Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/318

 310 CHAKLES THE BOLD he was taken by his mother to the Nether- lands, and at an early age he was confided to the care of the lord of Auxy, who found him a difficult charge. He had a violent temper and obstinate will, but remarkable applica- tion, and he acquired more learning than was common among nobles of the tune. At the age of 19, in the rebellion of Ghent (1462), he distinguished himself at the battle of Gavre. He was betrothed to a daughter of Charles VII. of France, but she died, and in 1464 he married Isabella of Bourbon, who died in 1465. He was noted for marital fidelity, dislike of luxury, and love for labor and manly sports ; but he shared in the pleasures of society, was a graceful dancer, good musician, and the best chess player of his time. In person he was of medium height, with a powerful frame insen- sible to fatigue, pleasant face, and fine voice, and he was naturally eloquent. In consequence of a quarrel with his father he retired to the Netherlands. In the so-called " war of the public weal " in France (1465) he took an ac- tive part, commanding a Burgundian contingent of 10,000 men, and greatly distinguishing him- self at Montlhery, where he was wounded. In the subsequent treaty of Conflans he compelled Louis XI. to yield to the demands of the con- federates. In 1466 he compelled Liege, which had made war upon Burgundy, to accept his terms of peace, and to pay a large fine, and a subsidy for the expenses of his expedition. In July of that year he marched against Dinant, and completely destroyed it. The death of his father, June 15, 1467, made Charles, at the age of 83, duke of Burgundy. He remodelled the court, and though he lived in great splen- dor, he required economy and exactness in ac- counts. Three times a week he held a public audience in which the meanest of his subjects might approach him and be heard. His ad- ministration of justice was strictly impartial, without regard to the rank of the offender, and he tolerated no parasites or sycophants. But he was full of extravagant fancies, and his egotism was unbounded. In July, 1468, he married Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV. Immediately afterward the war with Li6ge was resumed, and in October he marched with 40,000 men against the place and sacked and burned it. This, in connection with his recent triumph over Louis XI. by the condi- tions of the treaty of Peronne, raised Charles to the highest place among sovereigns. His alliance was sought by all. In the spring of 1469 Sigismund, duke of Austria, hoping to secure him as an ally against the Swiss, con- veyed to him for a consideration his possessions in Alsace. Edward IV. conferred on him the order of the garter. Charles wrote and spoke English with facility. It was one of his boasts that he was " more English than the English themselves ;" and, Lancastrian by descent, he looked for the possible chance of some time inheriting the English throne. In 1470, when Warwick drove Edward IV. out of England and forced him to take refuge in Flanders, Charles sent him funds, followers, and a fleet to enable him to return. In February, 1471, with an army of 30,000 men, he began a war with Louis XL Amiens was besieged for weeks; then followed a truce for three months, with a renewal which was broken by Louis. There- upon Charles put his army in motion, plun- dered and burned Nesle in Vermandois, and be- sieged Beauvais. Here he was unsuccessful, and in three weeks he broke camp for a raid through the plains of Normandy which gave him the title of u the terrible." Not a farm house was left standing ; the growing crops were destroyed ; a record by Charles's provost marshal states that 2,072 castles and villages were razed or burned. A year's truce followed. This closes the first period of Charles's career, in his failure to undermine the monarchy of France. The second period opens with his efforts to build up beside France a stronger power. The ac- quisition of Gelderland at the close of 1472 add- ed the fifth duchy to Burgundy. The year fol- lowing Charles appeared as a military reformer. He had discovered the defects of feudal forces, and began to organize a standing army. Louis had succeeded in forming a league against him, combining France, Austria, the Swiss cantons, and some of the Alsatian free towns. The result was the loss of Alsace; but whether this was owing to a popular insurrection, or, as Charles claimed, to the "conspiracy," is doubtful. The Swiss, who promised to pro- tect Alsace, declared war against Burgundy, and in 1475 the French army invaded the ter- ritory, and Charles found himself in the centre of gathering foes. Meanwhile, months before, he had drawn up his army before Neuss ; but at the end of the eleventh month he raised the siege, broke camp, and retired without a single conquest. This was in June ; in July Edward of England invaded France, and Charles has- tened to Calais to join him. He proposed, however, to prosecute the war in concert, but not in company, with his ally ; and while Ed- ward should be engaged elsewhere, he would sweep the French out of Lorraine. But in a few days Edward concluded a peace with Louis, which excited the contempt and anger of Charles, and induced a final separation be- tween him and Edward. Compensation came a few months later with the surrender, Nov. 29, 1475, of Nancy to Charles, completing the conquest of Lorraine. He now began an ex- pedition which he expected would be a final blow to all his enemies. Before entering upon his Swiss campaign, he ratified, Jan. 22, 1476, a treaty giving his only child Mary to Maxi- milian, son of the German emperor Frederick, thus uniting the houses of Burgundy and Haps- burg. In February Charles crossed the Jura and attacked Granson. The garrison soon sur- rendered, and every one of the 412 prisoners was immediately hanged. Meanwhile the Swiss cantons had been gathering. Charles, to his surprise, was attacked in his fortified camp ; the