The Duke of Burgundy, or How Pride Comes before the Fall

In 1467, Philip the Good of Burgundy died of natural causes. A patient man, a practical man, and a man of the fine arts, he was loved by his people and respected by his enemies. He was a contemporary of Joan of Arc, and in his Duchy she was imprisoned for a good while (until an agreement was made with the English, who would pay 10.000 livres to gain custody of her. But that is another story.

The Duchy of Burgundy at its height in the 15th century

During Philip's reign, Burgundy was at the apex of its cultural, economical and military prowess. Not one to chase butterflies, he generally stayed away from the Hundred Years's war between England and France. Generally, because at some point he did form an alliance with the English. Yet that is another story.

Compare this to his son Charles. Charles was impatient, short-tempered, warlike and ambitious. A dangerous combination for friends and foes alike.

At this point it is important to know that France's government was that of a kingdom. It was quite a large kingdom however, and the king could simply not be everywhere he needed to be. Since times long before Philip or Charles, France was a feudal kingdom where vassals swore allegiance to the king in return for land. They would then provide levies, taxes and other services to the king. This sounds good in theory, yet it only works well when a king has control over his vassals. One of such kings was Charles the Great A.K.A. Charlemagne.
This guy:

(Warning: flashing lights. It's an older video).

But, once again, that is a story for another time.

If the king was not strong and was not in control, then the vassals would be de facto independent. This had been the case during times such as the Viking Conquests, and of course would play a role in the Hundred Years' war, and of course severely undermined the position of the king since he could only truly rely on the troops and taxes from his personal domain. Charles wished to unite these vassals under a new rule- his. He presumed, and rightly so, that this (wishing to make in-obedient vassals obedient) was also the case for the French king at that time, Louis XI, also know as the Universal Spider.

A good example of Louis' affinity for deception was his rant in front of his court about the Duke of Milan. He claimed for all to hear that the duke was breaking the treaty that existed between the two nations and that perhaps he should send a punitive expedition. One man slipped out of the room: the ambassador of Milan.
He had been received Graciously by the king that morning, so why would the king rant about Milan in his presence?

Later on, the king invited the ambassador to his private chamber and initiated casual conversation. Slowly getting the conversation to politics, he claimed to support the Duke of Milan's ambitions.
He then asked the ambassador of he had heard what the king said about the duke in front of court. The ambassador replied he had been in the room, and that the duke was a loyal friend of France.
Louis then told the Ambassador that he had cause for doubting the duke's true intentions, but then changed the subject.

The next day the king sent servants to the Ambassador asking how he found his lodgings, if anything could be done to improve his visit and most importantly: how he would pass on the king's words to his duke. The servants told the ambassador that the king considered him his friend and that he had merely been venting his emotions.

Of course, Louis did not consider the ambassador his friend, he did not care about his lodgings, but he was certain of one thins: that the ambassador would tell the duke exactly what had occurred that time.
This way, his warning subtly reached the duke who remained an obedient ally.

Such was an example of how the Universal Spider weaved his webs.
Now, back to the story.

As was stated earlier, Charles was ambitious and warlike. He sought to expand his realm not by careful diplomacy, marriage policy and compromise, but by might.
Two obstacles stood in his way.

First of all, France. If Charles could defeat the king and span the vassals under himself, he could very well create a united France which would be the strongest power in Europe.

Secondly, there were the pesky Swiss Cantons which stood between him and conquest in the south of Germany. Annoying, but no match for his vast army and wealth.

Charles did not worry about Louis. After all, a nation is only as strong as its king. And Louis did indeed seem to have his mind slip, since he had a strange affinity for the Swiss. The apparent Swissophile had been making friends with the Swiss from the beginning of his reign, almost treating the Swiss as if they were Frenchmen themselves, despite there being way stronger nations he could have allied with. Perhaps it had to do with his aversion of war, with him buying peace at even the highest of prices.

The time was just for Charles. He decided to invade, and not alone. He managed to create a treaty with king Edward IV of England. Together they vastly outnumbered the French. In battle, there were none who could oppose him now.

When the English had arrived in Calais with their largest invasion force yet, Charles went to greet them, leaving his army behind him to travel faster. He toasted with Edward, celebrating their future conquest of France. He then went back to his own forces.'

Of course, war is unpredictable, Louis XI even more so. News suddenly reached him that the French and English kings were conducting secret negotiations. The English were being treated to lavish meals and a very generous annual subsidy would be paid to the English king and his court. The king, plagued by his grim monetary status, fell for the offer and signed peace.

Discouraged by the separate peace, Charles felt angry. Yet again, unpredictable as war is, he was sent an offer for a long lasting truce. Charles did not understand, yet he readily accepted since this meant that he only had the Swiss to deal with. The game was on between the rich, sizeable and mighty realm of Burgundy and the Swiss cantons all up in the mountains of the Alps.

Charles figured that he outnumbered and outgunned the enemy, his cannons would blast everything in their path into smithereens. He was eager for a fight.

1477, the town of Grandson. The Swiss are waiting for the Burgundians. Outnumbered, but not lacking in fighting spirit, ferocity, and most importantly: the Swiss pike formations. They stood in squares, pikes in front and halberd in the back. This meant that they could attack with impunity and beat almost anyone threatening their flanks. Charles could only watch as his men were mowed down by the numbers. His cannons were no match for the terrain they found themselves on and could do nothing. When a Swiss flanking force attacked on the right the battle was decided. The attackers found themselves in a massive, disorderly rout.

It were now the Swiss who would go on the offensive, and the duke could only counterattack with what little men he had left. After the resulting Battle of Nancy, he army was slain. Eventually his body was found. This took a lot of time, since his head was split into two pieces, and his body was pierced by pikes.

Now king Louis had no trouble swallowing up Burgundian lands and destroying any threat to what had been an ambition of French kings since before the Hundred Years' war: a unified France, unhindered by disloyal feudal lords.

Charles who had a great army to wield
Found himself dead naked in a foreign field

I told you this story for a number of reasons.

First of all, as the title suggests, pride comes before the fall. Charles was certain he would succeed, even after the English abandoned him. Had he planned ahead and done more research, he would not have fought the Swiss head-on.
Had he not been so war-like and ambitious, he could have slowly expanded Burgundy even further and won the French vassals to his side by diplomacy, not by impulsive warfare. Fortunes are won over time, rarely by chance and if they are, it is even rarer that said fortune is kept.

Second of all, never underestimate your opponent. Charles underestimated the French and the Swiss alike. The first left him without allies, the other left him dead.

Last but not least, never overestimate allies of circumstance. Charles thought Edward would help him out of self-interest. He would never do battle if it did not gain him anything. It was this same self-interest that compelled him to make peace with the French. Wars cost a lot of money. Why wage war when you can make substantially more money not to fight?
Charles had nothing to offer the English they could not get elsewhere. As such, they were not good allies, merely allies of circumstance.

Now let us take a final look at Louis XI. He abandoned the Swiss in order to make peace with Burgundy. Although it seemed at first that this put him in a strange (and bad) position, he ended up making territorial gains completely out of proportion compared to the money he had to pay the English. And all that without losing a man.

In another article I wrote about business I suggested that one must have friends in order to succeed. Although your allies can also be your friends, those two terms are no synonyms. If you plan to keep allies in your time of need, you must have something to offer them which they do not have already. It is rare (but certainly not unwelcome) for allies to keep their part of the bargain even when they have nothing to gain from it.

Sources

The 33 strategies of war (2007). Greene, R. PROFILE BOOKS LTD, London, 3A Exmouth House.
First picture: no idea. Got it from this link: http://www.croixdebourgogne.fr/bnegeneralitesa.htm
Second picture: Auguste Feyen-Perrin (1862)