The Battle of Nancy was the final and decisive battle of the Burgundian Wars, fought outside the walls of Nancy on 5 January 1477 by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, against René II, Duke of Lorraine, the Swiss Confederacy. René's forces won the battle, Charles' mutilated body was found three days later. Charles was besieging the city of Nancy, capital of Lorraine, following its recapture by the forces of René II in 1476. Despite the harsh winter conditions, Charles was determined to bring the siege to an end at all costs as he was well aware that sooner or René would arrive with a relieving army when the weather improved. By late December René had gathered some 10,000-12,000 men from the Lower Union. A Swiss army of 8,000-10,000 men arrived to help out. René began his advance on Nancy early in January 1477, moving cautiously through the snow-covered landscape until they reached Nancy early on the morning of 5 January. Charles learned that René's army was indeed close by and drew up the bulk of his army in a strong defensive position south of Nancy on a wooded slope behind a stream at the narrowest part of the valley down which he knew the Swiss would have to advance.

The exact numbers available to Charles are hard to judge, but contemporary observers put the numbers between 2,000 and 8,000, for his household troops were by this stage well below strength, while most of the Ordonnance companies were at best only 50% of their theoretical strength. Charles, as usual, deployed his troops to a precise battle plan despite the short notice he received of the approach of René's forces; the infantry companies and dismounted gendarme formed up in a large square formation with some 30 field guns in front at the top of the slope, while on either flank were mounted knights and coutilliers. If Charles suffered from a lack of scouting, which had cost him so dearly at Morat six months earlier, the same could not be said for the Allied army. Despite the driving snow cutting visibility to a few yards, the Allied scouts soon recognized that a frontal assault on the Burgundian position would be disastrous; the Swiss vanguard of 7,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry were instructed to attack from the right, while the principal thrust would come from the 8,000 infantry and 1,300 cavalry of the center, dispatched on a difficult circuitous march round the left flank, over thickly wooded snow-covered slopes out of view of the waiting Burgundians.

The small rearguard of 800 handgunners acted as reserve. After a march lasting some two hours, the center force emerged from the wooded slopes to the rear of the Burgundian position and formed up in a wedge formation; the early notes of the Swiss horns sounded thrice, the Swiss charged downhill into the Burgundian positions. The artillery could not elevate enough to be effective. Although the right wing Burgundian cavalry held off the Swiss rivals, most of the Swiss infantry pushed on to engage the outnumbered Burgundian infantry square in a one-sided fight; the vanguard put the artillery to flight. As Charles attempted vainly to stem the center force's advance by transferring troops from his left flank, the weight of numbers arrayed against him became overwhelming, the once proud army of the Duchy of Burgundy started to melt away in flight, it is thought that during the fight Charles said: "I struggle against a spider, everywhere at once," signifying the large amount of Swiss infantry. Determined to the last and his staff tried in vain to rally the broken army, but without success.

His small band was carried with the flight until surrounded by a party of Swiss. A halberdier swung at the Duke's head and landed a deadly blow directly on his helmet, he was seen to fall but the battle flowed on around him. It was three days until the Duke's disfigured body was found and positively identified amongst the detritus of the slaughter. Most of Charles' army was killed during their retreat. Only the few who retreated over 50 km to Metz survived. Contemporary chronicles record that the killing of retreating soldiers continued for three days after the battle and that for 5-6 leagues the road was covered with the dead; some of the soldiers who reached Metz were still so afraid of the pursuing army that they threw themselves into the icy moat in the hope that they could swim to the city. René II built the church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours on the site of the battle, the church of St-François-des-Cordeliers in Nancy itself, he furthermore built the basilique of Saint-Nicolas-de-Port to recognize the help of St. Nicholas in the battle.

The city adopted the motto of non inultus premor and the heraldic device of a thistle as its coat of arms to commemorate the defeat of Charles the Bold. René II erected a cross to mark the spot where the body of Charles was found; the nearby étang Saint-Jean was drained in the 19th century, freeing the area of what is now Place de la Croix-de-Bourgogne in Nancy. The original cross was moved to the Lorraine museum; the current monument is a design by Victor Prouvé. Pierre de Blarru, canon of Saint-Dié, composed a vast poem called la Nancéide, in 5,044 Latin verses, on the war between Burgundy and Lorraine, culminating in the battle of Nancy. Eugène Delacroix painted The Battle of Nancy in 1831. In La Malgrange, a tower was erected in 1877 to commemorate the attack of René II. Battle of Grandson Battle of Morat Duchy of Burgundy Old Swiss Confederacy Battles of the Old Swiss Confederacy

The Junkers K 16 was a small airliner produced in Germany in the early 1920s. It was a conventional, high-wing cantilever monoplane of all-metal construction, equipped with fixed, tailwheel undercarriage; the pilot sat in an open cockpit, while the two passengers were provided with an enclosed cabin within the fuselage. Shortly after the prototype flew, aircraft production in Germany was brought to a complete halt by the Allies, the K 16 was evacuated to the Netherlands to avoid confiscation. There, it was stored by Fokker until the restrictions were relaxed and work recommenced at Junkers' Dessau factory in 1924. By this time, the airline niche that the tiny K 16 had been intended to fill no longer existed, the small number that were produced were sold to private owners. Junkers entered two K 16s in the 1925 Deutsche Rundflug, with one machine winning second place in the competition. K 16 - initial version with Siemens-Halske Sh 4 engine changed to Sh 5 K 16a - modified undercarriage and rear fuselage K 16b - production versions with new wing and a variety of engine choices: K 16ba - Siemens-Halske Sh 5 engine K 16bi - Siemens-Halske Sh 20 engine K 16bo - Walter NZ 120 engine K 16c - as K 16b but with modified nose section to accommodate engine change K 16ce - Bristol Lucifer engine General characteristics Crew: One pilot Capacity: 2 passengers Length: 8.00 m Wingspan: 11.00 m Height: 2.75 m Wing area: 16.50 m2 Empty weight: 430 kg Gross weight: 850 kg Powerplant: 1 × Siemens-Halske Sh 4, 49 kW Performance Maximum speed: 145 km/h Range: 600 km Armament Taylor, Michael J. H..

Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. P. 546. "The Round-Germany Flight". Flight: 322. 28 May 1925. Retrieved 17 August 2008. Hugo Junkers Homepage Уголок неба

Simon Gudgeon is a British sculptor specialising in large pieces for public display in bronze, but sometimes glass or stainless steel. He operates his own sculpture park. Gudgeon qualified in law and only took up sculpture at the age of 40, he operates his own 26 acres sculpture park near Tincleton, England, "Sculpture by the Lakes". A number of his works are in public collections, including Isis, displayed in Hyde Park, unveiled 7 September 2009. 1,000 plaques around the base were sold to donors for personalised inscriptions at £1,000 each, as a way of funding the park’s Isis Education Centre for introducing young people to the study of nature. The work was donated to the park by the Halcyon Gallery. Other casts of Isis are at Prince Charles' Highgrove House in Gloucestershire and at the United States' National Museum of Wildlife Art. 2009: Isis, Hyde Park, London 2010: Deckchair, for Deckchair Dreams 2011: Search for Enlightenment, One Hyde Park, London Official website Halcyon gallery page with images and news releases