GRANSON, or GRANDSON, is the name of a small town in the canton of the Pays de Vaud. It is situated on the western bank of the lake of Neufchatel, about a mile from the foot of Mount Jura, which here bears the name of Thevenon. In approaching this town from Yver dun, it appears finely situated above the lake, and is par ticularly distinguished by its lofty chateau crowned with five or six towers. At the entrance to the town there is an old church, which does not appear to be used. The road passes through an arch surmounted with a tower and spire. • The number of houses in 1814, when we passed through it, was 100. The opposite bank of the lake of Neufchatel is a lofty ridge, finely wooded, with the grand range of the eastern Alps towering above it.
Granson is celebrated in the history of Switzerland, for the great battle which the Swiss gained over Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, on the 3d of March 1476. The
Duke's army, which was 6000 strong, occupied Granson, and the villages of Possine, Corsalette, Giez, Vallieres, and Tuileries, and was defended on the right by the lake, and on the left by Mount Arnou, and on the east by the Thevenon, and by entrenchments on every other point. The battle began near Concise and the Chartreuse of Lalance, and terminated in the complete defeat of the Duke of Burgundy, who lost all his baggage and jewels.
One of his diamonds, which was the largest then known, was found by a Swiss soldier, and sold for a florin to the curate of Montagny. This diamond was afterwards sold to Pope Julius 11. for 20,000 ducats. Other two diamonds were found by the Swiss, one of which now forms part of the imperial treasury of Vienna, and the other belongs to the crown of France.