Dukes of Burgundy 1363 – 1555
The Carolingian Middle Kingdom
After the collapse of the European empire of Charles the Great in 9th and 10thcentury, Europe was divided in three parts on the western side France on the eastern side what became the Holy Roman Empire and in the middle a range of territories from Frisia in the north to Italy in the south.
This long Carolingian Middle Kingdom was an ideal place for the powers on each side to attack and try to enlarge their territory and as a result this middle part started to fall into smaller andsmaller pieces with lots of dukes and counts squabbling over the various crumbs. However it were also these dynamics and a lesser form of central governance in these lands that allowed for progress and innovation that started to occur in the various mini states in what is now Italy and in the north in Flanders and a bit later in Holland.
In the various land grabs France and the Holly Roman Empire had been fighting for the Middle Kingdom and various parts of it were split lands controlled by ‘German’ and ‘French’ emperors and kings. Also the 100 year war between France and England (1337 – 1453 – see: The Great Death) put Burgundy often in an interesting position that resulted in political and financial gain. But it equally put the relationship between the dukes and the cities at a test as the role played by the dukes also often required extra taxes for the war efforts.
The Dukes were not the natural inheritor of the local lands, they had obtained this largely through private and complex family arrangements. In these negotiations they always had to provide concessions to the local powers and in Flanders, Brabant, Holland and Zeeland these were the cities.
While the actual power of the dukes was rather limited their unique political and geographic position and their wealth provided them with unprecedented prestige. Wedged between France and England – where the concept of nation-states started to emerge – Burgundy maintained its truly medieval character. Its knightly culture and the concept of chivalry remained central to its operations. The Order of the Golden Fleece was perhaps one of the most splendid aspects of this tradition.
Dukes and Duchesses of Burgundy
| Duke/Duchess | Born | Reign | Died | Buried |
| Philip the Bold/Filips de Stoute | Pontoise – 1342 | 1364 – 1404 | Hal near Brussels 1404 | Dijon |
| John the Fearless/Jan zonder Vrees | Dijon – 1371 | 1404 – 1419 | assassinated Monterau 1419 | Dijon |
| Philip the Good/Filips de Goede | Dijon- 1396 | 1419 – 1467 | 1467 | Dijon |
| Charles the Reckless/Karel de Stoute | Dijon – 1433 | 1467 – 1477 | battle Nancy 1477 | Brugge |
| Maria of Burgundy | Brussels – 1457 | 1477 – 1482 | horse accident 1482 | Brugge |
| Philip the Fair | Brugge – 1478 | 1482 – 1506 | 1506 | Brugge |
| Charles V | Ghent – 1500 | 1506 – 1555 | 1558 | Yuste Spain |
Philip the Bold
For his brave behaviour Philip, the fourth son of the French King John II – the Good (born in 1342), received his nickname ‘the bold’ in the Hundred Years’ War during the battle of Poitier, which France lost, but the 14 year old prince had shown great courage during this battle and as a reward received in 1360 the fiefdom of the duchy of Touraine (Loire Valley), which in 1363 he swapped for the more prestigious Burgundy.
Philip, together with his brothers, Charles V, King of France, Louis I, Duke of Anjou and John, Duke of Berry they were amongst the most influential, educated and respected leaders of their time.
Très Riches Heures – Book of Hours
Jean, Duc de Berry commissioned what perhaps is the most important artistic work of the High Middle Ages, Très Riches Heures.
The book of hours was a devotional book popular in the Middle Ages. They contain collections of texts, prayers and psalms, often with appropriate decorations, for Christian devotion. While in most of these prayer books illumination and decorations were kept to a minimal, books made for wealthy patrons may be extremely lavish, with full-page miniatures and de Très Riches Heures is no doubt the most richly decorated of all, it has 416 pages, including 131 with large miniatures and many more with border decorations or historiated initials.
Work on this book started in 1409 by the Limbourg brothers (Gebroeders van Limburg – Herman, Paul, and Johan) famous Dutch miniature painters from the city of Nijmegen. They had already worked for the Duke before and from 1404 till 1409 they had worked on the Belles Heures du Duc de Berry. Before that the brothers had also illuminated a bible for Philip the Bold. An interesting side story here is that on one of their travels to Paris, Herman and Johan were captured as Burgundy was at war with Gelre and Nijmegen was the capital of Gelre at that time, Philip however paid for their release and safeguarded them back to Nijmegen.
The brothers worked on the Très Riches Heure till 1416 when the Duke and the artists died (plague epidemic?). Several decades later further work was done by Barthélemy, one of the members of the famous Dutch paining family van Eyck and finally completed by Jean Colombe in 1485.
With the death of the last Capetian duke, Philip of Rouvres of Burgundy in 1361, that title had become vacant and the King of France with sovereign powers over this dukedom therefore could appoint a new duke. King John II died in 1364 and was succeeded by Charles V (the French not the Hapsburg Charles V). He was able to arrange a marriage between Philip the Bold and Margaretha de Male, the only daughter of the Louis de Male, duke of Flanders. This marriage took place on June 19, 1369 in Gent and was one of the most spectacular weddings ever seen in Europe. As a gift Charles ceded Walloon to Flanders. Margaretha had previously been married to the last Capetian duke of Burgundy, Philip of Rouvres who died suddenly in 1361.
Because of Flanders strong links with England her next marriage was actually planned with an English duke. However, faith had it that she returned to Burgundy.
Together with some of the mini states in Italy, Flanders was one of the richest places in Europe with important trading cities such as Ghent, Brugge, Antwerp and Mechelen. However, the richness of these cities also made them very powerful and the Count of Flanders had to continuous negotiate taxes and privileges in order to get the cooperation of these cities.
At a very early stage some democratic principles were formalised in what was known as the ‘Blijde Inkomst’ (Joyous Entry – see: Duchy of Brabant). Since 1356, new rulers made their entry into these cities on which occasion they confirmed the privileges of the city. While we were in Brussels in 2005, Louise and I saw the re-enactment of the Blijde Inkomst from Charles the V in 1549.
Before the 19th century groups of people identified themselves foremost locally with larger entities such as counties or kingdoms was much more vaguely. However, there was a strong personal tie with the ruler.
In 1379 Philip assisted his father-in-law in suppressing the weaver revolts in Gent he finally defeated them in 1382. As a result he became the regent (ruwaard) of Flanders. The City of Gent unsuccessfully asked for the help of England to appoint one of their princes as their ruwaard. After the deathof Louise de Male in 1384, Philip the Bold became the ruler of both Flanders and Burgundy, Margaretha furthermore brought in territories of Artois, French Compte and Nevers, all bordering the main counties. This became the foundation of one of the richest andpolitically most powerful lands in Europe. Situated between France, England and the Holy Roman Empire it was able to profit from that position but at the same time this position also became its downfall a century later. Nevertheless also in modern times the Netherlands maintains that position of a middle-power wedged between England, France and Germany.
Brugge
By the 15thcentury only northern Italy was economically stronger than Flanders and Brabant. Bruggewas the northern metropolis of that age; an international trade and financial centre, dominated by the merchants rather than the nobility. One of these families was the family of brokers van der Beurse (literally and appropriately “from the purse”), they also had an inn where many Venetian and Hanseatic merchants stayed. Their name became synonym and still is for places elsewhere where similar financial functions were performed; the Bourse. I revisited Brugge in 1999 and instantly fell in love with this most beautiful city. It rose to power during the 13thcentury but became glorious after the victorious battle of the Gilded Spurs (Gouden Sporenslag) against France in 1302 (See: Popular uprisings)
Philip’s power play in France
In the early days of the Burgundian rule, the focus was still much on France, the country of birth of Philip the Bold. The close relation between the two brothers saw Philip taking responsibilities of various French bishoprics: Champagne and Picardy.
Under the French King Charles V rule great progress was made in governing, bureaucracy and politic, which were eagerly adapted by his brother Philip. Through politics, diplomacy and governance he was able to slowly but steadily impress his powers on the lands he ruled. Charles was also a great patron of the arts; he started a library and ordered rich tapestries and paintings. This also became a part of Philip’s interests.
After the death of the French king in 1380, his 11 year old son became Charles the VI; a royal regency council was established in which Burgundy also participated. This lead to a range of conflicts of interest, lots of money was misappropriated by the various interests.
In 1385 Philip had positioned himself as the strongest figure amongst the regents. He used this to his advantage by arranging the double wedding that year (see below).
After Charles VI came to age it became apparent that he was mentally unstable, which – in 1392 – led to reinstating Philip’s regency. During this period he was able to redirect annually one-eighth to one-sixth of the royal revenues to his own treasury [x. Brief history of the Hundred Years War, Desmond Seward, 1978, p.144] At other times Louis, Duke of Orleans held the regency, as greedy as Philips, he also increased taxes to pay for his ambitions in Italy.
Philips power play in France and its war with England was not always seen as being in the interest of the cities and they often refused to taxes the dukes required for their power plays and wars. Also the influx of French officials into Flanders was often resisted. Slowly but steadily the emphasis of the duke started to move northwards, this is also apparent in the increasing patronising of the Flemish artisans, who started their period of Renaissance.
With Philip’s attention more aimed at France, this left the cities in Flanders to use that situation to further entrench and expand their own powers. During the Burgundian century, Gent in particular would show continuous defiance.
For six years Philips was the defacto ruler of France.
After his death in 1404, his wife Margaretha ruled his territory for another year till her death in 1405.
The capital Dijon
While the capital of Burgundy was in Dijon, the centre of power lay in the cities of Flanders and the dukes did spend far more time in the cities of Flanders than they did in Dijon. Nevertheless they did built their ducal palace here and also planned for their burial grounds to be here.Dijon still talks about the Joyous Entrance of Charles the Reckless in 1474, when the duke received the keys of the town from the mayor Entienne Berbisey.
The city is a shear delight was its many houses dating back the 14th, 15th and 16thcentury; very characteristic with their pointed gables and geometrically patterned timbering. Many with lovely courtyards andspiral stairways going to the outsidegalleries of the next floors. During our visit to the city in 2006, our guide used the postman’s key to get access to some of the ‘traiges’ narrow alleyways deep into these private courtyards. In one of those mansions was the delightful restaurant Philippe le Bon where we together with our Dutch friends Paula and Martin celebrated my birthday.
The Carthusian monastery of Champmol
In Dijon I also visited the remnant of what once was the Carthusian monastery of Champmol, flattened after the French Revolution. Build by Philip the Bold as his burial place. The portal of the church from 1388 has survived and shows the sculptures of the duke andthe duchess. The site also has the remnants of the Moses Well (1399) one of the most valuable art objects from the Flemish Renaissance, sculptured by Klaas Sluter from Haarlem.
The tomb for Philip was commissioned in 1381 to Jean de Marville. However in 1404 at the duke’s death the tomb was still not finished and his son John the Fearless ordered Klaas Sluterto finish it what finally happened in 1410 (after the deathof the sculptor). John also ordered a tomb for himself, but also this one was not ready at the time of his death in 1419. His son Philip de Good renewed the order in 1435; finally this one was finished in 1470.
One need to see these tombs in orderto realise why they took close to 100 years to finish them both, they are absolute master pieces. After the French Revolution the tombs were removed from Champmol andeventually found their final resting place in the ducal palace, now the musée des beaux arts. It takes several visits to fully take the pieces of art in and these are easily objects that you could visit time and time again.
Both tombs (actually cenotaphs) look similar with dozens of individual carved mourners following each other in procession. On top of Philip’s cenotaph we see his statue sculptured, on John’s we also see that of his wife Margaretha of Bavaria. Philip’s wife Margaretha was buried in her family burial ground in Lille (now France). The coffins of Philip the Bold, John the Fearless and his wife Margaretha of Bavaria, Philip the Good and his wife Isabel of Portugal were all buried in the vault of the church of the Chartusian monastery.
It is amazing to see the similarities between these tombs and the tombs of the kings of Sidon from ca. 350BCE with similar funeral processions. Claus Sluter the designer of the Burgundian tombs can’t heve seen the tombs from Sidon as they were only unearthed in the 20th century.
The French Revolution, which has resulted in an enormous amount of historic vandalism, also meant the end of Champol. Most of the buildings were demolished with the church portal and the remnants of the Moses well the only few pieces left. Fortunately, they did recognise the importance of the tombs and they were in 1792 moved to the St Benigne church (from 1280) in town. We visited this very interesting church with its mysterious crypt (Rotunda) from the 11thcentury. The archaeological museum next door is another gem, with a fascinating collection of Gallo-Roman artefacts, amongst them items from the sanctuary at the source of the Seine, where the goddess Sequanawas worshipped.
I saw another interesting reminder of the Roman past in the St Johns Church, partly built over the old Roman city wall, these have since been excavated and can be see in this part of the church.
Another interesting piece of history is on display on the façade of the Notre-Dame, built between 1210 and 1240. It has three rows of fake gargoyles. They way originally not fake, but one fell off the façade and killed a groom on his way to marry his wife, they were replaced by the fake ones. However, for the purpose of the ducal history, the animated clock on top of the church is important. Known as Jack-o’-the-clock it originated in Coutrai (Kortrijk, Flanders). But as a punishment of the 1382 rebellion Philip the Bold had taken it down from the belfry in that town and sendto Dijon as part of the spoils of war. Since that time the people of Dijon have given Jack, who strikes the clock a wife Jacqueline (in 1761) and a daughter Jacquelinette (in 1881).
The Ducal Palace
The site of the ducal palace goes back to roman times, when it was walled, later the first dukes of Burgundy took procession of this site, but nothing is left of their legacy of this place.
Upon his accession to the dukedom in 1363 Philip the Bold had a new tower built. The Bar Tower took its name from the imprisonment here, of the French King Rene of Anjou, Duke of Bar, from 1431 to 1437. Inside the tower are several rooms; some of them now used by the museum. The bottom room served as the marvellous Sainte Chapelle chapter house with its beautifully carved keystones.
The other building we were allowed to have a glimpse – they are normally locked – was the kitchen, rebuilt in 1433 by Philip the Good, under the supervision of his wife Isabella of Portugal, the building still has according to expert distinct Portuguese features. It is a single room, twelve meters on each side with one central vault leading to an air hole. There are three massive fireplaces with double chimneys.
In front of the kitchen building is still the original well.
The private section of the ducal palace was built between 1450 and 1455; it is in the guard room of this building that – in 1827 – the above mentioned cenotaphs were placed. It was here that the proverbial Burgundian banquets took place.
At the back of the ducal living quarters on the north side of the building a lovely park, known as Place desDukes, this was the site of the originals gardens of Margaretha of Flanders, legend has it that she had a tortoise from her mother landin the pond in her garden. During the reign of John the Fearless, his wife Margaretha presided over the ducal council of Burgundy. She had a leading role in the governing of the State. It was her who acquired for the defence purpose of Burgundy the territories of Tonnerre and Beaujolais.
Burgundian Feasts
The various feasts and spectacles such as the Joyous Entries and meetings of the Knights of the Golden Fleece also gave Burgundy the name of ‘theatre state’. The public could stare in amazement and the stories grew taller and taller and spread as wildfire all over Europe. To such and extend that our current language still refers to a ‘Burgundian lifestyle’.
Its origin of these feats goes back to pre-historic times when the chief invited his warriors for a feast to celebrate victory, this was accompanied with lots of mead. They had a special hall for this, which later on were fortified and slowly turned into castles during the High Middle Ages. The Romans often had a communal feast after a sacrifice. Their nobility however, entertained themselves more through what perhaps we would call dinner parties. The Burgundian parties added gastronomy to their parties.
They successfully used this style of diplomacy to impress the English, French as well as the Pope at regular intervals. Its history doesn’t end here, state banquets and wedding diners in our time, all evolved from this tradition.
Philip the Good Tower
Towering above the site is the 46 meters high prestigious tower of Philip the Good, completed in 1460. Together which Martin Aalbers, a friendof ours, I climbed the impressive staircase that lead us to the top. From here it provided us with a perfect view Dijon and large parts of Burgundy, a clear symbol of authority. In the beautifully carved staircase a portrait of the architect Jean Poncelet with two workmen is sculptured. We had our apartment directly opposite of the palace, which over the following centuries has been extended and changed into the States-General palace, andnow also has a great half round square, Place de la Liberation, where we enjoyed great Burgundian food, wine and coffees.
Country retreat Germolles
Driving through the impressive vineyards of Burgundy we travelled south from Dijon to Germolles. This medieval fortress castle was rebuilt by Philips the Bold and Margaretha of Flanders (as she was known) into a country retreat, hundred years before such practice became popular in France and elsewhere. We met the new owner whose grand-parents had bought the palace and we were given a very interesting tour through the castle.
While fires and other disasters have over the centuries caused lots of damage the castle remarkably has been able to maintain its 14thcentury character. During restoration the most remarkable discovery has been large parts of the original wallpaper with the initials P and M. Some of the rooms are still in their original format and one of the rooms has been linked to Margaretha of Bavaria the wife of their son John. Other interesting parts are the two chapels, the grand fireplace, again with the monographs of the owners and a range of original tiles.
Many of the outlaying buildings such as farmhouses are also dating back to the times of Philip and Margaretha. Apart from the palace in Dijon, it is the only remaining residence of the dukes in France. Legendalso has it that Margaretha brought with her from Flanders the idea of the green, gold and black glazed roof tiles, which are now a typical feature of Burgundy. We saw many magnificent roof tops, perhaps the most elaborate is the one of the hospital in Beaune.
Marriage diplomacy brings in the goods
In 1375 Philip the Bold arranged a double wedding – which took place a decade later, in Cambrai in 1385 – of the male heirs of Burgundy-Flanders-Artois and Hainault-Holland-Zeealand with each others sisters. This peaceful arrangement brought the two leading powers in the Low Countries together an event that is still relevant today’s political and geographical situation in this part of Europe.
Double marriage of 1385
| John the Fearless1371 – 1419 Mother: Margaretha de Male (Flanders)Father: Philip the Bold | Margaretha of Bavaria 1363 – 1423Mother: Margarethaa of Brieg (Silesia) Father: Albert I of Bavaria Count of Holland-Zeeland and Hainault |
| Margaretha of Burgundy 1374 – 1441 Mother: Margaretha de Male (Flanders) Father: Philip the Bold | William of Bavaria – Straubing 1365 – 1417Mother: Margaretha of Brieg (Silesia)Father: Albert I of Bavaria Count of Holland- Zeeland and Hainault |
William of Bavaria died in 1417 with his daughter Jocaba his only heiress. She married the following year John IV of Brabant. This increased the power of Burgundy(who had just been able to bring this Duchy under their control), Holland was next on their radar.
However Jacoba’s uncle John of Bavaria, the elected bishop of Luik and brother of Willem, challenged Jacoba’s succession right, because he was the oldest surviving male in the family. Initially it looked like he would play along and was pivotal in arranging Jacoba’s marriage. Secretly however, he also promised Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund the fiefdom of this territory. At the same time he would marry Elizabeth of Gorlitz, Anton of Brabant’s widow, and for these services he would receive Luxembourg.
This resulted in a civil war that lasted for a decade and resulted in financial ruin for, until that time, the still more or less independent territories. John IV of Brabant signed several, for his dukedom unfavourable treaties, with John of Bavaria. His wife Jacoba didn’t agree with him and also the new Burgundian duke Philip the Good became increasingly worried about this situation. In all of this the States of Brabant became an ally of Philip the Good and John IV was temporarily disposed of and his younger brother Philip of Sint-Pol became regent (Ruwaard) of Brabant. This title provided him with responsibilities similar to the Stadtholders on other provinces. However, Brabant was directly governed under the Duke and as such the States of Brabant held relatively more power than the States in other provinces.
Together with Philip the Good, Jacobaof Bavaria tried to reconquer lost territories in Holland-Zeeland, from her uncle John of Bavaria. At the same time John IV of Brabant, unhappy withhis disposal entered with his troops several cities in Brabant. However, he was made prisoner by the guilds of Brussels. John IV admitted his mistakes and was reinstated in 1421.
Slowly but steadily Burgundy regained more and more control over the region, Brabant was secured in their camp and also John of Bavaria was forced to join Burgundy, as he was running out of money to continue his campaign. After the death of John of Bavaria in 1425, Holland and Zeeland went to John IV, who at least officially was still the legitimate husband of Jacoba. However, all of these succession wars had costJohn IV dearly and in 1425 he handed over the rights to Holland – Zeeland to Philips the Good.
Jacoba violently opposed this but eventually this dispute was solved with the peace treaty known as the ‘Kiss of Delft’, signed in this city in 1428. Under the terms of the treaty Jacoba was recognised as the countess, however she was not allowed to marry without Philip’s consent; this virtually meant that she was handing over power to Philips.
Meanwhile in Brabant John IV died in 1427 and his younger brother Sint-Pol succeeded him. He desperately tried to wrestle back control over Brabant from Burgundy and proofed to be a much stronger ruler than his older brother. Unfortunately he died suddenly in 1430 and this was an opportune moment for Philip the Good to take personal control of Brabant. He made his Joyous Entry in Leuven on 5th October 1430. For a broaderoverview of the Country of Holland and the Duchy of Brabant see: Holland and Brabant under Burgundian Rule
Bishoprics of Luik (Liege) and Utrecht
They operated as small enclaves within the French, – German – Burgundian lands. In 1390 John of Bavaria, somehow got himself elected as the prince-bishop of Luik. In 1408 internal struggles, supported by the French Duke of Orleans were suppressed thanks to the assistance of his family members from Brabant, Holland-Zeeland and Burgundy. This victory strengthened the influence of Burgundy in this German territory. This was further formalised in a truce that was signed between John the Fearless and Sigismund in 1417. Philips the Good was the first one who was able to gain control over the prince-bishopric of Utrecht. He successfully got his illegitimate sons David and Philip appointed by the Pope as succesive bishops of Utrecht. However, it was not until Roman Emperor Charles V in the 16th century that Utrecht was fully annexed into his empire.
Luxembourg
Under the chapter Brabant we have seen that Luxembourg was granted to Wenceslaus the husband of Johann of Brabant. Through Anton it became part of Burgundy. When Anton’s 2ndwife Elizabeth from Gorlitz died childless in 1451, according to previous arrangement, this brought the territory directly under Philip the Good. But of course also her plenty of opposition but eventually he could formally take possession of the territory.
John the Fearless
His mother didn’t have great faith in him as the new ruler of the Burgundian lands. With his father’s spending most of his time in France, he also didn’t get the lessons needed for good governance.
In 1394 John took part in a crusade against the Ottoman Turks and was involved in the capturing of Thrace, most of Bulgaria and Serbian Macedonia. In order to finance the crusade John had been negotiating with the Flemish cities, in this activity he showed great diplomacy and obtained more money from the cities that was initially anticipated. While the crusade suffered a military disaster at the gates of Nicopolisin 1396 where John was captured, he showed great fearlessness, hence the nickname he was given. After an enormous ransom was paid for by his father, he was triumphantly received back in both Dijon and the Flemish cities.
After this Philip started to take John into the intimacies of Burgundian politics, governance and diplomacy. During that period he stayed for long times in Dijon, without neglecting his duties in Flanders. The county stayed more or less independent during John’s reign. After Philip’s death, John tried to continue the French affairs, but without the lifelong experiences his father enjoyed, he was obviously less successful. Nevertheless after his father’s death he again showed remarkable skills in increasing income
Growing towards political unity
During his reign it is also interesting to see the strong regional ties that were forged by Philip between Burgundy, Flanders, Hainault, Holland, Zeeland and Brabant.
By this time, John the Fearless’ brother Anton was in charge of Brabant and his brother-in-law William VI was the count of Hainault, Holland-Zeeland. These alliances would proof to be critical in the future developments of what would become the Netherlands.
He also allowed litigants in the Council of Flanders to communicate in their own language.
John also continued his father’s power play in France. He used the above mentioned family alliance to build an invasion army against his French rival the Duke Louis of Orleans, who in the meantime also had started a relationship with the sexual and emotional deprived wife of the king, Isabelle of Bavaria. While this didn’t go much further than a war of words, in 1407 John organised the assassination of the Duke, which took place on November 23 1407.
To further highlight the international relationships between the various key players, Isabelle of France was the cousin of William VI. A year later another relative John of Bavaria, prince-bishop of Luik appealed successfully to his relatives for assistance; John was the brother of William VI.
Partners of the Burgundian Dukes and Duchesses
| Dukes/Duchesses | Wives and husbands | Children |
| Philip the Bold 1342 – 1404 | Margaretha de Male 1384 – 1405 | John (the Fearless – duke), Anthony (of Brabant- duke), Philip (Nevers, Rethel- count), 2 illegitimate children |
| John the Fearless 1371 – 1419 | Margaretha of Bavaria +1405 | Philip (the Good -duke), 3 daughters, 4 illegitimate children |
| Philip the Good 1396 – 1467 | Michelle of France (Valois) +1422 Bonne of Artois + 1425 Isabelle of Portugal | Charles (the Reckless – duke), 26 illegitimate children |
| Charles the Reckless 1433 – 1477 | Catherine of France +1446 Isabelle of Bourbon +1456 Margaretha of York +1503 | Maria (Duchess of Burgundy) |
| Maria of Burgundy1457 – 1482 | Husband: Maximilian of Austria +1519 | Philip the Fair, Margaretha of Austria |
| Austrian and Spanish Period | ||
| Philip the Fair1478 – 1506 | Juana of Aragon +1555 | Eleonora of France, Charles V, Isabella of Denmark, Ferdinand of Austria, Maria of Hungary, Catherina of Portugal |
| Charles V1500 – 1558 | Johanna van Gheenst (not married)Isabelle of Portugal + 1539 Barbara Blomberg (not married) | Margarethaha of Parma(1), Philip II (2), Maria of Bohemia(2), Johanna of Portugal(2) , Juan of Austria (3) |
| Philip II1527 – 1598 | Maria of Portugal +1545, Mary Tudor +1558, Elizabeth of Valois +1568, Anna of Austria | Carlos (1), Isabella (3), Anna (4) |
While John was able to ‘explain’ his way out of the assassination affair he made some very powerful enemies. The situation also awakened ambitious of other princes in France and a civil war between the two leading families – both related to the Valois King – the Burgundians and the Armaganacs (named after Bernard, Count of Armagnac whose daughter had married Louis of Orleans’ son Charles. Both had armed camps and in particular Paris suffered a lot in this conflict. John received the support of the Parisian bourgeoisie and academics and the Armagnacs from the establishment - the nobles and the royal officials.
In 1411 John was able to take control over Paris.
This civil war severely undermined the war effort against England and France had to pay dearly for this infighting. Even John – an ally of the English – became worried that England would organise a full scale invasion of France. He summoned the Estates to grant him new taxes and used a campaign of terror to achieve this. He failed and had to ask the Dauphin and his princes to come and save him. The end result of this was that he had to leave Paris and went back to his court in Dijon. The Armagnacs soon had full control over France. A counter attack on Paris was launched by John in 1414. The Armagnacs now threatened to invade Burgundy and dispose of the Duke. The English King Henry V negotiated a truce between the two parties. Henry played the two parties out against each other for his own political gain.
One of the most famous battles of the Hundred Year War took place at Azincourt/Agincourt in 1415. England invaded Normandy with 8,000 archers and 2,000 men of arms in 1500 ships. Because of continuous rain the battlefield had turned into a mud pool and here over 10,000 disorganised and immobilised Frenchmen an allies were slaughtered by the English. Unspeakable atrocities were conducted by the English during this massacre.
At the battle John’s brother Anton – the duke of Brabant – was also killed, and two years later his other ally, brother-in-law William, died as well. This further weakened John’s position against his French opponents.
In 1417 the Pope facilitated a treaty between England and France. John decided to now join the English and he was promised to become - as a vassal of Henry – to receive the crown of France, for his promised assistance in deposing Charles VI. The following year the Burgundians took Paris and the civil war with Armagnacs raged again. However, when he saw the advances the English were making he felt threatened and tries to negotiate with the Armagnacs. The Dauphin used that opportunity to organise John’s assassination in revenge of the murder of Duke Louis. The murder place during the peace negotiations on September 10, 1419 on the bridge over the Yonne in Montereau.
Philip the Good
John’s son, Philip the Good took over the reigns from his father at the time that the Burgundiand and Armagnacs were at each other throat. This allowed the English to progress their conquering of France. He aligned himself with the English. Together with the English they began to negotiate with King Charles and his wife Queen Isabeau. One of France’s most humiliating treaties ever was signed in Troyes that made Henry heir of the throne of France. On the 1st of September 1420 Henry V, Philip the Good and King Charles made a ceremonial entry into Paris, which formalised the English occupation, which would last for 15 years, its occupation of Normandy lasted 30 years.
The arrogance of the English King and his nobility that now flooded into France created serious animosity with the Burgundian nobility, which started to create a distance between the two allies. At the same time the costs of the war nearly bankrupted England and its people suffered poverty and distress as a result of the financial burdens.
With the reign of Philip the Good the emphasis of Burgundy finally shifted from France to Flanders and Holland-Zeeland. The influence of Burgundy in France ended with the assassination of John the Fearless. With the inclusion of the wealthy territories of Brabant and Holland-Zeeland into Burgundy, Philip became one the mightiest rulers of Europe. Areas such as Utrecht, Groningen, Friesland, Guelre and even Cleve – while technically part of the Holy Roman Empire – were at large part of the political conglomerate of Burgundy 1.
Within such an environment not only the famous Burgundian parties became more elaborate, the wedding between Philip and his third wife Isabelle of Portugal is still ranked as one of the largest parties ever conducted in Europe. The wedding cake contained a sheep, there were fountains where lions spouted wine and 70 trumpeters with banners represented all the territories. The wedding took place on January 7th1430 in Sluis but continued later on in Brugge. By marrying Isabelle, Philips for the first time went outside the dynasty of the great powers, but nevertheless well calculated. Isabelle was not only the daughter of the king of Portugal, but also granddaughter of John of Gaunt, son of Edward III of England and duke of Lancaster. However, after a never ending range of mistresses and 26 illegitimate children the marriage slowly but steadily deteriorated.
Order of the Golden Fleece
Coats of Arms Knights of the Golden Fleece
During the wedding festivities Philips founded the Order of Golden Fleece (L’Ordre de ta Toison d’or), the last remnant of medieval chivalry. It confirmed his leading role in Europe. Like other orders such as the English Order of the Garter, it was a select association designed to honour the duke’s most noble subjects and his foreign allies. The fleece of a ram was a reminder of the heroic Greek Argonauts, Jason was most likely Philip’s childhood hero. It stood for knightly honour, adventure and the protection of the Catholic faith. Philip would have loved to sail to the Holy Land and ‘liberate’ Jerusalem.
In Brugge 24 members were entered into the Order. Chapter meetings were as elaborate as the Burgundian feasts and lasted for weeks. They were a combination of secular and religious activities and followed strict traditional patterns. Shields of the members decorated the churches where the chapters were held in Brugge (11e capital 1468, 13th capital 1478), Gent (1445, 1559) and Den Bosch. These shields were donated to the church at the end of the chapter. During our various travels we have come across several of these churches with these shields still proudly decorating these places. The Duke of Burgundy was the head of the order, they were succeeded by the Hapsburg dynasty of the Holy Roman Emperors. A separate branch established itself headed by the Spanish kings. Under Charles V the Order had 51 knights. During his reign four chapters were held: Brussels (1516), Barcelona (1519), Doornik (1531) and Utrecht (1546). He was also present at the chapter in Antwerp in 1556.
Of interest here is also that in 1549, Gerhard Veltwyk born in Ravenstein became the treasure of the Golden Fleece.
In 2003 we visited the Hapsburg Treasury where we also saw the insignia of the Golden Fleece as well as many Burgundian tapestries and gowns. This triggered us to travel further in the footsteps of these Burgundian dukes. Amongst the members personal and political conflicts could be treated in a dignified and therefore acceptable manner; a forerunner of the various international treaties and summits of today. Some of the members of the Order that are relevant to the history covered in this book: 1430 Florimond and Jacob van Brimeu (Megen) 1445 Reinoud II, Lord of Brederode en Vianen, Hendrik van Borssele, Lord of Veere (see: Holland) 1456 Adolf van Kleef (Ravenstein) 1461 Adolf de Jonge, Duke of Gelre, Count of Zutphen, Lodewijk van Brugge, Lord of Gruuthuse 1473 Engelbrecht II, Count of Nassau and Vianden 1478 Willem, Lord of Egmond, Wolfart van Borssele, Lord of Veere, Joost van Lalaing, Lord of Montigny 1481 Jan III, Lord of Bergen op Zoom, Albrecht III, Duke of Saksen 1491 Jan, Count of Egmond 1501 Cornelis de Glymes, Lord of Bergen op Zoom and Zevenbergen 1505 Floris van Egmond, Count of Buren, Jacob, Count of Horn, Hendrik III, Count of Nassau 1516 Filibert van Châlon, Prince of Oranje, Jan van Wassenaar, Viscount of Leiden, Maximiliaan of Bergen op Zoom, Lord of Zevenbergen 1519 Christiaan II, King of Denmark, Sigismund I, King of Poland 1531 Antoon, Marquis of Bergen op Zoom, Maximiliaan van Egmond, Count of Buren, René van Châlon, Prince of Oranje 1546 Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria, Lamoraal van Egmond, Prince of Gavere 1555 Karel van Brimeu, Count of Megen, Filips van Montmorency, Count of Horn Jan IV, Marquis of Bergen op Zoom, Willem van Nassau, Prince of Oranje
Attention to culture and art received a great boost during the reign of Philip. They remained very important elements of the Burgundian ‘theatre’ state. It was under his patronage that Jan van Eyck painted his famous ‘Adoration of the Lamb’ altarpiece in Gent (1432), which we admired at our visit to the St Bavo cathedral, built between 1150 and 1560. The 38 Golden Fleece shields here date back to the 7th capital of the Order which was held in this cathedral in 1445. There are also the shields of the 51 knights of the Order from 1559.
Interestingly Burgundian artists did not have to rely on the nobles alone; they also had a wide and varied clientele within the rich cities in Flanders and Brabant. It was not just art and culture that flourished.
In 1425 the first university if the Low Countries was founded in Leuven. During our ‘Brabant study trip’ in 2005 we found this university still a lively as ever. Its town hall from 1447 is another example of Brabantine splendour.
The diminishing influence of Burgundy on France also reflected the increase rival of French power thanks to the victories of Jean D’Arc in 1429 and 1430 the French started to look more favourable of winning the 100 year war against England. In Reims we visited the famous cathedral where Jean D’Arc persuaded Charles VII to crown himself, in 1429, as the new king of France.
Master builder Jan Ruisbroek from Brabant extended the duke’s palace Coudenberg in Brussels, we visited the very impressive underground ruins of this palace during our trip following in the footsteps of the dukes in Brabant in 2005.
As mentioned above, some of the most precious tapestries and regal gowns ended up in Vienna after Burgundy became part of the Hapsburg Empire.
Hapsburg
This noble family was originally only of a lower rank. Their name is derived from the Habichtsburg (Wawk’s Castle) built in 1020 by the Bishop of Stassburg. The title Count occurred for the first time in 1090. At that time their power-base included: Swabia, Alsac and northern Switzerland. In 1276 Rudolf I acquired Austria and Styria. They rapidly became the most powerful family in the Holy Roman Empire, Rudolf I and Albert I became emperors and with Albert II the family held on to that position from 1438 till 1806.
Flanders and Holland depended for a significant part f their trade for good relationships with England and Philip fostered these relationships. However, he was somewhat reluctant when this led to his involvement in the siege of Paris by the English. His ambivalence also showed in a rapid peace treated he, separately from England, signed with the French king in 1431.
Philip now actively pursued a foreign policy of neutrality. He also played a key role at the Church Council of Basel. He also successfully organised, what has been termed as the world’s first peace conference, which took place in Arras in 1435, between France, England, Burgundy and the Pope.
Simultaneously as a new European superpower the country started to lobby for an acknowledgement of this situation through an upgrade from Dukedom to Kingdom. This would be the main foreign policy for the next 50 years, but because of sheer arrogance of his son Charles, it never eventuated. The Treaty was also designed to make satisfaction for the murder of Duke John the Fearless and to re-establish peace between Burgundy and France. Philip received a definite guarantee of Boulogne, Artois and the districts of the Somme and was exempted from paying homage to the French king. At least in name it now placed the duke next to the king. The Treaty also led to the isolation of England and hastened the end of the Hundred Years’ War between France and England.
Internally Philip slowly but steadily centralised the various administrative, financial and legal structures of the diverse territories. (Councils of Flanders and Brabant, the States of Holland and Zeeland and Limburg and the Lands of Overmaas). While this policy had its ups and downs it started to provide higher levels of social harmony and the region reached a standard of living that was not superseded until well into the 19th century. Also the political powers became more centralised and also the Burgundian Court became separated from the Civil Administration. In 1473, under Charles the Reckless a Supreme Court was established in Mechelen (Grote Raad van Mechelen) as well as a Court of Audit. Under the reign of Margaretha of Austria (1507 – 1530) the separation became very visible as the Court was established in Mechelen and the Central Government operated from Brussels. However Maria of Hungary moved the Court to Brussels again, after she became the new Governess in 1531.
Already in 1427 Philips was able to bring all Estates of his northern territories together in Hainault. This event became the first tentative start of the Estates General of the Netherlands. In 1464 the Estates, this time in Brugge, representatives of Brabant, Flanders, Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zeeland and Namur were again called together. They started to address issues that were of common interest to them, this were the first steps in a process that would lead to the establishment of the General States Assembly.
However, centralisation, integration and harmonisation meant that the wealthy cities in Flanders, Brabant and Holland, slowly started to lose their privileges to the nobility who ruled the (centralised) Court. Sometimes that was compensated with good trade deals that Philip could negotiate with England or the Hanseatic League. But at regular intervals the cities revolted against the limitations that where put on their privileges or the Burgundisation through the appointments from officials from outsidethe city, often outside the territory.
Ghent remained the most rebellious city, followed by Brugge. Ghent even captured Philip, only releasing him after he had made concessions to the city. However, the uprising remained nearly always limited to one city at the time. Brugge revolted in 1437 and Philip was nearly killed inside the gates of the city. As a result he provided city privileg to the city of Sluis; so far this city has basically formed part of the extended powers of Brugge. Philip isolated Brugge and the city was forced to make peace in 1438 under the agreements £480,00 had to paid in compensation and ten men were executed. From this time onwards the Council of Flanders, instead of the City of Brugge, began making judicial decisions between the towns. Because of the rivalry between these cities, Philip could address the issues one by one, which over time gradually undermined the power of these individual cities. Favouritism and patronage through functions, jobs and bonuses, which played on the greed of the leading class, was also used by Philip to slowly but surely attract more power towards him.
In 1451 the citizens of Ghent refused to pay a salt tax, Philip proved a conflict that allowed him to increase his powers over the city. The city was defeated and was ordered to pay £840,000 in fines. The downside of course of all of this was fraud, corruption and maladministration, something Burgundy would suffer from throughout Philip’s reign.
Hospice de Beaune
The aforementioned bureaucracy also allowed for the emergence of a range of university educated experts in financial, legal and administrative affairs, which resulted in great benefits to the Burgundisation process. One of the rising stars was the Burgundian (proper) Nicholas Rodin. He rose to the position of chancellor to Philip the Good, a function he held from 1422 to 1457; gathering a noble title and great wealth in the process. Nicholas and his wife Guigone de Salins founded in 1443 the famous Hôtel Dieu, Hospice de Beaune. A city ravaged by the 100 year war with lots of poverty and famine. He was inspired by similar building he had seen in the great cities of Flanders. The Salledu Polyptyque hosts an altar polyptyque with the powerful paintings of the Last Judgment by Rogier van der Weyden. There is also the equally impressive 72 meters long Grand Salle desPauvres with its 28 four-posted beds. The perfectly preserved Hospital was one of the most beautiful buildings we visited during our trip. It was still in use as a hospital until 1971.
At the end of his life Philips the Good was:
- Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Luxembourg and Limburg,
- Count of Flanders, Artois, France Compte, Hainault, Holland, Zeeland, Namur, Auxerre, Macon and Ponthieu; and
- Seigneur of (west) Friesland, Salins and Mechelen.
The territory was divided into two geographically separated regions the lands over here (Burgundy and France Compte) and the lands over there (also known of the Low Countries). An estimated 3 million people lived within the empire and the wealth of the cities also resulted in relatively prosperous hinterland. To feed a city of 20,000 people 20 villages were needed.
Oss prospering in Burgundian times
The need for textiles both for export and internal use saw for example the city of Oss producing large quantity of flax. Oss was one of the first towns in Brabant to get a Cloth Hall (Lakenhal). A significant building was already functioning in the centre of the town by the middle of the 14th century. There still is a suburb called Flax Corner (Vlashoek) which remembers those prosperous times, a situation that didn’t return to this city until the late 1800s. I have only come across Oss once as an indication of its relative importance during the Burgundian/Brabantine period and that was in 1374 when it was ranked as the 19thlargest town in Brabant. It did no longer appear in the top 25 list of 1437.
Charles the Reckless
The very intelligent Isabelle of Portugal will most probably have said enough is enough to Philip after she got exposed to yet another mistress. This had an effect on their child Charles who was born in 1433, he inherited his mother’s strong will and grew up under her guidance, the estranged relationship between his father and mother must have had his influence on the constant quarrels between father and son.
Charles like his predecessors grew further apart from France. This deteriorated situation between the two also resulted in lack of ‘succession education’. Coincidently the same happened at the French court where the heir of Charles VII, Louis XI suffered similar fall outs which eventually saw Louis fled to the Burgundian court. While Philip saw this as an opportunity to heal the relationship with France, Charles to the contrary was very wary of the French guest, who indeed weaved a net of intrigue which eventually played a key role in the downfall of the Burgundian Empire.
Charles had a much better understanding of what he saw happening in front of his eyes, but he was virtually exiled from the court to have any direct influence on this undermining process. When he finally got into power in 1465, he certainly did so with more vigour and more duty. However, he lagged diplomacy and failed to take advice from others. Charles temper and consequent actions gave him the title ‘the Bold’ however a more correct translation would be ‘the Reckless’ and I prefer to use that translation. He saw himself as a Burgundian knight: boastful, vain, recklessly brave, unbridled both in activity and fantasy 2
Another European highlight of that time was the wedding between Charles and Margaretha of York which took place in Brugge in 1468. It signalled a change in international politics, witha strengthening of the ties with England, clearly a move against France. However, thanks to his fathers hospitality Louis XI had been able to obtain insight knowledge of the operations of the Burgundian courts and with the assistance of Charles the Bold’s enemies he was ableto undermine the Burgundian Empire.
The conflict started aroundthe time he took over the reigns from his father. The first battle against France was won by audacity rather than tact and strategy, which earned Charles the title ‘the Bold’. From that moment on King Louis provided support to the variety of Charles’s opponent such as Luik, Lorraine, the Swiss cities, Guelders, Luxembourg and Flanders. In order to suppress the ongoing struggle for independence Charles the Bold had to suppress uprisings in Mechelen and of course Gent and he had Dinant destroyed in 1467. A year later he allowed his army to plunder Luik, after he successfully besieged this city after an uprising.
In order to overcome the strong privileges that existed in Brabant and the rivalry between the various provinces, he reallocated the political and administrative powers to Mechelen, an independent enclave within Brabant. This remained into effect until after Margaretha of Austria’s death in 1530 (see below), when the court moved to Brussels.
In Holland he exploited the Hooks and Cods disputes, creating havoc in the meantime in order to undermine local privileges and force these territories into paying higher taxes to support his war activities. He also didn’t shy away from providing lucrative jobs to the highest bidders. This also resulted in higher tolls, fines, etc.
Charles was also nearly able to link Burgundy (the lands over here) to the northern territories (the lands over there). He annexed Upper Lorraine and after the siege of Nijmegen in 1473 also got (at least temporarily) the control of Guelders.
He used his victories to try and negotiate the royal title of king with the Holy Emperor Frederick III, in the end he did arrange a marriage between his daughter Maria and Frederick’s heir Maximilian, but he failed to obtain the royal title, more because of arrogance rather than a total unwillingness from the side of the emperor. Through this wedding proposal he basically signed the end of the Burgundian empire, as this betrothal would see Burgundy become a part of the Hapsburg empire.
His arrogance secured him enemies on all sides: in France, the Holy Roman Empire and the Swiss Cantons. After 1474, he started to lose the various battles against these opponents. Again ignoring advice he decided to take on all his enemies at once, and he did so in what usually would be the off war season. In heavy snow he was totally and utterly defeated during the battle of Nancy on January 5th 1477. His body was not found and identified until several days later and led to the legend that he was not killed but escaped and would come back; a rumour that persisted throughout the region for several years after his dead. We visited Nancy in 2009 and stood at the spot where Charles was killed.
Maria of Burgundy
After the disastrous battle at Nancy, his enemies immediately took advantageous of the situation. The French king Louis XI denied Maria of Burgundy the appendage of Burgundy and Lorraine the dukedoms fell back into French hands. According to ancient tradition appendage was only provided to the male line of the family.
France threatened the northern territories and unsuccessfully also tried to claim Flanders. With the support of the French King Gelre took back its independence that it only had handed over to Charles the Bold a few years earlier. Luik also used the opportunity to regain independence. Luxembourg was also in turmoil but decided in favour of Maria in 1480.
The dispute over Burgundy would flare up again under the rule of Charles V, but even despite a short war with France, Burgundy would never be given back again.
Amazingly Maria of Burgundy and her stepmother Margaretha of York were able to keep most of the northern territories together, by reinstating the privileges of the cities and provinces. This resulted in The Great Privilege which was signed within two weeks after the death of Charles on February 11th 1477. Maria and Margaretha were able to get a northern army together and by the summer of 1477 the French threat had ceased. In 1479 Margaretha established the Princes Court (Prinsenhof) in Mechelen, while each member of the family had their own court this was combined in one family court.
In August Maximilian arrived in the Low Countries and he married the 22 year old Maria on 18th of August in Ghent. This further strengthened the stability in this region. He was welcomed by the people of Ghent as a liberator. After battles he fought with France in 1478 and 1479 a truth was finally signed with France. However, after a reasonable good start the relationship between Maximilian and the cities went downwards, he was mostly seen not more than a guardian and a foreign ruler. The cities of Ghent, Brugge and Ypres severely undermined Maximilian reign. While he wanted to created unity the cities didn’t want to be part of this, the cities however also seldom cooperated with each other, rivalry, protectionism and short-sighted egoism remained paramount amongst these cities. Economic power was already slipping away to Brabantine Antwerp, a city that believed in open and free trade.
The battle of the sleeveless (mouwlozen)
The battle of 1479 took place at Guinegate, where the army of Maximilian met the one send by the French King Louis XI, aimed at grabbing as much territory in Flanders as possible. Maximilian basically led the combined militia from the cities of Brugge, Ghent, Kortrijk and Ieper. The French had threatened to cut of the right hands of all of those they would take prisoner. As a reaction to this Maximilian’s soldiers all went into battle with bare right arms. The battle took five long hours and was won by Maximilian.
Despite the ‘unromantic’ arrangement of the marriage between Maria and Maximilian, they seem to have been very happy together and produced three children, of which two, Philip (the Fair) and Margareta (of Austria) survived in adulthood. The Great Privilege can be considered as the first constitution of the Low Country, while it was one of the first indications of the organisation of a modern state, the Estates General remained cohesive and loyal to the Burgundian dynasty. The Great Privilege was regularly referred to during the Dutch revolt against Spain with started in 1568.
In March 1482, Maria who was an excellent rider was somehow thrown of her horse near Brugge and was crushed beneath it. She died on March 27thand she is buried in Church of Our Lady (Onze Lieve Vrouwe kerk) in Brugge, I visited her tomb next to that of her father when I visited this city in 1999. Somehow the tragedy of Maria can still be felt in Brugge; she obviously was very much loved by the people in Flanders. The spot certainly has a good feel about it. I was also fascinated by the pray gallery (1465) from where you can clearly see the two mausoleums. This linked the church with the palace of Gruuthuse, one of the wealthy merchants of the city.
Maximilian – change over to the Hapsburg dynasty
Maximilian was the first Burgundian Duke who had the full force and full power of the Holy Roman Empire behind him.Despite the Great Privilege of 1477, Maximilian ignored the spirit of the document and blatantly violated it; only by shear force was he able to keep his subjects under control. On the positive side he had repulsed the French for which the Estates were grateful. But the great costs of this war had to be born by the cities, so within a few years the region was again in the grip of super high taxes.
After Maria’s death Maximilian became the regent of their 4 year old son Philip. Under pressure of the Flemish cities he signed a peace treaty with France. However, this gave him an opportunity to invade, in 1483, the Bishopric Utrecht and after a siege he was able to conquer it and incorporated it into the Burgundian lands.
Maximilian authoritarian regime, with little or no attention to importance of the role of the city in the wealth creation of his empire saw a further collapse in the already ravaged economy under the reign of Charles. During the siege of Brugge in 1488 Maximilian was made a prisoner for 4 month for undermining the city’s privileges. After he was finally set free by Duke Albert, he forced the merchants of Brugge out of the city and moved them by force to Antwerp. After this event the city was never able to regain its position as one of the richest European metropolises of those times.
His staunch ally, Albert the Duke of Saxony was rewarded for his services and received Friesland as his fief.
After Maximilian was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, he left the Low Countries in 1494 and his son Philip (the Fair) became the new duke of Burgundy. Maximilian had always remained a foreigner in the Low Countries. During his reign both Brugge and Ghent had lost their economic leadership in northern Europe. His father Frederick III had left him a bankrupt imperial inheritance, which he over coming years was able to turn around, he laid the foundation for an empire that would last for another 400 years. His organisation skills and visionary approach made him one of the first modern monarchs in a land that in many aspects was even more medieval in its structure than Burgundy. Under a good administration he brought peace to the German lands based on a modernised legal system under a standing court of justice (Reichskammergericht).
Regents and Governors of Burgundian Netherlands
| Regent | Married to | Regency |
| Maximilian of Austria 1459 – 1519 | Maria of Burgundy +1482 | 1482 – 1493 |
| Governors of the Burgundian Netherlands | ||
| Margaretha of Austria, Daughter Maria of Burgundy 1480 – 1530 | Juan of Castile +1497, Philip of Savoy + 1504 | 1507 – 1530 |
| Maria of Hungary, Sister of Charles V1505 -1558 | Louis II Hungary +1526 | 1531 – 1555 |
| Emanuel Filibert of Savoy, Son of Charles V sister in law 1528 -1580 | Margaretha of France +1574 | 1555 – 1559 |
| Margaretha of Parma, Partner Charles V 1522 – 1586 | Alexander de Medici + 1537, Ottavio Farnese, duke of Parma +1586 | 1559 – 1567 |
| Fernando Alvarez de Toledo (Alva), No heredity link 1507 -1583 | 1567 – 1573 | |
| Luis de Zuniga y RequesensNo heredity link1528 -1576 | 1573 – 1576 | |
| Don Juan of Austria, Illegitimate child Charles V 1547 -1578 | 1576 – 1578 | |
| Matthias of Austria 1557 – 1619 | Anna of Austria +1590, Grand-daughter Philip II | 1578 – Appointed by Estates General |
| Alexander Farnese, Son Margaretha of Parma1545 -1592 | Maria of Portugal +1577 | 1578 – 1592. From here onwards only regents in the Southern Netherlands |
Philip the Fair
However, Maximilian as the overall ruler continue to put his stamp on the Low Countries. He kept on asking for contributions for the wars, which sometimes also benefited the Low Countries. After Philip came of age in 1494 he took over the control of his mother.
Philip made the Joyeuse Entrée in Leuven on September 9th 1496. His arrival as the new duke was widely celebrated throughout the Low Countries. Unlike Maximilian he andlater also his sister were seen as ‘natural rulers’. They both were clearly not considering themselves as Hapsburg rulers and had the good of their subjects directly at heart.
In November 1495 Maximilian reached an agreement – not with England or France at had been expected – but with Spain, to a double marriage between his children and two of the royal children of Aragon. It became one of the most remarkable marriages in the history of modern Europe, its consequences are still reverberating in modern times.
Double marriage arrangements of 1495
| Philip of Burgundy1478 – 1506Mother: Maria of Burgundy.Father: Maximilian of Austria | Juana of Castile1479 – 1555Mother: Isabelle van CastileFather: Ferdinand of Aragon |
| Margaretha of Burgundy/Austria1480 – 1530Mother: Maria of BurgundyFather: Maximilian of Austria | Juan Prince of Asturias1478 – 1497Mother: Isabelle van CastileFather: Ferdinand of Aragon |
Margaretha and Juan married in Lier in Brabant on the 20th October 1496. While Lier wasn’t one of the most important cities in the Netherlands, it was chosen because it is situated in Brabant and not in Flanders – where Maximilian had to fight the cities of Brugge and Ghent and where he was made a prisoner. He had transfer trade from Brugge to Antwerp, Brussels was used a year earlier for the proxy marriage has taken place and the newly wed couple spend their wedding night in Mechelen. So all cities were treated equally.
Margaretha’s husband Juan only died 5 months after their marriage, apparently because of too much partying after the wedding celebrations. This premature death of Juan (as well as his other sister Isabella and her child Don Miguel) made Philip’s wife Joanna the heir of both Castile and Aragon.
Juana and Philip repeated their wedding ceremony in Spain 1497, after that they moved to Brussels in the Netherlands the following year the Court moved to the Prinsenhof in Ghent, clearly stamping Burgundian hegemony on this once proud independent city.
Children from Philip and Joanna
| Name | born | |
| Eleonora | 15-11-1498 Brussels | |
| Charles | 24-2-1500 Ghent | |
| Isabella | 1501 Ghent | |
| Ferdinand | 10-3-1503, Alcala, Spain | |
| Maria | Brussels | |
| Katherina | 14-1-1507, Torquemada, Spain |
After their first trip back to Spain, separated from her husband Joanna suffered severe emotional problems. When she finally was allowed to go to her husband in the Netherlands she was ravaged by jealousy. After Philip’s early death in 1506, she went back to Spain where she spend the rst of her life in seclusion and madness
Dutch Nobility
During Philip’s reign the Court in the Low Countries was in the hands of a group of astute statesmen they included the Croÿs, Berghes and Lalaings. Government was fully controlled by these influential families.
During the reign of John the Fearless, thanks to his relation with his mistress Agnes van Croÿ, this family would become one of the most influential ones during the following century. Perhaps the most influencial member of the family was the administrative governor of the Low Countries, Willem van Croÿ Lord of Chièvres (appointed in 1501, he died in Worms in 1521) , his position was also very influential under Charles V as they were often travelling together.
During Margareta’s reign, interesting names are now also entering the history here such as the various counts of Nassau and Egmond. Jan van Egmond was the Stadtholder (permanent representative of the king and army commander) of Holland, Zeeland and Friesland.
After the death of Chièvres, Henry van Nassau became Charles’ first Chamberlain. He was the son of Count John V of Nassau-Dillenburg and Elisabeth of Hesse. His younger brother was William I, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg (the father of William the Silent).
In 1499 Henry’s uncle, count Engelbert II of Nassau-Breda, invited Henry to the Burgundian Netherlands as his heir. Upon the death of his uncle in 1504 Henry inherited the Nassau possessions in the Netherlands, including the wealthy lordship of Breda in the duchy of Brabant. The next year he was chosen a knight of the Golden Fleece. Henry was one of the closest advisor to Margareta. In the year Charles came of age (1515) he negotiated the Peace of Paris, this was very favourable to Dutch trade, so he received a hero’s welcome when he returned.
After Jan van Egmond died later that year, Henry received the Stadtholderate. He was als able to negotiate a marriage between himself and Claudine de Châlon, who later became the heiress of the County of Orange and this of course became the start of the House of Orange-Nassau. With Claudia he had a son, René of Châlon (5 February 1519), who became prince of Orange in 1530 on the death of Claudia’s brave brother Filibert, commander-in-chief of all the imperial troops of Charles V. Filibert had died during the siege of Florence where he led the imperial troops in the sacking of this proud city. This was the most honourable dead a soldier could wish for and his death and funeral became a national celebration and he rapidly became a legend of many stories. During his 2 months funeral procession from Florence back to his home on Franche Compté ceremonies were organised at every stop. It was a full display of the Burgundian theatre state.
Under Maria’s reign the new Administration started to kick in and all key nobles had permanent positions in in one or more of the three formal Councils. During this period Antoine van Lalaing was by far the most influential advisor, he was also the head of the Finance Council.
Upon the death of Henry in 1538 he was succeeded by his only son, but René was himself slain in battle only a few years later in 1544. Henry lies buried beneath the grave monument he had erected for his uncle Engelbert in the Grote Kerk at Breda.
During the war with France in 1537, Floris and his son Maximilian van Egmond, counts of Buren gained prominence and played a key political role in the Low Countries. Maximilian’s only daughter Anna – who was born in Grave – married William of Orange. From their base in what is now Germany William (the Silent) was send to the court of Charles and became an adviser to Charles V. After the death of his cousin René, William became his heir.
But under the reign of King Philips II, William led the revolt again the Spanish rule in the Low Countries and became the founder of the Dutch House of Orange Nassau, which still rule the country, now of course under a parliamentary monarchy. In October 2006 Louise and I had the honour to meet and talk to both the Dutch Crown Prince Willem Alexander and his wife Maxima during their visit to Sydney.
Dutch Nobility
| Province/Region | Nobility | Important functions |
| Holland | WassenaerEgmont | Jan – Stadtholdervarious see Holland |
| Zealand | Borsele (Veere) | |
| Northern Brabant | Berghes (Walhain and Zevenbergen) Nassau (Breda) | Jean – First Chamberlain Prince Philip and Governor of Namur. Closest advisor Margaretha Maximilian – personal secretary Margaretha Englebert II – Senechal 1504 Henry – closest friend of Charles V and William of Orange councillor Margaretha and Charles V |
| Southern Brabant | Lalaing (Montigny later also Culemborg, Hoogstraten and Borsele) | Antoine – finance councillor Margaretha |
| Ravenstein | Philip - councillor Margaretha | |
| Limburg | Horn | |
| Flanders | Gruythuys and Steenhuys (Brugge) | |
| Hainault, Artois, Picardy | LuxembourgBoutonCroÿLannoy | x x Charles- councillor MargarethaWillem- Governor and Grand Chamberlain of CharlesPhilip – Council of State |
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Margaretha of Austria
After the death of her husband, Juan of Asturias 1n 1497 , Margaretha remarried with Philip of Savoy – a period that she called was the happiest in her life – only to get widowed again in 1505. From that date she vowed never to marry again and she turned her full attention to the Low Country. 
Emperor Maximilian appointed Margaretha as the governor-general over the Low Countries. She also became the foster mother of her brother Philip’s children born in the Netherlands: Eleonora, Charles, Isabelle and Maria. For this purpose they acquired the Court of Kamerijk – the former bishop palace of the seat of Kamerijk, this was (and still is) just on the other side of the road of Margaretha’s Court in Mechelen, which she had built in 1507.
At all accounts the children had a very happy time with ‘good mother’ Margaretha as they called her, they enjoyed a carefree youth in the pleasant, small town of Mechelen.
This was not the only time Margareta had to look after her nephews and nieces. After the death of her sister Isabelle in 1526 she took in her children, Hans, Christina
and Dorothea. Isabelle was married to King Christian of Denmark this had been an unhappy marriage (1515) from the start as Christian prefered his Norwegian mistress (a common girl of Dutch descend) over his wife, after her death in 1517 he took fancy of her mother (also a commoner and a brilliant business woman). He later on had to flee with his family to the Netherlands when he, in 1523, became in conflict with the Danish Parliament. It was during that period that Isabelle died. We came across Christina in 2009 when we visited the splendid palace of the Dukes of Lorraine in Nancy. In 1541 she married Francis, Duke of Bar. He succeeded his father as Duke of Lorraine in 1544. She was politically influential on him. When he died in 1545, Christina became the Regent of Lorraine as the guardian of their minor son. When Charles in 1546 visited his niece Christina and her regent Count Vaudemont, he received the support of the Duchy. This would later on backfire against her and in 1552, France invaded Lorraine and she was forced to resign as regent and accept that her son would be raised at the French court as hostage
Margaretha's palace Mechelen
Back to Margaretha’s Court, this was the earliest reneaissance building in the Netherlands and was richly decorated with arts. Here she surrounded herself with distinguished men as well as with a large library. In 2005 we visited her impressive Court for the first time and have been back several times since. Willem de Chièvres (van Croÿ) continued to be the key advisor – however the relationship between the two was rather tense – , from Savoy she brought her trusted legal advisor Mercurino Gattinara and he became her chief advisor after Willem died.
Gattinara was also the key advisor to Charles V. Between 1494 and 1530 these two advisers had an enormous influence on how the political situation of the Netherlands would evolve, they certainly deserve their place amongst the founding fathers of what eventually would become the Netherlands. After her nephew Charles took the Spanish throne, she was, in 1518, promoted to governor-general on behalf of the new king of Spain. At the same time that Charles had left for Spain, his ‘Spanish’ brother Ferdinand was send to Margaretha, in order to avoid a conflict in Spain regarding the succession.
Charles was a ‘foreigner’ while Ferdinand was ‘Spanish.’ Under the regency of Margaretha, the Low Countries saw a second flowering, after on-and-off being ravaged by war for more than 30 years. She maintained very strong relationships with the English Court, they key trading partners of the Flemish and upcoming Dutch cities, this often brought her in conflict with the politics of her brothers, however Margaretha staunchly supported the interests of her Dutch subjects. The 2ndflowering also saw Antwerp rapidly grow in importance, which in turn saw the revival of Brabant at the cost of Flanders, namely Brugge.
The port of Antwerp was also far more accessible to the larger seagoing ships than the inland port of Brugge. Margaretha was a powerful and a modern political figure in Europe. In 1513, she acted decisively when she saw her positioned undermined by an alliance between Castille and France. She issued the Ordonnance of Lille which basically provided her with the political direction over Charles V. It was signed by her father Maximilian, Ferdinand of Aragon and Henry VII of England.
In that same year Charles made his first overseas trip the England and left, already at this young age, an impression behind at the English Court. At the time his aunt Catherine of Aragon was Queen, married at was that time the first wife of Henry VIII.
Margaretha remained influential in the formative years of Charles V. However, at times she was undermined by her own family, the nobles of the Golden Fleece where unhappy with some of her activities and a delegation led by Charles was used to try and intimidate her. Later she found out that she was double crossed by her father, he first let her belief that Charles should marry a daughter of Henry VIII, while secretly negotiating a marriage between Charles and either a French of Hungarian princess. However, she did survive all of this. These broken marriage problems led to a declaration of war from France (arch enemy #1, in all Charles fought 6 wars against them) supported by King Henry VIII of England against the Emperor .
While this did not lead to a direct war; through French funding its supporter the Duke of Gelre could increase its raids not just along the border of the Empire but now also but deep into Holland and Flanders (see below). This felt deeply uneasy over this declaration of war as this totally undermined the commercial and economic interests of the Low Countries; England was by far the most important trading partner and she held very strong and good relationships with both the English Court and the English Government. In Cambrai, in 1529 Margaretha negotiated peace (The Ladies Peace) with France which was represented by Louise of Savoy, the mother of the French king Francois I (and Margaretha’s sister in law from her first marriage) .
Court life continued to live up to its reputation, with all of the nobility involved in elaborate banquets, joustings and hunting parties. Like her Burgundian predecessors also Margretha continued her support for the arts. Amongst others she commissioned works of Hieronymus Bosch, one of my most favoured painters. I am fascinated by his imaginations and the stories behind his paintings. The Dutch language does lend itself for this type of paintings as it has an unusual large range of proverbs. During our 2006 trip we also visited an exhibition in Provincial Museum of North Brabant in‘s-Hertogenbosch of ‘proverbs in paintings’, many dating back to his period, including those from the most famous ‘proverb painter’ Pieter Brueghel. Netherlandisch art was quite different from the Italy Renaissance art. In the north oil paintings were the norm, not the murals as was the case in the south. The Flemish altar retables and triptychs became famous throughout Europe and still can be found around the continent. The much loved Dutch Governess Margareta of Australia died in 1531.
Charles V
Early years in Ghent and Mechelen
Charles was named after his great-grandfather, born in 1500 at the Princenhof in Ghent he was baptised here in the St Bavo Cathedral, here we saw the baptismal font where, Charles was baptised. In Mechelen, under the guidance of Margaretha Charles was raised by Anna Van Ravenstein.
Anna of Ravenstein
An important member of the Burgundian Court was Anna of Burgundy, she was a natural daughter of Philip the Good andhis mistress Jacqueline van Steenberghe. She first married Adriaan van Borsele an influential nobleman from Zeeland. This family had also played a key role in events that followed the murderon Count Floris V from Holland (1297) and the expulsion of the van Amstel family (see: Holland). Anne played a key role in the reclamation works in this province and the establishing of new villages (incl. Sint Annaland). Adriaan dies in 1468. In 1470 Anna remarried with Adolf van Kleve, Lord of Ravenstein and Wijnendale (the latter is near Brugge), he was the Stadtholder-General of the Netherlands from 1475-1477. She took on the name Lady of Ravenstein (near Oss). Adolf dies in 1492 and Anna remained childless. In 1500 she is put in charge of the raising of Maria’s children Charles and Eleonora. Anna died in 1508.
In 1507 Anna’s position was taken over by Adriaan Boeyens – who in 1522 became Pope Adrianus VI. He became Chales’ teacher. At the time Adriaan was deacon at St Pieter in Leuven and a representative of the rector of the first university in the Low Country, that was founded in this city. He was a true devote Christian and he no doubt had an enormous influence in the piety that Charles adhered to, throughout his life. Philip the Fair was officially the last Burgundian Duke. However, Charles V strong relationship with at least the northern part of the old Burgundian empire warrants his place in this part of the history. Throughout his life he relentlessly pursued the concept of a united Burgundy and this has been the main reason for his life long war with France. At his birth there were no signs that Charles would be destined to play such a key role in de formation of Europe. His power-base was rather small in comparison to neighbouring countries, but as a result of very unexpected developments in Spain, the marriage contracts as they had been set up by his grandfather Maximilian proved to be a master-stroke.
King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor
He only briefly took direct leadership over the Low Countries. Shortly after his majority at the age of 15 in 1515, he started a tour of the Low Countries, visiting 5 of the 6 great cities. Upon the death of his grandfather-in-law Don Ferdinand of Aragon, in 1516, he was proclaimed king of Spain. A year later he departed for Barcelona andhis aunt Margaretha took over the governance again of the Low Countries, until her death in 1530. After the death of his grandfather Maximilian, 1n 1519, Charles also became the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In Spain the political situation started to drift towards rebellion – also here led by the towns. Leaving a rather weak Adrian behind as his representative, Charles left the country in a hurry to travel to Innsbruck to take pocession of his Hapsburg inheritance. Innsbruck was the seat of Hapsburg administration. He was crowned in Aachen in 1520. His Joyous Entry (Blijde Inkomst) - with military pomp - into the Empire took place here on October 22nd. In 2005 we had seen the leadlight window in the church of Our Lady in Antwerp, depicting the crowning of the emperor. The window dates from 1537. His native country now became politically a rather insignificant part of this new Empire. However, because of its wealth it maintained its importance throughout Charles’ reign.
Field of Cloth of Gold
With Charles’ election the rest of Europe had to reconsider their political alliances. Despite the deep rooted animosity between England and France, the French King Francois I accepted a consolation.
With this peace in place Charles felt is safe to travel to England for a meeting with King Henry VIII. Here they met in splendid surroundings in Canterbury on May 27th. Margaret had played a key role in all of this as the trade between the Low Countries and England was very important for her subject as well as for her income (taxes).
The powerful Lord Chancellor Cardinal Thomas Wolsey now arranged a follow up meeting between the three powerful but young European rulers – Emperor Charles V (20), King Francois (25) and King Henry ( 28).
The meeting would take place halfway Calais (which was English territory) and the French village of Gravelines. Charles travelled to Flushing and travelled Bruges and Ghent to Brussels. Henry crossed the Channel to Calais.
The site where the met became known as the Field of Cloth of Gold. All parties had spend enormous amounts of money to show off towards each other. As the site was in the country the three royal parties stayed in tents – each in their own camp – and these tents were made of stuff worked through and through with gold thread. Outside the three royal camps another 2800 tents were put up for the rest of the entourage. Henry alone had brought 5,000 people with him The meeting lasted for three weeks and was full of entertainment aimed at impressing each other through banquettes, tournaments and hunting parties. It was said that the costs of this extravaganza nearly bankrupted France and England.
There was an enormous amount of flattering, pretense and most likely deception. In the end there were no diplomatic treaties signed. In the background the court politician continued to play the various parties off against one and another.
The shallowness of the affair became clear when a month after the event Henry aligned with Charles and declared war on France.
Last medieval monarch
Apart from Adriaan his key advisers were the above mentioned the Burgundian Willem van Croÿ his Governor and Grand Chamberlain and his Chancellor the Walloon, Jean de Sauvage. After Sauvage died in 1518 the Italian (Piemonte) Mercurino Gattinara- Margaretha’s former advisor in Savoy – became chancellor and after Croÿ died in 1521, he also became Charles’ Governor and Grand Chamberlain. But also some of the Dutch nobility did play key roles both in Spain and in the German lands. Charles V can be called the last monarch of the Middle Ages. Throughout his life, his catholic faith was paramount and influenced his beliefs and actions.
While Spain was already moving into the direction of a modern state, with a reasonably well developed bureaucracy, Burgundy was still steeped in knightly traditions. While he was standing on the brink on a new era, in his heart Charles remained a medieval ruler. He was a devout catholic and truly believed that his role in life was to protect the faith. His other overruling occupation was to secure the inheritance of his family in the Low Countries, Burgundy (unsuccessfully) , Spain and Germany. His Empire covered such a large area that these family affaires and in particular the negotiations around the marriage of his family members took up a large part of his activities. He also put a lot of effort in preserving the old laws and privileges. All of these elements; his lands, inheritance and these laws and privileges where forever under threat and he was therefore in a constant mode of negotiations,; without ever reaching a firm solution on any of them.
It is also appropriate here to mention the overseas territories in the Indies which brought untold richness to Spain and untold misery to the people in these conquered lands (as early as 1515 were these this misconducts reported back to Charles and in 1517 the earliest known privileges were issued to the Flemming Laurent Gorrevod to import negro slaves). In a letter to Margaretha in 1522 Charles marvels to her about his ships that had girdled the earth and in particular about the treasure (cloves, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, muscat and sandalwood) that Magellan had brought back from the Moluccas. A year later Charles asked the merchants of Lübeck (Hanse) to support his overseas enterprise.
Charles certainly also did have some ’Renaissance characteristics’, he was a pragmatic ruler and certainly had humanitarian manners, he was interested in the Roman Classics. He was surounded by historians, poets, painters and cosmologists. However, he never became a true man of the Renaissance. 3
France funding the Gelre wars
In 1526 France and England forced closer relationships and started to position themselves against the Emperor. After the sacking of Rome by imperial forces in 1527, also the pope (who was captured during this siege) loosened his relationship with the Emperor. France had been Charles’ arch enemy but broken marriage promises had driven Henry VIII into the arms of Francois I. The French King had already for a long time, used the Duke of Gelre as his ally and provided him with ongoing funds to wage war on the Empire. This finally brought several of the Dutch Provinces to negotiate with Charles V for military assistance and for the first time the Provinces voluntarily agreed to pay Charles money for these military operations. This led in 1527 to the Treaty of Schoonhoven, whereby the Bishop of Utrecht puts his territory under the sovereignty of the Emperor in exchange for financial assistance in his fight with Gelre. This also brought ‘Oversticht’ under the control of Charles (Groningen, Drente and Overijssel). The following year the Emperor’s rights over Holland, Gelderland, Overijssel and Brabant were again confirmed at the Treaty of Gorinchem, thus lessening the independence of the local nobility and the local cities.
Protestantes
Under Charles watch the Reformation started and the consequences of that would haunt him through life and at the end of his life he regretted that had not been able to protect his faith throughout his Empire. At the same time he had to keep his Empire together and the German lands – where the Reformation started – was a key element of this. This forced the Emperor to make concessions to these Protestants as he needed his help for example to fight the Turks who were in front of the gates of Vienna. Charles also was well aware of the many abuses within the Catholic Church and he tireesly tried to get to Pope to reform the Church, he believed that by reforming the Church he would be able to find compromises with the German Protestant Princes. However both Pope and the other authorities at the Vatican were mostly interested to maintain their own power and that of their family members and the reformation of the Church did not eventuate. It was in these issues that he often took a mor humansitic approach which was more alligned with the new era that of the Renaissance. What started as a defensive league of German princes aimed at protection the freedom of religion, became a political league against the Holy Roman Empire. The so called Schmalkaldic League was officially established in 1531, by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, and John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony. Anhalt, Württemberg, Pomerania, as well as the free imperial cities of Augsburg, Hanover, Frankfurt am Main (video clip), and Kempten all joined the alliance. For obvious reasons Francis I of France was only too happy to join the League, however he later retracted due to religious conflicts from within his country. In 1538 it allied with newly reformed Denmark, this brought the King of Denmark Christian III in direct conflict with Charles V, whose sister Isabelle (see above) was married with the King. However, in 1544 Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire signed the Treaty of Speyer, which stated that during the reign of Christian III of Denmark his country would maintain a peaceful foreign policy towards the Holy Roman Empire. In 1539 the League had also acquired Brandenburg and in 1545 it gained the allegiance of the Electoral Palatinate. The Duke of Cleve also joined the League in an effort to get control over Gelre. It was not until 1546/47 that Charles V finally took action and defeated the protestant forces. However, at the Peace of Augsburg, in the year of his death (1555), Lutheranism was granted official status within the Holy Roman Empire. The Peace established the principle ‘Cuius regio, eius religio’ which allowed for the princes to choose the official religion within the domains they controlled.
The Low Countries
The linkage between the House of Hapsburg and the two most important dynasties of Spain saw the focus of Charles V moving away from the Low Countries. However, he often expressed his love for the country where he was born (Prinsenhof Gent). Here he was still seen as the natural ruler. During his reign he visited the Netherlands eight times and extensively on three occassions. In between he maintained an extensive level of communications with his appointed Governers, first his aunt Margaretha and later his sister Maria. A key reason that draw him back to the Low Countries was an accusation by the Paris Parlement, in 1537, that Charles had broken the Ladies Peace of 1529 and France consequently resumed posesesion of Flanders, Artois and Charolais. The Estates General of the Netherlands granted Governess Maria 200,000 gulden a month to recover the territories. Hendrik van Nassau led the imperial armies, his last major job for the Emperor within the Low Countries. Charles had started to become agitated about his arrogant behaviour.
After a very bloody and messy war an armistice was signed in June that year. A defiant Gent refused to pay the extra taxes needed for his war against France and as a consequence of that Charles. rather heavy handedly, used the opportunity to finally address the ongoing revolts of the cities during a campaign that ended two years later in 1539. He severely punished the city, all the leaders were executed and the citizens were ordered to march barefoot with nooses around their necks.
WithCharles back in the Low Countries, a deputation from Holland went to Ghent to ash the Emperor to visit them. He accepted the invitation and started a four month tour, starting in Vlissingen (Flushing) he travelled to Middelburg, Veere, Goes, Zierikzee, Brouwershaven, Klundert and Dordrecht. Here his sister Maria joined him and together they continued to Rotterdam, Delft, The Hague (Binnenhof), Haarlem, Amsterdam, Utrecht (House of the Teutonic Order), Vianen, Gorinchem, Heuden, ‘s Hertogenbosch, Loon op Zand, Geertruidenberg, Breda, Bergen op Zoom (Markiezenhof), Antwerp, Mechelen and back to Brussels. We visited the Belfort Tower and the connected, very beautiful, Drapers Hall from 1425. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to properly visit Ghent and will most certainly go back to this city in the not to distant future. Charles saw Ghent together with Cambrai as the most important defence citadels in his border region with France.
The conquest of Gelre in 1543 was of particular importance. Ever since Charles the Reckless tried to subdue this county back in 1473 – as well as in the ventury before - there had been continuous military actions of the duke of Gelre into Holland and Brabant. During more recent years France had financed Gelre to create havoc in the Netherlands and enormous damage was done by Maarten van Rossum. This had a devastating effect on the Netherlands and brought Governess Queen Maria in desperation. Finally she could convince her brother to take personal control of the situation. After the conquest of Gelre Charles moved on towards France. The French had captured Luxembourg and parts of Hainault. On November 2nd he marched his troops to meet the enemy, only to find the French had fled. Charles undertook a pursuit with mixed success, they stooped at the Scheldt. From this time onwards political pressure was put on the French supporters. In Cambrai he was able to enter the citadel and set up a garrison. The campaign had turned out to be a victorious military action that led to the unification of the semi-autonomous Netherlands under one central Administration.
The following year he continued his campaign and regained Luxembourg, the Rene of Chalon the young Prince of Orange played a key role but was wounded and died at St Dizier. The capture the region between the rivers Maas and Marne and the road to Paris lay open. However, in the end in Charles’ typical way of handling such situations he arranged a peace conference in St Armand a final treaty was signed in Crépy (Picardy) in September that year. By signing this treaty Charles also finally accepted that he would not be able to regain his heriditary rights over Burgundy. (However, peace didn’t last for long in 1551 under the new French King Henry II, hostitlities started again this time Charles had to face a devastating defeat at Metz – an event reverberated to well into modern times).
But back to 1544, one of the most joyful people appreciating the peace treaty of Crépy was Eleonora, who finally could visit her native town Brussels again,which she did a month after the treaty was signed. This was turned into a large party with tournaments, games and balls. A large part of Charles’ family was gathered on this occasion.
After the Diet in Augsburg in 1548 he travelled via the Rhine and stayed with his sister in Leuven from where he proceeded to Brussels where he stayed from September 1548 till May 1550.
Transaction of Augsburg the formation of the Burgundian Kreits
At the Reichstag (Diet) in Augsburg, on the 26th June 1548, Charles united the 17 provinces in a semi-autonomous region, exempted from the jurisdiction of the Imperial Reichskammergericht – the Burgundian Circle (Kreits) built on the consolidation work of those earlier dukes of Burgundy. In exchange these privileges the Netherlands would have to fund some of the government themselves. Queen Maria of Hungary became the Governess of the first formation of what would eventually become The Netherlands. She had quite a task ahead of herself in getting all the provinces behind this new concept as not all were convinced that this would be the best way forward for them. As a result we also see an increase of the Dutch nobility entering the court with family names such as: Croÿ, Egmond, Glymes, Horn, Kleef, Lalaing, Ligne, Luxemburg, Nassau, Buren,Poitiers and Trazegenies. This Burgundian ‘state’ started to fall apart during the war of independence of the Netherlands which started in 1568. Five years later the Burgundian Circle was nothing more than a piece of paper, it had lasted for less than 30 years. It was revived after the Treaty of Vienna in 1815, but only survived for another 30 years when after the war of independence Belgium was split off 1830.
In 1545 Charles was again in the Low Countries where he travelled with his sister Maria to Utrecht for the Council meeting of the Golden Fleece. However, 
Charles had a severe attack of gout in ‘s Hertogenbosch and had to stay here from the 4th till the 28th of December. Maria travelled on Charles arrived in Utrecht on December 30th .
In February the following year Maria travelled back to Brussels while Charles travelled to the Reichstag (Diet) in Regensburg. It was here that he gave in to the temtations of one of the city’s respectable daughters Barbara Blomberg, who gave him a (bastard) son who later on as Don John of Austria played a key role in European history.
Of the 17 Diets that Charles organised during his reign seven were held in Augsburg, It was here that the important banking house of Fuggers and Welsers. Money was the most serious ongoing problem of most ruling noble families and these banks therefore played a key role in the economy of the Empire – as a matter of fact Augsburg was seen at the financial centre of the world at that time. Most kings didn’t live on the income of their lands but on the perpetual mortgaging of future income. Charles often stayed at the these families and no doubt that will have saved him some accommodation expenses.
The exuberance of Regensburg didn’t last long. The internal situation in Germany had become so polarised that the first religious war between the Catholic Emperor and the Protestants Estates finally erupted in July 1546. Also the Netherlands were mobilised and the Count of Buren was ordered to recruit an army of 10,000 in order to prevent the Protestants to enter these countries.
At that same time he allowed the bitterly humiliated Duke William of Cleves to marry his 15 year old niece Mary of Austria, thus further strengthening his border region of Germany. As mentioned above Charles did win this battle but at the same time time lost his war against Protestantism. In the battle Count Maximilian van Buren played a decisive role for the Emperor. Another Dutch Commander, Josse van Cruningen, played a key role in the capturing of Tecklenburg, Osnabrück, Lippe, Hoya, Schaumburg and Minden.
Governess Maria of Hungary
Charles five year younger sister, was born in Brussels in 1505, she was named after her grandmother Maria of Burgundy. Her godmothers where the ladies Ravenstein andNassau. After the deathof her father she lived with her brother and sisters Eleonora and Isabella in Mechelen, as we have seen before they were raised by their aunt Margareta of Australia. In 1506, again a double marriage (Wiener Doppelhochzeit) was arranged by Maximilian I this time for his grandchildren Catharina and Ferdinand. with the two children of King Vladilav II of Hungary and Anna van Foix. Louis and Anna. It was arranged that Maria would be the reserve in case Catherina would die early. It was Maria who in 1514 moved to Vienna and it is unsure why Catharina was bypassed. Here she lived with her sister-in-law to be Anna of Hungary at the Cilli Court opposite the Hofburg, until 1516.
After the death of her father the twelve year old Anna was married by proxy to Ferdinand – who as a 13 year old at that time resided in Spain. However, there were bitter succession wars in Hungary where several contenders tried to use this situation to claim the position of rulers of Hungary and Bohemia and because of these circumstances it was decided that it would be safer to bring both Maria and Anna to Innsbruck where the situation was less volatile, furthermore Maximilian did send his troops to Hungary to fight the rebels in order to safeguard the inheritances of his grandchildren. Nevertheless Maria always maintained that these years in Buda had been the best years of her life. 4
In 1520 Anna and Ferdinand got married in Innsbruck and a year later Maria could travel to Buda, she was crowned Queen of Hungary in December that year and in January 1522, she finally was married to King Louis II of Hungary. Because of the war situation these ceremonies did not receive the usual splendour. In February that year she was in Prague also crowned as Queen of Bohemia. From 1523 onwards they lived at the castle in Buda, still an impressive complex that we visited in 2003. However, at the Court she wasn’t made welcome as many of the rivalries were still very much alive.
In 1526 after her young and beloved husband had died in that battle of Mohács against the Turks she became a widow. She also lost most of her personal processions during her flight. A love stricken and a depressed Maria refused to marry again, despite the pressure put on her by her brothers Charles and Ferdinand. She was supported in this by her aunt Margareta who had raised her as her own child. After Louis’s death, Maria did put all of her effort behind the next succession war to promote her brother Ferdinand Ultimately Ferdinand was forced to launch a military attack on his opponents and could claim the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia in 1527. As Maria’s income and possessions where linked to her position as the ex queen of Hungary she was now depending on Ferdinand for a settlement, this situation would drag on until 1548.
After the much loved Dutch Governess Margareta of Australia had passed away the role of governor-general of the Low Countries was in 1531 passed on to Maria of Hungary.
In 1531, still under the governance of Margareta, Charle reformed the political situation in the Low Countries. The Court became permanently split in an administrative government and the royal court. This is an important development in history as this would become the base for modern government. The government moved to Brussels and when Maria became the new governess she also moved her court to Brussels. Margaretha’s court had been in Mechelen.
The Government was formalised in three Councils:
- Council of State (Raad van State) one of the oldest, still operating, government bodies in the world. It is the official advisory body of the Dutch Government. At its start it was the main political body and decided over war and peace.
- Council of Finance, also included clerical experts (not just nobles).
- Secret Council, the law making body.
The Grote Raad stayed in Mechelen.
Council of State 1531
- Filips van Croÿ – Margrave of Aarschot
- Floris van Egmond – Count of Buren
- Jacob van Luxemburg – Lord of Fiennes and Count of Gavre
- Adolf van Bourgondië – Lord of Beveren
- Anton van Lalaing – Count of Hoogstraten
- Anton van Croÿ – Lord of Sempy
- Jan van Bergen – Margrave – Bergen op Zoom and his son Anton Lord of Walhain
- Filips van Lannoy – Lord of Molembais
Without direct control of the Lord of the Land, the nobility of the Low Countries had been able to individually become powerful Lords of their own lands, more interested in their vested interests and busy with infightings.. After a rather difficult start – where she had to win the respect of these very independently minded nobility – she became a true leader, eventually respected by all of the nobility.
Maria stayed close to two of her advisers (Antoine van Croÿ and Fillip van Lannoy) and was also on good terms with the members of the Secret Councils. She became this strong and popular ruler despite the fact that she was often undermined by her two brothers because of either a lack of decision taking or through decisions that bypassed her. Money remained an ongoing problem and as before most courts were continuously on the brink of bankruptcy and where forever financing themselves through income that would be generated in the future, most of their possession where for that reasons leased off.
She made several inspection tours through the Low Countries andvisited all provinces (some were covered in her trip with her brother). The closest towns in our regions she visited were ‘s Hertogenbosch and Nijmegen in Brabant and Gelre and Oldenzaal andAlmelo in Twente. During her trip to the northern provinces she was also accompanied by the young prince William of Orange After the deathof his father Rene van Chalon in 1544 during the battle of St Dizier, Willem became the heir of his father’s titles and properties. He stayed at Maria’s court until his marriage in 1551 with Anna van Buren, daughter of the celebrated Count Maximilian, who had played such a key role in the Emperor’s war of 1547/48 in Germany.
In 1547, she finally again received the long longed company of family when her sister Eleonora moved in with her after the death of her 2nd husband the French King Francois I. She had been asking her brother, ever since she had been appointed, to be allowed to visit her sister in Paris, the refusal – for political reasons – was possibly the reason for the severe depression she suffered in 1534.
As we saw above, under her governance the Low Countries became a semi-autonomous legal entity under the Burgundian Kreits. She also had to face the religious problems that were caused by the Reformation (see: Popular Uprisings). While she had to execute the so called posters (plakkaten) from her brother and prosecute the ‘heretics’, she herself was a rather moderate and was often pictured by the Catholics as a supporter of the Reformation. As part of the formation of the Burgundian Kreits certain protestant practises were tolerated as long as they submitted themselves to the authority of the emperor.
Charles gave his sister the castle of Binche south of Brussels, as a reward for her devoted service. One of her favourite pastimes was hunting, she already enjoyed this with her husband in Hungary and at Binche she organised many hunting parties. She rebuilt it in conscious emulation of Fontainebleau; it was destroyed by the French in 1554 as a reprisal for her support to Charles during the battle of Metz. When Charles abdicated as Emperor in 1555, Maria abdicated as Governess. The abdication stared with his resignation as the sovereignty of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Brussels on October 22nd. Three day later he Charles, his son the new ruler King Philips II, hist sister Queen Mary and all of the nobility of the Netherlands. He entered the great room in the castle of Koudenberg, leaning on the shoulders of Prince William of Orange – an irony not lost in history as it was William who a decade later would leader the Dutch Protestant Revolt against Philip II. At all accounts the ceremony in Brussels was very moving and emotional, the Emperor was visibly tired and spoke emotionally about his reign and about the task that he expected from his son. Also Mary spoke and abdicated and Charles emotionally expressed his gratitude to her.
Mary was succeeded as Governor by Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, she supported him – under the new emperor Philips II – for another year. However, she was very reluctant about this and had never been able to establish a good contact with her nephew. Emmanuel family relationship is also interesting. He was a grandson of the father of Margaretha of Burgundy’s second marriage (Philip of Savoy x Claudine de Bosse of Brittany – son Carlos II x Beatrice of Portugal).
Emmanuel was married to Margaret of Valois, the daughter of the French King Francois I, whose mother was Louise of Savoy and an aunt of Emmanuel. Beatrice of Portugal was the sister of Isabella who was married to Charles V whose son Philips II became King of Spain and as such also related to Margaretha and Maria. When she abdicated she indicated that she had learned during her 25 years as a governess that whatever qualities a woman might have she is not well suited to govern neither in peacetime nor during wars, as she is neither respected not feared as a man.
In late 1556 she left, together with Charles and Eleonora, for Spain. The party travelled in eight hulks with 2250 sailors, 652 passengers, 104 horses, 950 suitcases and food stores for 2 months. In the end the trip took 2 weeks to complete.
From Spain Charles followed with great interests the various victories of the Dutch against the French. Count Egmont won in 1557 the celebrated victory at St.Quentin on the Flemish border and his other victory the following year stopping the French to break through from Dunkirk to Calais.
Within on year of each other all three died in 1588, Eleonora in February, Charles in September and Mary in October at a temporary villa she occupied at that time in Cigales, she had three heart attacks within one month. In her last will she requested that her heart-shaped gold medallion, once worn by her husband, be melted down and distributed among the poor.
Maria was a keen collector art, and owned several important masterpieces of Early Netherlandish painting as well as more contemporary works. These included the Deposition of Christ by Rogier van der Weyden, now Prado, andthe Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, now National Gallery, London. Most of the collection passed to the Spanish Royal Collection after her death. Her other favourite pastime was music she established and extended her chapel choir and at many occasions they were used to perform. With her the last ‘natural ruler’ of the country died.
The Burgundian/Hapsburg aftermath
One could argue that 1540 marked the end of the first ‘democratic’ movement that had started somewhere around the 13thcentury. During those 250 years cities such as Gent, Brugge, Mechelen andAntwerp played a key role in politics and most of the time enjoyed a very large proportion of self governance, where at least the burghers andmerchants also had a say in how their cities were ruled. It was not until the French revolution another 250 years later that such forms of democracy started to come back again. Of course during those intervening 250 years some of the cities in Holland were able to wrestle some sort of independence, but at a much lesser scale than had been the case in the preceding Burgundian period. Charles’ son Philip grew up at the Spanish court and when he took over the reign in 1555, could neither speak Dutch or French. He no longer was seen as the ‘natural’ ruler of the Low Countries. His authoritarian background only further exuberated that situation. Add to this the uncompromising stand of Philip in relation to the Religious Reformation which started in 1517 and the writing was on the wall for some dramatic changes.
The Burgundian Court
The Court itself has its tradition in chivalry, wherby the nobility was expected to rule its realm in a benign way. While cities gained more and more independence the political and judicial powers remained in the hands of the nobility. Until well into the 15th century the Royal Court remained still largely based on the travelling court system which dates back to Carolingian times and even before. Their function and functioning was similar to most of the other courts in north-western Europe, who all took their lead from these ancient Frankish traditions. However, it did reach its level splendour in Burgundy and rapidly achieved its international fame. Rulers of large regions such as the Carolingian Empire and the Burgundian Duchy had many castles and palaces but in order to effectively reign over their subjects they had to show their presence and the court therefore travelled with them. this – from the very early day onwards – included the treasury. This lasted well into the 16th century. Time tables travelling court
- Distances covered by the full travelling court varied from 15-30 km per day.
- On horseback they could cover 30-50 kms per day
- By ship (river) 100 – 150 km per day were achievable.
- Sea travel was the fastest and, with good winds, more than 200km per day could be covered.
While the Burgundian Court gained a rather distinguished reputation it was based on the organisation as it was developed at the French Court. French remained the language of the court long after the Burgundian Dukes were gone and extended to the neighbouring Courts of Kleve, Baden, Palatine and even at the Hapsburg Court French was spoken. It was not until the mid 15th century that the Administrative Court slowly started to be split of from the Royal Court, until that time the travelling court also included all of the important administrative officers. An extensive study of the court system was made by Jacqueline Kerkhof and is published in her book “ Maria van Hongarije en haar hof (1505 – 1558)’. Each member of the royal family had their own fully functioning court. The key functions included:
- Marshal (highest official)
- Grand Chamberlain (household)
- Seneshal (domestic affairs)
- Cup-bearer (food and drinks)
- Grand Almoner (Chapel)
Many of the senior court function were hereditary and were often more ceremonial and had the title Lord in front of them, while the real functions were executed with the official who had the name Court in front of their functional name. The main sections of the Court were:
- Chapel (religious and music)
- Chamber this was split around 1250 in:
- Chamber (honorary staff)
- Quarter service/inn
Since the 13th century the main sub sections for daily life activities included:
- Bread chamber
- Drinks chamber
- Kitchen
- Fruit chamber
- Stable service
- Quarter services
The personal court consisted between 100 and 200 staff and officials. However, it is estimated that Maria’s court in the Netherlands might have had as many as 300 members. There were rules and regulations for literally every aspect of court life from how hold to hold a napkin, how to cut a bread, how to dress, feed and when and how what to heat and what to light, some of these traditions amazingly continued to well into modern times. In the 15th century the annual costs of a personal court, excluding food and drinks, was around 10-15.000 Rhine guilders. (around €$1 million in modern value). In this case that is based on the combined court of Anna of Hungary and Maria of Austria.
In comparison Anna’s personal income at that time was estimated at 40,000 Rhine guilders (€3 million). The Burgundian court has a rich history in the proportion of the arts. All forms were represented at the court. Paintings, goblins, sculptures, glasswork, jewellery, music and perhaps also science should be mentioned here.
Many of the members of the court actively participated in cultural activities. One of the most famous artists from this part of the world was Albrecht Dürer. Margareta of Austria as well as her father Maximilian were great admirers of him. There are reports of Margareta showing him around at her palace in Mechelen. It was also the tradition that artist would visit the royal family during the Reichstag. Painters such as Jan Cornelisz, Jokob Seisenegger and Titian as well as sculpurer Leone Leoni visited Charles in Augsburg.
The Burgundian court chapel was the intellectual centre of the Court but also produced the best music in Europe according the European contemporise and the most famous musicians came from Flanders. Polyphony developed here for the first time; composed harmonies. Famous composers from the Burgundian and Hapsburg courts include: Johannes Ockeghem. Josquin des Prez, Pierre de la Rue, Jacobus Clemens and Nicolaas Gombert. It wasn’t until the reign of Emperor Ferdinand I that the chapel became formally organised under a director of music (Kapellmeister).
One of the most well known aspects of the Burgundian Court were its extravaganza festivals and celebrations, they were steeped in the tradition of chivalry with tournaments as one of the central elements off any festivity; the dukes were active participants and several were injured and some even died at these activities. Banquets was another highlight which reputation was famous throughout Europe. The Dukes themselves often headed the organisation of the events as the president of the feast.
Also part of of the ‘theatre state’ were the funerals. These were in particular important to very clearly proclaim the next ruler and his relationship with the deceased. The funeral of Philip the Good in 1467 became the blue print for the funerals of his Burgundian, Hapsburg and Dutch successors. There were no less than 1200 participants in the Philip’s funeral procession in Brugge. His corpse was transported under a canopy of gold cloth from the Prinsen Hof to the St Donatius church, behind the coffin followed his First Equerry with the Duke’s sword held in the air. He was followed by 20 nobles in black robes. The new Duke Charles followed with two bastard son and two bastard grandsons, plus all of his own personal attendants and officers. The church was lit by 1400 candles, the service lasted 4 hours and the following night an armed guard of honour remained in place. More masses followed the next day before the internment took place. After this – in front of all to see – Philip’s First Equerry handed over the sword the Charles’ First Equerry. After this Charles’ followed his First Equerry, who also held the sword high the air, outside the church.
After the cenotaph was finished in Champmol (Dyon) another procession tool place six year later through Flanders, Brabant and Luxembourg and Lotharingia, again with the sword playing a key role. His body was transferred however, his heart and intestines stayed in Brugge. A prominent attribute was added to this event, a richly decorated duke’s hat. In following funerals public announcement of the death of the ruler and proclamation of the new ruler were shouted (cris) during the ceremonies.
The deaths of family members was also followed by full pomp and ceremony funerals. If those family members dies elsewhere funeral processions were often also staged in places such as Brussels, Brugge Ghent. Mechelen and later The Hague and Delft.