Siege of Neuss - Part XXII

The Condottiere Nicola di Monforte, Count of Campobasso, was in charge of Charles' siege operations and captain of the Italian mercenaries in the Burgundian host. As the siege dragged on, Charles was increasingly dissatisfied with the way the operation was handled by the Condottiere who spent most of the time relaxing in Mechelen (today Belgium) in spring of 1475. As the Neussers showed no sign of surrender after nearly 9 months of continous siege in 1475, Charles had engineers from Flanders and Brabant moved to Neuss to blow up the strong walls with mines. Due to the negligence of Campobasso, the Neussers managed to overwhelm the Italian guards and to capture the mines. Charles was furious and relieved the Count of Campobasso of his command and installed the Count of Chimay instead. Campobasso disappointed Charles later once more in 1477 when he defected the Burgundian lines and left Charles before the battle of Nancy.

Perry figures. The condottiere sports a magnificent helmet feather provided by Simon aka Painterman :-)