Liège : the dauntless city.

Ever since they began to grow their influence over the north of Europe, the Burgundian dukes have always  went through difficulties with the powerful principalities of the area. Among these principalities, the episcopal city of Liège seemed to be the most strong-willed and determined to fight the Burgundian. In 1408, they were defeated at Othée by John the Fearless and had to undergo a strict repression. However, the Liégeois kept acting hostilely with the Burgundian and especially after 1456 when Philip the Good decided to appoint his cousin Louis of Bourbon, as the archbischop of Liège. The Liégeois were scared that the duke of Burgundy was trying to establish his authority on the city and refused to submit to Louis de Bourbon despite pope Calixte III's opinion. The opposition became stronger and stronger and the 22th of April 1465, the Liégeois decided to elect Marc de Bade as their new leader. This election turned the conflict into an open war between the Burgundian state and the episcopal city of Liège. Moreover, Louis XI discreetly supported this rebellion by providing money and weapons to the Liégeois. Unfortunately for these Liégeois, Louis XI was "defeated" by Charles the Bold during the war of Bien public and had soon to negociate with him and to abandon his Liégeois ally. 

Thus when the war between Burgundy and Liège broke out, during the summer of 1465, the Liégeois were soon left alone against their powerful ennemy. They were first defeated at the battle of Montenaken despite the use of the "wagenburg strategy". The 20th of October 1465, two thousand and two hundred Liégeois were killed by the two thousand horsemen of John II of Nassau. After this victory, Charles the Bold could get across the principalty of Liège with a powerful army. He ordered his soldiers not to rob or fleece anything from the Liégeois and not to kill any civilian, so the first campaign of Liège wasn't violent : the plunder of the castle of Harzé was the only savage event of this first war.  The 22th of December a first peace was concluded in Saint-Trond between the Liégeois and the Burgundian. It set the submission of the Liégeois who had to pay a huge war indemnity. Some days after, while Charles the Bold was taking the road of Bruges, his rearguard was suddenly attacked by the inhabitants of Saint-Trond who refused the peace. As a reaction, the Burgundian murdered all the men of the town, plundered everything and set a huge fire before living Saint-Trond. But the peace was concluded.  

However, there was still an important feeling of disappointment discernible in Liège where a few inhabitants agreed with the peace. Some weeks after the conclusion of the peace of Saint-Trond, Liège was already ready to declare war to Philip the Good. The duke of Burgundy, exasperated by the Liégeois and very exhausted, decided to destroy their ally of Dinant by burning the city (cf. previous article). The cruelty of Burgundian in Dinant soon scandalized and terrified the Liégeois who gave up their war against Philip the Good and accepted a new submission. The destruction of Dinant was in all the spirits. But the peace was only a chimera and soon, the Liégeois showed again their intentions of war against Burgundy. This new war broke out just after the death of Philip the Good.

Indeed, the Liégeois made use of the succession of Charles the Bold as duke of Burgundy to enter in a new rebellion. In Liège, they dismembered Jean Carpentier who used to be faithful to Charles the Bold. Some days later they got rid of Louis de Bourbon and canceled the peace of Saint-Trond. Charles the Bold was soon forced to declare war to the Liégeois. The proclamation is made in the streets of Bruxelles by a herald who held in his left hand a flaming torch and in his right hand a sword stained with blood to show what the Liégeois could expect from Charles the Bold : blood and fire. 

The duke of Burgundy besieged Saint-Trond and defeated the Liégeois at the battle of Brustem. About five thousand Liégeois were killed and Renaud de Rouvroit had no choice but opening the doors of Saint-Trond to Charles the Bold who was know able to besiege Liège after having devastated the countries nearby. Helpless, the Liégeois were again forced to accept a submission. The punishment imposed by Charles the Bold was much more stronger than two years before : the walls and fortifications of the city were destroyed, the privileges and favours were cancelled and the municipal power of Liège was repealed. To amplify the humiliation, Charles the Bold ordered the move of the big steps, symbol of the independence of the city, from Liège to Bruxelles. But there was no place left for violence in the city after its submission despite the desire of the Burgundian soliders to plunder everything. Charles the Bold even hanged two of his archers who had stolen a sheep. That's why you can say the second punishment Liège was more a political punishment than a violent punishment such as Dinant. 

After the fall of 1467-1468, Liège was nothing but the shadow of itself. The city was now powerless, helpless and very weak. The Liégeois had no more walls to defend themself and no economical power. But there was still a desire of revenge fed by Louis XI who didn't give up the idea of a great rebellion. 

In october 1468, Louis XI met Charles the Bold at Péronne in order to discuss about the cities of the Somme. The first days of the meeting were very friendly and many witnesses thought that a peace could actually be concluded between the king of France and the duke of Burgundy. But soon, a letter was transmitted to Charles the Bold in which it was stated that the Liégeois had once again entered into a rebelion against Louis de Bourbon who was now their captive in Huy. Charles the Bold exploded with anger and accused Louis XI of having fomented this rebellion. He prevented him from going back to Paris and forced him to go with the Burgundian to attend the punishment. 

Charles the Bold rode side by side from Péronne to Liège where the city was soon besieged. Despite the lack of walls, fortifications and even weapons, the Liégeois hardly defended the city which was taken by the Burgundian on the 30rd of october 1468. Charles the Bold entered into the city on his horse, as a conqueror, followed by Louis XI who, shameless, exclaimed : "Vive Bourgogne!", after having once again abandoned his ally Liégeois. Then Charles the Bold escorted Louis XI who went back to Paris. 

Back in Liège, Charles the Bold could express his hatred and anger toward the Liégeois with a huge and extremely violent punishment. 

Thomas Basin, bischop of Lisieux described the punishment when he wrote : " 

"Among those who were found with weapons when the soldiers entered into the city, a majority was killed ; the others dropped their weapons and hid in cellars where they stayed safe. Some of them were thrown into the river. Several women who were armed or who had insulted the Burgundian were massacred" (Thomas Basin, Histoire de Louis XI, tome I, p. 326). 

VIEILLEVOYE B., Un épisode du sac de Liège

par Charles le Téméraire en 1468, 1842, Musée des beaux-arts de Liège

After some hours, the punishment became more and more violent. Though  Charles the Bold forbade his men to attack the churchs, Burgundian disobeyed and plundered the churchs. The most important, the church of Saint-Lambert, was soon emptied of all its artefacts. Charles the Bold was unable to maintain an authority in his ranks because Burgundian were fed up with the Liégeois. About forty thousand Burgundian raped every woman they found as Jean de Roye explained : 

"And many others cruelties and inhumanities were done there, such as the rape of young ladies and even some religious women, and after the pleasure was taken, they were killed. Some children were killed too while priests were slaughtered in the churches." (Jean de  Roye, Journal, p. 217-218). 

Liège's industry was destroyed and all its workshops too : forty thousands men from the country of Limbourg set the fire which burnt the city. To the Liégeois who begged for Charles the Bold forgiveness, the duke of Burngundy answered : "I don't want to hear about forgiveness. Master, by the rights of war, life and goods of this race of rebels, I can castigate them as I want to.". 

Raphaël de Mercatel, Biblia Figurata, miniature datée de la fin du XVe siècle, cathédrale de Gand.

The destruction of Dinant

The end of Duke Philip the Good's reign was disturbed by a series of revolts and rebellions led by the powerful cities of the North : Ghent, Liège, Malines, Dinant etc... In this process of insurrections, Dinant was maybe the bitterest city against Philip the Good and Charles the Bold. Its inhabitants dared to hang an effigy of the Duke of Burgundy during the summer of 1465, and to insult Charles the Bold by pretending he was a bastard. They even attacked Burgundian roads and cities from the county of Namur and especially Bouvignes, a small town which had to undergo many violent assaults that Philip de Commynes described with terrifying words : "The reciprocal hate between Dinant and Bouvignes was unbielievable [...] Those of Dinant had besieged Bouvignes, from the other side of the river, during eight months and acted cruelly neardby [...] they forced the poorest villagers to hide in their cellar and to stay their". (Philip de Commynes, Mémoires, II,1). 

Philip the Good and his son Charles the Bod, after having concluded a first peace with Liège, were fed up with Dinant which did'nt want to calm down. That's why they prepared a huge intervention on the city during the summer of 1466. Dinant had been excommunicated by the pope who, according to Jacques Duclercq, asked Philip the Good tu punish the city. That's why the assault on Dinant was eventually so violent ! Dinant could'nt hope any mercy being excommunicated. Moreover Philip the Good had already lost good men at arms because of the raids led by Dinant such as Gillechon d'Ave who was killed when he failed to take Dinant. Both insulted, Philip the Good and Charles the Bold were determined to destroy Dinant.

That's why they gathered a huge army of 30 000 Burgundians in front of Dinant and besieged the city from the 18th to the 25th of August 1465. The powerful artillery of Charles the Bold pounded Dinant nights and days forcing its inhabitants to hide and killing a lot of Dinantais. Abandoned by Louis XI and the Liégeois, Dinantais had soon to surrender to Philip the Good without conditions. After a splendid entrance Charles the Bold, dressed as a conqueror, allowed his soldiers to plunder Dinant. Everything that could be taken was stolen. And Dinant was very rich, wealthier than Liège according to Jacques Duclercq. As far as this chronicler was concerned, the Meuse river was full of ships and boads wich overflew of looted artefacts. The inhabitants of Dinant could'nt afford to keep anything away from the Burgundian.

Then began the physical violence. A lots of Dinantais were killed arbitraily during the first hours following the conquest of the city. Charles the Bold dictated one only ban : Burgundian were not allowed to rape women. 

To show his authority Charles the Bold even hanged three Burgundian who raped woman despite the count's prohibition. But according to Jean de Haynin, the most violent episod of the Burgundian repression was the separation of the women from the men by the Burgundian. Charles the Bold ordered women to leave the city without their husband and family and to run to Liège to be safe. Meanwhile their husband and relatives were all killed in front of them. Some of them were hanged, some of them were drowned into the Meuse. Jean de Haynin explains that Dinantais were tied two by two and trown into the river so they died because of their weight. 

Eventually, when Dinant was evacuated, the city was burnt. An accidental fire was set near the church and soon burnt all the neighborhoods because of the houses made of wood. This fire accelerated the plunders because Charles the Bold ordonned to the Burgundian to take everything away from the flames. He even took the very important relic of Saint-Perpète in order to move it to Bouvignes. 

Some days after the departure of Charles the Bold from Dinant, the city had been removed from the map. Everything had burned because of the big fire and the inhabitants had all been killed or banished. In order to prevent the Dinantais from coming back, Charles the Bold even sowed salt and clay on the grounds. The violence that took place after the conquest of Dinant was unbearable. 

 Dinant on an engraving from dinant.be 

                                             

The war of Bien public : one of the latest war ruled by the feudal rights

14th of May, 1465. The population of Nesle agreed to submit to the Burgundian forces and to open the doors of the city. Thanks to this submission, the population was spared from violence : not a plunder, not a robbery, not a fire and not a rape was commited by the Burgundian. But seven years later, when the same city was taken by the Burgundian during a different conflict, there was not any remain of Nesle after the resolve of Charles the Bold to burn out the city and to kill every body. How can we explain such a difference ?

In 1465, the war that was taking place was a feudal conflict, ruled by a series of complicated laws and precepts aimed for protecting unarmed population. In that kind of war, involving an alliance of lords against the king of France, soldiers were not allowed to act with the populations as they wished. Nevertheless, there were still some cases of murdering, plunders and rapes but very fewer than during an "open war".

Indeed, during the spring of 1465, Charles the Bold, count of Charolais, took part in an alliance directed against Louis XI, king of France. This alliance was made in order to protect the common right, that's why it took the name of Ligue de Bien public. Several vassals had indeed thought that the common right of French people was threatened by the oppressive policy of Louis XI. But in fact, Charles the Bold, for example, was more interested in getting back the cities of the river Somme that Louis XI had bought to his father Philip the Good some years before.

The league won quickly a series of victories which led the lords in front of Paris, soon besieged. But Charles the Bold, threatened by the rebellion of Liège, was forced to walk away from Paris and to move to the little village of Longjumeau, near the castle of Montlhery where Louis XI had decided to face him in an final fight.

The 16th of July 1465, the battle of Montlhery concluded with a non score draw in which confusion was very important. Indeed, the battle of Montlhery consisted in a huge messy scrimmage that didn't give any winner although Louis XI was the first to withdraw from the battlefield.

During that battle, violence was promnent. Charles the Bold himself was not far from being killed by the French soldiers and kept from this battle a big scar on his neck. Pierre of Brézé, sénéchal of Normandy wasn't that lucky and was killed during a charge of cavalry. An archer named Savarot was even in a so badly shape that burgundian thought he was dead and began to bury him when he claimed for water for the bigest surprise of the soldiers. Nevertheless, Charles the Bold considered himself as the only winner of Montlhery because he stayed on the battlefield and walked again on Paris.

Though he never succeedeed in taking the capital, the siege of Paris was the opportunity for many burgundians to plunder a lots of cities nearby. Jean Maupoint, a cleric from the priory of Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Couture, felt sorry about the plunders, the robberies and all the abuses committed by the burgundian in the towns and even in the churchs of Ivry, Vitry, Créteil etc... despite the orders of the count of Charolais not to take any thing belonging to the clergy. It reminds us that military authorities weren't always able to control every soldier and that these soldiers were often forced to "live on the country" they were by plundering, and robbering population, as soon as the payment of their wage was delayed.

The 5th of october 1465, the peace of Conflans was concluded between Louis XI and Charles the Bold who didn't manage to take Paris but won eventually the war of Bien public. To show everybody that the war was over, the count of Charolais even decided to hang a Burgundian who had killed a French soldier in Paris after the conclusion of the peace. Nobody was allowed to derogate from the count authority.

The battle of Montlhery (Mémoires de Philippe de Commynes) 

The Burgundian States in 1465

From 1465 to 1467, Charles the Bold, count of Charolais, kept growing his influence at the Burgundian court. However Duke Philip "retained power in his own hands till the end, ruling through the grand conseil". (Richard Vaughan, Charles the Bold, p.3). These Burgundian States the Duke was rulling formed a great but complex territory including a lots of principalities from the English Channel to Franche-Comté. Sure, the erection of such a wide "empire" had been long and complicated : from 1363 and the gift in apanage of the duchy of Burgundy to Philip the Bold by king John II the Good to 1477 and the death of Charles the Bold in Nancy. During that period four dukes had succeeded at the head of the Burgundian States and all of them had succeeded in their policy of territorial aggrandizement especially Charles the Bold who managed to widen his "empire" overseas.

But the conquering policy of Charles the Bold involved a lots of disavandtages such as a constant growth of taxes, endless bloody conflicts which led to the collaspe of Burgundian power. However, in 1465, when Charles the Bold became the lieutenant général of the duchy of Burgundy, the Burgundian power seemed to be at its apogee. The same year, Charles the Bold took part in a league  directed against Louis XI, king of France which went to war during the spring of 1465 : the war of Bien public. 

Introduction

Dealing with violence, whenever takes place the period you are focusing on, needs to make a constant distance from the matters you know nowadays. Indeed, violence is a common point shared by every human beings society. That's why dealing with violence in the French society of today is really different from studying violences in medieval societies. Firstly, you have to understand that the more peacefull is a society, the more violence is unbearable for this society. So, in a society of violence, the "limits" are constantly pushed away. For example, a man living during the XVth century, who had known warfares, diseases, starvations, plague... felt the violence differently from a man living during the XXIth century who struggles against violences on animals. That's why it is so important to focus on the context of the facts without any consideration for the era you are actually living in.

This blog is an attempt to study the violence of the sacks during the Burgundian wars, from 1465 to 1477. During this period, the Burgundian states are governed by one only man : Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy (1467-1477). I've chosen that period because of its amazing increase of violence almost paroxismal. Indeed, during the Hundred Years War violences of war kept growing after a relatively peacefull XIIIth century.  After 1453, and the British defeat of Castillon wich ends the Hundred Years War, you could have thought that war violences would have decreased. But Charles the Bold's reign shows the opposite. Some decades before the progress of Humanism, Charles the Bold's reign shows the last episodes of a kind of conflict that is on the verge of vanishing : feudal wars.

That's why this work is an attempt to answer the following question : how the violences of war can help a lord during the XVth century ?