Theatres of war

Time for a bit of a history post now - let's look at the different theatres of war during the War of the Burgundian Succession, and see which of them will provide good settings for wargaming!

I'll briefly summarise the different theatres (follow the links for my full articles on them), with some ideas on the sort of gaming opportunities they offer.

The War in the Low Countries (1477-1482) (full article)

From the initial French invasion of 1477 following the death of Charles the Bold, to the signing of the Treaty of Arras in 1482, there was plenty of fighting between the French and the Burgundians in the Low Countries - mostly along the border of Artois and Flanders, but also in Hainault and Luxembourg.

1477 saw Picardy and most of Artois seized by the French with for the most part no resistance, though some towns did need to be put to siege - usually it was breaching the walls with artillery that forced them to surrender. A force of Burgundians led by Guillaume de Vergy marched to relieve the siege of Arras, but they were intercepted and soundly defeated on the road. The Flemish raised an army led by Adolph of Egmont to besiege the French-held town of Tournai, but they were thrown into disarray and routed by a sortie. Another Flemish army was similarly defeated attempting to relieve the siege of St. Omer.

In 1478 both Louis XI and Maximilian campaigned at the heads of large armies. The French moved into Hainault but were then forced to retreat by Maximilian's advance. Both sides were reluctant to risk open battle, but there were plenty of quite large raids and skirmishes. The French also entered Luxembourg and captured the town of Virton, from which they launched raids across the duchy. At the same time rebellion and anarchy broke out in both Holland and the bishopric of Utrecht, which had to be dealt with by local pro-Burgundian leaders.

In 1479 Maximilian went on the offensive, capturing Cambrai and raiding into Artois and Picardy, and sending a large force to fight the French in Luxembourg. He led his main strength himself to besiege Thérouanne, and at Guinegate finally faced the French in open battle. The results were inconclusive - Maximilian held the field, but completely failed to follow up on his victory. His army dispersed, though later in the year he was able to raise a new one and capture a few castles. Meanwhile at sea the French had captured the Dutch fishing fleet and a convoy transporting grain from Prussia.

The years 1480-82 saw the conflict grinding on - there was further fighting in Luxembourg, as the French led a counter-offensive and there were various mutinies and rebellions on the Burgundian side. Maximilian also turned his attention towards the rebellious movements in Holland, Utrecht and Guelders - of note Dordrecht was re-captured by smuggling a force into the town hidden in boats, and in the bishopric of Utrecht a rebel force was soundly beaten at the Battle of Westbroek. Louis XI and Maximilian did sign a truce, but sporadic fighting still took place on the Artois-Flanders border. After Mary of Burgundy died in 1482 Maximilian found himself somewhat helpless, as the Flemish (who had custody of his children) were quick to sign the Treaty of Arras on his behalf.

The War in Burgundy (1477-1480) (full article)

From 1477 to 1479 a second front was being fought to the south in the Burgundian heartland - both the Duchy and the County (Franche-Comté) of Burgundy. The French had initially occupied both territories without striking a blow, but before long the nobility of the county had risen in rebellion. 1477 was a successful year for the comtois nobility as they effectively drove the French out. At the sieges of Vesoul and Dole the French were surprised and routed, and Gray was recaptured in a daring night-time assault. The one possibly major battle occurred at the village of Émagny, where the French fought to cross a bridge - they succeeded, but not without heavy losses. There were also uprisings and fighting in the duchy to the west, but these were mostly dealt with by the French.

In 1478 the French regathered their strength under new leadership and now with Swiss mercenaries in their service. All the towns that had been captured in the duchy were retaken, and several prominent Burgundian rebels became prisoners. In 1479 they moved back into the Franche-Comté, and this time were able to methodically retake all important towns and castles, culminating in the brutal sack of Dole. The region was brought back under French control, though some Burgundian leaders retreated to the mountains where they continued the fight through the winter. The county was utterly devastated, and by the end most of the Burgundian leaders had been either captured, executed, or had fled to the Low Countries. The Treaty of Arras in 1482 confirmed both the duchy and county as French possessions.

Maximilian's Regency (1483-1493) (full article)

After the Treaty of Arras Maximilian and Louis XI were supposedly at peace, with new territorial boundaries being based on the planned marriage of their children. Louis XI died in 1483 and was succeeded by his son Charles VIII, still in his minority. Maximilian struggled to rule the Burgundian territories as regent to his own son Philip, and found himself in conflict with various anti-Hapsburg groups. Eventually he moved against France again and was able to retake both Artois and the Franche-Comté, before passing rule of the Burgundian territories on to Philip in 1493. I've sorted the various conflicts of this quite confusing period into a few categories.

Flemish revolts - The biggest thorn in Maximilian's side was always the Flemish, in particular the city of Ghent. They were constantly defying his authority and attempted to come to new agreements with the French. It didn't result in open war, though the most notable incident occurred in 1488 when Maximilian was held prisoner in Bruges, causing his father the Emperor to march to Flanders with a large army. Various nobles found themselves siding with the Flemish, most notably the previously loyal Philip of Cleves.

Hook and Cod wars - The conflict between the 'hook' and 'cod' factions had a long history, the former being anti- and the latter pro-Burgundian rule. During Maximilian's regency they flared up again in Holland and Utrecht. The bishop of Utrecht (Mary's uncle David of Burgundy) was deposed and Maximilian had to fight to re-instate him, whilst the 'hooks' captured several towns in Holland which became bases for piracy. Also related was the later 'bread and cheese revolt' which had to be dealt with by military force.

Liège civil war - Another of Mary's uncles was the bishop of Liège, Louis de Bourbon, who had been murdered by Guillaume de la Marck in 1482. The previously pro-Burgundian region was thrown into chaos, and Maximilian had to send an army to deal with the la Marck brothers and re-assert Burgundian authority.

War with France - Despite the supposed truce, Maximilian was not done with fighting the French. In 1486 he made an attempt to move into Artois, but ultimately lost the few gains he made. However when Charles VIII spurned Margaret of Austria (Maximilian's daughter) to marry Anne of Brittany instead (who herself was then betrothed to Maximilian), the young French king lost any rights to the territories gained by the Treaty of Arras. Maximilian was now justified to move against France, and in 1493 retook both Artois and the Franche-Comté, confirmed by the Treaty of Senlis the same year.

Gaming ideas

As you can see there are lots of great starting points here for wargaming scenarios. Even though there was only one truly big and well-referenced battle (at least for its time), and a few other smaller ones where the details are more vague, there was almost non-stop small-scale warfare, perfect for skirmish gaming. And I don't just mean games with a few dozen models a side - these 'skirmishes' often featured numbers in the thousands, so could be represented on the tabletop by large games with hundreds of models. Perfect for the sort of gaming I'm interested in.

Skirmishes, raids, ambushes, etc... There's references to lots of this sort of warfare, and it will be easy to make up fictional scenarios in this vein. Of course sieges were the other major military event of this period, and there were tons of them. Some were ended without bloodshed, some featured major bombardments of the walls, some saw the attackers storming the walls or taking them by guile or stealth. And there were multiple cases of besieging armies being attacked, either by surprise sorties or by relieving forces. 

Here's a list of some notable events that could be great fun to recreate on the tabletop with some careful scenario design:

The attempted relief of Arras (1477) - A Burgundian relief force was ambushed and routed.

The failed attack on Tournai (1477) - A disorganised Flemish army was defeated by a smaller French sortie, and the Duke of Guelders was killed.

The siege of Vesoul (1477) - Guillaume de Vaudrey sortied out at night and surprised the French siege camp.

The Battle of Émagny (1477) - The French fought to cross the River Ognon, which they eventually managed after taking heavy losses.

The first siege of Dole (1477) - The French bombarded the walls but their subsequent assaults on the breach failed. They settled in for a long siege, but were again surprised and routed by a night-time sortie.

The capture of Gray (1477) - Claude and Guillaume de Vaudrey scaled the walls at night and captured the town after hard fighting, though it was looted and set ablaze in the process.

The second siege of Dole (1479) - After methodically capturing the surrounding fortresses, the French under Charles d'Amboise managed to enter the town through trickery, as German reinforcements secretly in their pay opened the gates to them. Dole was subsequently sacked.

The Battle of Guinegate (1479) - A major pitched battle. Though the French cavalry routed their Burgundian counterparts they pursued them far from the field of battle, after which Maximilian's infantry defeated the French.

The failed attack on Hesdin (1481) - John de Berghes was tricked into leading a 'secret' assault over the walls at night. It was a trap, and the French were waiting for him.

The capture of Dordrecht (1481) - The Burgundians entered the town hidden in boats.

The Battle of Westbroek (1481) - The Burgundians lured the 'hook' rebels of Utrecht out of the town, where they were outnumbered and crushed.

The Siege of Utrecht (1483) - Maximilian besieged Utrecht - after bombardment and hard fighting the rebels in the city eventually accepted peace terms.

The Battle of Hollogne (1483) - Guillaume de la Marck was defeated by Philip of Cleves.

The Battle of Béthune (1487) - Maximilian's army was defeated by the French, who captured Engelbert of Nassau and Charles of Egmont. This battle seems to have been quite significant, but I've found no information on how it actually played out.

The Battle of Dixmude (1489) - Flemish rebels besieged the town of Dixmude, but were attacked and defeated by a force of landsknechts and English allies from nearby Calais.

The Battle of Brouwershaven (1490) - The 'hook' faction leader Franz van Brederode was attacked whilst raiding along the coast by John of Egmont. The battle began at sea and continued on the shore, were the hooks were defeated and van Brederode captured, later dying of his wounds.

The 'bread and cheese revolt' (1491-1492) - A peasant uprising in which several towns were captured, before it was put down by Albert of Saxony.

The recapture of Arras (1492) - Burgundians recaptured Arras, one of the most important towns in the French-held county of Artois.

The Battle of Dournon (1493) - As Maximilian moved to retake the Franche-Comté, a force of Burgundians and Germans (landsknechts) faced the French under Jean de Baudricourt and soundly defeated them.

In researching the nobility and other leaders who fought in these conflicts, and in trying to find heraldry for as many of them as possible, I was able to put this table together. It shows who fought in which conflict - the green names are those I have heraldry for (though admittedly some of them are conjectural). As you can see I have a vast number to choose from for commanders on the Burgundian side in both the Low Countries and in Burgundy. Known French commanders are fewer in number. And I've got a few interesting commanders available for each of the later associated conflicts. This will come in handy!