Battle of Morat bataille de Murten Charles the Bold Charles le Temeraire June 22, 1477 22Juin 1477 duke of Burgundy duc de Bourgogne

After his defeat at Grandson Charles reconstituted his army. His loses at Grandson had been modest but the blow to the morale of the Burgundians was severe. Yet Charles was not willing to allow time and training to allow the wounds of Grandson to heal and he launched a new campaign against the Cantons. This time his target was Morat, on the eponymously named lake. Morat was a key to Berne, and its fall would open a path into the interior of the cantons without jeopardizing the security of Charles' flanks. Likewise, Morat in Swiss hands would open territory Charles coveted to Swiss raids.

His troops left Lausanne May 27 to lay siege to Morat. The size of his force is open to question. Vaughan, citing pay records and letters of people in Lausanne place the force between 9,000 and 12,000 troops. Les Guerres de Bourgogne places his force as high as 22,000 men, including about 5,700 archers and 2,100 heavy calvary. The siege lasted between the 9th and 22nd of June. Charles had troops to the north and south of Morat and he was able to oversee the situation from his camp on the Bois Dominique. Charles was also aware that the Confederation troops were likely to send relief to Morat and he arranged his forces in a defensive position to the east of Morat.

Charles probably influenced the size of the relief force by one of his actions. During the siege, a contingent of his troops moved on to Berne, where they tried to seize critical river crossings. From Vaughan (CB 389) "These attacks were all repulsed, but the effect on Berne was electric: the general mobilization began at once. Now, Charles could expect Murten to be relieved, or avenged, not just by the 10,000 strong army of Berne, Fribourg and their allies, but by the 20,000 or more men which the League of Constance powers could field." The Zurich contingent marched 140km in three days and entered the battle without rest.

Had the Swiss reinforcements not arrived, the siege would have been successful in spite of a good defense by Bernese general Adrien de Bubenberg. The walls of the city could not stand up to the impact of the siege guns, and several breeches occurred. The situation of the defenders was precarious by the time of the battle.

This map from Les Guerres de Bourgogne shows the alignment of the Burgundian forces. Charles' camp is marked #1, on the Bois Dominique, a hill that offers views both of Morat and the defensive position to the east. Key points are G, the Grunhag, or a defensive barrier protected by sharpened stakes, A, the site of Charles' artillery aiming at the likely approach of the Swiss and G, the Burggraben, a wooded area serving as a supposed protection to the left flank of the artillery position.

Moving from the stylized map above to a Swiss contour map, it is clear the topography and woods today are pretty similar to what they were in 1476. The black arrow center left points to the Bois Dominique and the red line is the approximate position of the Grunhag.

This picture offers a view of the Bois Dominique today. This is taken from the land side (in contrast to the lake side) so it is the view the defensive Burgundian troops would have had looking up at Charles' camp on the summit.

Charles' camp offered him a great view of both Morat and his defensive position. Below is Morat from the top of the colline. Morat is still a compact walled city, with newer construction in the foreground.

Morat is an attractive medieval town with its walls generally intact. The town was founded between 1157 and 1177. It later passed to the counts of Savoy and was occupied by the Bernese when les guerres Bourgogne erupted in 1475. Today it is part of the canton of Fribourg.

Charles had to be very sensitive to the security of his position. This map, also from Les Guerres, offers a closer look at his strategy. The Grunhag is located along the present road to Salvenach, passing through A, his artillery position. The key assumption on Charles' part was that the Grunhag, a ditch and spiked barrier, would adequately slow the Swiss such that the artillery would be able to effectively pound and reduce them. He also expected his calvary (K) would be able to attack the Swiss on their (Swiss) left flank, essentially pinching them between Burgundian cavalry and canon. The expected, and actual, approach of the Swiss was from the Birckenwald (E). (Maps vary in place names. This large 'E' area is also marked Galmwald on the survey map, as well as Birchenwald. Likewise, their are other Birchenwalds (birch woods) marked on the map, but agreement is clear the 'E' is the source of the Swiss attack.)

Charles could see the Birckenwald from his camp. This picture shows his view from the Bois Dominique looking out the other side of the hill. The arrow points to the expected approach route of the Swiss and the foreground fields were the camp areas for his army. The Grunhag is not visible from here, being on the reverse slope of a hill closer to the Birckenwald.

This next photo takes us closer to the front line. The trees in the background are the Birckenwald from which the Swiss appeared. The Grunhag is approximately where the row of houses are in the mid range of the picture. They are aligned along the road to Salvenach, to the right and not in the picture. This is a view the Burgundians in the forward camp area would have had of the battlefield.

This next photo is from in front of the Grunhag, looking at the Birckenwald and Swiss positions.

Finally , in terms of getting a feel for the lay of the land, this looks over the position of the Burgundian artillery. The Burggraben is the tree line that was supposed to cover their left flank but in fact turned out to be the route the Swiss took to flank the Burgundian position. The arrow points to the Burggraben and is not meant to indicate the exact point of the flanking attack.

The Swiss forces were about 24,000 strong. In addition to troops from the Cantons, they included some Lorraine and Austrian troops. The troops from Lorraine were led by duke Rene.

The Swiss and allied troops were made up largely of infantry (archers, pike men and arquebusers). The weather on June 22 was wet and cold. The Burgundians were at their posts expecting an attack but nothing happened by midday. Here Charles made what turned out to be a fatal mistake. He allowed his troops at the Grunhag to stand down and return to their camps for a meal. It was also payday so the Burgundians were further distracted. A force of about 2000 infantry and 1200 calvary where left in position to defend the Grunhag. The Swiss attack was made against this weakened defensive force.

The Swiss came in three waves, a vanguard of about 5000 troops under the command of Bernese Hans de Hallwyl, a main force of about 10,000 troops and a rearguard of another 6000 troops. The cavalry was integrated into the advance attack group. The Burgundians were caught entirely off guard. The main thrust was along the route 1 in this third map from Les Guerres. The grunhag was a strong defensive position and the Burgundians on site were able to contain the Swiss advance for a time. However, the Swiss also engaged in a successful flanking movement (2) and passed through the Burggraben where they were able to attack the artillery position (A) on the flank. The Burgundians suddenly found themselves at an undermanned defensive position with their enemy coming at them from the rear. The Burgundian front line collapsed under the forward and flank assaults, being out numbered at the front about 10 to 1.

Charles tried to rally his troops but was never able to develop an effective defense. Milanese diplomat and chronicler Panigola, traveling with the Burgundians said the Charles seemed paralyzed and from Les Guerres "pendant les moments decisifs de la bataille il aurait ete occupe a revetir son amure dans sa tente. Il y aurait mis tant de temps qu'il ne put plus intervenir pour influencer le deroulement des evenements..." Small units were thrown against the Swiss but overwhelmed. The Swiss moved both the relieve Morat (3) and to assault Charles' camp on the Bois de Dominique. Charles managed a brief rally but it was unsustainable against the Swiss and he ended up fleeing. In this rally his household guard was able to press duke Rene, who was rescued by the Swiss. The Bernese defenders in Morat sallied from the city to the south (7) and caught the Italian mercenaries between themselves and Swiss who had broken through (5). The Italians were massacred and most (4 - 6000) were killed.

The Burgundian besiegers to the north, led by Jaques de Savoie, comte de Romont, were able to withdraw around the lake and escape down the west side of Lake Morat.

Morat was a complete disaster for Charles and the Burgundians. Whereas he was able to retreat from Grandson with his army essentially intact, at Morat he lost 10,000 to 12,000 troops. He was never able to recover from this. The Swiss, on the other hand, lost only 400 men, mostly due to cannon fire during their attack on the Grunhag.

While Charles suffered, Rene II was a victor, which stood him in good stead next year when he called on the Swiss to help him at Nancy. Rene was only 20 years old at the time of Morat and not well known to the Swiss. Roulet explores his role in the fight and the consequences of his presence. Rene's arrival was propitious. One estimate has him in Strasbourg on June 16 and to get to Morat by the 21st or morning of the 22nd he'd have to travel about 45 km a day. He arrived with a troop of between 200 and 300 mounted cavalry so he made up a small part of the total Confederate force. Since he was not known to the Swiss, he was not given a leadership position, although his noble status earned him respect. He was apparently in the vanguard assault group on one of the flanks, with other, including Austrian, cavalry. He was part of the group that attacked Charles' camp at the Bois de Dominique, which would have been easiest if he was part of the breakthrough group at the Burggraben on the Swiss right flank.

Whatever his position was, "le comportement du juene duc Rene, au cours de cette melee sauvage, a du fortement impressioner les combattants confederes." Chroniclers say Rene enjoyed the honors that came his way after the victory and spent the night in Charles' camp. While Rene made a modest materiel contribution to the Swiss effort, his presence and courage won him the respect that was to be so important in January when he called on the Swiss to help him lift the siege of Nancy. In return for Rene's help at Morat, the Swiss sent an important force to Nancy where Charles was decisively defeated and killed.

By the same token, his presence was valuable to the Swiss. Europe was still bound by the commoner - noble tension and the Swiss found it diplomatically helpful after Morat to be able to point to the nobles who fought on their side.

This defeat put Savoy in a precarious position. After Morat, the Swiss were able to move south into the Vaud while Louis XI and Galeazzo Maria Sforza, duke of Milan had the prospect of dividing Savoy. As it turned out, the Swiss ultimately returned most territory to Savoy and Milan shifted alliance from Burgundy to France and Savoy enjoyed a respite.

Charles' second defeat of the year was chronicled by contemporary writers. These images are from Cinq Centieme Anniversaire de la Bataille de Nancy. First, Charles' tent is captured by Rene II. Next the victorious Swiss enter the Burgundian camp and finally, captured Burgundian cannons.

More recently, between 1893/4, Louis Braun painted a grand panorama of the battle of Grandson. This huge painting is not on permanent display. Here are three scenes from it. First is the Swiss capturing Charles' camp on the summit of the Bois de Dominique. Next to it is a group of Swiss, with all their banners, attacking the Burgundians and finally a picture of troops from Entlebuch attacking the Burgundians.

There is a monument just south of Morat at Meyriez, erected in 1822 according to the inscription, in 1819 according to Les Guerres, commemorating the Swiss victory.

Charles never recovered from this defeat and continued his conflict with Lorraine and the Swiss. Against all advice from his counselors, he mounted a final and fatal campaign against his enemies and died on the battle field at Nancy in 1477. This phase of the tale continues on the Charles the Bold page.

Sources:

Geiger, B. Les Guerres de Bourgogne, 3rd edition, Ecole militaire superieur, 1999

Roulet, L., "Le duc Rene a la bataille de Morat," in Cinq-Centiene Anniversaire de la Bataille de Nancy (1477), Annales de l'Est, Universaire de Nancy, 1978

Vaughan, R., Charles the Bold, Boydell Press, Great Britain, 2002

Vaughan, R., "Quelques observations sur la Bataille de Nancy," in Cinq-Centiene Anniversaire de la Bataille de Nancy (1477), Annales de l'Est, Universaire de Nancy, 1978

Wikipedia: Battle of Morat

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