I am in the process of getting involved with the Red Co. and I am still working on a appropriate portrayal; in this regard I have some questions about the battle of Liege.

The Red Co. info states that the Co. mustered in Burgundy for the Liege campaign in 1467, and after its conclusion is asked to stay in the service of the Duke, and garrison Maastricht. Then they sail to England as part of the troops lent to Edward IV in March of 1471.

My question is; what are the details of the battle of Liege? None of my books mention it, and I haven't had time to hit the local university library. Who was Charles fighting? Why? Who won? What were the political ramifications? Were there alliances on either side of the conflict? Stuff like that

I guess since the company was apparently garrisoned at Maastricht for 4 years before shipping off to England, that gives me a good 'window of opportunity' to figure out how I would have gotten there and joined up

The Siege of Liege 1468 wasn't really much of a siege, or a battle proper, as the town walls had been torn down a year previously as a part of a crippling peace settlement.

Liege was held as an independent Archbishopric, the city was nearly in a constant state of rebellion angainst it's episcipol head since the latter decades of the 14th c. By 1460 the position was held by a relation (nephew I believe) of Phillip the Bold - as a property of the Curch, the Burgundian State could not absorb it outright, but Philip had done the next best thing by having his nephew placed on the episcipol throne - presumably he would do what uncle wanted regarding policy. Unfortunately for all concerned, the lad (he was 16 when made a Bishop) was an obnoxious, willful prat who got his subjects into full scale revolt against him within a few years of his coming to the throne, and his Uncle none to pleased with him to boot.

Ended up with him run out of town, and Liege in turn being under interdict with no masses said, no weddings preformed, and nobody given a Christian burial. It was a mess to say the least. The Pope sent a Papal legate to sort the mess out - to no avail.

Philip got a co-governer in there, but the situation was hopeless. Eventually, after agents of Louis XI incited one last rebellion, the final conflict came. Charles was Duke at this time, and he decided to settle the Liegeois hash once and for all (they had insinuated he was a bastard of a Bishop - he took the mortal insult to his much loved mother to heart). The campaign consisted on one battle (Brustem), a series of night raids on the Burgundian camp by the desperate Liegeois - they nearly succeded in killing Charles in a raid, and a final showdown as the Burgundian army marched into Liege (undefensible as most of the wall was knocked to finders) which ended in an orgy of looting, and fire. Elements of the Burgundian army pursued to their destruction most of the inhabitants remaining, during one of the coldest winters on record to that date.

This is really the shorthand account. I'll try to post more details (firsthand recountings from De Commynes) this weekend - a Christmas present for you. So Brustem was the only real battle of the campaign. There was plenty of small unit actions though, makes pretty interesting reading.

I got the "readers digest version" AND the primary source to peruse for details: what more could a guy ask! (God I love this Forum )