Editing Charles the Bold (section)

=== Battle of Grandson ===
{{Main|Battle of Grandson}}
[[File:Luzerner Schilling Battle of Grandson.jpg|alt=battle scene, over two pages|thumb|320x320px|[[Battle of Grandson]], miniature of 1515 by [[Diebold Schilling the Younger]] in the [[Luzerner Schilling|Lucerne chronicle]]]]

Charles commenced his full-fledged invasion against the Swiss and their allies immediately after signing the peace treaty with Louis XI. Splitting his army into two parts, he advanced through Lorraine with no resistance and captured the capital city of [[Nancy, France|Nancy]].{{Sfn|Smith|De Vries|2005|p=185}} At the beginning of 1476, Charles besieged the recently captured castle of [[Grandson, Switzerland|Grandson]] which was fortified by a garrison from [[Bern]].{{Sfn|Baboukis|2010c}} Despite the many relief forces sent to defeat the Burgundians, the Swiss were unable to relieve the city from the siege, and Charles recaptured Grandson, executing all of the Bernese garrison as retaliation for Swiss brutality in Burgundian towns.{{Sfn|Beazley|2014|p=28}} On 1 March, Charles, expecting the Swiss army to march towards him for a battle, decided to leave Grandson and head northwards for a mountain pass north of the town of [[Concise, Switzerland|Concise]]. As he had foreseen, the Swiss army marched from [[Neuchâtel]], with their vanguard, made up of eight thousand men, several hours ahead of the rest of their army. The vanguard reached the mountain pass first and surprised the Burgundian army.<ref>{{harvnb|Beazley|2014|page=28}}; {{harvnb|Baboukis|2010c}}</ref>

Charles quickly rallied his troops, ordered his artillery to fire at the enemy lines, and then launched an attack.{{Sfn|Baboukis|2010c}} Meanwhile, the Swiss had knelt down to pray, which the Burgundians may have mistaken for submission, which only motivated the Burgundians more for the attack.{{Sfn|Beazley|2014|p=29}} The initial charge, commanded by {{Ill|Louis de Châlon-Arlay|fr|Louis de Chalon-Arlay (1448-1476)}}, Lord of Grandson, failed to penetrate the Swiss defensive line, with Louis himself killed in the process.{{Sfn|Beazley|2014|p=29}} Charles then made a second attack. In order to lure the enemy further down the valley to give his artillery a better target, Charles soon retreated.{{Sfn|Van Loo|2021|p=437}}

[[File:Military flag of the Burgundian state under Duke Charles the Bold.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5| Military flag of the Burgundian State during the [[Battle of Grandson]]]]

However, the rest of Charles's army mistook his tactical retreat for a complete withdrawal. Around this time, the rest of the Swiss army had reached the valley, announcing their arrival by bellowing their horns. The Burgundians panicked and abandoned their positions, ignoring Charles's pleas to stay in line.<ref>{{harvnb|Beazley|2014|page=29}}; {{harvnb|Baboukis|2010c}}</ref> The panicking army even forsook their camp at Grandson, leaving it for the Swiss to capture.{{Sfn|Baboukis|2010c}}{{Sfn|Van Loo|2021|p=438}} The [[Battle of Grandson]] became a humiliating defeat for Charles the Bold, as his army's cowardice had caused him the loss of many valuable treasures and all of his artillery and supplies.{{Sfn|Beazley|2014|p=33}} For two or three days after the battle, Charles refused any food or drink. By 4 March, he began to reorganize his army in hopes of giving battle two weeks later.{{Sfn|Vaughan|Paravicini|2002|p=378}}