The Battle of Morat was a battle in the Burgundian Wars (1474–77) that was fought on 22 June 1476 between Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and a Swiss Confederate army at Morat/Murten, about 30 kilometres from Bern. The result was a crushing defeat for the Burgundians at the hands of the Swiss. Background Stung by his defeat by the Swiss Confederation at Grandson in March 1476, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, reorganised his tangled but otherwise mainly intact army at Lausanne. By the end of May he once again felt ready to march against the Confederates to recover his territories and fortifications in the Pays de Vaud, then march on and attack the city of Berne, his greatest enemy among the Swiss cantons. His first objective was the strategic lakeside town of Morat, set on the eastern shore of Lake Morat. On 11 June 1476, the Burgundians commenced the siege of the well-prepared town, whose forces were commanded by the Bernese general Adrian von Bubenberg. An initial assault was repulsed by a heavy barrage of fire from light guns mounted on the walls, but two great bombards used by the Burgundians were slowly reducing the walls to rubble. By 19 June the Confederate muster was near complete at their camp behind the Sarine (Saane) River. Only a contingent of some 4,000 men from Zürich had yet to arrive and these were not expected until 22 June. Charles in the meantime had been kept reasonably well informed of the approach of the Confederate army, though he did nothing to hinder their approach. This is not to say that he was unprepared for the arrival of the Swiss; indeed in typical fashion Charles had prepared an elaborate plan to meet the enemy on ground of his choosing, some from Morat, dominating their anticipated line of approach. The terrain around the town is quite hilly and he had chosen to rest his left flank artillery on a steeply sloped gorge cut by the Burggraben stream. In the centre, behind an elaborate ditch and palisade entrenchment known as the Grunhag, stood the bulk of Charles' infantry and artillery that were not engaged in besieging Murten itself. These were to fight the Confederation pike and halberd blocks to a halt while on the right the massed gendarmes would then flank the frontally engaged Swiss, thus creating a killing ground from which there