Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Sunday, December 3
    Trending
    • This Day in History on December 3rd
    • History Short: Disputed Presidential Elections are Nothing New!
    • This Day in History on December 2nd
    • History Short: What Replaced the Ford Model T?
    • This Day in History on December 1st
    • History Short: US Government Intentionally Crashes an Airliner!
    • This Day in History on November 30th
    • History Shorts: Iconic Structures Destroyed by Fire
    History and Headlines
    • Arts & Entertainment
      • Cinema & TV
      • Games
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Sports
      • Video Games
    • Bizarre Bulletin
      • Misconceptions
      • The Bizarre
      • The Paranormal
      • The Unexplained
    • Lifestyle
      • Animals/Pets
      • Fashion
      • Food
      • Health/Medicine
      • Home Improvement
      • Horoscopes
      • Travel
    • Science & Tech
      • Inventions
      • Nature
      • Vehicles
    • Society
      • Business and Economics
      • Crime
      • Military
      • Politics
      • Religion
      • Society
    • About
      • Welcome to Our Site!
      • This Day in History (articles)
      • This Day in History (categories)
      • Table of Contents: A History of the World
      • Online History Textbooks
      • A Guide to Some of Our Favorite Scholars and Educators
      • Advance Screenings and Movie Reviews Archive
      • Schedule of Video Adaptations of Our Articles
    • Friends
      • Armchair History TV
      • Fact Fiend
      • RealClearHistory
      • Simply Charly
      • TopTenz
      • ​Unique Interpretations
    History and Headlines
    You are at:Home»August»August 26»Valiant Swiss Annihilated by French Mercenaries
    August 26

    Valiant Swiss Annihilated by French Mercenaries

    Major DanBy Major DanAugust 26, 2020Updated:August 26, 2020No Comments4 Mins Read
    Email Facebook LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit Telegram Tumblr Twitter VKontakte WhatsApp
    Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs

    A Brief History

    On August 26, 1444, the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs was fought between an army of mercenaries representing France against a much smaller force of pikemen from the Old Swiss Confederacy.  The battle was part of the Old Zürich War, fought between 1440 and 1446.

    Digging Deeper

    The Old Zurich War was one of the many wars fought in Europe regarding the rights to succession when a ruling member of the nobility died, in this case Count Friedrich VII of Toggenburg, who died in 1436.  The Toggenburg lands, which include Zurich, were contested along with other Swiss Cantons as the Count had not left an heir or even a will regarding succession.  The fighting spread beyond the Swiss Confederacy to surrounding countries when the Canton of Zurich went to war with other Cantons.  Zurich responded to the aggression of its neighboring Cantons by seeking an alliance with with Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor of the house of Habsburg.  Frederick in turn sought the assistance of King Charles VII of France (r. 1422-1461), who saw an opportunity to get some troublesome Armagnac mercenaries out of France.  (The Armagnac political movement in France was somewhat of a constant threat to the stability of the reign of Charles VII.)  Charles sent a large force of 30,000 mercenaries under the command of his heir, the Dauphin via Basel, the future King Louis XI (r. 1461-1483) to relieve the plight of Zurich’s defenders against the coalition of other Swiss forces that were besieging Zurich.

    The Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs was a disproportionate mismatch between the huge army of the Dauphin against a mere 1300 to 1500 Swiss pikemen.  The pikemen formed into the prickly and almost impenetrable formation of 3 separate boxes called “Pike Squares,” a close formation with the pointy ends of the spears facing outward presenting a formidable barrier to any attackers.  Attack the French did, and repeated cavalry charges failed to break the Swiss pikemen’s formations.  Eventually, the weight of numbers wore down the valiant Swiss, and the pikemen were killed virtually to a man.  The Armagnac force also suffered heavy losses, about 2000 killed.  The battle waged by the young Swiss force became legendary, as the brave outnumbered army fought fiercely to a fault, to the point of ripping out arrows and crossbow bolts from their own bodies and continuing the fight, sometimes even after having their own hands chopped off!

    Although the Swiss army, mostly from the Canton of Bern, had been annihilated, they had sold their lives so dearly that the larger force was actually turned back, the Dauphin being dismayed by the heavy casualties his army had suffered against so few defenders.  Compelled to complete a peace treaty with the Swiss, the French force turned around and left for France, leaving the Swiss alliance of Cantons against Zurich to ultimately win the war.

    Similar to the better known Battle of Thermopylae, the smaller Swiss force that fought a desperate and impossible battle against a greatly numerically superior force has been transformed into a legendary example of a doomed underdog force fighting with incredible bravery, losing the day but providing the basis for eventual victory.  The Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs thus enters Swiss folklore and serves as a prime example of the fighting spirit of the Swiss people.

    Question for students (and subscribers): What other battles can you think of where a small force doomed to lose fought a magnificent fight?  Please let us know in the comments section below this article.

    If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!

    Your readership is much appreciated!

    Historical Evidence

    For more information, please see…

    O’Dea, Clare.  The Naked Swiss: A Nation Behind 10 Myths.  Schwabe AG, Bergli Books, 2016.

    Steves, Rick.  Rick Steves Switzerland.  Rick Steves, 2018.

    The featured image in this article, a photograph by Paebi of a painting depicting the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

    Share. Email Facebook LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit Telegram Twitter Tumblr
    Previous ArticleAfrican American Milestone: Edith Sampson Appointed to United Nations
    Next Article Failed Attempts to Reconcile Police and the Black Community: Nothing New
    Major Dan
    Major Dan

      Major Dan is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.

      Related Posts

      History Short: Disputed Presidential Elections are Nothing New!

      December 3, 2023

      History Shorts: Iconic Structures Destroyed by Fire

      November 30, 2023

      History Short: Assassination Meets the Space Age

      November 27, 2023

      Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

      Follow Us!
      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • YouTube
      • Patreon
      Sign Up For Our Newsletter!
      Most Recent

      This Day in History on December 3rd

      December 3, 2023

      History Short: Disputed Presidential Elections are Nothing New!

      December 3, 2023

      This Day in History on December 2nd

      December 2, 2023

      History Short: What Replaced the Ford Model T?

      December 2, 2023

      This Day in History on December 1st

      December 1, 2023
      This Day in History Video

      Advertisements




      Amazon Affiliate Disclosure Statement

      As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases via links in the “Historical Evidence” sections of articles.

      About HistoryAndHeadlines.com

      Thanks for visiting History and Headlines!  This site exists primarily for educational purposes and is intended as a resource for Dr. Zar’s students.  Articles are mostly written by either Dr. Zar or his dad (Major Dan).  To any guest readers, please keep that in mind when commenting on articles.   Thank you!

      We try to present our students with historical topics that are both diverse and a bit out of the ordinary.  Our motto is “We try until we succeed!”

      Contact us at admin@historyandheadlines.com

      Guidelines and Policies for Images used on This Site, as well as for Guest and Sponsored Articles, and Other Terms of Use

      Privacy Statement

      © 2023 History and Headlines

      All-Time Most Commented

      July 28, 1866: 18 Year Old Girl Wins Commission to Sculpt Statue of Lincoln (A Truly Great American Woman)

      July 28, 2014

      December 24, 1865: Birth of the Ku Klux Klan

      December 24, 2015

      December 25, 1868: President Johnson Pardons all Confederate Veterans

      December 25, 2015

      February 5, 1909: First Plastic Invented was called Bakelite!

      February 5, 2014

      November 23, 1876: “Boss” Tweed Turned Over to Authorities

      November 23, 2013
      Recommended Book
      © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

      We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

      You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in .

      History and Headlines
      Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

      Strictly Necessary Cookies

      Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

      If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.