The
Siege of Neuss
From
http://www.r3.org/bookcase/de_commynes/decom_5.html
In the dispute between the two claimants
to the [arch-] bishopric of Cologne, one of whom was the
brother of the landgrave of Hesse and the other a relative
of the count-palatine of the Rhine, the duke of Burgundy
took the side of the palatine and undertook to place the
claimant in office by force, hoping thereby to capture
several places. He besieged Neuss near Cologne in 1474.6
The landgrave of Hesse and some soldiers were inside the
town. The duke had so many great schemes in his mind that
he was submerged by their weight, because at this same
time he wanted to persuade King Edward of England to bring
over the great army which he had prepared at the duke's
urgent request; he did his utmost to finish off this German
enterprise. This involved garrisoning Neuss, if he were
able to take it, and another town or two above Cologne.
The city would be forced to capitulate. Then after leaving
there he would travel up the Rhine as far as the county
of Ferrette, which he then held, so that all the Rhine,
from there to Holland, where there were more powerful
towns and castles than in any other realm in Christendom
except for France, would be his. The truce which he had
with the King had been extended for six months and already
most of this period had elapsed. The King urged him to
prolong it still further so that he could do as he liked
in Germany, but the duke did not want to do this because
of his promise to the English.
I would gladly have omitted to mention the siege of Neuss
as it is not strictly relevant to our story, for I was
not present, but I am forced to speak about it because
of the things which stemmed from it. The landgrave of
Hesse and many of his relatives and friends, with up to
eighteen hundred horsemen as I have been told, had stationed
themselves inside the town of Neuss. All of them were
fine soldiers, as they were to demonstrate. They also
had as many infantry as were necessary. The landgrave
was brother of the elected bishop who was the opponent
of the man supported by the duke of Burgundy. So the duke
besieged Neuss in 1474.
He had the finest army he had ever had, especially his
cavalry, because on the pretext of certain projects he
had in mind in Italy he gathered some thousand Italian
men-at-arms, both good and bad; these had as their leader
a man of most perfidious and dangerous character from
the kingdom of Naples, called the count of Campobasso.
There was also Giacomo Galeotto, a very worthy Neopolitan
nobleman, and several others whom I pass over for brevity's
sake. Likewise he had more than three thousand fine English
soldiers, as well as very large numbers of his own subjects
who were well mounted and armed and who were already well
trained in warfare. The artillery was very numerous and
powerful. All this force he held ready to join the English
on their arrival; these were rapidly preparing in England.
But this type of preparation takes a long time because
the king cannot undertake such an exploit wihtout assembling
his Parliament, the equivalent of our Three Estates, which
is a very just and laudable institution, and on account
of this the kings are stronger and better served when
they consult parliament in such matters. When these Estates
are assembled, the king declares his intentions and asks
for aid from his subjects, because he cannot raise any
taxes in England, except for an expedition to France or
Scotland or some other such comparable cause. They will
grant them, very willingly and liberally, especially for
crossing to France. There is a well-known trick which
these kings of England practise when they want to amass
money. They pretend they want to attack Scotland and to
assemble armies. To raise a large sum of money they pay
them for three months and then disband their army and
return home, although they have received money for a year.
King Edward understood this ruse perfectly and he often
did this. This army took more than a year to get ready
and he then sent word to the duke of Burgundy, who was
besieging Neuss at the beginning of the summer; he thought
that within a few days he would be able to place his candidate
in possession of the [arch-] bishipric and that several
places, including Neuss, would remain his so that he could
achieve his ends which I have told you about.
I consider that this was God's own doing, out of pity
for this kingdom, because the duke's army was already
very experienced by several years' campaigning in this
kingdom without anyone offering it battle or taking the
field in strength against it, unless they were defending
the towns. But it is also true that this resulted from
the King's actions, because he did not want to place anything
in jeopardy. He did this not only because he was frightened
of the duke of Burgundy but also because he feared the
disaffection which could arise in his kingdom if he should
lose a battle. For he knew he was not well thought of
by all his subjects, especially the great lords. If I
dare speak the whole truth, he has told me many times
that he knew his subjects well and this would happen if
his affairs went badly. For this reason when the duke
of Burgundy invaded he did no more than strongly reinforce
the towns on his route. So in a short time the duke of
Burgundy's army broke itself up without the King imperilling
his state. This, it strikes me, is to proceed intelligently.
Nevertheless, with the strength of the duke of Burgundy's
army which I have told you about, and if the king of England's
army had come, as doubtless it would have done, by the
beginning of the campaigning season, had not the duke
of Burgundy made the mistake of staying so obstinately
before Neuss, it cannot be doubted but that this kingdom
would have borne very serious hardships. For never before
had an English king brought across such a powerful army
at one time as this one of which I am speaking, nor one
so well prepared to fight. All the great English lords,
without exception, were there. They probably had more
than fifteen hundred men-at-arms, a great number for the
English, all of whom were very well equipped and accompanied.
There were fourteen thousand mounted archers, all of whom
carried bows and arrows, and plenty of other people, on
foot serving their army. In all this army there was not
a single page. Besides this the king of England was to
send three thousand men to land in Brittany to join the
duke's army. I saw two letters written by my lord of Urfé
([later] chief esquire of France). He was then a retainer
of the duke of Brittany. One was addressed to the king
of England and the other to Lord Hastings, Lord Chamberlain
of England, and amongst other things, they said that the
duke of Brittany would achieve more in a month by his
intrigues than the armies of the English and the Burgundians
would achieve in six, however powerful they were. I believe
that what he said would have been true had things been
pushed ahead further. But God, who still loves this country,
managed things as I shall show subsequently. These letters
I mentioned were bought from an English secretary for
sixty silver marks by the King, our late master.
1. June 1473.
2. Adolphe married Catherine of Bourbon (d. 1469) on 18
December 1463.
3. Arnold, duke of Guelders (1423-73), was imprisoned
from 1465 to 1470 at Thielt, Guelderland. All MSS. except
P. read mois.
4. Charles was at Doullens 17 January-3 February 1471.
5. Mary, daughter of Charles the Rash, see Chatper Six,
Book 2, Footnote 2.
6. The siege began on 30 July 1474.
2
[Charles the Rash's mistakes]
[i German forces]
THE duke of Burgundy was already deeply committed before
Neuss, as I told you, and was finding things more difficult
than he anticipated. The citizens of Cologne, which lay
four leagues higher up the Rhine, spent a hundred thousand
gold florins a month because of their fears of the duke
of Burgundy. They and the other towns above them on the
Rhine had already put fifteen or sixteen thousand foot
soldiers in the field. These, with their heavy artillery,
were camped on the edge of the river Rhine opposite the
duke of Burgundy. They were attempting to disrupt his
food supplies, which came upstream by water from Guelders,
and to sink the boats by cannon-shots.
The Emperor and the electoral princes of the Empire had
assembled to discuss this affair and had decided to gather
an army. The King had already sent them several messengers
to urge them to do this. So, in return, they sent to him
a canon of Cologne, belonging to the house of Bavaria,
and another ambassador with him. They took to the King
a detailed list of the army, which the Emperor intended
to assemble if the King, for his part, was willing to
be involved in it. They did not fail to get a favourable
answer and promise for everything they demanded. Moreover,
in sealed documents the King promised, both to the Emperor
and to several of the princes and towns, that as soon
as the Emperor arrived at Cologne and was in the field
the King would send twenty thousand men under the command
of my lord of Craon and Slazar to join him.
So the German army, which was almost unbelievably large,
got ready. All the German princes, both temporal and spiritual,
the bishops and the towns sent a great number of men to
it. I was told that the bishop of Munster, who was not
amongst the most powerful, led there six thousand infantry
and fourteen hundred horsemen, all clothed in green, besides
twelve hundred carts. But, of course, his bishopric lay
close to Neuss. The Emperor took more than seven months
to gather this army and at the end of that period he went
to camp about half a league from the duke of Burgundy.
Several of the duke's men have told me that his army,
together with that of the king of England, did not amount
to more than a third of the one I have just been speaking
about, in the number either of men or of tents, both large
and small. Besides the Emperor's army, there was also
that other army I mentioned on the other side of the river
opposite the duke of Burgundy, which was harrassing his
army severely and intercepting his supplies. As soon as
the Emperor and the imperial princes were before Neuss
they sent a doctor, who had great authority amongst them,
to the King. He was called Dr. Hesler and later became
a cardinal, and he came to request the King to keep his
promises and send the twenty thousand men as he had agreed,
otherwise the Germans would come to terms with Burgundy.
The King made him very hopeful, had given him four hundred
crowns, and sent back with him to the Emperor a certain
Jean Tiercelin, lord of Brosse. Nevertheless the doctor
did not go home entirely satisfied. Amazing negotiations
were carried out during this siege because the King sought
to make peace with the duke of Burgundy, or at least to
prolong the truce so that the English would not come.
The king of England, on the other hand, strove with all
his might to force the duke of Burgundy to leave Neuss
and to make him keep his promises to help him in the war
in this kingdom, saying that they were in danger of wasting
the campaigning season. Lord Scales, nephew of the Constable
and a very fine knight,7 and several others, were twice
sent as ambassadors about this matter. But the duke was
perverse, and indeed God had troubled his senses and understanding,
because all his life he had laboured to get the English
to cross the Channel and, at the very moment when they
were ready and everything arranged to their liking, both
in Brittany and elsewhere, he obstinately pursued an impossible
objective.
With the Emperor there was an apostolic legate8 who every
day went from one army to the other trying to arrange
a peace. Likewise to the king of Denmark,9 who was staying
in a small town close to the two armies, worked for the
same end, so the duke of Burgundy could easily have arranged
an honourable settlement which would have allowed him
to withdraw to meet the king of England. But he did not
know how to do it and sent excuses to the English, alleging
that his honour would be slighted if he raised the siege,
and making other feeble excuses. Yet these were not the
Englishmen of his father's day and the former wars with
France. They were inexperienced and raw soldiers, ignorant
of French ways, so he proceeded very unwisely because
if he had wanted to use them in the future he should have
guided them step by step in the first campaign.
ii Here I speak about the King's intrigues against the
duke of Burgundy and of the war he waged against him in
Picardy whilst the duke was still occupied with the siege
of Neuss
While the duke was in this obstinate mood war broke out
against him in two or three other places. One began when
the duke of Lorraine, who was at peace with him, sent
a defiance to the duke at Neuss at the instigation of
my lord of Craon. Craon wanted to use the occasion to
serve the King, and he did not fail to promise Lorraine
that he would become an important figure. Immediately
they took to the field and caused much damage in the duchy
of Luxembourg, and razed a place in the duchy, called
Pierrefort, two leagues from Nancy. Moreover, it was arranged
by the King and some of his servants, whom he charged
with this, that an alliance should be made for ten years
between the Swiss and the towns of the Upper Rhine, Basle,
Strasbourg and others, which had formerly been at loggerheads.
A peace was also made between Duke Sigismund of Austria
and the Swiss so that Duke Sigismund could recover the
county of Ferrette which he had pledged to the duke of
Burgundy for a hundred thousand Rhenish florins. All was
agreed except for one difference between Sigismund and
the Swiss, who wanted to have the right of passage through
four towns in the county of Ferrette whenever they wanted,
either with or without their forces. This dispute was
submited to the King, who decided in favour of the Swiss.
From all this you can appreciate the troubles which the
King secretly stirred up for the duke. All these things
were executed as they had been planned, for one fine knight
Sir Pierre de Hagenbach, governor of the county of Ferrette
for the duke of Burgundy, together with his force of eight
hundred men, was captured. His men were released without
obligation but he was taken to Basle where he was charged
with committing certain excessess and acts of violence
in the county of Ferrette. In the end he had his head
chopped off10 and Ferrette was handed over to Duke Sigismund
of Austria. The Swiss began to fight in Burgundy and took
Blamont, which belonged to the Marshal of Burgundy, who
was himself a member of the house of Neufchâtel. The Burgundians
went to his aid but were defeated and the Swiss caused
much havoc in that region before retiring again after
this attack.
7.
8. Anthony Woodville, lord Scales, was the son of Jacqueline
de Luxembourg, sister of Saint-Pol.
9. Alessandro Nami, biship of Forli.
10. Christian I (1448-83).
9 May 1474 at Breisach.
3
[The war in Picardy and Artois: Emperor Frederick III
replied to Louis XI]
THE truce between the King and the duke of Burgundy expired,
much to the King's regret because he would rather have
had an extension. Yet seeing that he could not obtain
one, he went to besiege a miserable little castle called
Tronchoy. This was early in 1475 at the start and at the
best part of the season. It was taken by assault in a
short time. Next day the King sent me to parley with those
who were in Montdidier. They left the town taking their
baggage with them. The day after, together with the Admiral,
the Bastard of Bourbon, I went to speak with those who
were before Roye and they too surrendered the place to
me because they were not expecting any help. They would
not have given it up if the duke had been present. Nevertheless,
in spite of our promise these two towns were burnt. From
there the King went to lay siege to Corbie where they
were expecting us. We made splendid headway and the King's
artillery fired for three days. My lord of Contay and
several others were garrisoning the place but they delivered
it and marched away with their baggage. Two days later
the miserable town was pillaged and fired like the other
two. The King then thought he would withdraw his army
and force the duke of Burgundy to accept a truce, seeing
his desperate situation. But a lady whom I know well --
and will not name because she is still living -- wrote
to the King, telling him to bring his men to Arras and
its neighbourhood. The King trusted her because she was
a lady of honour. I cannot praise her for this because
she was under no obligation to do it. The King sent the
Admiral, the Bastard of Bourbon, together with a strong
force, which burnt a large number of townships between
Abbeville and Arras. The citizens of Arras, who had suffered
no adversity for a long time and were very haughty, forced
the soldiers who were in the town to sally out against
the royal troops. But their numbers were not eqaul to
the King's men and they were so strongly repulsed that
as large number were killed or taken, including all their
leaders, Sir Jacques de Saint-Pol, brother of the Constable,
the lords of Contay and Carency and others, amonst whom
were the closest relatives of the lady who had been responsible
for the expedition. Indeed she suffered heavily through
it, although the King in time made good her losses out
of his favour for her.
About then the King sent Jean Tiercelin, lord of Brosse,
to the Emperor, to prevent him from coming to terms with
the duke of Burgundy and to make excuses for the fact
that he had not sent his troops as he had promised, and
to assure him he would do so, and to exaggerate the exploits
and the injuries which he was causing the duke, both in
Picardy and in Burgundy. Besides this, he made a new proposal
that they should promise each other not to make a peace
or truce without each other, that the Emperor should take
all the lordships which the duke held in the Empire and
which should rightly be held of him, that he should declare
them forfeit to himself and that the King should likewise
take those which were held of the crown, such as Flanders,
Artois, Burgundy and several others.
Although the Emperor was never noted for great bravery
he was a man of some judgement, and as a result of his
long life he had accumulated a wealth of experience. When
these intrigues between us and him had lasted a long time
he became tired of the war, although it was costing him
nothing, because all the German lords had come at their
own expense, as was usual when it was an imperial matter.
The Emperor thus replied that close to a certain German
town lived a great bear who caused a lot of damage. Three
drinking companions from the town went to the taverner
to whom they owed money and pleaded with him to allow
them credit just once more and said that within two days
they would pay him back everything, because they were
going to capture this bear which caused so much harm.
Its skin would be worth a great deal of money, not to
speak of the presents which everyone would give them.
The landlord agreed to their demand and when they had
eaten they set off for the place where the bear lived.
They came across the bear's den more quickly than they
had expected. Becoming frightened they took to their heels.
One climbed a tree, one fled towards the town but the
third was caught by the bear who trampled him to the ground
and pushed its snout close to his ear. The poor man, prostrate
and pressed against the ground, feigned death because
by its nature this animal will leave whatever it is holding,
whether it is man or beast, when it no longer moves, thinking
it is dead. So the bear left this poor man, have scarcely
injured him, and went back to its den. As soon as the
man realized that he was safe he jumped up and set off
back to the town. His friend who was in the tree, and
who had seen this strange occurrence, climbed down and
ran after him shouting to him to wait for him. He turned
and waited for him. When they met, the man who stayed
in the tree asked his friend to say truthfully what counsel
the bear had given him, after it had kept its snout close
to his ear for so long. He replied, 'It told me never
to sell a bear skin before catching the bear.' With this
story the Emperor reproached the King and gave no other
reply to our ambassador. It was as if he has said, 'Come
here as you've promised and we'll kill this man if we
can, and then we'll share out his properties.'
4
[The adventures of Jacques de Luxembourg and the siege
of Neuss]
i I speak about the Constable, who was already very suspicious,
and mistrusted both the King and the duke, and what happened
to him whilst the duke of Burgundy was besieging Neuss
YOU have heard how Sir Jacques de Saint-Pol and others
had been captured before Arras. This capture displeased
the Constable considerably because Sir Jacques was a very
good brother to him. This was not the only misadventure
to befall him because at the same time his son, the count
of Roussy, who was the duke's governor of Burgundy, was
also captured.(11) The Constable's wife, a lady of great
merit and sister to the Queen who protected and favoured
her, also died whilst the intrigues, which had begun against
him (as you have heard) and which had been brought to
a successful conclusion at Bouvignes, were still in progress.
Ever since that time the Constable had felt insecure and
suspicious about both sides and especially he was fearful
of the King. It clearly seemed to him that the King repented
having withdrawn his consent to the documents agreed at
Bouvignes. The count of Dammartin and others were quartered
with the men-at-arms close to Saint-Quentin. The Constable
feared them as his enemies and kept himself shut up in
Saint-Quentin where he had just three hundred infantry
from his own lands, because he was not entirely sure of
the reliability of the men-at-arms [of the royal ordonnance
companies which he commanded]. He was very troubled because
the King urged him several times to take the field to
serve him in Hainault, and to lay siege to Avesnes at
the moment when the Admiral, with the other force, was
wasting Artois with fire, as I told you. Eventually he
did so but in great dread, as he was very afraid. He was
only there a few days and kept a strong bodyguard about
him. He then retired to his own places and sent word the
the King that he had raised the siege. I know all about
this because the King ordered me to listen to his messenger.
He justified himself by saying that he had been reliably
informed that there were two men in the army who had been
ordered by the King to assassinate him. He mentioned so
many pieces of incriminating evidence that people were
almost beginning to believe him and to suspect one of
the two of having told him something about which they
should have kept quiet. I do not want to name anyone or
speak further about this affair.
The Constable sent frequent messages to the duke of Burgundy's
army. I believe he was trying to get him away from this
foolish expedition. When his messengers had returned he
sent some news to the King which he thought would please
him and let him know some of the small matters why he
had sent to the duke. He thought that by doing this he
would satisfy the King. Sometimes he sent word that the
duke's affairs were progressing well, in order to frighten
the King a little. But he was himself so frightened that
he might be attacked that he asked the duke to send him
his brother, Sir Jacques de Saint-Pol (who was at Neuss,
prior to his capture), also the lord of Fiennes(12) and
other of his relatives whom he could put into Saint-Quentin
with their men, and who would not have to wear the St.
Andrew's cross. He promised the duke he would hold Saint-Quentin
for him and restore it to him some time later and would
give him his sealed undertaking. This the duke agreed
to do. When Sir Jacques, the lord of Fiennes and his other
relatives twice found themselves within a league or two
of Saint-Quentin and ready to enter it, the Constable
found that his fear had evaporated, repented of his decision
and sent them away. He did this three times, so much did
he want to remain in this state of balance, steering between
the two, because he was extremely afraid of both of them.
I learnt these things from many people, especially from
Sir Jacques de Saint-Pol himself. He told the King about
them when he had been brought a prisoner before him; I
was the only other person present. His willing replies
to the King's questions did him a lot of good. The King
asked him how many men he had to get into the town with.
He replied that on the third occasion he had about three
thousand men. The King also asked him whether, if he had
found himself the stronger, he would have held it for
the King or the Constable. Sir Jacques replied that on
the first two occasions he came only to reinforce his
brother but on the third occasion, seeing that the Constable
had twice deceived both his master and himself, if he
had got the upper hand he would have kept the town for
his master without doing anything violent or prejudicial
to the Constable, except that he would not have sallied
out at his command. Consequently, shortly afterwards,
the King released Sir Jacques de Saint-Pol from prison
and gave him men-at-arms and fine possessions. He employed
him up to his death and this good fortune was the result
of his replies.
ii Here I return to speak about the siege of Neuss and
about the agreement made between the Emperor and the Duke
of Burgundy
Since I began to speak about Neuss I have touched upon
several matters one after another. All these happened
at this time because the siege lasted a year. Two things
in particular put extreme pressure on the duke of Burgundy
to raise the siege; one was the war which the king was
waging on him in Picardy, where he had burnt three small
towns and wasted a quarter of the flat countryside of
Artois and Ponthieu, and the other was the great and urgent
request -- the army which the duke had been striving all
his life to lure across the Channel and which he had never
succeeded in doing up to then. The king of England and
all the nobles of his realm were highly discontented by
the duke of Burgundy's delays. Besides the pleas which
they sent to him they also issued threats, because of
the great expense they had been put to and because the
season was passing. The duke of Burgundy greatly delighted
in opposing the huge German army composed of contingents
from any princes, prelates and towns. This was the biggest
army within living memory, or indeed for a long time before
that. Yet all of them together did not succeed in making
him leave his position. But he paid dearly for this piece
of vanity because he who has the profits of war has the
honour. All the time, this legate, whom I mentioned, had
been coming and going from one side to the other and finally
a peace was agreed between the Emperor and the duke. The
town of Neuss was placed in the legate's hands, to be
disposed of according to papal decree. But to what kind
of a dilemma must the duke have been reduced when he saw
himself pressed by the war which the King was waging against
him as well as by the requests and menaces of his friend,
the king of England? For on the other hand he could see
that the town of Neuss was reduced to such a state that
within fifteen days he would have a stranglehold upon
it because of famine (and this could have happened in
as few as ten days, as I have been told by one of the
captains who was in the town, whom the King took into
his service). So for these reasons the duke of Burgundy
raised the siege in 1475.
11. Antoine de Luxembourg was captured at the battle of
Guipy, 20 June 1475.
12. Another Jacques de Luxembourg.
From
WHKMLA
Siege of Neuss 1474-1475
Burgundian attempt to turn the Princebishopric of Cologne
into a Satellite State
A.) Prehistory of the War
Neuss, a city located on the left bank of the Rhine, was
one of the most important strongholds within the Princebishopric
of Cologne (the city of Cologne was an immediate city, thus
not part of the Princebishopric; the princebishops resided
in Bonn).
B.) The War
Princebishop of Cologne, Ruprecht von der Pfalz, elected
in 1473, was at odds with the Cologne Cathedral Chapter
and the Estates, and appealed to Duke Charles the Bold of
Burgundy for his assistance. The Cathedral chapter appointed
Hermann von Hessen as their protector.
Between July 1474 and June 1475, the fortified city of Neuss
was besieged by Burgundian troops, regarded the most modern
and best equipped army of her time.
In 1474, Emperor Friedrich III. declared an Imperial ban
against Count Friedrich I. of the Pfalz (Palatinate), brother
of Princebishop Ruprecht. The Holy Roman Empire declared
war on Burgundy (January 7th 1475) for imposing war upon
the Princebishopric of Cologne; an Imperial army was assembled
and appeared within the sight of besieged Neuss, without
engaging the Burgundians. Negotiations were held between
Emperor Friedrich III. and Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy;
the latter agreed to terminate the siege and abandon Princebishop
Ruprecht's claim on the Princebishopric of Cologne.
C.) The Legacy
During the negotiations between Emperor Friedrich III. and
Duke Charles the Bold, the marriage between Maximilian of
Habsburg, the Emperor's son and heir, and Mary of Burgundy,
Charles' only child and heir, was planned. Their grandson
would become Emperor Charles V.
For her valiance during the siege, the burghers of Neuss
were rewarded by being granted an Imperial privilege for
their city, which included the right to mint coins.
Prince-Archbishop Ruprecht von der Pfalz maintained his
title, but lived in exile. He died in 1480; the Cathedral
Chapter elected Hermann von Hessen as his successor (1480-1508).
From:
http://home.t-online.de/home/sticker/wierstraet/index.htm
Note:
Which depressed thoughts and concerns the including moved,
Hermann said land counts Heinrich of Hessen in its letter
to its brother, and the city Cologne, which the nine men
with a small Nachen brought to the Cologners on the stones,
in which he conditions in the city described. In the letter
it held the large emergency, "dorinne we tegelich ye more
lenger ye more meher komen" for them, before eyes and said
it with all clarity: They in Neuss would have heard all
time "sweet word", but thus the city was not to be saved
now no more. Instead of seeing real relief, run it the risk
to lose at the Quirinustor a bulwark after the other one.
"if we on all all this to be frightened, do not like it
to the knowledge to take that we must go a betrueblichen
course. . Hermann of Hessen and two knights affirmed the
request for assistance by their seals.
In addition, the opponent seemed after the fights the last
February week, with which the Neusser, makes with daruff
geslagen ", and the duke led personally its peoples to the
storm, let those city at all four ends berennen and had
to put heaviest losses in deprimiert. Over the tendency
in the camp reports went around, after which the Burgunderherzog
unfriendly comparisons between its troops, which had appeared
nevertheless truly courageously and draufgaengerisch, and
to which crew of Neuss, had drawn: Became if a city, which
was occupied by its people, then besieged, they would give
up soon,, and it all sin day of solicher fruscher luett
begert than CPU nut inn sint ". If in the first days of
the siege of Neuss losses were announced to it, it only
answered: a andrer on sin instead of ". But, where from
its troops so many died, answer now it to a loss message:
Each gentleman, knight, farmhand and subject are guilty
it to die for his gentleman. Who falls, only paid, which
it was guilty it. Karl's annoying it went so far that he
- in such a way Johannes toggle reports - had away-hunted
the dealers and other people from the camp city with noticing,
them would be for a war or combat neither experienced nor
sent enough. They would have had to leave however the money
there, with which it had denied the pay for again enlisted
riders and Knegsleute to it.
As the tendency barometer was located in Karl's camps, did
not remain naturally for imperial headquarters hidden. It
meant, over a contact man one had experienced the fact that
the burgundische army was never as weak is whispered as
at the moment and in the environment of the duke of it,
this would let probably negotiate now with itself and with
many demands of the emperor would enter. In the meantime
burgundische troops had struck themselves also with the
Cologners on the stones, apparent, in order to explore their
strength and employment joy, because the duke, eight onse
frunde vnd wyget systems zomal gerynge ". Unfortunately
it should show up soon that the duke did not have wrongly.
Now the case of Linz came. The small town had managed it,
however with strong burgundischer support, to close approximately
three months the right Rhine Valley route and the imperial
troops large inconvenientnesses to ready, for Karl the bold
one a most welcome aid. On 7 March the city the emperor
resulted. When the case in the camp before Neuss became
ruchbar, the Burgunderherzog began to rave, and the noble
masters of its environment, then Johannes toggle reports,
drove the fright into the members, because they had to expect
that the emperor will turn with his army now against them.
In the war council one was bent to waive and take the siege
off of Neuss. Then however the duke rose from Burgund,,
to pour it it, who it duerstete after blood and did not
shrink from themselves, ", - it, grant uff and talked personlich
uff zwo grant with inen ", and explained, it is its resolution
to wait before Neuss for the emperor and the fight:
, see trachtet, the emperor to defeat us we it will expect.
If we remain winners, becomes us and our descendant on eternally
fame and honour assign, we to be subject to subject been
enough it to us to the Ruhme that it was our thought, us
the Roman realm... " Ecce quanta pertinacia into isto homine!
entruestet itself Johannes toggle, which could not stand
the Burgunder in the soul as Baseler: What a narrow-mindedness
is nevertheless in this humans. In the middle of March knew
one also in besieged city the fact that Linz arisen and
itself Rhine downward in march had set the realm army. as
now the pure ", the Augsburger says chronicle,, auff the
ainen seyten to towards Coeln. . . frey, openly, also inn
the Kaysers vnnd Reychs power ganntz reliably, DO is the
kayserliche Mayty to ship sat vnnd the pure starting from
to towards Coeln gefaren, alldo his Mayty Monday before
the Balmtag with many princes vnnd gentleman arrive lucky.
.
On Monday before the Palmsonntag, that was 1475 13 March;
the date is not surely delivered, after other sources it
would have been 20 March, Monday after Palmsonntag. As,
for Neuss was it is also a crucial period. Immediately after
the case of Linz emperor Friedrich let the city Cologne
know that reinforcement was to be supplied to the troop
on the stones immediately. In a letter from 11 March believed
itself Albrecht Achilles from Brandenburg to hope justified
that Neuss will still hold itself some time now, particularly
since if it sees that relief comes. They did not know yet
that meanwhile in the Koelni army a substantial unrest had
spread. The troop was badly organized, not yet sufficient
armed and not sufficiently one supplied, - the war had already
let some lack to the consequence and also the prices rise
substantially. Without a doubt was added still that it now,
where one knew that the realm army was in advance, became
serious with the war that one kept oneself for useless or
redundant, in addition simply fear had, because who had
of Cologne citizens at all already real war service carried
out and in the field its skin to market to carry to have.
And further: At home, where the whole area of full troops
lay, probably sufficient work and more earnings/services
were to be found than in the position on the stones. The
gaffeln felt it as load to have to continual place replacement
or separation; which they sent, was unsuitable. Thus made
themselves at the night of the 10th on 11 March to the 400
men from the guilds of the butchers, schmiede, Schilderer
and bakers without vacation on the way home. Further ones
should still follow, toward end of the monthly were appropriate
for only about 1,200 Cologne citizen in the position. Likewise
the scharenweise mercenaries meuterten. The city Cologne
did not have all trouble to hold a to some extent usable
troop together on the stones at the end was it 700 men more.
From:
http://www.michael-does.de/neuss.htm
Why St.Quirinus is the protection patron of the Neusser.
For over 950 years Neuss is the center of the Quirinus admiration.
The legend says that 1050 the Aebtissin Gepa (Gepaplatz
in grace valley, see Kybele Kultstaette)die Gebeine of the
holy one of Rome at the Tieber after Neuss on the Rhine
transferred. Above all after Karl the bold one 1475/76 had
besieged the Quirinusstadt in vain, the Quirinus cult spread.
In March 1475 the city was in large Not.Der duke by Burgund
Karl the bold one or also Karl the terrible one mentioned,
had the city at the end of July of the yearly 1474 encircles.
Since then that tried to conquer 40000 soldiers strong army
Neuss. The Neusser stood faithfully to Kaisder and in close
solidarity with Cologne. Their commander was Hermann of
Hessen, whose fixed image on the well at the market is to
be seen. The city, which had at that time about 5000 inhabitants,
was by high walls and six city gates protect before the
stadtmauer ran a broad ditch filled with water, and before
it again a further wall stood. Karl the bold one had attacks
for its in March 1475 the north flank of the city selected,
because he believed, there is already so damaged the brick-work
by Artellerie that he could take the city from there. Miners
from Luettich had pushed a lug forward under the wall, in
order to bring these to the collapse. A combat patrol of
courageous Neusser had penetrated however into these lugs
and her had destroyed. It succeeded to the troops of Karl
nevertheless to penetrate into the front brick-work in the
range of the Rhine gate and to damage a part of the wall
with difficulty around the Rhine gate. Hermann of Hessen
feared the victory of the Belagerers, which had sworn, all
Neusser, whether men, women or children,zu toeten.In pulled
the Neusser in a solemn prozession to large emergency and
to made it Rhine gate there for the shrine with the Gebeinen
of the holy Quirinus a gel-practiced, the each year two
large candles to be gestifftet at the portrait of the holy
Quirinus to the office for high burns is few years to draw
the homeland friends for this gel-practiced responsible
and to donate this Kerzen.)Die a unsuccessful krieger from
Mr. Karls carried those customer of the strong Neusser patron
into the distance, to whose protecting strength they had
failed. Today are well-known over 500 places, at which the
Neusser holy one was admired and to a good part is still
today admired.
|