COLOGNE, LORRAINE, AND ALSACE
1473-1474
Late as it was in November, the weather was still very mild, and as
the emperor and duke travelled in opposite directions, neither the
former as he went down to Cologne, nor the latter as he passed up
the valley of the Moselle to that of the Ell, was hindered by autumn
storms. The summer of 1473 had been marked by unprecedented heat and
a prolonged drouth.[1] Forest fires raged unchecked on account of the
dearth of water and, for the same reason, the mills stood still.
The grape crops, indeed, were prodigious, but the vintage was not
profitable because the wine had a tendency to sour. Gentle rains
in September prepared the ground for an untimely fertility. Trees
blossomed and, though some fruits withered prematurely, cherries
actually ripened. Thus the Rhinelands presented a pleasant appearance
as Charles rode to Lorraine.
His first pause was at Thionville in Luxemburg, where he stayed about
a fortnight and received ambassadors from Hungary, Poland, Venice,
England, Denmark, Brittany, Ferrara, the Palatinate, and Cologne.[2]
The result of his conference with the last named was a declaration
on the duke's part which seriously affected his later career. The
condition of Cologne must be touched on as an essential part of this
narrative.
The late Duke of Burgundy had attempted to pursue a line of policy in
regard to the ecclesiastical elections in the diocese of Cologne that
had succeeded in Liege and in Utrecht. In 1463, he had tried to force
the chapter to elect his candidate. They had refused to follow
his leading, but their own choice, Robert, brother of the
elector-palatine, did not prove a congenial chief, and the new prelate
turned to Philip for aid when he found his chapter disposed to
restrict both his revenues and his temporal authority. Later, in 1467,
as the audacity of his opponents increased, the archbishop appealed to
his brother, the elector, and to Charles of Burgundy. The latter
was busy in France, but he wrote a sententious letter to Cologne,
exhorting both chapter and city to be obedient to their chosen
spiritual and lay lord. This intervention was resented. The breach
widened between Robert and his people, culminating in actual
hostilities. The chapter took possession of the town of Neuss,
accepted Hermann of Hesse as their protector, and sent an embassy to
Rome to state their grievances. The elector aided his brother and the
belligerent parties grew in strength.
The city of Cologne wavered for a space, undecided which cause to
espouse, and finally chose the chapter's side, signing a five years'
alliance with that body, which had officially renounced allegiance to
Robert, pending the judgment of pope and emperor on the dissension.
Such was the state of affairs when Charles entered into possession of
Guelders and manifested a disposition to interest himself in Cologne.
He informed the chapter that he was greatly displeased with their
contumely. To Cologne he said, "Be neutral," but the burghers showed
so little inclination to heed his neighbourly advice that he tried
harsher measures and permitted Cologne merchants to be molested in his
domains.
In 1473, all hostilities were suspended in the hopes of imperial
intervention.[3] While Charles was still in Guelders, Robert paid
him a visit, held long conferences with him, and probably received
promises of future aid, for he had an air of arrogance when he
returned from the interview. During the sojourn of duke and emperor at
Trèves, a papal legate, the Bishop of Fossombrone, arrived from Rome
with plenary powers to settle Cologne affairs, and his measures were
endorsed by Charles in a letter from Trèves.
For a time Frederic III. seemed inclined to refrain from interference,
then something influenced him in another direction. When he arrived
at Cologne in November, he received a warm welcome and costly gifts,
which he repaid by conferring a mass of privileges on his "good
city,"--cheap and easy benefits,--but he did not prove an efficient
arbitrator, simply postponing any decision from day to day, though he
was begged to settle all difficulties before Charles should attempt to
relieve him of the trouble.
True, Charles was detained elsewhere. But he no longer felt the need
of conciliating the emperor, and at Thionville, on December 11, 1473,
he issued a manifesto declaring that his friend Robert was entirely in
the right, his opponents in the wrong.[4] As these latter defied papal
legate and arbitrator duly authorised to settle the points of dispute,
he, Charles of Burgundy, would constitute himself defender of the
insulted archbishop. At the same time, he despatched Ètienne de Lavin
to check the encroachments of the insolent rebels. The declaration
emboldened Robert to defy the emperor's summons to meet him and the
papal legate. They both declared that they would take measures to
bring him to obedience, but Frederic did not wish to tarry longer at
Cologne. In January he took his departure, having directed Hermann of
Hesse to protect that see against all aggression.
Apparently, at that time, in spite of the manifesto, there was no
formal treaty between Charles and Robert, but there are two drafts for
such a treaty in existence,[5] wherein the former pledged himself to
force chapter, nobles, and city to submission, in consideration of the
sum of 200,000 florins, while the archbishop gave permission to his
ally to garrison all strongholds, including Cologne. Pending his
autumn sojourn in the upper Rhinelands, Charles had, therefore, plans
regarding Cologne definitely in mind.
_Lorraine_
This duchy was even more interesting to Charles than Cologne, and
there were many matters in its regard which demanded his urgent
attention in 1473. It, too, was a pleasant territory, and conveniently
adjacent to Burgundian lands. A natural means of annexation had been
considered by Charles in the proposed marriage between Nicholas, Duke
of Lorraine, and Mary of Burgundy. When that project was abandoned to
suit Charles's pleasure, he retained the friendship of his rejected
son-in-law until the latter's death in the spring of 1473. So
unexpected was this event, that there was the usual suspicion of
poisoning, and this crime, too, was charged to the account of Louis
XI., apparently without foundation. Certainly that monarch reaped
no immediate advantage from the death, for the family to whom the
succession passed was more friendly to Burgundy than to France.
The heir to the childless Nicholas was his aunt Yolande of Anjou,
daughter of old King René of Anjou, sister to the unfortunate
Margaret, late Queen of England, and widow of the Duke of Vaudemont.
The council of Lorraine lost no time in acknowledging Yolande as their
duchess. She hastened to Nancy, the capital, with her son René, aged
twenty-two, where they were received hospitably, and then Yolande
formally abdicated in favour of the young man, who was duly accepted
as Duke of Lorraine.
Now there was a large party of Burgundian sympathisers in Nancy, and
it was probably owing to their pressure that very strong links were at
once forged between Charles and the new sovereign of the duchy. The
apprehension lest the former should protect the land as he had the
heritage of his namesake, little Charles of Guelders, was expressed by
the timorous, but their counsels were overweighted, and, on October
15th, René accepted a treaty whose terms were very favourable to
Burgundy. In exchange for being "protector,"--an office that the
emperor had already been asked to change into suzerainty,--René
cemented an alliance, offensive and defensive, with Charles, giving
the latter full permission to march his forces across Lorraine.
Further, he pledged himself to appoint as officials in all important
places on the route "men bound by oath to the Duke of Burgundy." Yes,
more, these were discharged from fidelity to Renè in case he abandoned
Burgundian interests.
Yolande of Vaudemont endorsed these articles by adding her signature
to that of her son. Charles feared, however, that the provisions
might not be adhered to by the Lorrainers--so humiliating were the
terms--and exacted in addition the signatures of the chief nobles. On
November 18th, seventy-four of these gentlemen attested their
approval of an act that practically delivered their land to a
stranger,--evidence that they doubted the ability of their hereditary
chief, and preferred Burgundy to France.
There is a story that Charles tried other methods than diplomacy,
before he got the better of the young duke in this bargain, that he
actually had him stolen away from the castle of Joinville where he was
staying with his mother.[6] Louis promptly came forward and arrested a
nephew of the emperor, a student in the University of Paris, and kept
him as a hostage until the release of René. Rumour, too, asserts that
there was a treaty of Joinville, wherein René asserted his friendship
with Louis, which was intermitted by his relations with Charles, to be
resumed later. That also seems to be improbable. The formal alliance
with Louis did not come then, though the king took immediate care
to build up a party in his behalf in Lorraine, and to keep himself
informed of the progress of the new regime.
From Thionville, Charles journeyed on to Nancy, where he was welcomed
by his protégé, outside the city walls, and the two rode in together
as the duke and the emperor had entered Trèves. Charles had been so
long keeping up a show of obsequiousness which he did not feel that,
undoubtedly, he enjoyed again being the first personage.[7] He
refused, however, to accept the young man's hospitality, and spent the
two days of his sojourn in the house of a certain Malhortie, where
he felt more at ease in his conferences with Lorrainers willing to
proceed further to the disadvantage of their new sovereign.
The ally certainly became more exigeant. In various towns on the
Moselle, Épinal, Charmes, Dompaire, etc., the Lorraine soldiers were
replaced by Burgundians. This immediate and arrogant use of the rights
he had wrested from the Duke of Lorraine alienated many who had been
warm for Burgundy. René himself admired Charles as Maximilian had
done. The strong man exercised a fascination over both youths, but
the duke did not turn this admiration into real friendship,
underestimating the character of his protégé. His measures, too, were
taken without the slightest consideration for local feeling. Garrison
after garrison was installed and commanded to obey his officers alone,
while the soldiers were allowed to levy their own rations, equivalent
to raids on a friendly country. As always, the agglomeration of
mercenary companies was difficult to control. The duke did not succeed
in having those remote from his jurisdiction kept in due restraint.
Complaints began to pour into his headquarters. Public sentiment
shifted day by day. The Burgundian became the personification of a
public foe. Before Charles proceeded on his way to Alsace, René had
begun to lose his admiration and it was not long before he impatiently
awaited an opportunity to break with his too doughty protector.
_Alsace_
During the four years that Charles had delayed in coming to look at
the result of the bargain of 1469 in the Rhine valley, his lieutenant,
Peter von Hagenbach, had given the inhabitants reason to regret
the easy-going absentee Austrian seigneurs. Much had been done,
undoubtedly, in restraining the lawlessness of the robber barons. The
roads were well policed, and safety was assured to travellers. "I
spy," was the motto blazoned on the livery of the forces led by
Hagenbach up and down the land, until he had unearthed lurking
vagabonds. It was acknowledged that gold and silver could be carried
openly from place to place, and that night journeys were as safe as
day. Still, this advantageous change had not won popularity for the
man who wrought it. Perhaps the people thought it less burdensome to
make their own little bargains with highwaymen or petty nobles,[8] a
law unto themselves, than to meet the rigorous requisitions of the
Burgundian tax collector.
It was the country that had profited most by the new administration.
The small towns had long enjoyed great independence, and had shown
ability in managing their own affairs. They wanted no interference.
Not liked by those whom he had really protected, Hagenbach was
absolutely hated by the burghers who felt his iron hand, without
acknowledging that its pressure had more good than evil in it.
Then there were the neighbours to be considered. The Swiss had hated
Sigismund and all Austrians, and had been prepared to prefer Burgundy
as a power in the Rhinelands. But Hagenbach took no pains to win their
friendship. His insolent fashion of referring to them as "fellows" or
"rascals," added to acts of aggression, unchecked if not condoned by
him, aroused bitter dislike to him in the confederated cantons,[9] and
in their allies, Berne, Mulhouse, etc. By 1473, there was a growing
sentiment in Helvetia that they would be happier if Austria had her
own again, while the uneasiness in the cities that stood alone had
greatly increased.
Within Hagenbach's immediate jurisdiction, the opposition to his
measures took a definite form long before the duke's arrival there.
The various commissioners sent by Charles to inspect the quality of
his bargain had all agreed in an urgent recommendation to the duke to
redeem, at the earliest possible moment, all the troublesome mortgages
honeycombing his authority. Hagenbach, too, was fully convinced of the
necessity for this measure, but he was not provided with sufficient
money to accomplish it.
In the spring of 1473, therefore, he resolved to lay a new tax on
wine. This impost, called the "Bad Penny," was bitterly resented for
two reasons. The burden was oppressive to the vintners and it was an
illegal measure, as no sanction had been given by the local estates.
Three towns, Thann, Ensisheim, and Brisac, declared that they were
determined to refuse payment.
Hagenbach marched a force into the Engelburg, a stronghold dominating
Thann, bombarded the town, and took it easily. Thirty citizens were
condemned to death as leaders in an iniquitous rebellion against the
just orders of their lawful governor. Some of these, indeed, were
pardoned, though their estates were confiscated, but five or six
were publicly executed, and their bodies hung exposed to view on the
market-place, as a hideous object-lesson of the cost of resisting
Burgundian orders.
One execution sufficed to render Ensisheim submissive, but Brisac
proved more obstinate. The magistrates there did not resort to force.
They declared there was no need, for they were fully protected by the
article in the treaty of St. Omer, which forbade arbitrary imposition
of any tax on the part of the suzerain. Their determined refusal made
the lieutenant consent to refer the question to the Duke of Burgundy,
and messengers were despatched to Trèves to represent the respective
grievances of governor and governed. The collection of the tax was
postponed until Charles could examine the situation.
A determined effort to bring the independent town of Mulhouse under
Burgundian sway was another act of 1473, fanning opposition to a white
heat that forged organised resistance to any extension of Burgundian
authority. For three years, Hagenbach had endeavoured to convince the
burghers of that imperial city that they would be wise to accept the
duke's protection and have their debts paid. The latter were, indeed,
oppressive, but there was fear lest "protection" might be more so, and
conference after conference failed to produce the acquiescence desired
by Hagenbach.
In 1473, that zealous servant of Burgundy declared that if the
burghers persisted in their refusal he would resort to force. Their
reply was that Mulhouse could not take such an important step without
consulting her friends, the Swiss. "Are the cantons going to help you
pay your debts?" was the sneering comment of Hagenbach. "Mulhouse is
a bad weed in a rose garden, a plant that must be extirpated. Its
submission would make a charming pleasure ground out of the Sundgau,
Alsace, and Breisgau. The duke knew no city which he would prefer to
Mulhouse for a sojourn," were his further statements.[10]
Two days were given to the town council for an answer. Hagenbach
remarked that it was useless to think that time could be gained until
the mortgaged territories should return to Austria. "Far from planning
redemption, Duke Sigismund is now preparing to cede to _Charles le
téméraire_ as much again of his domain and vassals." Still Mulhouse
was not convinced that the only course open to her was to let Charles
pay her debts and receive her homage. No answer was forthcoming in the
two days, but ready scribes had prepared many copies of Hagenbach's
letter, which were sent to all who might be interested in checking
these proposals of Burgundy.
On February 24, 1473, a Swiss diet met at Lausanne and there the
matter was weighed. Hagenbach's letter was shown to those who had
not seen it, and methods of rescuing Mulhouse from her dilemma were
carefully considered. Years ago a union had existed between the forest
cantons and the Alsatian cities. There were propositions to renew
this alliance so as to present a strong front to their Burgundian
neighbour. The cantons had enough to do with their own affairs, but
the result of the discussion was that, on March 14th, a ten-year
Alsatian confederation was formed in imitation of the Swiss.
The chief members were Basel, Colmar, Mulhouse, Schlestadt, and two
dioceses, and it is referred to as the _Basse-Union_ or the Lower
Union, the purposes being to guarantee mutually the rights of the
contracting parties, to meet for discussion on various questions, and,
specifically, to help Mulhouse pay her debts. A few days later, March
19th, there was a fresh proposition to make an alliance between
this _Basse-Union_ and the Swiss confederation. This required a
_referendum_. Each Swiss delegate received a copy of the articles to
take back to his constituents for their consideration. No bond between
the confederation and the union was, however, in existence at the time
when Charles was approaching Alsace. Various conciliatory measures
on his part had somewhat lessened immediate opposition to him, but,
nevertheless, there were frequent conferences about affairs. Diets
were almost continuous and there were strenuous efforts to raise money
to free Mulhouse from her hampering financial embarrassments.
Hagenbach had not followed up his threats of immediate war measures,
but it was known that he had obtained imperial authorisation to
assume the jurisdiction of Mulhouse, a step which her allies hoped to
forestall by settling her debts. Strasburg offered to contribute six
hundred florins, Berne and Soleure seven hundred, Basel four hundred,
while Colmar, Schlestadt, Obernai, and Kaisersberg together hoped to
raise another four hundred. A diet was called at Basel for December
11th, and Zürich and Lucerne were expected to enter into the union.
The tidings of the duke's approach were undoubtedly a stimulus to
these renewed efforts to make the league strong enough to withstand
him. The sentiment expressed by the pious Knebel, "May God protect us
from his mighty hand," voiced probably a wide-spread dread.
When Charles entered Alsace, his escort was large enough to
inspire fear, but there was no opposition to his advance, though
consultations, now at one city, now at another, were frequent. The
duke paid little heed to their deliberations, under-estimating their
importance, while he was gracious to any words of welcome offered to
him. Strasburg sent him greetings while he rested at Châtenois, and so
did Colmar. The latter town expressed her willingness to receive him
and an escort of one or two hundred, but was firm in her refusal to
admit a larger force within her walls. By this precaution, Charles was
baffled in his plot to gain possession of the town, and so passed on
his way.
On Christmas eve, the traveller made a formal entry into Brisac, where
a temporary court was established, and where audience was given to
various embassies with the customary Burgundian pomp. Meanwhile the
troops, forced to camp without the walls, were a burden to the land,
and seem to have been more odious than usual to their unwilling hosts.
The citizens of Brisac offered homage on their knees and had their
hopes raised high by their suzerain's pleasant greeting, but they
failed to obtain the hoped for assurance that the treaty of St. Omer
should be observed in all respects. Among the envoys were many who
undertook to remonstrate in a friendly fashion about the imposition
of the "Bad Penny" tax on the Alsatians, and the over-severity of
Hagenbach's administration. The cause of Mulhouse, too, was urged,
notably by Berne. The representations of these last envoys were
received most courteously. The duke rather thought that the city could
be detached from the league, and therefore gave himself some trouble
to establish friendly relations.
To Mulhouse, too, his tone was conciliatory. He wrote a pleasant
letter to the town and despatched a councillor thither, who would, he
assured them, arrange matters to their satisfaction. But an abortive
_coup d'état_ on the part of the Burgundians, which would have given
them possession of Basel, destroyed the effect of these reassuring
phrases. The burghers were warned in time, looked to their defences,
and banished from their midst every individual suspected of Burgundian
sympathies. Every newcomer was carefully scrutinised before he was
admitted within the walls, and the Rhine was guarded most rigidly. The
propriety of these precautions was soon proven.
Charles ordered a review at Ensisheim, the official capital of the
landgraviate. Thither marched his troops from every quarter. Those
from Säckingen, Lauffen, and Waldshut found their shortest route over
the bridge at Basel, and there they appeared and begged to be allowed
to cross. Their sincerity was doubted, and the least foothold on the
city's territory was sternly refused then and a week later, when the
request was renewed. The method of introducing friendly troops into a
town and then seizing it by a sudden _coup de main_ was what Charles
had been suspected of plotting for Metz, and later for Colmar, and
there seems to be no doubt that a third essay of this rather stupid
stratagem was planned, only to fail again, and this time to be
peculiarly disastrous in its reflex action.
The review took place and the strength of the Burgundian mercenaries
was duly displayed to the Alsatians, but no satisfactory assurances
were given to Brisac and the other towns that their suzerain
would restrict his measures of taxation and administration to the
stipulations of the contract of St. Omer. On the contrary, when
Charles passed on to Burgundy it was plain to all that he had _not_
restricted the powers of his lieutenant in any respect, but rather had
endorsed his general method of procedure.
One night was spent at Thann[11] and then the duke took his leave of
the annexed region whose people had hoped so much from his visit to
them. In mid-January he arrived at Besançon, his winter journeying
being wonderfully easy in the unprecedentedly mild weather.
Hagenbach lost no time in proceeding to the levying of the impost now
approved by the duke, who had at the same time expressly ordered that
the people were to be treated mildly, and that summary punishment
was to check all excesses on the part of the eight hundred Picards
employed by Hagenbach to aid the tax collector. The governor, however,
saw no further need for gentle treatment or for respect to privileges.
In Brisac, municipal elections were arbitrarily set aside, and
officers appointed by the governor. The corporation was curtailed
of power, and the burghers were forced to prepare to march against
Mulhouse.
Having accomplished his duty to his own satisfaction, Hagenbach
proceeded to give himself some relaxation. His own marriage took place
on January 24th, and he celebrated the occasion with great fêtes. It
is of this period in Hagenbach's life that the stories of gross excess
are told.[12] It seems as though, having once abandoned restraint
towards the city, his personal passions, too, were permitted to run
riot, and he spared no wife nor maid to whom he took a fancy.
As he had succeeded in impressing the "Bad Penny" on the little
independent landowners, he tried to extend it to the territory of the
Bishop of Basel. Vehement was the opposition which was reported to the
duke, who promptly ordered his lieutenant to restore the prisoners he
had taken and to cease his aggressions. Charles was not ready to
meet the Swiss, and was willing to defer an issue, but he was wholly
ignorant of the real strength of the confederation. Hagenbach then
proceeded to make a stronghold of Brisac and waited for further
action.
[Footnote 1: De Roye, p. 105.]
[Footnote 2: He also issued administrative orders. It was at this time
that he instituted a high court of justice and a chamber of accounts
at Mechlin, both designed to serve for all the Netherland provinces.
This measure was bitterly resented by the local authorities.
(Fredericq. _Le rôle politique et social des ducs de Bourgogne_, p.
183.)]
[Footnote 3: Letters are preserved in the Cologne archives. (Toutey,
p. 64.)]
[Footnote 4: Toutey, p. 66. This document is in the Cologne archives.]
[Footnote 5:_See_ Toutey, p. 66. These are printed in Lacomblet,
_Urkunden_, iv., 468, 470.]
[Footnote 6: Jean de Roye is the only contemporary to tell this story.
Both Toutey and Kirk reject it. (_See_ Toutey, p. 76; Kirk, ii.,
271.)]
[Footnote 7: Toutey's suggestion.]
[Footnote 8: All sons inherited their father's title, so that there
were many landless lords.]
[Footnote 9: At this period there were eight in the confederation,
which was a loose structure in which each member preserved her
individuality.]
[Footnote 10: _See_ Toutey, p. 82, who quotes from the _Cartulaire de
Mulhouse_, iv., _et passim_. This last furnishes the details for these
passages.]
[Footnote 11: In this account Toutey's conclusions are accepted. There
are discrepancies as to dates among the various chroniclers. The
duke's itinerary as given in Comines-Lenglet (ii., 211) does not agree
with that of Knebel and others. But the facts of the narrative are
little affected by the variations. The following is the itinerary
accepted by Toutey:
Dep. from Ensisheim Jan. 8
Stay at Thann " 9-10
Dep. from Belfort " 11
Besançon " 17
Auxonne, slept " 18
Dijon, a " 23
Dijon, d Feb. 19, 1474
Auxonne, slept " 20
Dôle " 21-March 8
(Invested with the Franche Comté of Burgundy.)
Besançon March 12 or 15
Vesoul and Luxeuil March 23-28
Lorraine " 28
Luxemburg Apr. 4-June 9
Easter fêtes " 10
Fête of the Order of the Garter " 23
Brussels June 27]
[Footnote 12: Kirk considers that they are well founded and too
indecent to repeat.]