Siege of Neuss: Difference between revisions
→The Siege
(Considerable expansion of the description of the siege proper and of the events that brought it about) |
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The Neussers, bolstered by Hermann's Hessian troops and the support of Kölners, who skirmished with the Burgundians and smuggled provisions into the city while disguised as Italians, held out resolutely. Charles' men captured a German trying to swim the Rhine with a message that declared the Emperor Frederick was approaching with a huge army, and Charles redoubled his efforts, to no avail.
By May, Frederick was on the move, his army slowed by drunken brawls between soldiers from different regions of the Empire and by the need to recapture other cities from the Burgundians. But by the end of May he had arrived, and the Burgundians, after signing a provisional treaty, began to dismantle their siege works. At first, Burgundians, Imperials, and Kölners fraternized, but soon the Germans began to harass the Burgundians (
The failure of the siege of Neuss was attributed by the inhabitants of the city to the intervention of their [[patron saint]], [[Quirinus of Neuss]].<ref>Richard Vaughan, Charles the Bold, London, Boydell, 2002, 312-335.</ref>
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