Battle of Laupen
The Battle of Laupen took place on June 21, 1339, and marked a significant confrontation between the Bernese and Swiss forces against a coalition of feudal lords and the Fribourgers. The conflict unfolded as the Bernese sought to relieve Laupen from siege. Commanded by Rudolf von Erlach, the Swiss forces prepared strategically on Bramburg Hill, with divisions positioned to counter the advancing Burgundian knights, who were renowned for their heavy cavalry. As the battle commenced, the Swiss employed a defensive formation known as the "hedgehog," which proved effective against repeated cavalry charges. Despite initial setbacks, the Bernese forces regrouped and launched a decisive counterattack that routed the Fribourgers and inflicted heavy losses on the Burgundian knights. The outcome of the battle bolstered Swiss morale and marked a pivotal moment in diminishing the dominance of cavalry in central European warfare. The Battle of Laupen is often remembered for its innovative tactics and the resilience displayed by the Swiss forces against traditional feudal military practices.
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Battle of Laupen
Type of action: Ground battle in Swiss Wars of Independence
Date: June 21, 1339
Location: Laupen, Switzerland
Combatants: 4,000 militia of Fribourg and Lords of Little Burgundy and 1,200 knights vs. 5,000 militia of Bern and 1,000 Swiss of the “Forest Cantons”
Principal commanders:Burgundian, Rudolf von Nidau, Gerard von Valengin; Bernese and Swiss, Rudolf von Erlach
Result: Swiss victory, Siege of Laupen lifted
On June 21, 1339, the Bernese and Swiss arrived to relieve Laupen from assault by a league of feudal lords and the Fribourgers. Rudolf von Erlach drew up his forces on Bramburg Hill, with three Bernese divisions on the right and the Swiss on the left. Seeking favorable ground for cavalry operations, the Burgundian knights deployed opposite the Swiss; the Fribourgers and the levies occupied the left. The heavily armored knights intended, as was customary in central Europe, to ride down all opposition and scatter the enemy.
Erlach allowed the Burgundians, led by Rudolf von Nidau and Gerard von Valengin, to begin the ascent of the hill, then launched the Swiss down in thick columns. As the baronial cavalry charged, the Swiss formed the hedgehog, a dense square that bristled with the halberd, a pole with a heavy axe-shaped head, the Swiss national weapon. The knights charged again and again but could not break the formation.
The main mass of the Bernese, despite the rout of their rear division by a flanking movement, attacked downhill, completely dispersing the Fribourgers. Erlach then turned them on the knights, who, already exhausted from their ordeal with the hedgehog formation, charged the Bernese once and rode off with heavy losses.
Significance
The Swiss phalanx’s repulse of the aristocratic knights had a great effect on morale and delivered a heavy blow to the supremacy of cavalry in central Europe.
Bibliography
Delbrück, Hans. Medieval Warfare. Vol. 3 in History of the Art of War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990.
Oman, Sir Charles. A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages: 1278–1485 a.d. London: Greenhill Books, 1998.