rate army and suffered a shamful defeat,
being compelled to fly with a handful of attendants, and leaving his
artillery and an immense booty in the hands of the allies (February
1476). He succeeded in raising a fresh army of 30,000 men, with which he
attacked Morat, but he was again defeated by the Swiss army, assisted by
the cavalry of Rene of Lorraine (22nd of June 1476). On the 6th of
October Charles lost Nancy, which was re-entered by Rene. Making a last
effort, Charles formed a new army and arrived in the depth of winter
before the walls of Nancy. Having lost many of his troops through the
severe cold, it was with only a few thousand men that he met the joint
forces of the Lorrainers and the Swiss, who had come to the relief of
the town (6th of January 1477). He himself perished in the fight, his
mutilated body being discovered some days afterwards.

Charles the Bold has often been regarded as the last representative of
the feudal spirit--a man who possessed no other quality than a blind
bravery--and accordingly has often been contrasted with his rival Louis
XI. as representing modern politics. In reality, he was a prince of wide
knowledge and culture, knowing several languages and austere in morals;
and although he cannot be acquitted of occasional harshness, he had the
secret of winning the hearts of his subjects, who never refused him
their support in times of difficulty. He was thrice married--to
Catherine (d, 1446), daughter of Charles VII. of France, by whom he had
one daughter, Mary, afterwards the wife of the Emperor Maximilian I.; to
Isabella (d. 1465), daughter of Charles I., duke of Bourbon; and to
Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV. of England, whom he married in
1468.

The original authorities for the life and times of Charles the Bold
are the numerous French, Burgundian and Flemish chroniclers of the
latter part of the 15th century. Special mention may be made of the
_Memoires_ of Philippe de Comines, and of the _Memoires_ and other
writings of Olivier de la Marche. See also A. Molinier, _Les Sources
de l'histoire de France_, tome iv. (1904), and the compendious
bibliography in U. Chevalier's _Repertoire des sources historiques_,
part iii. (1904). _Charles the Bold_, by J.F. Kirk (1863-1868), is a
good English biography for its date; a more recent life is R. Putnam's
_Charles the Bold_ (1908). For a general sketch of the relations
between France and Burgundy at this time see