd ove r his
• •

• •
a rmou rjea n wears an o pen su rcoa t decora ted with
,11: Crossbojoman from a garrison . .' his herald ic d evice. .' .
. •. < - • , • •

. - ••"
, ~. ~

, . This sold ier. ' . wC;li·s the white cross of France 'eJll'h is '
• • _.
, ~ .
• 0 . . . . • ••
.
.
I -
•
.-
• • • •

-
•
mai l shirt .Tt sho-rld be remem bered that Burgu ndy .' B2, B':3: Mason and gill/ller r- •
•
was a d uchy of Fra nce, and owed 'a ll egia nce' to the A m ason holds a woode n t mpl atc while a gu nner-
French king. Tot until the ea rly ·15th. cen tury d id tri es the di ameter ofa sto ne cannon ball. T he hol e in
the St. Andrew's cross appea r as a military emblem the tem plate would ha ve been taken from a circle
of Burgundy, a nd was ado p ted as a resu lt of th e civil d rawn on a sheet of pa rchment stre tc hed over the
~va r in France, no doubt to distinguish betwee n the muzzle of the ca nno n . Both the gunne r a nd mason
various partisans. T he crossbowman's belthook, wear typical civilian cos tu me: the mason has
q uiver, and the in teresti ng way he t a rries his ' separa te foo tless" hose, a nd the gun ne r wears a .
com posite bow are based on a F rench d rawing of. canvas apron over his ba ndaged knee (sec text) ..In
c. I 360. i ote his separa te hose rolled• down to the the fo reground a re the rations distributed to each
knees. - m an for lunch and sup per during the siege: a pint of
- .. wine a nd two loaves. For brea kfas t each man
A2: J ean de Montaigu, Sire 'de Sombernon - received a t pin t of wine 'a nd one loa f. .
Ail attempted reconstruction ofJean de Montaigu, ,

Sire de Sorn bcm on, who was appointed the duke's B4: Archer
lieutenant in 1363. This important offic ial wears a An arch er wearing a .scroll on his arm inscribed
co nical basinet with mail avcntail-plate armour for ' DI.JON' . The ducal accounts for 1409 show th e
• •
 ••

following en try : 'To furni sh for one mont h 30.
a rmed men a nd 15 crossbowrnc n, d ressed and ready
to go ... to the siege ... of V eilexo n ... for o ne aunc
and a hall' of vermilion cloth from which were cu t
the letters dijon put on the sleeve of each jack and
two aunes of white cloth o n which were put the sa id
letters in the form ofa scroll.' (C o m m u n a l archives
of Dijon )
In the ba ckground gu n ne rs serve a bomba rd ,
wh ose mantle would have been lowered in o rde r to
protect them while loading. One g u n ne r wears the'
white cross of France: this would be an old jacket, as
Franco-Burgundi an relations were a t a low eb b,
and the 5 1. Andrew's cross of Burgund y was sta r ting
to be ado p ted as the du ch y's em blem .
•
• • • s o ld ie r wea rs a brig a ndin e o ver a m ail s Tl l r t, tog ether with
•
•
• plat e arm a n d leg d efe n ce s; hi s co m ra de a bove wields a ~va r •
Ct : Phi/ill the Good, Duke oj Burgundy, dressed Jar the
•
Joust
This figure of Duke Phili p, in an emblazoned
surcoat on a trappered horse, is based on a
•
contemporary armorial reference book by a.n officier
d'annes of the co ur t: the II rmorial Equestre de l' Europeet
• •
• • •
•
•
•
D etails from th e Reliquary of S t . U rsu la b y H ans Memling
(143'0/ 5- 94)' (L ef t) A Flemish s o ld ie r , probably typical of the
infantry of the Burgundian army. He w ears a quilted jacket
over a mail s h i r t; the c h a in protecting hi s left arm i s a form of
prote ction very rarely illu strated, but ntust have been Dtost
econom ica l, and s o p o s sibl y qui t e corn rrr o n , His ho se is
o bvio us ly o f the fo otle s s variety, w ith a st ra p und er the foot , a s
h e ha s rolled one leg up' o ve r hi s a nkle. (C e n t r e ) C s-oss b o w rrr a n
s h oot i ng with a eo rrr p o s ir e bow o f wood a n d s inew ; s teel bow s
s t a r ted to b e introdu ced during the 15th ce n t u ry, but had a
r eputation for breaking in cold w eathe r. His quiver i s ofa type
u s ed throughout E u rope in t he I sth·c entury. T he archer, whos e
bow i s s h o r te r than t.he us u a l E ngl ish type, w ears a breastplate
with fauld , and a t ypi cal Ge r man ic k ettle h at. (R igh t ) T h is
a xe. (H a nsmem ling musc u m, Brug es ) .

•
• •

•
•
•

•
•
•
• , •
•
•
•

•
•
33
 de la Toi.IOJI d'Or, c . 1450. \Ve have replaced the
barred .close-helmet of the o rigina l with a jousting
helm held by a se rva n t. Not e th e Order o r the
C old en Fleece around th e duke 's neck: ritual
cere mony and e tiq ue tte reached a peak und er
Philip's reign. T ournaments a nd j ousts were o rga -
niscd by th e heralds a t a r ms under ext re mely
com plex codes ofbe haviou r. By this time lances and '
swo rds used lor jousting. were blunted, but seve re
injury or d eath could still result.
C2: Gentleman of the court
C3: Trumpeter
\ gen tlema n o r th e Burgundi an cou rt holds th e
duke's helm . H e wears a sm a ll badge o n his gow n
TIris - view of thc Irrrpcr-inl camp, c.1480, confirms the de-
. sc r ip t i o n s of Burgundian camps of this period; but ntost 'o f
rhe m rrrus t have been Ulan)' tinles rrro r e extensivc than is
s ugges ted in thi s treatment, s h elt e r in g 10,000 or rnor'e people.
This illustration is packed with fascinating detai l and repays
cl os e s t u d y . Note, on thc right, the troops being paid: th eir
salarie s arc calculated on a n 'exchequer', a table re sen,bling a
chess board on which counters were moved. In the foreground
we sec the wheeled barriers with gunports, and the interesting
bearing the arms o fB u rgu nd y. Note hi s Iashionablc
long poulaines, and the ' p ud d ing basin ' haircut so
popular in co ur t circles at thc time. Both he and th e
trumpeter (C3 ) are dressed all in whit e, and are
taken from a ont emporary painting of a hunting
sce ne showing the e n tire Burgundian co u r t dressed
,
'in w hite, from the duk e to the servants.lt should not.
, be su r m ised that this w as' in any way a co ur t livery'
o r uniform: suc h were th e splend ours or medieval
costume that at a ruler's whim his co m plete
e n to urage would be p rovided with cloth to cele-
brate some occasio n . The Bishop or Li ege was an
important distribu tor o f cere mo nial ma te ria l: in
1435 a ll th e mo u n ted m embers o f his suite or nobles
and bishops wore white, and in 1442 he att ended
the Emperor's coro na tion with 250 horsemen 'a ll in
•
gold cloth adorned' .
• • •
•
,
Plate D: The flags of Burgundy .
Fl ags in the middl ages w ire parti ul arl y su b ject to
herald ic cont rol a nd complicated rul es existed as to
who could a rry wha t type of fl ag . In qth cen tury
,

gate construction. (P r iva t e collection) Burgund y th e m ost basic form was thus: 'c1/l'z:aliers
•

.. •
,•
.'
1.. :,
~

..
• .\
•
' " •
•
,.r
• I ' ,' , " 0, •
, •
•
..
. .--'#• - .....
"
J " '" .,··t , .
• ,,
. ,
.. .

• •
•
'.
•
.•

•
•

o't-
•
•

.. --'".-. .
- '
. - ,

34 ,
•
bacheliers could ca rry a pennon , usuall y a long
. \\
streamer, sometimes forked a t the ends . Chevaliers
bannerets, viscounts, counts and marquesses, the
'\
Marshal of Burgundy a nd the maitre des arbaletriers ,-

(master of artillery) had the right to carry a banner,

\
a nearl y squa re flag. Princes a nd dukes bore both
banner and pennon: Philip the Bold 's banner in
1386 measured 21- aunes long by 1-t aunes wide 1.
By the 15th century banners and pennons were
more rarel y carried, and were ofte n suppla nted by
other types of fl ag: pennonceaux, guidons, enseignes a nd
etandards. The shape of each of these flags and their
appella tions are as confused as the types of medieval ,

artillery, but the pennonceaux and guidons were

usuall y forked, while,
the grea,
t etaudard (standard)
was larger than the banner ' a nd also some times
• - .
forked. Philip the Bold possessed an etandard in 1386 • •

which measured 16 aunes by 21 GImes. The most

important differe nce between all these types is that
G ro u p of rrr o u rrt c d cr-os abowrucn f r-orn a Ger-rrran illustration
banners and pennons bore their owners' offic ia l o f t hc Iatc 15th ccn t ury. Notc t h c cr-o: show covered against the
heraldic arms, while pennonceaux and etandards bore r ain , the fu r -co v crcd qu ivcrs, and t hc th i g h-I en ~ t h boots
turn ed d own t o th e a rrk l e, (P r iva tc co llectio n)
the bearers' personal emblems (such as the steel and •
flint of .harlcs the Bold ).
The wiss cap tured man y of the Burgundi an single 'c' next to the steel and flint on the righ t shows
flags in the wars during the yea rs 1475-1 477, a nd th at the fl ag belonged to the first compa ny.
happily preserved them , carefully copying them on
paper in the 17th century when these beautiful
,
])4: Another ensign from Glarus, this timeshowing
ephemera sta rted to deteriora te with age. St. Andrew) the patron saint of Burgundy. 1 To te the
sym bols \'ii.i" to the ri ght. Regrett a bl y, the a uthor
Dt : A reconstruction of the salle t of'a chefd'escadre in has never found a fl ag wh ere the com pany and
, ~

ac ordancc ~y" t h the Sr. M aximin ord ina nce ,qf sq uad ron I~!!rnb e.rs a nd letter, accord exactly with
1413. The ra,inriilg on this flag would havc . the rul es laid down in the'14-73 o rdina nce: either the
matched that on the company banner, and the regulations had changed by the time this fla g was
symbols on it show the bea rer to be of the second ca ptured, or the 17th cen tury copyist misin-
en"
squadro n attached to the third compa ny: ~ terpreted the sym bols painted on the decaying silk.
•
•

])2: The banner of Burgundy captured by the Swiss D5: This exa mple from , the Fribourg flag-book
at the battle of Morat in 1476 bears the diagonal must have been ,
a standard-of
,
the third company of
stripes of old Burgund y, thefleur de Lys of France, the one of Charles the Bold's unlucky armies, eithe r at
red lions of Brabant and Limburg and the black lion ' H cricourt, Grandson, Morat or ancy. 1 ote the
of Flanders. ' ragged staffs formin g the St. Andrew's cross of ,
•
• Burgundy. ~ .
, , , , .. • ,

])3: A company ensign, from the Swiss flag-book of • I , ,

• •

Glarus. Note the 'company saint' j. Bartholomew, D6: A pennonceaux or guidon captured by the Swiss at I '

holding the knife with which he \yas flayed. The Grandson in 1476: the original is still preserved at
,
. Solothurn. This flag, which is of particularinterest,
'The aune was the French equivalent of the English ell, a cloth measure
now standardised at '~5 inches. T his would make the nags cited above of belonged to a company of crossbowmcn from the
ridiculous dimensions, and as the clyrnolo~Lcs of both aune and ell derive COU nty of Bu rgund y iFranche co'mte') .
from the world fo r a forearm, the measu re IS far more likel y to ha ve hecn ,
,
in the regio n of 15 inche '.
,
 I
th e en tire artillery park of th e town of' Ghent was
• pa in ted rcel. 1 To t \ the ma n tle with the ducal
. ".---
, - ba n ne rs, which wo uld be raised to protect th e
•
•
•
g u n ners. I n the background is another veuglaire on a
\ ,
- .-
; ~:
• •
ca rt with what appear to be four long cases,
••
.... ':........ probably for a m m unition . This d etail is taken from
, I

a Flemish m anuscript c. 14-70 or the works or

•

X cnophon , a no ther or Charles the Bold 's favo u rite

au tho rs.
...
• •

£ 2: A master g u n ner exa m ines a burst bombard.

T he hoop a nd stave cons tr uc tion of the g un m a y be
•
clearly seen at the point of damage. N ote the sta kes
-
a nd oreil/er to take the recoi l, and the method of
eleva tion. This bombard is based on M ons M eg, a
-' •

Burgundian bombard com m issio ned by Philip the

• •

. G ood in 1449 a nd la ter sen t by him as a gift to King

J ames II o f Scotla nd . The g u n is' still in Edi n b urzh
. ' • - cas tle : it is ove r 13 fe et long , weighs five 't ons, a nd
•
"..- . sho t a stone weigh ing 54.9Ibs . . . .
• -
, ~"---::'::::';-:';;".;;;:
\ - '-
•
•
•
••
•
" ,..-VI •

•
S t . Geor-ge, b y l\ laster FVB, a n eng r a ve r act ive c . l.lno, p o s sibl y
fr orn Bruges in F la n rle r s. No te th e nag o n th e s a i n t's sa ll cr , a s
d e s c r ib ed in Ch a r-Ie s t he Bol d ' s or-d ina nee, an d th e p e culi a r
construction of the war-sad dle. The fish-tail pommel o f t h e
•
saint's s w o r d is one o f the cornrrroncst north-wes t European
styles of the 15t h century. [ R ij k s mu seurn Stic ht i ng, Am s te r-
dam) .

" ,
•

Plate E: A scene after a siege in the I 470S .

These rep resentations are largely based on the
illustrations in the ch ronicle of the Swiss, Diebold
Schilling, who fought against Charles ' the Bold's
army. His work contains man y splendid pictures of
Swiss and Burgundian artillery both 0.0 the march
a nd in acti on . •

F2: Valet
A va let bearing the banner of L ouis d e Ch alons-

•
 •

•
Chatcauguyon, killed by the Swiss when he was 28 G3: Coustillier J

years old at the battle of Grandson in 1 l~ 76; his
banner was also captured. The valets seem to ha ve
come from the lower strata of society, but this one,
being the servant ofa Burgundian nobleman, wears
a mail shirt and a good velvet brigandine with
gilded rivets, under a metal plackart. H e has a .steel
cap wit h rondc1s to protect the .sid es of the head.
Most valets would almost certainly have been, far
less well equipped than this one.
,
F3:. Servant , ,
A coustillier dressed in th e German fas hion. Coustil-
liers appear to ha ve come mostl y from the middle
classes, and insta nces arc fo und of ecuyers down on
their luck offering thei r se rvices as coustilliers. This
one wears a German sallet typically decorated with
a scarf a~.d 'fea ther. ote his thigh-length boots
turned down; the ta b has two holes for poin ts which
wer~ :,p roba bl y a ttached to the do ublet. The
brigandine under his jacket is just visible through •
the side ven t. .
•

A servant or page holds the man-at-arms's la nce. G4: Crossbounnan .

.He is dressed in typical civilian costume, and ifh e is A crossbowman quickly draws a bolt from the neck
a page could well be the son of a lesser gentleman of his jacket, an interesting detail taken from the •

sent. to learn court etiquette, manners and warfa re Swiss Schilling chronicle. His buff leather bag is
from 'his mentor. ' . illustrated in a' Franco-Burgund ian min iature of
,
c. 1440. •
•
•

Plate G: lv/en of the ordinances, 147 1- 1477 •

• •

Much of the equipment and clothing of these fig ures Plate H: At/en of the ordinances, 1471-/477 • •

is described in the tcxt dealing with the ord inances, H I: Handgunner ,

to which the reader should refer. T his' ha ndgunncr wears a small kettle ha t com-
• •
monly illustrated on Burgundi an sold iers in the
•
Gt : Crossbounnan ' .
This crossbowman holds a pavise pain ted with the
emblems of Burgundy, a St. Andrew's cross a nd
stylised sparking flints. These 'personal' emblems
had no connection with the official heraldic arms, •

but were adopted and modified at the whim of their

creators. John the Fearless at first had a hop leaf as
his emblem, but when the French king d isplayed a
ragged staff (symbolising his puniti ve' in tentions
•

towards Burgundy), J oh n adopted a plane witli

,vood chippings as a reply in 1405. Under Philip the
Good the plane turned into a flint, or firestone, a nd
the chippings into sparks, and Charles the Bold
added the motto]e l'ay emprins ' I ha ve unde rta ken
it' . The crossbowman's q uive r with the same motif
i taken from a contemporary manuscript. Tote also
.his crossbow CQver and crannequin . . .
J ,
•
• •

G2: Pikeman •

A pikeman as described in the 1472 ordinance .
About to wade a stream, he has rolled u p his
footless hose and tucked his shoes in his belt, a
pleasing detail taken from the illustra ted chronicle
of the Swiss Tschachtlan, c. 1474.
• •
,
Tbe Burgundil;!-n army on th.~ march, a s seen by the .Sw is s
chronicler Diebold ScHillin g in 1477. Carters urg e on h ors es
s t ruggling wi th bom b ards and smaller field guns , the latter on
their o wn inte g ral carriages, wit h ~Ievation mechanisms.
Beyond them, handgunne rs m arch under banners and pen-
n ons. Most soldiers wear brig andines or q u i lted j a c k s with
kettle hats, but the m an in the l ef t foreground, impati ent for
his comrade's fla s k , h a s a breastplate and arm harn es s. Note
the trumpeter at the right, wirh irh e Burgundian arms on his
trumpet banner. All sold ie rs wear the St. Andrew 's c r oss on
chest and back, [Bibfio t b eque de la ,Bourgeoisie 'de Berne )
1-' -,
.I I
 •
•
•
Swiss' chronicles.
• •
As we have not been able to find it f12: Mounted archer 1

clear illustration of a gun lock as early as this, the A mounted archer, a cording to the 147 1 and 147 ~
firearm has been purposely turned to avoid showing ordinances. ote the round-toed
•
boots and tlu
•
this d etail. The Swiss chronicles show what appear hand-and-a-half sword : this is most likely the ' two
to be gourds and powder horns ca rried by hand- handed' sword specified in the ord ina nce.
gunners, a nd T sch ach tl an (c. (474) shows the •

ea rliest represen tation known to us of a ramrod in H3 , H4: Longbounnen

its classic position under the barrel of the g un . M ercen ary longbowmen, taken from the Schillin]
• •
• • chronicle. These high-collared padded j ackets an
•
•
•
. ••
porsrayed by Schilling only on Burgundians. 1 ott
This tapestry depicting the Emperor Trajan was woven in the very large arrow bag taken from the same
Tournai in c.1450, and is based on ~ series of paintings by
Rogier van d er 'Veyden. All the arm our see m s to be Italian, source.
and n early everyone has a s a ltet , but o n e sold ie r i s wearing a • •
hat with a bevor-, In right foreground, rhe condemned man's
s a lle t and bevor lie before him, and the e x e c u t i o n e r has •
stripped to doubtej, and hose rhc 'points' are clearly seen. •
(Be r-n Historic.,1 1\ useum) •
•
• • •
• •
• • •
•
• • • • •
•

• 3B . . •
•
 •
-, - - - - -- -------,_. -• ~

"

•• I, •
J ,

II f
•
, \ 7 f I
•
•
I,
•
1
• J I
II
,
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• ,
•

,
v
•
•

• ,
,

Further Reading . One of the four 'Caesar' tapestries. There is 's t r o n g evidence
I •
•
•
.. .- , • •
,

.' . that they were made for ' Charles the Bold personally, at
Tournai in c.J465-70: Juli~s Caesar w a s o~ c- of his favoucit
Richard Vaugh an , ' authors; A great var-iety of ar-rnour-and weapons are shownin
u se. The artist has probably indulged in some fanta sy, but it
Philip the Bold, Longrn ans, 19 62 I must be remembered that ruuch armour really was e m -
John the Fearless, Longmans, 1966 I bellished with gold and encrusted with precious stones. (Bern
• Historical Museum) . '
Philip the Good, Long m ans, 19 70
, I

Charles the Bold, Longmans, 197 3 • Philippe Con tam ine, Guerre Etat et Societe idajin du moyen
yalois Burgundy, Allen La ne . age, M ou ton, Paris, 1972 . , ,
Apart from the above, there is little in English on the F. Lot, L' Art mi/itaire et les armies au mo)'en age, Pa yot; Pa ris,
subject. For those who read French the following list will 194 6 ' -'. .,'.. , :' i>
provide some fascina ting d etails o n the Burgundian · J oseph G arni er, L'Artillerie.des dues de Bourgogne, H onore:
, . ,
. . ,, .
armies: C ham pi?I1' ', Pa ris, 1895 . "
Claude Gaier, Art et Organization mi/itaires dans Ie A ..Navereau, Le logement et . , les lis/ensiles des gens de guerre de
. principauti de Liege et Ie Conte de Looz
- . au. M o
)'en Age, '. ' / 439 a 1789,
, Poi tier" 1924 "• , , I
.'
.,
•
Brussels, 1968 . ' . ',• ' T, ,
Las tly, a study of the fabulou s Burgundi an booty taken
J. de la C hauvelays , Les armies des trois .premiers dues de by the Swiss during the 'Bu , rgu ndia n wars will .en thral ,
Bourgogne de la maison de Valois,, Paris,' 1880 · readers interested in
,
art a nd .artifacts of the ,
1 5 th cen tury :
'M aj . Charles Brusten, L' Armee bourguignonne de /465 a Florens Duechler, ' Die Burgunderbeute; S ta m pfl i, Bern ,
••
/468, Ed itions Fr. van .Muysewinkel, Brussels, 1953 • 19 6 3 . •
. .... 1' .'

• ,
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.... '
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,
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•
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 N o t es S U I" le s plan che s e n cou lcrrr
• •
A I l.·e,"hli·lIIe de la croix bl.mrhc de Frauce sc port ait ;i ''(' II .. i·p'KI"'·. :'\oh'Z le
h.uu -dc-chaussvs di·rollie. l: i''1 " ip<'' III''1I 1,'1 1'1 ra ~oll don I I,· p..rsolllla/;,· li"111 SOli
arhall,te son l tin.",s cl'u nc illu~lralion d.uant d'cuviron I :~ l )o . A2 :"0 III II u",
•
licun-u.uu du dill' ,'11 ql;:J. I,· Sir,' de So,"hITIIOII porll' l'uruuuv I) pique d,'
I' ('poq ue , I.e rorsc ('~ t p rott'J.;t·• . ous Il~ xu r cot a n n orii'. pa r u nr ' f o lC dt' Ilia i l' phl1iJ(
Clltt' p a r u nc r u irassc r-n 1I11e sc uh- pilon ', A3 e el i'nl~ l'" porte uuc cou: de m ail sa ns
j .uu bie n-s.
B I L,· lIIari'ch al com ma nda nt I,· sii'ge de Vi-llcxon p"rte 1111" a rmur.. "olllpli'I " ;i
plates d'cxcvll cntc qualill' SO li . un su rco t ;t nno rii': 11I l ( ('1. la roilll ll t,' rypiq uc cit'
I"i'puqut' . 112, "3 U n In a ~(lll ct lIll ca non ni v r uu'survnt un hould de ca uon ell
pierre: ils som cn cosuu ncvivi l cr lc ca nonnii-r port e.' un ra blicrdc cu ir Il ' S rrro urs
de Ila mmr Ix," "ai"111 ,'aIlSIT d rs brulurrs a uxja m lx-s. 84 Cert ains d' K'III I1" 1I 1S de
l'epoq ue prOl1\'('1I1 'I"" les solda ts de ccuc ..a lllpag"'· i· tai<'11 1 o h li~i's de p" rter
i'inscripiion 'Dijoll' ("II ctone rouge t·t blanche sur leur mauclu-.
• •
C R,·,·,' llI d' "'1<' annll re "nlllp"'I" ('1 d,' !OilS I,·s im igll"s hi'l'a1di'l""s, ...'1Il1l1l' s" i1st·
pri'pa rail ;i pn'nd n: part ;i 1111 1001I·lIoi. Ie dlle po rt.. rOnlre de la Toi ,on d 'Or
autuu r d ll rOll c t ("~t an"Omp~l gn c d ' un ro u rt i:-<;] II l't d' lIll trolnpt' Ul', t OllS' deu x
' "Clll S d c.' bl:lIU:: il fu t d e mod e, ;\ cl'rla inc ' o('Ta~ju n ... , pO ll r 1111 oll\Trai ll Oll
p Cp'<-OIl I1:lg C im porta n t dll moyell :lgc d 'h:lhilJer rl' lI ~l'ln blC,' dl' ~O I1 CIlt oll1'a g c (' II
tllIC ~d llc c: l nlt"me n mlcur. sdon ~o n efl prin·.
DI Sal:td c' de Chd" ,r" scadrc' :i 1"'lIllnll pnrtanl k s i m i ~n,·s de la :li'me
Corn pa ~ nie. :\('n1<' ES<.·;1l1 ron . D2 1)ra p" ;n, d,' B()ur ~o/;,.1<' ,'a1'1 ....... pa r I,·s SlIi",'s ~
:\Io.-al en , Iiii. D3 I)r;'I"'all de I:t li'n : Com pa/; ni.. rl'pr':"" 'nl alll SI Barthi·kmy.
Dol Drap"all de eOlll pa!:lIil' repri'S(' lI\a lll Sl ,\ ndn' . DS nralx'all de Ia :li'nll'
CO I1l IM~l1ie ;j \ 't't" la Croix de BOllrgo~IIl'. D 6 G u idon (runt." r0I11pa.~lIil'
,rarhall-Iricr, d,' Frallche-Co, nli·. caplllri' ;' Cralld, ,,n"11 I.f i t;. D7, D8 Drapl'all
d,' ....n'.I'a!:ni .. n 'pri''''lI lalll S l I'icrn' ('1 S, .\lllln'" l'''plmi's:i (;r;lIlll,on"1 :\10"'1
r("s p t" 11 n' 11U' 11 1. • ....I,,·IJII·I " li nk. D7. DII Komp a llidl a !:~"11 mil d"m I h- i l i ~,, " I" 'lnb nnrl dl'1II
E I Vt'ug la irr : lIoh'z I.. ,It'ill( lI rC dc: l'ou k u r \ in't' l h '~ Jk:t il: dra pe-a ll:\:; ;', )' ;lrr ii·("(·.
plan. III'.. dell~i " II1<' ""ul:fa in' :I "'·C • . d on IOllles k, "l'l'an·n..e, d...· colrn '. d ..
Inuniti oll ~ . ur 111 1 c h;tr. E2 La ml·. hod e: clc' l"Oll ~l nH l i pll (":<01 n:-·\l",lt'·c' pal' n .'llt '
I Jl lll1hanlc'explo\o;" T ; 110( C'/' cgah-liwllIlc ' i)~t'\I' (.'l. bloc" d .. I)l li (1l'~lini- 'i ;i an~' H' ( ir I .
I'("(ul. a im.i q tll' la l1u',.hoc:k c.l"l'll'\"atioli ((u'can oll . E3 L'li C:l II Cl ll ll it T Ih·tl; IYC IIIH'
~... r pt·l1 lilH' apn··... 1a hal aillC': 1.1 pc ·j ll l lln· a Cot c'" ("II g ra nell' P~lI t il'. b rilll'c . .\ L\\ .In t-
plan. 1111 ....nllnissaill· , i'I; li,' k . mu nil ion .: k, dlr..niqlll·. ,I<- ,', hilli lll!;
nlllli c.'IlJlCll l d l' 110In h ",'\1"'(', illll ~lr;lIi(l Il...... dt· ca i...,cs flll1("I1;\1I 1 <h . t h ar~ (" de-
po ud l l' p ll"pa n',(" clan.. dc '~ ~. Ir, e n (fl ilc',
F. Cel1l ' n ', o n' t il li tic HI c~ 1 1.", ,(',(' ~ lI r ic-, (hd ollll ; ll1 fl" D ue.dl" de I 171 ("I d c' I l 7:i.
:Ii il,i <jil l' 'u r di\'n~ O l~ i l' t , ay.lIH ' " I'\ (·l"Il j u. qll ',' n ' il'llf. F:.r: ( :c ,"all,t t" 1 lIIin l '\
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F3 1 .1 ' "I ' I \i( c tu, I 'll n,.'; ( U IIW d\ il. til'lI l Ia I.IIH"(" lit· I.flui.. ,
GI hllll .... t' .II' 1".1Ih;t1 i'lc', II ' (1.t111lt"f (llin, ,lil1 ~i I I'll" lC 'C ";t1 lj ll llj .. t 'l 1.1 p.l\i:"ot'
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1l.I \ n t T 'III t "Ou ..... d C;'lll . 1 ~ ut' : Ito.. d t't:ul... 111" \ 11 11111'111 tit' 1;1 ( .111 1111I'1 11 .. tit
•
T "had llia ll . .,u~ ,·",irom d.. I li l : G 3 (:, ." . ,. 11.... h.,hill "· :1 Ia ~lIalli i' '''
a llt-lIIand... G4 L t '" ar h;d c"ll;I'1"\ ""III CH I\t'nl n'l "l lilt· ... da n ' dl"~ ill"lI:"o II .l1illll'...
I <I( 'r r " h.ldl1l:III· ( :hrll" ik 11I11 'i i , . G 3 I:ill .11 '1' d"II I" h,' \\" .j" . L:,·kl..i,kl('r
(OHl t'mporailJt's ;l\'c" tl ll~ lIi'r hl' ci i' pa :"o~~lI 1l dl' 1\' lIt 'p h ll c' dt' kil l' hal ,' , ( t ' qui It'tl r
pt'rll u 'lI ait ti n' .. o;,a ll ... cli·l ai, . .
I II Delail, ""I rail s dl' dl rolli'l'll" sll is,,·. de l'i·p' KI IIl'. I.(·s del;oils dl' ran " .. ;, "'u
:"0111 oh (U I~: 1I (J 1I~ ~a \'''"'i IO Ul d(l i~ que n 'l t "i ll(' ;l l'l1w ... ;i IC:lI l·la it'1l 1. ~.\ l"{-PI MI'H'"
c." '1 ltipiT~ dl' ho Ul cms cll' d i'I f"lI lt', (' I un Jll a Jl lJ . ( ri l dc' I.t i. lIoll IlIul11n' tl UC anne ;'1
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Bu r /;n~ n l" d,' ,. 17 t' "1 d n", ii .3. H3, H .1 .\ ,d lc·l. IIlt ·rn·I,,, i....,. r..plwl uit d, fa
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haw r ol. :\oll'Z 1(' g ra n d C' IrfJll \ Sl ' en (oill' d t·q illt·{· ;lUX tlt\ IIt 's,
• • • •
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Fa rbrafeln
AI Zu jel u 'r Z('il 1"11 ~ lila II <li{' fi':llIz(.,isdu·n I n s i ~ lI i t' n ill Fm m t'il1('~ Wt'i."l'n
I'. n·II /.'·~ . Ik ad ' Il'1l Si,' die hcruut cr/;'· rolh ,· 11 Slriimpli', S..i'll: ,\ ust iislll ll/; 1111<' dic
An, w ic ('I' die A rm h rust Ir;i g l , sind cim-m (;('II\;lI<1(' \ '011 l'1wa 1:)(lO
l' 1I 111 0 Il H Il l' II . A2 lJcr I:)' ;J ZUlli L•.' ll illa llt des I k.-.logS t'nWIIIJ(t' Si"" lr S"," bo w",
Iri;/;I di.. liir d i.. damalig,' Zc·il Iypi s.. he R iislll ll/; . UIII cr dvm \\':'I ' IK'lI rn<,' k i" d....
'1'''''' 0 durvh cimn I'liill rl wlI-ll a ru isch, ni.. lu dllld, cin..11 "illll'ilig"11
Bn"d"....tisch /;l',. III IIZ I. .\3 Di..scr K na p pe Iriigl cin..11 l'/i;lIdwlI - lIarnis.. h.
sciuc lk-inc sind IlI lg l'sr hii tz l.
HI Dcr hd"hlshal","d,' :\1:1I sc hall h..i d"r Bda/;,·ntll!: "011 Vcll..xon Irii!(1 <'0111'
Pl allt'III);IIIZl'I'lIiI/: lciusn-r Qll alil iil 1I 1l1"r scincm \\'alf..I1",,,·k. Ika h"'11 Sic die
d am al s iih lil he Frisur. 8 2, 8 3 Ein ~I aurt'r lind ein Knn oni.. 1' \'C 'rU1l'SsCIi cine
K auoncuku gcl . II IS Sl l·in;· :oil' lra g{'u Zi\'ilkll'idllll~, dvr Kunon ier hal cine
l.cdcr -.. hiir/'· umg" glllllkll-I)('i Riirkli·ucrulIg vun Kauoncn hal sich muncher
. di,' B~illl" ' crbrann t. 11,1 '\IIS alu-n S r hrifisuickcn is ..rwicscn, dass die 'olda l" 11 in
dil''''n \~ FddzlI!: das Wol'I ' I)ijoll' ill ro lelll nnd 'H'is."·11I Stoll' all d"n ,\ lInen
Ira g""11 InlbSII 'n :
C Ik r H'Tl.IIg Ira/;I. wie I"'im Tn .... i,·r, voll.. R ii sllll'~ nnrl \\';'I'lx'nsrhmn, k
. owi.. d..n Ordl'1I ,ks (; uld"''''11 \,li.., ..5 nm d..11 I ial. . Eill 1Ii,I\ing 1111r1 ,·ill
T rompl'IIT ' '''I'I''n ihm ani; h..id,· silld in ,,'('iss ~"kki d" l nlll milldaltnlid,ell
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j e n a rh l.a u llC'. allsZlIsla lll·n.
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