Blog

Battle of Grandson 1476 Swiss Burgundian War Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, engaged in 3 unsuccessful attempts against the Swiss, with the 3rd ending in his death.  The first encounter was the Battle of Grandson in 1476.    There had been great tension between Alsace and Burgundy, beginning in 1469 when Charles acquired Alsatian land through the Treaty of St. Omer. The Alsatians, feeling threatened, entered into an alliance...

Who doesn't think of a sword (500262) when talking about these brutal warriors? In fact it was so preferred and highly valued that a sword would be named and treated with reverence. Often it was passed down from father to son and then again until broken or buried with great honor with a chieftain. In the cases where the sword did pass to the afterlife with its owner it was also ritually killed. The reason this was done is not entirely clear, but...

Battle of Lyndanisse (Reval) 1219 – Scandinavian Wars In 1219, Valdemar II of Denmark continued the Danish conquest of the German Baltic Islands begun by his brother, Canute VI. At the Battle of Lyndanisse, near Reval, the Danes were battling the pagan Estonians. Weary and facing defeat, a critical turning point in the battle came when a red and white banner came in to the possession of Valdemar. Legend says the banner fell fr...