Burkhard VII. Münch
Burkhard VII Münch (died 29 August 1444) was a knight from the Landskron branch of the Münch family. Loyal to the Habsburgs, he rode with the French leaders, the Dauphin Louis XI and Jean V de Bueil, and the French called him Bourgeamoine. He also served as negotiator, translator and guide for the Armagnacs against the Swiss Eidgenossenschaft.
In the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs on 26 August 1444, the Swiss attacked a larger Armagnac force and refused to surrender. The Swiss retreated to a small hospital in St. Jakob, where Burkhard went to offer honorable surrender and safe conduct.
As he rode into the hospital, he lifted his visor and reportedly said to the dying Swiss, “I gaze out into a rose garden that my ancestors planted a hundred years ago.” Arnold Schick of Uri, a dying Swiss fighter, then threw a rock at him. The reply is said to be: “Here, eat one of the roses.” Burkhard fell from his horse and died from his wounds three days later, and the hospital was stormed with the Swiss defenders killed almost to the last man.
This episode became a well-known story in Swiss history, often cited as a clash between courtly pride and deadly seriousness. Later writers sometimes cast Burkhard in a negative light. A silver medal from 1893 even depicted the moment of the rock and the rose.
Burkhard’s death also marked the end of the Landskron line of the Münch family, which finished when his brother Johann IX died in 1461.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:24 (CET).