Morat, Battle of

▪ Switzerland [1476]

      (June 22, 1476), battle in Switzerland that constituted a major victory for the Swiss Confederation in its war of 1474–76 against Burgundy. The battle took place just outside the town of Morat (or Murten), which is located beside the lake of the same name and lies west of Bern and east of Lake Neuchâtel.

      The Swiss had been drawn into war as allies of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III and the French king Louis XI, who were opposed to the Burgundian duke Charles the Bold. Bern, which was a member state of the Swiss Confederation, hoped to make territorial gains at Charles's expense. Toward the end of 1475, both Frederick and Louis suspended hostilities against Charles, who thus became free to concentrate his forces against the Swiss. After suffering a humiliating defeat at Grandson (March 2, 1476), Charles returned to the attack in the summer with 25,000 men and was besieging Morat, on his way toward Bern from Lausanne, when the Bernese, with late reinforcements from the other confederates, came forward to challenge him. The compact formations of the Swiss prevailed over the Burgundian army, of which more than one-third was annihilated.

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