Editing Charles the Bold (section)

=== Military ===
[[File:Heeresordnung1473 fol 5r.jpg|thumb|''Military Ordinance of Charles the Bold'', Master of Fitzwilliam 268, c. 1475]]

When Charles became the Duke of Burgundy, his army functioned under a feudalistic system, with most of its men either recruited through summons or hired under contract. The majority of his army consisted of French nobles, and their retainers, and [[English longbow|English archers]]; this army suffered from an inefficient distribution of resources and slow movement.{{Sfn|Lecuppre-Desjardin|2022|pp=203–204}} Having lived through a period of peace under Philip the Good, the army scarcely trained and was unprepared. Furthermore, in comparison to other armies of Europe, their structure was outdated.{{Sfn|Allmand|2001|p=142}} To remedy these problems, Charles issued a series of military ordinances, between 1468 and 1473, that not only would revolutionise the Burgundian army, but also would influence every European army in the 16th century.{{Sfn|Vaughan|Paravicini|2002|p=205}} The first of these ordinances, addressed to the Marshal of Burgundy, contains instructions on who could be recruited to the army and describes the personnel of the artillery: namely, masons, assistants, [[cannoneer]]s, and carpenters.{{Sfn|Smith|De Vries|2005|p=171}} The second ordinance, issued at [[Abbeville]] in 1471, proclaimed the formation of a [[standing army]], called {{Transliteration|Fr|[[Compagnie d'ordonnance]]}}, made up of 1250 [[lances fournies]], who were accompanied by 1200 crossbows, 1250 handgunners, and 1250 pikemen.{{Sfn|Querengässer|2021|p=102}} A squad consisted of a man-at-arms, a mounted page, a mounted swordsman, three [[Mounted archery|horse archers]], a crossbowmen, and a pikeman. Charles designed a uniform for each of the companies ([[Cross of Burgundy]] inscribed on the ducal colours).{{Sfn|Smith|De Vries|2005|p=172}} He also designed an overlapping military hierarchy that sought to preclude the infighting between captains and their subordinates that would arise in a pyramidal hierarchy.{{Sfn|Drake|2013|p=224}}

[[File:Armure de Charles le Téméraire.jpg|alt=A knight mounting a horse, who has an adorned armour|thumb|Armour of Charles the Bold in the Vinkhuijzen collection of military uniforms, 1910, kept at the [[New York Public Library]]|left]]

The last of these ordinances, issued at Thionville, marked the culmination of Charles's martial administration. The organisation of a squad was categorised to the merest detail; specific battle marches were created to keep order between the men; a soldier's equipment were explained in detail, and discipline among the ranks was regarded as of the utmost importance.{{Sfn|Vaughan|Paravicini|2002|p=209}} Charles forbade individual soldiers to have a [[camp follower]], instead, he permitted each company of 900 to have 30 women in their ranks who would attend to them.{{Sfn|Smith|De Vries|2005|p=172}} He set brutal rules against defaulters and deserters. In 1476, he appointed Jehan de Dadizele to arrest deserters. Those guilty of encouraging soldiers to desert were to be executed and the deserters were to return to the army.{{Sfn|Vaughan|Paravicini|2002|p=225}} Charles intended for his soldiers to tutor their compatriots about these new conditions in private settings without a disciplinarian presiding over them.{{Sfn|Drake|2013|p=224}} Charles's erratic pace in promulgating new, detailed reforms every few years was too much for his captains and men-at-arms to sufficiently implement.{{Sfn|Van Loo|2021|p=420}}

Charles's ordinances were mostly inspired by Xenophon's ''Cyropaedia''.{{Sfn|Allmand|2001|p=137}} After observing how [[Cyrus the Great]] achieved the willing obedience of his subjects, Charles became obsessed with discipline and order among his men-at-arms.{{Sfn|Drake|2013|p=223}} He applied Xenophon's comments in the Abbeville ordinance, thus ensuring that through a complex [[Command hierarchy|chain of command]], his soldiers would both command and obey.{{Sfn|Drake|2013|p=224}} The influence of [[Vegetius]]'s ''[[De re militari]]'' is also quite apparent in Charles's writings. Vegetius suggested that soldiers were to be recruited from men offering themselves to a martial life; afterwards, they would swear an oath to stay loyal to the duke. Charles adapted both ideas in his 1471 ordinance.{{Sfn|Allmand|2001|pp=138, 140}} Charles's 1473 ordinance included exercises from Vegetius to keep soldiers disciplined and prepared.{{Sfn|Allmand|2001|p=138}}

The Burgundian standing army struggled with recruitment.{{Sfn|Vaughan|Paravicini|2002|p=214}} Although the army had enough men-at-arms, pikemen, and mounted archers, it lacked [[culverin]]s and foot archers.{{Sfn|Smith|De Vries|2005|p=173}} To solve this problem, Charles diversified his army and recruited from other nationalities.{{Sfn|Baboukis|2010b|p=367}} Italian mercenaries were his favourite and by 1476 filled most of his ranks.{{Sfn|Walsh|2005|p=341}} Despite the constant warning from military authors of the past against the recruitment of mercenaries, contemporary chronicler [[Jean Molinet]] praised Charles for his brilliant solution, saying that he was favoured by both heaven and earth and thus above the "commandments of philosophers".{{Sfn|Golubeva|2013|p=32}}