On the night of 29 October 1468 during the Siege of Liège, some six hundred Franchimontois, men from Franchimont, unsuccessfully attacked the besieging Burgundian army, with the aim of killing or capturing its leaders, Duke Charles the Bold and King Louis XI.
In 1468, the citizens of Liège rose up against Burgundian domination for the third time in four years. As a reaction, Charles the Bold had led an army towards Liège to deal once and for all with the rebellious city. He was accompanied by King Louis XI of France. When the siege became desperate for the Liégeois, they decided to make a night attack with 600 men, led by Vincent de Bueren and Gosuin de Streel, over the Saint Walburga stairs against the sleeping Burgundians. Their aim was to kill the Duke and the King, so that the army would be left leaderless and retreat.
The plan failed, and all 600, including Vincent de Bueren and Gosuin de Streel, were killed. The Saint Walburga stairs were later renamed the "Bueren stairs". The next day Liège surrendered, and at the command of Charles the Bold, hundreds of Liégeois were tied together and thrown into the Meuse river. The city was set alight and is said to have burned for seven weeks.
In subsequent mythologyedit
War Memorial from Theux, dedicated to both the Belgian war dead of World War I and the 600 Franchimontois
The story of the 600 Franchimontois has come to us through the chronicler Philippe de Commines, who was present in the Burgundian camp at the Siege of Liège.
It is difficult to know the true history behind the story of the 600 Franchimontois, because it has been used since 1831 by the newly independent Kingdom of Belgium as an example of self-sacrifice for the fatherland and of resistance against any invader, no matter how powerful he might be.
The story of the 600 Franchimontois was told in every Belgian school. After the German invasion of Belgium in 1914, King Albert I of Belgium appealed to his soldiers to resist the powerful German war-machine using the phrase: "Flemings, remember the Battle of the Golden Spurs, Walloons, remember the 600 Franchimontois!".
All of this makes it very difficult to distinguish truth from fiction. Recent historians have established that the attack did not go over the Bueren stairs, but through the Saint Margaret gate. The number of 600 men is probably also greatly exaggerated and there are even doubts that the men came from Franchimont.[citation needed]
Bibliographyedit
"L'épopée des 600 Franchimontois..." La Libre Belgique. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 600 Franchimontois.
La tentative des 600 Franchimontois (in French) 2016-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
April 11, 2024
hundred, franchimontois, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, ju. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Six hundred Franchimontois news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message On the night of 29 October 1468 during the Siege of Liege some six hundred Franchimontois men from Franchimont unsuccessfully attacked the besieging Burgundian army with the aim of killing or capturing its leaders Duke Charles the Bold and King Louis XI 600 FranchimontoisPart of the Third Liege WarThe Montagne de Bueren in LiegeDateOctober 29 1468LocationLiege Prince Bishopric of LiegeResultBurgundian victoryBelligerents Burgundian StatePrince Bishopric of Liege Marquessate of FranchimontCommanders and leadersCharles the Bold Louis XI of FranceVincent de Bueren Gosuin de Streel Strengthunknown600 menCasualties and lossesunknown600 killed Contents 1 Background and fighting 2 In subsequent mythology 3 Bibliography 4 External linksBackground and fighting editIn 1468 the citizens of Liege rose up against Burgundian domination for the third time in four years As a reaction Charles the Bold had led an army towards Liege to deal once and for all with the rebellious city He was accompanied by King Louis XI of France When the siege became desperate for the Liegeois they decided to make a night attack with 600 men led by Vincent de Bueren and Gosuin de Streel over the Saint Walburga stairs against the sleeping Burgundians Their aim was to kill the Duke and the King so that the army would be left leaderless and retreat The plan failed and all 600 including Vincent de Bueren and Gosuin de Streel were killed The Saint Walburga stairs were later renamed the Bueren stairs The next day Liege surrendered and at the command of Charles the Bold hundreds of Liegeois were tied together and thrown into the Meuse river The city was set alight and is said to have burned for seven weeks In subsequent mythology edit nbsp War Memorial from Theux dedicated to both the Belgian war dead of World War I and the 600 FranchimontoisThe story of the 600 Franchimontois has come to us through the chronicler Philippe de Commines who was present in the Burgundian camp at the Siege of Liege It is difficult to know the true history behind the story of the 600 Franchimontois because it has been used since 1831 by the newly independent Kingdom of Belgium as an example of self sacrifice for the fatherland and of resistance against any invader no matter how powerful he might be The story of the 600 Franchimontois was told in every Belgian school After the German invasion of Belgium in 1914 King Albert I of Belgium appealed to his soldiers to resist the powerful German war machine using the phrase Flemings remember the Battle of the Golden Spurs Walloons remember the 600 Franchimontois When the French Community of Belgium was created the day of the battle October 29 was considered as a French Community Holiday All of this makes it very difficult to distinguish truth from fiction Recent historians have established that the attack did not go over the Bueren stairs but through the Saint Margaret gate The number of 600 men is probably also greatly exaggerated and there are even doubts that the men came from Franchimont citation needed Bibliography edit L epopee des 600 Franchimontois La Libre Belgique 27 May 2010 Retrieved 1 April 2013 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to 600 Franchimontois La tentative des 600 Franchimontois in French Archived 2016 03 22 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Six hundred Franchimontois amp oldid 1126214232, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
