Battle of Guinegate ( 1479 ) The First Battle of Guinegate took place on August 7 , 1479 . French troops of King Louis XI were defeated by the Burgundians led by Archduke ( later to be Emperor ) Maximilian of Habsburg . This battle was the first in which the innovative Swiss pike square formation was first employed by a power that was not natively Swiss . Background . Charles the Bold , the last Duke of Burgundy had been killed at the Battle of Nancy on January 5 , 1477 . King Louis XI immediately adjudicated his territories to be recovered fiefs of the French kingdom and campaigned in the counties of Artois , Flanders , Hainaut and the Duchy of Burgundy . Nevertheless Charles ' only heir , Mary of Burgundy on August 19 , 1477 had married Archduke Maximilian , who , determined to come into the Burgundian inheritance , concentrated troops in the former Burgundian Netherlands and marched against the French army . Many of the troops that had been victorious at the Battle of Nancy had been provided by the Lower League . Among these troops was a sizable contingent of Swiss soldiers that had been a part of the victorious army of Lorraine , and the salient characteristic of this contingent was their method of fighting . Formed up in pike squares , Swiss mercenaries made themselves and their method of warfare felt far beyond their borders . The notable characteristic of the pike squares is the difficulty with which the traditional cavalry of the day had in penetrating it . The failure at Nancy , and its reasons , had not escaped Jacques of Savoy , Count of Romont . Who had fought under the Archduke ' s father - in - law Charles at the battle of Nancy . He was now fighting with the Archduke , and he urged him to adopt a similar method of fighting with his 11 , 000 foot troops . Prelude to battle . Both sides met at the village of Guinegatte in the County of Artois , and armies gathered into formation . The cavalry was stationed on the flanks , and the infantry was positioned in the center . However , besides this the two sides diverged significantly in the character of their armies . French dispositions . The French , whose infantry consisted primarily of marksmen , was positioned in the center of their cavalry . Habsburg dispositions . The Archduke was employing Burgundians in his army , and had formed his infantry into two deep , large squares . One of these was commanded by the Count Engelbert of Nassau , who had also fought under the Archduke ' s father - in - law at Nancy . The other square was commanded by the Count of Romont . These large , deep squares were not to be the only innovation employed in the Archduke ' s army . The Archduke himself , instead of joining the cavalry arm as was the tradition of the time , joined the infantry square with 200 of his nobles . While it was not unheard of for some poorer nobles to do this , the fact that such a prominent official as the Archduke himself doing this was unheard of . These nobles were positioned in the first ranks of the squares . Battle . At the beginning of the battle , Lord des Cordes forced back the knights within the left infantry square and also captured the Burgundian artillery drawn up on that flank . The Archduke ' s left flank was in a perilous state . In addition to being attacked from the front , it was also drawing fire on its flank from the captured artillery . However , instead of following up their advantage on the left flank , the French knights on the left chased after the Burgundian knights who were fleeing from the field , thereby giving up their advantage . Meanwhile , on the other flank the Burgundians held fast and slowly fought their way forward . It was there that victory was achieved . Results . Despite his victory , Maximilian was forced to cede Artois and Burgundy itself to Louis XI according to the Treaty of Arras ( 1482 ) , after Mary of Burgundy had died from a riding accident .