The Grand Duchy of the West - A Valois-Burgundian TL
- Thread starter BlueFlowwer
- Start date
I'm so sorry! But yeah, I have plans for Richard of Gloucester in this TL so I'm probably gonna make you cry again soon.
*sets up table with teacups, hot cocoa and carrot cake for sad viewers*
I recently got interested in this time-period due to the potential the "Grand Duchy of the West" offers. Happy to see that so promptly after, a new TL was created by you. Will watch with interest 
Thank you so much! I am being swamped with love right nowI recently got interested in this time-period due to the potential the "Grand Duchy of the West" offers. Happy to see that so promptly after, a new TL was created by you. Will watch with interest
The rabble must be thirsting for new middle-ages/renaissance TLsThank you so much! I am being swamped with love right now
I know I for one am sorely missing TLs from this period.
Yeah I agree.The rabble must be thirsting for new middle-ages/renaissance TLs
Especially if we could see the Duchy actually take Lorraine ittl with the pope not crowning them as emperors due to reasons (the fr*nch).
No promises on Lorraine, given that Nicholas of Anjou lives in this tl and is at the present moment betrothed to Mary of Burgundy.
At least Lorraine and burgundy proper would be allies which would be good for both sides as their main problem is France, not each other.
True. And since Charles will go down in flames either in 1477 or 1480, it might be less disasterous in the end.
And Margaret will do a much better job at damage control with such an ally when the time comes.
Chapter 6. Burgundy from 1473 to 1477
Chapter 6 - Burgundy from 1473 to 1477
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477
Charles the Bold stood on top of the world in the beginning of 1473. He had restored his brother-in-law to the throne of England, the French had been beaten back and his children were flourishing. Philip of Burgundy, his only son might have a brother soon as Margaret of York were once more pregnant. Mary had turned 16; Isabella had gone from a baby in the cradle to a lively three-year-old. He was once more one of the most powerful rulers in Europe with a mighty realm. The sense of victory was compounded by the birth of his second son, John in early June.
A month after that, on a bright and beautiful summer day, Mary of Burgundy wedded Nicholas of Anjou as promised. And for the rest of the year of peace reigned over the duchy, with the duke and duchess enjoying the summer and autumn in unprecedented tranquillity.
Mary of Burgundy, Duchess of Lorraine
But peace rarely lasts long, and Charles the Bold began to plan the future of his realm and his other children. He directed Margaret to engage her brother with the plans to marry Philip to Mary of York with a marriage date set for 1483, when Philip turned 14. For Isabella, Charles sent a delegation to Castile to discuss an alliance between Burgundy and the Spanish kingdoms with three-year-old Juan. Baby John did not escape his father’s matchmakings either. The long connections between the duchy and the Italian kingdoms were strong through trades and Charles held the court culture and splendour of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Lord of Florence, in high regard. Thus, a suggestion of John’s hand to the newborn Maddalena de’ Medici arrived. However, Lorenzo was lukewarm to the idea, and nothing came of it. The duchy of Milan and Bianca Maria Sforza also came under consideration, but nothing set in stone for John yet. Another possible bride was Marie of Luxembourg-Saint Pol as she was the heiress presumptive of her father Peter II of Luxembourg, Count of Saint Pol and Soissions.
The peace was not long lasting, a man such as Charles the Bold made enemies a plenty. From 1473 to his death in 1477, Charles would engage himself in several battles that ultimately led to his downfall and death. One victory before the storm occurred in 1473 as Charles brought the Duchy of Guelders from Arnold of Egmont who died the same year. Arnold’s son and heir Adolf had been imprisoned at Hesdin and his twin children, Charles, and Philippa of Guelders arrived in court to be raised (and held hostage to prevent Guelders from rebelling) with the ducal children. As they were two years older than Philip, Count of Charolais, Charles was installed with him as part of his circle and Philippa ended up in the custody of the duchess, becoming quick friends with Isabella of Burgundy. The historians interested in the relationship with Philip and the Egmont siblings has made astute observations that the boys might have become more then just friends from there on out. His relationship with Philip remained close into their teenage years. Philip’s rule of Guelders would never be questioned by Charles, to general surprise of everyone. In return the duke would put a firm trust in Charles abilities, who acted as a diplomat, advisor, and military commander for Philip. Philippa would of course have the rest of her life intertwined with Philip, despite his engagement to Mary of York at the time.
Philip, Count of Charolais in 1477
But first came the conflict of Cologne and the Diocesan Freud that would start in 1473. The whole mess would begin with the Archbishop of Cologne, Ruprecht of the Palatinate.
The Seige of Neuss 1474-5
The background of the conflict centred around the agreement made by the estates in the region joining causes to form “Erblandesvereinigungen” or hereditary estate agreements that the archbishops had to agree with in their role as rulers of the territory and thus seed permission of the Landstände or estates of Cologne. Naturally, Ruprecht disagreed with that and instead went on to hire mercenaries from the Palatinate to conquer the land areas endowed away by the previous archbishops. That set the archbishop in direct conflict with the estates who feared that their rights would be overruled by military force. The final straw was a disagreement over raising a poll and hearth tax on the city of Zons. Ruprecht also attempted to take the town of Neuss by force and open war broke out in Cologne. The archbishop was deposed, and Hermann of Hesse elected in his place in 1473.
Ruprecht of the Palatinate, Archbishop of Cologne
The escalation started with both Charles the Bold and Emperor Frederick interfering in different ways. Charles claimed to be the protector of Cologne and started to gather troops for war again. Frederick attempted to diffuse the situation in December, but unfortunately it failed. The relationship between the two men had soured as Mary wedded Nicholas instead of Archduke Maximilian and Isabella of Burgundy was way to young for Maximilian.
Ruprecht signed an agreement with Charles that in return for crushing the rebels and protecting the archbishop, the duke would receive 200, 000 florins annually. But to clear his secure his border to the west, Charles had to deal with Louis XI of France first.
The actions of his brother-in-law Edward IV of England helped with that.
The long-promised english invasion of France would come into action in the early 1474. Edward IV of England would amass an army of around 12, 000 men. The idea of the Plantagenets once more being rulers of France still appealed to romantics and nobles and with the mighty duke of Burgundy as an ally, this could be a reality to fight for. However, other events would shatter that illusion even before the english arrived in Calais.
In early 1474, war occupied Charles’s life in very different ways.
Charles would focus on the upper Rhine for his military actions, resulting in the english forces being alone when they arrived in June. Margaret tried to persuade her brother to invade, but with little success. The duke would return from the Rhinelands in July to greet Edward and to plan for the invasion, but that failed as neither man could agree on tactics; Charles wanted for the english to engage the French alone, while he hit them from the east, something that did not appeal to Edward. To make matters even worse, Louis XI of France started a secret negotiation with Edward, something that proved more efficient than Charles’s ideas.
The failing of the invasion was cemented in the Treaty of Picquigny. Louis offered 75,000 crowns as well as an annually pension of 55,000 crowns to Edward in exchange for the English leaving their attempted conquests. To sweeten the deal Princess Cecily of York were betrothed to Charles, the dauphin, Louis’s only son. Despite the anger towards Edward, Charles also got a treaty with the French, a ten-year truce and the full restoration of his lands. The French ambassador reported however that the little princess’s health were rather bad, as all of Edward’s children with Queen Margaret were. The next year, Margaret delivered a son, Edward, but the infant were small and sickly to his parents dismay.
That left Charles with a full ability to focus on his wars in the Rhine and Alsace.
Thus, the agreement with Ruprecht ended up with Charles besieging the stronghold of Neuss, where Hermann had holed up. The siege started in late July of 1474. The city had collected enough provisions to last until Christmas despite their short time to prepare. Hermann had a very strong support of the nearby towns and cities around Neuss too. After the initial assault on the islands in the Rhine nearby led to heavy losses, the islands were taken by Charles forces. The main reason was to control the waterways and keep Neuss from resupplying themselves. Meanwhile, hostile peasants harried the army constantly. Neuss managed to withstand an assault of 3,000 men in September and floated a boat on fire down the river to destroy the floating bridges built by the besiegers, but the river diverted it.
The army began to fight between themselves in the next fight as the english archers grumbled about lack of pay and reports began to spread they had killed the duke himself. Charles appeared just in the nick of time to prevent a slaughter and worked himself to the bone to prevent morale from falling and take the city. But Neuss received extra troops from Hesse and provisions ended up smuggled into the city by men disguised as Italians. The city continued to hold.
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III
In May of 1475 the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick moved to Cologne to put a end to the siege. The imperial army had been slowed by brawls between the soldiers from different parts of the empire and since they had to free other cities from Charles’s army. The siege would be dismantled after the two men reached a treaty. However, as the German troops harassed the Burgundians and stole several ships with cannons on them. This led to more episodes of fighting until a papal legate threatened both the Duke and the Emperor with excommunication. This provided Charles and Frederick to end the hostilities without loosing face in late June.
Charles would return to his duchess empty handed this time. The reunion in Breda in Brabant would be bittersweet for both spouses. Charles spent a few months at rest with Margaret, traveling between Breda, Antwerp, and Mons. The autumn also saw hunting parties and parties in the court, with Charles raising money from various cities along the way. Philip and Isabella joined their parents during the travels, making sure the cities got to know their heir.
In summer of 1476, two more conflicts reared its ugly heads, and it would be Charles the Bold final misadventures. France invaded both the duchy of Anjou and County of Bar, two territories that belonged by right to Nicholas of Anjou. Charles had sent a force of 5000 men to aid his son in law against France, but it also meant he did not have as many soldiers for the next year’s campaigns as he perhaps needed. The taxation left a lot of the citizens inflamed and tensions began to rise.
The other problem laid further down in the Rhine. In 9th May of 1469 Archduke Sigismund of Austria had pledged Hapsburg territories to Charles in return for 50,000 Florins. The regions of Upper Alsace, Breisach, the counties of Ferrette and Hauenstein, Ortenberg and the rhenish towns of Rheinfelden, Säckingen, Laufenburg and Waldshut all given to Charles the Bold.
Sigismund wanted a defensive alliance against the Swiss Confederacy who had aggressively expanded their territories from 1353 and onwards. The confederacy made up by various cities enlarged their areas at the expense of local counts and after Louis IX had turned down Sigismund’s offer of a alliance, he went instead to Charles the Bold. The treaty gave Charles even more access to the Rhinelands and made him a neighbour for the Swiss. The combination of the ferocious duke with a streak of cruelty towards his enemies and the equally ferociously independent Swiss hellbent on defending their independence would become a powder keg waiting for a lit match.
The management of these region had been given to a ducal bailiff, Peter von Hagenbach, who proved himself to be a tyrant who had tried to surpass the privileges of the Alsatian cities and the allied cities in the Swiss confederation. The marriage of Mary of Burgundy to Nicholas of Anjou, Duke of Lorraine meant that the Swiss lost a potential ally in their struggle against the mighty duke as well. Thus, it was not until autumn of 1476 that a rebellion erupted in the region. The Swiss found a ally against the duke in Louis XI of France who funded and manipulated the cities to gather together against Charles. Hagenbach was overthrown, put on trial for the crimes that his troops had committed on the populace and beheaded. The act were a personal challenge against Charles to come settle the score in Alsace.
Trial of Peter Hagenbach
The campaigns began with a long speech by Charles to the Estates Charles about how God had favoured him, how victory was behind the corner and that now was not the time to hold back on warfare. The duke, always a skilled rhetorician, managed to raise a large force and moved down towards the Rhinelands. The campaigns began in early March of 1477 and Charles left behind his family again. Before the Duke left for the final battle of his life, he left behind another child in Margaret’s womb. The duchess would not realise she had become pregnant until more then a month after her husband left and despite her hopes that he would return to her side and greet their child, it would become the last time she saw him.
Before he left Charles sent a delegation to Duke Francis II of Brittany, who had finally been blessed with a son on the 25th of January. Little John, Count of Montfort had a impressive godfather in the Duke who sent him a bejewelled sword for his christening. Charles pledged to protect Brittany’s independence against France, a promise he himself never got to come around to. The invasion of Anjou was likely behind his decision, as it laid next to Brittany’s borders.
Francis II of Brittany
In Lorraine there was another pregnant duchess at the same time. After a miscarriage in 1474, Mary had announced her second pregnancy at Christmas in Nancy much to the duchy’s delight. As her pregnancy progressed steadily, she had been able to raise funds and men for her father’s cause during the spring, but several parts of Lorraine viewed her with suspicion. Was their new duchess a pawn who would drag them into a war with her power mad father?
Nicholas was not only Duke of Lorraine; he was heir and Lord to one of the grandest patrimonies in Europe. His paternal grandmother Isabella had inherited Lorraine and had married René of Anjou, Duke of both Anjou and Provence, and from 1435 to 1442, King of Naples. René also ruled the county of Bar. Nicholas also stood to inherit the domains of Charles of Anjou, his relative if Charles remained childless, these where the various Counties of Maine, Guise, Mortain and Gien, scattered all over France. Thus, Nicholas stood to inherit several realms, but since they were scattered across the French crownlands, it was difficult to ensure ducal control over them all.
Louis XI of France
Louis XII also sent envoys to Lorraine about a peace treaty regarding the Duchy of Anjou and the county of Bar near Lorraine that had been taken in 1476 by France. The invasion of Bar and Anjou had taken place in the summer, and it caused Nicholas to divert his focus.
The negotiations between Nicholas and France ended up slowing reinforcements to Charles. A force of knights and archers arrived to supplement the ducal troops in late June of 1477, around 3000 thousand men. Charles’s campaign had at that point centred around the city of Zurich as the earlier months had been fighting with the Swiss at several places and now, he was besieging the city to crush the confederacy. Zurich was the presiding canton of the Diet from 1468 and thus a good target to strike. Not to mention, the nearby distance to the Austrian areas could provide the rebellious counties to receive aid.
The siege of Zurich made the whole confederation very determined to rid themselves of this ducal plague on their lands permanently and a massive army of 12,000 gathered from the cities of Grandson, Morat and Berne. The army headed to Zurich to meet the ducal forces and the incoming army from Lorraine in September. Mary had given birth to a son in the month before and named him Charles, for his grandfather who he would never get to know. Mary had been able to use her newfound popularity to send a reserve force of 2000 men to aid him.
The birth of Charles had boosted morale and even more as the duke had become aware that his wife Margaret was expecting another child. He doubled down on his resolve to take the city, oblivious to the impending doom that marched to meet him.
September would become the month of bloodshed for all involved parties. The Swiss forces lost around 3000 men in clashes with the Lorraine army before they got to Charles, but their resolve in bringing him down held. The ducal forces numbered 9000, as more then 3000 had been lost in fighting since spring.
It all came down on morning of the 15th. Swiss forces all clashed with the Burgundian troops, the Savoyard soldiers commanded by Jacques of Savoy and the men from Lorraine. After five days of intense fighting the Swiss prevailed in a tense battle. All sides took heavy losses, the Swiss losing another 2500 men and Lorraine more then half their forces. The ducal forces lost 6000 men, but more importantly, they lost their Duke. Charles the Bold had finally been defeated, dying a warrior’s death in the thick of the fighting on the 20th of September outside of Zurich.
Charles the Bold, the last Duke of Burgundy
Louis XI had accomplished his goal of vanquishing his greatest enemy and set his sight on the French parts of Charles’s duchy. As the heir to Burgundy were eight years old at his father’s death, Louis leapt into action quickly. The pregnant duchess Margaret was to deliver her husband’s last child on the 8th of December, close to three months afterwards. Anne of Burgundy would spend her first years in constant turmoil with her mother being left with the giant task of protecting her father’s inheritance from France for the next years.
It would perhaps also bring Charles some comfort in knowing that his namesake grandson in Lorraine would become just as much a headache for France later as he himself had been.
Authors Note: So ends Charles the Bold. Butterflied is the conflict with Lorraine so the burgundian gets crushed, but not as harsh as otl. Charles has two more children and Anne of Brittany is born a son in this TL.
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477
Charles the Bold stood on top of the world in the beginning of 1473. He had restored his brother-in-law to the throne of England, the French had been beaten back and his children were flourishing. Philip of Burgundy, his only son might have a brother soon as Margaret of York were once more pregnant. Mary had turned 16; Isabella had gone from a baby in the cradle to a lively three-year-old. He was once more one of the most powerful rulers in Europe with a mighty realm. The sense of victory was compounded by the birth of his second son, John in early June.
A month after that, on a bright and beautiful summer day, Mary of Burgundy wedded Nicholas of Anjou as promised. And for the rest of the year of peace reigned over the duchy, with the duke and duchess enjoying the summer and autumn in unprecedented tranquillity.
Mary of Burgundy, Duchess of Lorraine
But peace rarely lasts long, and Charles the Bold began to plan the future of his realm and his other children. He directed Margaret to engage her brother with the plans to marry Philip to Mary of York with a marriage date set for 1483, when Philip turned 14. For Isabella, Charles sent a delegation to Castile to discuss an alliance between Burgundy and the Spanish kingdoms with three-year-old Juan. Baby John did not escape his father’s matchmakings either. The long connections between the duchy and the Italian kingdoms were strong through trades and Charles held the court culture and splendour of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Lord of Florence, in high regard. Thus, a suggestion of John’s hand to the newborn Maddalena de’ Medici arrived. However, Lorenzo was lukewarm to the idea, and nothing came of it. The duchy of Milan and Bianca Maria Sforza also came under consideration, but nothing set in stone for John yet. Another possible bride was Marie of Luxembourg-Saint Pol as she was the heiress presumptive of her father Peter II of Luxembourg, Count of Saint Pol and Soissions.
The peace was not long lasting, a man such as Charles the Bold made enemies a plenty. From 1473 to his death in 1477, Charles would engage himself in several battles that ultimately led to his downfall and death. One victory before the storm occurred in 1473 as Charles brought the Duchy of Guelders from Arnold of Egmont who died the same year. Arnold’s son and heir Adolf had been imprisoned at Hesdin and his twin children, Charles, and Philippa of Guelders arrived in court to be raised (and held hostage to prevent Guelders from rebelling) with the ducal children. As they were two years older than Philip, Count of Charolais, Charles was installed with him as part of his circle and Philippa ended up in the custody of the duchess, becoming quick friends with Isabella of Burgundy. The historians interested in the relationship with Philip and the Egmont siblings has made astute observations that the boys might have become more then just friends from there on out. His relationship with Philip remained close into their teenage years. Philip’s rule of Guelders would never be questioned by Charles, to general surprise of everyone. In return the duke would put a firm trust in Charles abilities, who acted as a diplomat, advisor, and military commander for Philip. Philippa would of course have the rest of her life intertwined with Philip, despite his engagement to Mary of York at the time.
Philip, Count of Charolais in 1477
But first came the conflict of Cologne and the Diocesan Freud that would start in 1473. The whole mess would begin with the Archbishop of Cologne, Ruprecht of the Palatinate.
The Seige of Neuss 1474-5
The background of the conflict centred around the agreement made by the estates in the region joining causes to form “Erblandesvereinigungen” or hereditary estate agreements that the archbishops had to agree with in their role as rulers of the territory and thus seed permission of the Landstände or estates of Cologne. Naturally, Ruprecht disagreed with that and instead went on to hire mercenaries from the Palatinate to conquer the land areas endowed away by the previous archbishops. That set the archbishop in direct conflict with the estates who feared that their rights would be overruled by military force. The final straw was a disagreement over raising a poll and hearth tax on the city of Zons. Ruprecht also attempted to take the town of Neuss by force and open war broke out in Cologne. The archbishop was deposed, and Hermann of Hesse elected in his place in 1473.
Ruprecht of the Palatinate, Archbishop of Cologne
The escalation started with both Charles the Bold and Emperor Frederick interfering in different ways. Charles claimed to be the protector of Cologne and started to gather troops for war again. Frederick attempted to diffuse the situation in December, but unfortunately it failed. The relationship between the two men had soured as Mary wedded Nicholas instead of Archduke Maximilian and Isabella of Burgundy was way to young for Maximilian.
Ruprecht signed an agreement with Charles that in return for crushing the rebels and protecting the archbishop, the duke would receive 200, 000 florins annually. But to clear his secure his border to the west, Charles had to deal with Louis XI of France first.
The actions of his brother-in-law Edward IV of England helped with that.
The long-promised english invasion of France would come into action in the early 1474. Edward IV of England would amass an army of around 12, 000 men. The idea of the Plantagenets once more being rulers of France still appealed to romantics and nobles and with the mighty duke of Burgundy as an ally, this could be a reality to fight for. However, other events would shatter that illusion even before the english arrived in Calais.
In early 1474, war occupied Charles’s life in very different ways.
Charles would focus on the upper Rhine for his military actions, resulting in the english forces being alone when they arrived in June. Margaret tried to persuade her brother to invade, but with little success. The duke would return from the Rhinelands in July to greet Edward and to plan for the invasion, but that failed as neither man could agree on tactics; Charles wanted for the english to engage the French alone, while he hit them from the east, something that did not appeal to Edward. To make matters even worse, Louis XI of France started a secret negotiation with Edward, something that proved more efficient than Charles’s ideas.
The failing of the invasion was cemented in the Treaty of Picquigny. Louis offered 75,000 crowns as well as an annually pension of 55,000 crowns to Edward in exchange for the English leaving their attempted conquests. To sweeten the deal Princess Cecily of York were betrothed to Charles, the dauphin, Louis’s only son. Despite the anger towards Edward, Charles also got a treaty with the French, a ten-year truce and the full restoration of his lands. The French ambassador reported however that the little princess’s health were rather bad, as all of Edward’s children with Queen Margaret were. The next year, Margaret delivered a son, Edward, but the infant were small and sickly to his parents dismay.
That left Charles with a full ability to focus on his wars in the Rhine and Alsace.
Thus, the agreement with Ruprecht ended up with Charles besieging the stronghold of Neuss, where Hermann had holed up. The siege started in late July of 1474. The city had collected enough provisions to last until Christmas despite their short time to prepare. Hermann had a very strong support of the nearby towns and cities around Neuss too. After the initial assault on the islands in the Rhine nearby led to heavy losses, the islands were taken by Charles forces. The main reason was to control the waterways and keep Neuss from resupplying themselves. Meanwhile, hostile peasants harried the army constantly. Neuss managed to withstand an assault of 3,000 men in September and floated a boat on fire down the river to destroy the floating bridges built by the besiegers, but the river diverted it.
The army began to fight between themselves in the next fight as the english archers grumbled about lack of pay and reports began to spread they had killed the duke himself. Charles appeared just in the nick of time to prevent a slaughter and worked himself to the bone to prevent morale from falling and take the city. But Neuss received extra troops from Hesse and provisions ended up smuggled into the city by men disguised as Italians. The city continued to hold.
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III
In May of 1475 the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick moved to Cologne to put a end to the siege. The imperial army had been slowed by brawls between the soldiers from different parts of the empire and since they had to free other cities from Charles’s army. The siege would be dismantled after the two men reached a treaty. However, as the German troops harassed the Burgundians and stole several ships with cannons on them. This led to more episodes of fighting until a papal legate threatened both the Duke and the Emperor with excommunication. This provided Charles and Frederick to end the hostilities without loosing face in late June.
Charles would return to his duchess empty handed this time. The reunion in Breda in Brabant would be bittersweet for both spouses. Charles spent a few months at rest with Margaret, traveling between Breda, Antwerp, and Mons. The autumn also saw hunting parties and parties in the court, with Charles raising money from various cities along the way. Philip and Isabella joined their parents during the travels, making sure the cities got to know their heir.
In summer of 1476, two more conflicts reared its ugly heads, and it would be Charles the Bold final misadventures. France invaded both the duchy of Anjou and County of Bar, two territories that belonged by right to Nicholas of Anjou. Charles had sent a force of 5000 men to aid his son in law against France, but it also meant he did not have as many soldiers for the next year’s campaigns as he perhaps needed. The taxation left a lot of the citizens inflamed and tensions began to rise.
The other problem laid further down in the Rhine. In 9th May of 1469 Archduke Sigismund of Austria had pledged Hapsburg territories to Charles in return for 50,000 Florins. The regions of Upper Alsace, Breisach, the counties of Ferrette and Hauenstein, Ortenberg and the rhenish towns of Rheinfelden, Säckingen, Laufenburg and Waldshut all given to Charles the Bold.
Sigismund wanted a defensive alliance against the Swiss Confederacy who had aggressively expanded their territories from 1353 and onwards. The confederacy made up by various cities enlarged their areas at the expense of local counts and after Louis IX had turned down Sigismund’s offer of a alliance, he went instead to Charles the Bold. The treaty gave Charles even more access to the Rhinelands and made him a neighbour for the Swiss. The combination of the ferocious duke with a streak of cruelty towards his enemies and the equally ferociously independent Swiss hellbent on defending their independence would become a powder keg waiting for a lit match.
The management of these region had been given to a ducal bailiff, Peter von Hagenbach, who proved himself to be a tyrant who had tried to surpass the privileges of the Alsatian cities and the allied cities in the Swiss confederation. The marriage of Mary of Burgundy to Nicholas of Anjou, Duke of Lorraine meant that the Swiss lost a potential ally in their struggle against the mighty duke as well. Thus, it was not until autumn of 1476 that a rebellion erupted in the region. The Swiss found a ally against the duke in Louis XI of France who funded and manipulated the cities to gather together against Charles. Hagenbach was overthrown, put on trial for the crimes that his troops had committed on the populace and beheaded. The act were a personal challenge against Charles to come settle the score in Alsace.
Trial of Peter Hagenbach
The campaigns began with a long speech by Charles to the Estates Charles about how God had favoured him, how victory was behind the corner and that now was not the time to hold back on warfare. The duke, always a skilled rhetorician, managed to raise a large force and moved down towards the Rhinelands. The campaigns began in early March of 1477 and Charles left behind his family again. Before the Duke left for the final battle of his life, he left behind another child in Margaret’s womb. The duchess would not realise she had become pregnant until more then a month after her husband left and despite her hopes that he would return to her side and greet their child, it would become the last time she saw him.
Before he left Charles sent a delegation to Duke Francis II of Brittany, who had finally been blessed with a son on the 25th of January. Little John, Count of Montfort had a impressive godfather in the Duke who sent him a bejewelled sword for his christening. Charles pledged to protect Brittany’s independence against France, a promise he himself never got to come around to. The invasion of Anjou was likely behind his decision, as it laid next to Brittany’s borders.
Francis II of Brittany
In Lorraine there was another pregnant duchess at the same time. After a miscarriage in 1474, Mary had announced her second pregnancy at Christmas in Nancy much to the duchy’s delight. As her pregnancy progressed steadily, she had been able to raise funds and men for her father’s cause during the spring, but several parts of Lorraine viewed her with suspicion. Was their new duchess a pawn who would drag them into a war with her power mad father?
Nicholas was not only Duke of Lorraine; he was heir and Lord to one of the grandest patrimonies in Europe. His paternal grandmother Isabella had inherited Lorraine and had married René of Anjou, Duke of both Anjou and Provence, and from 1435 to 1442, King of Naples. René also ruled the county of Bar. Nicholas also stood to inherit the domains of Charles of Anjou, his relative if Charles remained childless, these where the various Counties of Maine, Guise, Mortain and Gien, scattered all over France. Thus, Nicholas stood to inherit several realms, but since they were scattered across the French crownlands, it was difficult to ensure ducal control over them all.
Louis XI of France
Louis XII also sent envoys to Lorraine about a peace treaty regarding the Duchy of Anjou and the county of Bar near Lorraine that had been taken in 1476 by France. The invasion of Bar and Anjou had taken place in the summer, and it caused Nicholas to divert his focus.
The negotiations between Nicholas and France ended up slowing reinforcements to Charles. A force of knights and archers arrived to supplement the ducal troops in late June of 1477, around 3000 thousand men. Charles’s campaign had at that point centred around the city of Zurich as the earlier months had been fighting with the Swiss at several places and now, he was besieging the city to crush the confederacy. Zurich was the presiding canton of the Diet from 1468 and thus a good target to strike. Not to mention, the nearby distance to the Austrian areas could provide the rebellious counties to receive aid.
The siege of Zurich made the whole confederation very determined to rid themselves of this ducal plague on their lands permanently and a massive army of 12,000 gathered from the cities of Grandson, Morat and Berne. The army headed to Zurich to meet the ducal forces and the incoming army from Lorraine in September. Mary had given birth to a son in the month before and named him Charles, for his grandfather who he would never get to know. Mary had been able to use her newfound popularity to send a reserve force of 2000 men to aid him.
The birth of Charles had boosted morale and even more as the duke had become aware that his wife Margaret was expecting another child. He doubled down on his resolve to take the city, oblivious to the impending doom that marched to meet him.
September would become the month of bloodshed for all involved parties. The Swiss forces lost around 3000 men in clashes with the Lorraine army before they got to Charles, but their resolve in bringing him down held. The ducal forces numbered 9000, as more then 3000 had been lost in fighting since spring.
It all came down on morning of the 15th. Swiss forces all clashed with the Burgundian troops, the Savoyard soldiers commanded by Jacques of Savoy and the men from Lorraine. After five days of intense fighting the Swiss prevailed in a tense battle. All sides took heavy losses, the Swiss losing another 2500 men and Lorraine more then half their forces. The ducal forces lost 6000 men, but more importantly, they lost their Duke. Charles the Bold had finally been defeated, dying a warrior’s death in the thick of the fighting on the 20th of September outside of Zurich.
Charles the Bold, the last Duke of Burgundy
Louis XI had accomplished his goal of vanquishing his greatest enemy and set his sight on the French parts of Charles’s duchy. As the heir to Burgundy were eight years old at his father’s death, Louis leapt into action quickly. The pregnant duchess Margaret was to deliver her husband’s last child on the 8th of December, close to three months afterwards. Anne of Burgundy would spend her first years in constant turmoil with her mother being left with the giant task of protecting her father’s inheritance from France for the next years.
It would perhaps also bring Charles some comfort in knowing that his namesake grandson in Lorraine would become just as much a headache for France later as he himself had been.
Authors Note: So ends Charles the Bold. Butterflied is the conflict with Lorraine so the burgundian gets crushed, but not as harsh as otl. Charles has two more children and Anne of Brittany is born a son in this TL.
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Indeed he did. I had to find some way for him to die in a blaze of glory in 1477. I considered to let him die of a accident or of old age, but no. He told me himself that he wanted a warrior's death. Dying of old age is for the PEASANTS.
And his family will ensure his work and legend will survive.
And the more it is at the expense of france, the better.
Yeah something like that. But France isn't gonna go without a fight now that Charles is dead.
And Margaret will showcase why the Plantagenets are the Bane of France.