I 



214 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY 



[period II. 



The battle of Serapacli was another victory gained by 

 the Swiss infantry, who were mainly armed with spiked 

 clubs called morning stars, and swords, and battle-axes. 

 It was fought on the 9th July, 1386. Leopold III. 

 Archduke of Austria, who commanded the Austrian 

 chivalry, caused them to dismount, and fight on foot 

 with their lances. It is said, that in order to be more 

 active while dismounted, the knights cut off the peaked 

 points on their boots, which in the absurd fashion of 

 he day were of extravagant length. 



The knights formed in phalanx order, their front 

 bristling with the lance points, against which the Swiss 

 infantry exerted themselves in vain. The battle was 

 won ficcording to tradition, and to contemporaneous 

 accounts, by the devotion of Arnold of Winkelried, who, 

 calling upon his comrades t j have a care for his wife and 

 child, rushed upon the enemy's spears, grasping as many 

 as he could reach, and by the sacrifice of his life making 

 a gap, through which his comrades succeeded in getting 

 into close quarters with the foe.' 



" Four lances splintered on his crest. 

 Six shivered in his side ; 

 Still on their serried ranks he pressed, 

 He broke th r ranks and died." ^ 



Then crashed the helmets and armour under the blows 

 of the morning stars. The lances, once the order was 

 broken, were of no use in the melee, and the lighter 

 armed Swiss soon defeated them with great loss. 



The battles of Granson and Morat in ] 476 were won 

 by the Swiss pikemen over the cavalry of Charles the Bold. 

 They completed the reputation of the Swiss as steady 

 infantry, and were severe blows to the expiring chivalry. 



The battle of Poitiers, 19th September, 1356, shows a 

 still further development of the art of war, and is 

 another illustration of the great value of the English 

 bowmen, and of the growing feeling in favour of infantry 

 in action. The French army consisted of about 60,000 



^ Book of Battle Songs, 108. ^ Battle of Sempach. Translated 

 by Scott. 



