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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...

The Flemish, economically allied to England, was discontented with French rule. Burdened with heavy taxes during the reign of Charles VI, the people of Flanders took up arms under the leadership of Philip van Artevelde. During the uprising a large number of peasants and townspeople gathered en masse at Roosebeke in East Flanders. Here they were attacked by a strong force of mounted French knights commanded by the Count of Flanders, Louis II de Ma...

Mail in this type of combat was very useful, but it was not long before pieces of plate armor began to be added at the elbows and knees and then to other areas of the body. This evolution spawned another and the arms race was on! One popular adaption was the increasing use of impact weapons like hammers, axes, maces, flails and clubs. Through the inventive change in circumventing the better armor of the day (300100), the sword still remain...