The Duke of Burgundy, contrary to the opinion of his officers, resolved to advance and meet the enemy at the foot of the mountains, to his great disadvantage; for he was already posted in a place much more proper for an engagement, being fortified on one side with his artillery, and on the other by a lake, so that in all appearance there was no fear of his being injured by the enemy. He had detached a hundred of his archers to secure a certain pass at the entrance of the mountains[506], and was advancing forward himself, when the Swiss attacked him, while the greatest part of his army was still in the plain. The foremost troops designed to fall back; but the infantry that were behind, supposing they were running away, retreated towards their camp, and some of them behaved themselves handsomely enough; but, in the end, when they arrived in their camp, they wanted courage to make a stand and defend themselves, and they all fled, and the Swiss possessed themselves of their camp, in which were all their artillery, a vast number of tents and pavilions, besides a great deal of valuable plunder, for they saved nothing but their lives.[507] The duke lost all his finest rings, but of men, not above seven men-at-arms; the rest fled, and the duke with them. It may more properly be said of him, “That he lost his honour and his wealth in one day,” than it was of King John of France, who, after a brave defence, was taken prisoner at the battle of Poictiers. This was the first misfortune that ever happened to the Duke of Burgundy in his whole life: for by the rest of his enterprises he always acquired either honour or advantage. But what a mighty loss did he sustain that day by his perverseness and scorn of good advice! How greatly did his family suffer! in what a miserable condition it is at present! and how like to continue so! How many great princes and states became his enemies, and openly declared against him, who but the day before the battle were his friends, or at least pretended to be so! And what was the cause of this war? A miserable cart-load of sheep-skins that the Count of Romont had taken from a Swiss, in his passage through his estates. If God Almighty had not forsaken the Duke of Burgundy, it is scarce conceivable he would have exposed himself to such great dangers upon so small and trivial an occasion; especially considering the offers the Swiss had made him, and that his conquest of such enemies would yield him neither profit nor honour; for at that time the Swiss were not in such esteem as now, and no people in the world could be poorer. A gentleman, who had been one of their first ambassadors to the Duke of Burgundy, told me, that one of his chief arguments to dissuade the duke from invading them was, that there was nothing for him to gain from them; for their country was barren and poor, and he believed that, if all his countrymen were taken prisoners, all the money they could raise for their ransom would not buy