Cleveland Museum of Art

How the French King made war on the King of Feuereisen in his realm and how the King of Feuereisen died in the battle

Hans Burgkmair

Date

1512–16

Medium

woodcut

Culture

Germany

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The Battle of Nancy on January 7, 1477, between the forces of the king of France (Louis XI) and the king of Feuereisen (Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy) involved early artillery, visible in the distant background. The heavily armored cavalry fight with lances and swords. Of particular interest is the unarmored infantry's use of the pike, a long, small-headed spear, as a lethal hedge against cavalry charges. Throughout the 1200s, the French relied on heavy cavalry as the mainstay of mounted shock combat, a military development that shifted the focus from the axe-wielding infantry man to the heavily armored, lance-carrying knight.

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