At the centre of the Italian Wars
The Siege of Dijon lies between the Italian Wars and the Burgundian succession after the death of Charles the Bold in 1477, and is part of a moment in history when the great European nations – France, Switzerland, the Germanic Holy Roman Empire and Spain – were in competition to extend their territories and impose their supremacy. Even if Dijon is not the only town that had its fortifications attacked, it was different from other medieval towns placed under siege because it reflected a symptomatic moment for a Europe of States at war. In other words, this moment produced one of the first Europe-wide conflicts, and was a forerunner of the European wars of the 16th and 17th centuries, especially of the Thirty Years’ War.
At the end of the 15th century, the economic and artistic potential of Italy made it a tempting target. The French wanted to conquer Italy in order to make it their possession, creating a single state of France and Italy. The French king Charles VIII had already tried to annex several parts of Italy such as the kingdom of Naples, but this attempt went awry and his forces had to return to France. In 1499 his successor, Louis XII, made a fresh attempt. He captured the Duchy of Milan with the help of the Venetians, and captured Naples shortly thereafter. This French takeover was strongly opposed by the Pope, and by other powers, including Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and England. These countries formed the Holy League. The purpose of this alliance was to attack the French not only at the points at which they had captured Italian territory, but along broad fronts. In 1512, the League forced the French to leave Italy and return within the borders of France. But English and Holy Roman Empire troops continued to attack in northern France, while upon France’s eastern border, Burgundy was attacked by Empire forces assisted by troops from Switzerland and Franche-Comté. The latter were subjects of the inheritors of the house of Burgundy, the Habsburgs, and the Habsburgs entered this battle because as the owners of part of Burgundy (Franche-Comté) they wanted to take over the remaining part, the Duchy of Burgundy proper, which had fallen into the hands of the French upon the death of Charles the Bold.
“As the regional capital of the Duchy of Burgundy, Dijon was important, because it was necessary symbolically to capture this city if one wished to unseat the French,” says Alain Marchandisse. Jonathan Dumont emphasized these points: “The Siege of Dijon was the result of a number of things. There was a desire on the part of the French royal power to create a single state from France and Italy, and there was a desire on the part of the French, who had recently regained the Duchy of Burgundy, to reinforce their possession of it, which was still unstable and fragile. The King of France was aware that although Burgundy was once again under French royal control, some of the members of the Burgundian elites were nostalgic for the period of the Dukes of Burgundy, and if the descendants of the Duke became interested in seeking independence or a return to control by the ducal heirs, this could tip the balance of power. Finally, the enemies of France wanted to take advantage of its weakness to bring down the French royal power altogether”.
The governor of Dijon, Louis II de La Tremoille, was a talented negotiator and strategist; he was able to save the city and France itself from a grim result. He organized the city’s resistance and gave psychological and moral support to its troops. Above all, he maintained an unequalled sense of what was diplomatically possible with regard to the attackers. He managed to negotiate a retreat by the attacking forces, including the Swiss troops whose cooperation was secured by the promise of significant financial compensation.
