Charles the Bold, Last Duke of Burgundy, 1433-1477Putnam, Ruth
History
Charles the Bold, Last Duke of Burgundy, 1433-1477
Putnam, Ruth
Burgundy (France) -- History; Charles, Duke of Burgundy, 1433-1477; Switzerland -- History -- 1032-1499
"As ffor tydyngs heer we her ffrom alle the worlde. ... Item, the
Duke of Burgoyne hath conqueryd Lorreyn and Queen Margreet shall
nott nowe be lykelyhod have it; wherffer the Frenshe kynge
cheryssheth hyr butt easelye; but afftr thys conquest off Loreyn
the Duke toke grete corage to goo upon the londe off the Swechys
[Swiss] to conquer them butt the berded hym att an onsett place
and hathe dystrussyd hym and hathe slayne the most part of his
vanwarde and wonne all hys ordynnaunce and artylrye and mor ovyr
all stuffe thatt he hade in hys ost with hym; exceppte men and
horse ffledde nott but they roode that nyght xx myle; and so the
ryche saletts, heulmetts garters, nowchys[17] gelt and all is
goone with tente pavylons and all and soo men deme hys pryde is
abatyd. Men tolde hym that they were ffrowarde karlys butte he
wolde nott beleve it and yitt men seye that he woll to them ageyn.
Gode spede them bothe."
Many of the rumours that were current represented Charles as
completely prostrated by his disaster. This was only half true.
His efforts to retrieve himself were immediate but, physically, he
certainly showed the effects of this campaign. He was attacked by a
low fever, his stomach rejected food, insomnia afflicted his nights,
and dropsical swellings appeared on his legs. This condition was
attributed to his fatigues and exposure in a hard climate, and to his
habit of drinking warm barley-water in the morning. He was urged to
use a soft feather-bed instead of his hard couch, while Yolande's own
physician and one Angelo Catto watched anxiously over him. The latter
claimed the credit of saving his life. Charles was not, however, fully
recovered when he resumed his activities and held a review on May 9th.
With all his efforts exerted in every quarter likely to yield results,
the whole number of troops was but twenty thousand men. Every onlooker
felt that the duke was now trying to accomplish something quite beyond
his resources.
"Illustrious prince [wrote the King of Hungary[18]], we cannot
sufficiently wonder that you should have been so gravely deceived
and that, after having once found that you were lured into loss
and disgrace, again you let yourself be snared in a labyrinth from
which you will either never escape, or escape only with damage and
shame.... Without risk to himself [your foe] has precipitated you
into an abyss and tied you where you are exposed to the loss of
your possessions and your life.... We exhort you to pause before
incurring heavier losses and greater dangers. If fortune smiles
upon you in your attack on that people, you will have the whole
empire against you. In the opposite event--which God avert--it
will be turned into a common tale how a mighty prince was overcome
by rustics whom there would have been no honour in conquering,
while to be conquered by them would be an eternal disgrace."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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