From the late 14th century to the late 15th century, the Valois dukes of Burgundy, a cadet branch of the French royal House of Valois, ruled over a territory that ultimately covered much of eastern France and the Low Countries.[1] Although sometimes referred to as the Burgundian state,[2] it was in fact a composite monarchy,[3] comprising an array of duchies, counties and lordships acquired by the dukes over of time by a number of means.[4]
The dukes' lands straddled the border areas between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire and were divided into two groups of possessions. In the south was the Duchy of Burgundy itself, granted to the dynasty's founder Philip the Bold in 1363 by his father the French king, and the neighbouring County of Burgundy (the modern Franche-Comté), a fief of the Empire. These possessions were separated from the Burgundian Netherlands in the north, where the Dukes derived most of their wealth, power and prestige. The last Valois duke, Charles the Bold, through almost continuous warfare, briefly united the two sets of domains geographically and but was killed in battle in 1477 without a male heir, the last of the dynasty being his daughter Mary of Burgundy. The Duchy of Burgundy itself was then absorbed back into France and most of the remaining territories passed by marriage to the House of Habsburg, forming part of a much larger empire.[4]
Territories of the Valois dukes of Burgundy
editThe Valois dukes acquired their duchies, counties and lordships through feudal grants, inheritance, purchases and conquest between 1363 and 1475. After the grant of the Duchy itself, the main territorial additions were in 1384, through the Flemish inheritance of Margaret of Flanders (the wealthy towns of Flanders as well the Franche-Comté and Nevers), in 1430 as a result of the Brabantine inheritance, which included much of the central Low Countries, and in 1433 by Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut ceding the prosperous Low Countries counties of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland.
| Territory | Acquired by | Date acquired | Means of acquisition | Notes on subsequent history |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duchy of Burgundy | Philip the Bold | 1363 | Granted to Philip as an appanage by his father John II of France.[5] | Following the death of the last Valois duke, Charles the Bold at the Battle of Nancy, 1477, the Duchy returned to the French crown.[6] |
| County of Burgundy | 1384 | The territories were inherited by Philip's wife, Margaret of Flanders, from her father Louis of Male, Count of Flanders who died in 1384. Philip then took control of the territories and assumed the various comital titles. Margaret died in 1404, a year after Philip, and the territories formed part of the inheritance of their children.[7] | ||
| County of Rethel | ||||
| County of Artois | ||||
| County of Nevers | Granted as an appanage by Philip the Bold to a younger son and his descendants.[8] | |||
| County of Flanders | ||||
| County of Charolais | 1390 | Purchased by Philip for 60,000 francs from John III, Count of Armagnac.[9] | ||
| Bailiwick of Mâcon | John the Fearless | 1417 | Seized by force from the French crown.[10][11] | |
| County of Tonnerre | 1419 | Taken by force from Louis de Chalons, brother of John, Prince of Orange and then confirmed by royal grant in 1419.[12][11] | ||
| County of Boulogne | Philip the Good | 1423 | Seized in 1423[13] | |
| County of Namur | 1429 | In 1421, Philip paid John III, Marquis of Namur 132,000 crowns for the right to inherit Namur, which he did on the latter's death in 1429.[14] | ||
| Duchy of Limburg | 1430 | John the Fearless's brother, Anthony, inherited the Duchy of Brabant from his great-aunt Joanna of Brabant on her death in 1406.[15] Anthony was succeeded by his two sons, the last of whom, Philip of St. Pol, bequeathed it to Philip the Good on his death in 1430. The succession, however, was not certain until confirmed by the Estates of Brabant later that year.[16] The Margraviate of Antwerp was a dependency of Brabant,[17] as was the Duchy of Limburg.[18] | ||
| Margraviate of Antwerp | ||||
| Duchy of Brabant | ||||
| County of Holland | 1433 | The three counties had been in personal union since the 13th century.[14] During a period of internal conflict after the accession of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut, Philip intervened and was able to gain control over the counties leading, in 1433, to Jacqueline ceding all her rights to him.[19] | ||
| County of Zeeland | ||||
| County of Hainaut | ||||
| County of Ponthieu | 1435 | Transferred to Philip by the Treaty of Arras[13] | ||
| County of Auxerre | 1435 | |||
| Duchy of Luxembourg | 1443 | In 1441, Philip pressured the childless Duchess of Luxembourg, Elizabeth of Görlitz, to appoint him as her heir in exchange for a pension of 7,000 florins per year.[20] In 1443, prior to her death, he seized the Duchy and paid off any rival claimants. On Elizabeth's death in 1451 he formally became Duke.[21] | ||
| County of Zutphen | Charles the Bold | 1473 | Charles seized the Duchy by force in 1473 during a dynastic dispute between Arnold, Duke of Guelders and his son. Shortly before Charles's invasion Arnold died and left the Duchy to him in his will.[22] The County of Zutphen was a dependency of and attached to the Duchy.[23] | |
| Duchy of Guelders | ||||
| Duchy of Lorraine | 1475 | In 1475, Charles seized the Duchy by force from René II, Duke of Lorraine and had himself installed as Duke in December of that year.[24] | With Charles's defeat and death at the Battle of Nancy, January 1477, René II recovered the Duchy.[25] |
References
edit- ^ Beik 2009, p. 3.
- ^ Stein 2017, p. 3.
- ^ Stein 2017, pp. 12, 14.
- ^ a b Stein 2017, p. 2.
- ^ Vaughan 2002a, p. 3.
- ^ Blockmans & Prevenier 1999, p. 195.
- ^ Stein 2017, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Tilley 1968, p. 169.
- ^ Vaughan 2002a, p. 93.
- ^ Vaughan 2002b, p. 181.
- ^ a b Stein 2017, p. 35.
- ^ Vaughan 2002c, pp. 10, 180–181.
- ^ a b Vaughan 2002c, p. 18.
- ^ a b Stein 2017, p. 36.
- ^ Blockmans & Prevenier 1999, p. 35.
- ^ Vaughan 2002c, pp. 51–52.
- ^ Stein 2017, p. 18.
- ^ Stein 2017, p. 27.
- ^ Stein 2017, pp. 38–40.
- ^ Douglas Smith & DeVries 2005, p. 125.
- ^ Blockmans 2006, p. 88.
- ^ Vaughan 2002d, pp. 117–120.
- ^ Vaughan 2002d, p. 112.
- ^ Vaughan 2002d, pp. 354–356.
- ^ Monter 2007, pp. 21–22.
Bibliography
edit- Beik, William (2009). A Social and Cultural History of Early Modern France. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-88309-2.
- Blockmans, Wim; Prevenier, Walter (1999). The Promised Lands: The Low Countries Under Burgundian Rule, 1369-1530. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1382-9.
- Blockmans, Wim (2006). "The formation of a political union, 1300-1588". In Blom, J.C.H.; Lamberts, E. (eds.). History of the Low Countries. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-84545-272-8.
- Douglas Smith, Robert T.; DeVries, Kelly (2005). The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy, 1363-1477. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-162-4.
- Monter, E. William (2007). A Bewitched Duchy: Lorraine and Its Dukes, 1477-1736. Travaux d'humanisme et Renaissance. Libr. Droz. ISBN 978-2-600-01165-5.
- Stein, Robert (2017). Magnanimous Dukes and Rising States: The Unification of the Burgundian Netherlands, 1380-1480. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-875710-8.
- Tilley, Arthur (1968). The Dawn of the French Renaissance. Russell & Russell. ISBN 978-1-001-37577-9.
- Vaughan, Richard (2002a). Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-915-7.
- Vaughan, Richard (2002b). John the Fearless: The Growth of Burgundian Power. Dukes of Burgundy. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-916-4.
- Vaughan, Richard (2002c). Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-917-1.
- Vaughan, Richard (2002d). Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-918-8.