Battle of Frastanz | |||||||
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Part of the Swabian War | |||||||
Depiction of the battle from the Luzerner Schilling, 1513. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
The Three Leagues of the Grisons | Forces of king Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ulrich (IX) von Sax[2] |
Burkhard von Knörringen,[1] Johann von Königsegg[3] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
ca. 9,000 infantry |
ca. 8,000 knights and Landsknechte at Frastanz, | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
ca. 10 dead; ca. 60 wounded[4] | ca. 2 – 3,000 dead | ||||||
The Battle of Frastanz between an army of the Old Swiss Confederacy and the troops of King Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire took place on 20 April 1499. In one of the many raids of the Swabian War, an expedition of Habsburg troops had plundered some villages in the Swiss Confederacy, who responded by sending an army to Vorarlberg. At Frastanz, a few kilometers south-east of Feldkirch, the Habsburg troops had blocked the entry to the Montafon valley with a strong wooden fortification called a Letzi. The Swiss used a flanking maneuver to bypass the Letzi and after a hard battle routed Maximilian's army. Many Landsknechte drowned in the river Ill.