Walking on the Silver Line: A Valois-Bourgogne TL
- Thread starter Liminia1
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Chapter 1: A time of peace enforced by internal strife. 1457-1462 roughly
Burgundy much like every other country in Western Europe was completely sewn due to internal strife, the Croy Family, a power noble family that held positions in court was trying desperately to gain even more power to supplant the house of Valois-Bourgogne, evidently seen in the forceful marriage of Jacqueline of Luxembourg, eldest daughter of the powerful, Louis of Saint Pol. This marriage would secure the Croy Family in terms of strength within the house of Valois-Bourgogne but it would set a rivalry between this house and the Count of Charolais, Charles the Absolute of Burgundy. Charles, only Count of Charolais was quite angry at his father Philip the Good of Burgundy. He was removed from government as he had no say in running Charolais but instead stuck around Artois with his forced French wife Isabel of Bourbon. Only his mother, Isabella of Portugal supported him, but god would give Charles luck. He would give birth to a son, Philip named after his father in hopes of reconciling the bond between father and son. This would undoubtedly work although it would be incredibly tough, Philip now seeing a grandson began introducing Charles into government sacking Jean II de Lennoy from his position of stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland and giving it to Charles. This would not go down well with the Croy family but due to the birth of Philip and the return of Isabella the self exiled Duchess of Burgundy and the exiled chancellor Nicholas Rolin. Charles began to exert a far greater influence over Burgundy and continued this power struggle between himself and the Croy Family.
The dauphin of France, Louis was considered the wild card and living up to his name as the universal spider, was playing off of two things. The first was the spellbound foolishness of Philip the Good and his belief in a reconciliatory attitude to France. Under this foolishness that the French king was not outright hostile to Burgundy played this weird back and forth, using the Dauphin to promote better relations while refusing the king's order. Swearing up and down that he, Philip the Good was a servant of the King of France while at every turn he would do his best to refuse crown authority. The second was his alliance and network of contacts in Burgundy that Charles, count of Charolais was actively dismantling with his shadow war against the Croy family, only through Philip's good will was he still in a dominant position in Burgundy. Charles watched in anger and shock as his father continued this flip-flopping and absolutely despised the Dauphin and France in general. He watched as Charles VII formed what can only be described as a return to Orleanist encirclement. His alliance with Denmark, the purchasing of the claims of Luxembourg from the Saxons, the Lancastrian support, conference at Savoy, and the alliance of the Swiss the subsequent alliance with Bohemia who at this point was under Ladislaus the Posthumous and would soon turn the empire against the powerful Burgundian state. He constantly argued with his father that Charles VII could not be trusted as he was forming an encirclement against the Burgundian state. Philip finally acquiesced seeing the impassionated speeches made by Charles invoking his grandfather John the Fearless, arguing that the Dauphin now King Charles VII was directly responsible or negligent in his death, he listed out these infractions that Philip himself witnessed and resolved, declaring to the estates general at Bruges. "We can not be free under the King, for the king sees us not as a subject but as a rival that seeks to dismantle our state, strip us of our privileges, burn our cities, and loot our lands until the coffers of the French are satisfied." Charles declared to the estates general. This declaration would finally cause Philip to abandon his indecisiveness and returned to an anti-French attitude in the year 1460, interestingly he would not give up on the dauphin as Charles conceded that he would see if Louis would act like his father towards Burgundy. It would be a costly mistake for the Burgundian dukes although not a complete one.
Philip the Good, believed that in Reims his greatest achievement was made as he shattered Charles VII's great plans of encirclement with the exiled Dauphin. Louis XI of France was crowned surrounded by Burgundian arms, and his new ally Edward of York assumed the throne as Edward IV of England. He would still find enemies in the Holy Roman Empire as Frederick III, cousin of the late Ladislaus would see Burgundy as a threat once more. For now, Burgundy and France continued in an uneasy peace as Charles continued to dismantle what he saw as "French partisans and spies working for the spider king" but in reality he was merely removing advisors and consolidating power for himself. The Croy family became a practical vassal and with the arrival of one William Hugonet, Charles was establishing internal peace through an authoritarian hand. This anti-French attitude would seemingly pay off as the appointment of one David of Burgundy as bishop of Utrecht would prove to be another piece added to the Burgundian State. This internal peace was only because of the changes happening in the other nations at the time most importantly France.
It isn't a dauphinst France that came out of the Hundred Years' War. It was an Armagnac France that came out of the Hundred Years War. When the mad King Charles VI disinherited and threw out the Dauphin. It was not because the dauphin was too ambitious or too competent to the point of jealousy but instead of political intrigue that saw England and Burgundy align themselves after the death of John the Fearless. This throwing of the dauphin would lead him directly into the arms of the Armagnacs, and raising him under the armagnac banner would be the death nail for Charles VII or Charles the Victorious. He saw his mother in law as his actual mother, the powerful Yolande of Aragon, who with Angevin interests in mind would seek him to decentralize his realm to help her family, the house of Valois-Anjou. Charles VII was not a man of great will or of great action, the only reason he had his epithet was the holy maiden's arrival. Joan of Arc, who led the charge to have Charles VII crowned king. Just because a crown was given, didn't change the man. His inaction cost the holy maiden her life, and throughout the various years, this lack of action would spur the new dauphin to action. Louis XI of France considered his father weak and feeble, while this portrayal is widely rejected, it held some merit in the eyes of the dauphin. Louis did not see his father's reforms of the army and his brilliant Burgundian diplomacy in breaking the long powerful Anglo-Burgundian Alliance. He only saw the inaction of his father and the playing of favourites such as Agnes Sorel, and Charles, Count of Maine.
The Praguerie, named after what the French saw as civil unrest in Prague was the humbling of the dauphin. Charles VII in a spur of action crushed the rebellion in a matter of months against the rebellious Duke of Bourbon and Duke of Alencon. This event would humble Louis in terms of attitude but not ambition. Rumours whispered that Charles was only spurred to ruin his heir and not against the English. We would not hear the last of this ambitious and rebellious dauphin as he would be the centre of attention after demolishing the Swiss and ransacking Austrian Alsatian lands. Even the emperor was shaken after this decisive victory and the threat of the loss of the homelands of the Habsburgs. Once again, Charles VII, king of France reined his son in and this moment of glory however brief was lost immediately. That moment was seared in the Dauphin's head. He would return once again, humbled and resentful. The death of Margaret of Scotland, his first wife would be a blessing in disguise, long had the dauphin been jealous of his wife, as she had the court and the crown's attention and joy, but her death caused even more resentment between the dauphin and the crown. Dauphin Louis who assumed he would inherit at the very least the wealth from Margaret was even more isolated from court. An ambitious and embittered dauphin was never good for a king, and he would drive the mistress of the king to near death, this courtly war of intrigue and manipulation was ended with the birth of Charles, Duke of Berry. The dauphin would be exiled to dauphine, finally granting him a semblance of power.
As the king grew ever stronger, using the new professional army to drive the English back into the sea, the dauphin was consolidating his power in Dauphiné. His taste for power and for ruling was well served throughout as Dauphiné was now the centre of attention in Burgundy, France and Northern Italy. Dauphiné was a power that began to enter the diplomatic stage, seeking a full coalition against Milan over Sforza's seizure of power, the marriage between the Dauphin and Charlotte of Savoy. Dauphiné would be a warning to France, this centralized state would be the absolutist dream of its next king. The king and the nobility, would not allow this to happen. After all, when a king is crowned by nobles, they are a puppet are they not? Or at least that is what the Dauphin thought, ironically he also tried to be crowned by the nobility but hypocrisy in politics is a small sin. The invasion and seizure of Dauphin drove him into exile with only a handful of advisors, not even his new wife joined him. Where else would he go but into the hands of France's most powerful vassal. The Duke of Burgundy welcomed him with open arms not realizing he invited a fox into his henhouse.
A king weakened by nobles, tempted by women. The kingdom that only drove out the English because they believed Henry V was too powerful and forceful of will to align with their interests, by using such powerful nobility, the crown is as weak as ever. The king is old and is dying, but still believes in his youth due to his multiple affairs. Its saving grace lies in Burgundy where an absolutist dauphin, tempered by defeat, scholarly in politics, and ambitious in rulership waits for even the slightest chance to seize what he sees as his rightful throne. When this absolutist dauphin came to power that is exactly what he did, immediately by throwing a small carrot and appointing his now 15 year old younger brother as Duke of Berry, immediately breaking the backbone of any resistance against his coronation. The removing of Charles' many mistresses including Agnes Sorel and the expansion of the parlament of Paris which served him well breathing absolutist power into France again. The reforms were very similar to the reforms conducted at Dauphiné and while the nobility was dissatisfied with it, Louis would play the game quite well as he began to place incredible pressure on Savoy and Aragon seeking to incorporate portions of it into France. His efforts would be most successful in Aragon as he extracted a couple of counties from the Aragonese in the succession of John II of Aragon and Louis turned France's eye on Burgundy in the aftermath of the famous Feast of the Pheasant.
On the other side of the channel in England, the glory days of Henry V were over with the ascension of his son Henry VI. England started a Hundred Years War for the full conquest of France and has lost completely. Charles VII no matter how ineffective he was at governing saw to the victories and the driving out of English continental power. The betrayal of Burgundy, the cowardice of Somerset and the destruction of the English treasury has cost the king, his prestige, legitimacy and sanity. However, unlike France England had two saving graces, Richard, Duke of York and Margaret of Anjou. England after the death of John, Duke of Bedford. The Lancastrian position in France crumbled, with defeat after defeat by the hands of the holy maiden, Joan of Arc who lead the dauphin Charles VII to be King of France. Henry VI was rushed into the crown at the age of two but that did not benefit the position. The betrayal of the Burgundians at Arras, allowed Charles to sweep the Ile de France, but the marriage of Henry VI to Margaret of Anjou sent England's fortunes in a downward spiral, originally the marriage was supposed to be with Henry and Marie of Armagnac but these negotiations proved indecisive as a combination of Charles forces, and Louis the dauphin's brilliant political manoeuvring brought down these negotiations. Instead Henry was married to Margaret of Anjou, a brilliant diplomatic victory for Charles VII of France but spearheaded by the ambitious dauphin. The loss of Maine back to Charles count of Maine, was proven to be unpopular amongst the English as Henry and Margaret were attacked indirectly by the blame being shifted onto the Earl of Suffolk.
When you were borne from a powerful duchess, and you are married to a weak king, would you not claim to be a strong queen? Margaret of Anjou began to strong-arm her way through government in order to stabilize the realm immediately after her marriage, but her appointment of Somerset allowed the rise of the heir presumptive to the throne, and the most powerful noble of the realm. Richard Duke of York, was a cousin of Henry VI and as he considered himself, the saviour of England. He held back the French until Somerset's appointment in which he was sent to Ireland to govern it. Somerset's defeat and the loss of the entirety of Northern France gave him the edge needed to strike back against Margaret. The alliance with between himself and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick lead to a civil war between the York and Lancaster.
Margaret was the saviour of England, or as so she dreamed, by creating a faction, driving out Richard of York, from his position as Lord Protector and bearing a son, she was completely in charge of the realm. It would be her faction and advisors that would drag her down. Somerset's incompetence in France drove York into action. York outraged at being shoved out of the crown by the queen would lead a practical rebellion when the king was incapacitated and killed Somerset, but this murder would put parliament into a resentment and King Henry's return to sanity would isolate him from any further intrigue. Another failure at parliament and York resigned, bitter and vengeful. Margaret now holds the cards through indirect control of the king. This fragile peace would not last, a saviour from the shadows against the noble killing saviour. A crucial mistake in letting the noble killing saviour, Richard Duke of York escape from royal arrest would unleash a chain of events that would drive the Lancastrians out and establish Richard as de facto king, only to make a mistake and die before not being crowned and letting Margaret of Anjou and Edward of Westminster escape to Scotland but now Edward IV son of the late Richard was king and he saw his father win the crown by blood and iron and he would not do the same in his reign.
The Holy Roman Empire was in utter chaos in these trying times, Albert II of Germany, the heir of the Luxembourgs and Sigismund of Bohemia is long dead, his cousin Frederick III was acclaimed Holy Roman Emperor but he only ruled Inner Austria. (Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia) This weakened emperor was only elected because he was indeed weak but he was ambitious marrying Eleanor of Portugal and trying to establish the Habsburgs as a dynasty to last. This was seen through the rise of Ladisalus as King of Bohemia, Hungary and Archduke of Austria restoring Albert II's great union but it has collapsed with his death. Frederick could only claim upper Austria while his brother Albert VI fought him tooth and nail for that inheritance. All-out war would spark over the archduchy as the energetic archduke would fight against the emperor. To the north, a Hussite regent is proclaimed King, George of Podebrady is now king of Bohemia, and his rule is unstable trying to keep an internal peace. He is ever so slightly successful but as always he is ambitious as well, he sold his claims to Luxembourg to France and dreams of Imperial Ambition. The trend of anti-burgundian imperial ambition would continue under the Saxons led by Frederick II, along with the Margrave of Brandenburg, Frederick II Hohenzollern were relatively new into the imperial electoral politics but one thing is for sure. The empire would not allow Burgundian influence to grow even more, but the Empire has long fractured and is weak, anyone can see when David of Burgundy was appointed bishop of Utrecht and the empire did nothing.
The dauphin of France, Louis was considered the wild card and living up to his name as the universal spider, was playing off of two things. The first was the spellbound foolishness of Philip the Good and his belief in a reconciliatory attitude to France. Under this foolishness that the French king was not outright hostile to Burgundy played this weird back and forth, using the Dauphin to promote better relations while refusing the king's order. Swearing up and down that he, Philip the Good was a servant of the King of France while at every turn he would do his best to refuse crown authority. The second was his alliance and network of contacts in Burgundy that Charles, count of Charolais was actively dismantling with his shadow war against the Croy family, only through Philip's good will was he still in a dominant position in Burgundy. Charles watched in anger and shock as his father continued this flip-flopping and absolutely despised the Dauphin and France in general. He watched as Charles VII formed what can only be described as a return to Orleanist encirclement. His alliance with Denmark, the purchasing of the claims of Luxembourg from the Saxons, the Lancastrian support, conference at Savoy, and the alliance of the Swiss the subsequent alliance with Bohemia who at this point was under Ladislaus the Posthumous and would soon turn the empire against the powerful Burgundian state. He constantly argued with his father that Charles VII could not be trusted as he was forming an encirclement against the Burgundian state. Philip finally acquiesced seeing the impassionated speeches made by Charles invoking his grandfather John the Fearless, arguing that the Dauphin now King Charles VII was directly responsible or negligent in his death, he listed out these infractions that Philip himself witnessed and resolved, declaring to the estates general at Bruges. "We can not be free under the King, for the king sees us not as a subject but as a rival that seeks to dismantle our state, strip us of our privileges, burn our cities, and loot our lands until the coffers of the French are satisfied." Charles declared to the estates general. This declaration would finally cause Philip to abandon his indecisiveness and returned to an anti-French attitude in the year 1460, interestingly he would not give up on the dauphin as Charles conceded that he would see if Louis would act like his father towards Burgundy. It would be a costly mistake for the Burgundian dukes although not a complete one.
Philip the Good, believed that in Reims his greatest achievement was made as he shattered Charles VII's great plans of encirclement with the exiled Dauphin. Louis XI of France was crowned surrounded by Burgundian arms, and his new ally Edward of York assumed the throne as Edward IV of England. He would still find enemies in the Holy Roman Empire as Frederick III, cousin of the late Ladislaus would see Burgundy as a threat once more. For now, Burgundy and France continued in an uneasy peace as Charles continued to dismantle what he saw as "French partisans and spies working for the spider king" but in reality he was merely removing advisors and consolidating power for himself. The Croy family became a practical vassal and with the arrival of one William Hugonet, Charles was establishing internal peace through an authoritarian hand. This anti-French attitude would seemingly pay off as the appointment of one David of Burgundy as bishop of Utrecht would prove to be another piece added to the Burgundian State. This internal peace was only because of the changes happening in the other nations at the time most importantly France.
It isn't a dauphinst France that came out of the Hundred Years' War. It was an Armagnac France that came out of the Hundred Years War. When the mad King Charles VI disinherited and threw out the Dauphin. It was not because the dauphin was too ambitious or too competent to the point of jealousy but instead of political intrigue that saw England and Burgundy align themselves after the death of John the Fearless. This throwing of the dauphin would lead him directly into the arms of the Armagnacs, and raising him under the armagnac banner would be the death nail for Charles VII or Charles the Victorious. He saw his mother in law as his actual mother, the powerful Yolande of Aragon, who with Angevin interests in mind would seek him to decentralize his realm to help her family, the house of Valois-Anjou. Charles VII was not a man of great will or of great action, the only reason he had his epithet was the holy maiden's arrival. Joan of Arc, who led the charge to have Charles VII crowned king. Just because a crown was given, didn't change the man. His inaction cost the holy maiden her life, and throughout the various years, this lack of action would spur the new dauphin to action. Louis XI of France considered his father weak and feeble, while this portrayal is widely rejected, it held some merit in the eyes of the dauphin. Louis did not see his father's reforms of the army and his brilliant Burgundian diplomacy in breaking the long powerful Anglo-Burgundian Alliance. He only saw the inaction of his father and the playing of favourites such as Agnes Sorel, and Charles, Count of Maine.
The Praguerie, named after what the French saw as civil unrest in Prague was the humbling of the dauphin. Charles VII in a spur of action crushed the rebellion in a matter of months against the rebellious Duke of Bourbon and Duke of Alencon. This event would humble Louis in terms of attitude but not ambition. Rumours whispered that Charles was only spurred to ruin his heir and not against the English. We would not hear the last of this ambitious and rebellious dauphin as he would be the centre of attention after demolishing the Swiss and ransacking Austrian Alsatian lands. Even the emperor was shaken after this decisive victory and the threat of the loss of the homelands of the Habsburgs. Once again, Charles VII, king of France reined his son in and this moment of glory however brief was lost immediately. That moment was seared in the Dauphin's head. He would return once again, humbled and resentful. The death of Margaret of Scotland, his first wife would be a blessing in disguise, long had the dauphin been jealous of his wife, as she had the court and the crown's attention and joy, but her death caused even more resentment between the dauphin and the crown. Dauphin Louis who assumed he would inherit at the very least the wealth from Margaret was even more isolated from court. An ambitious and embittered dauphin was never good for a king, and he would drive the mistress of the king to near death, this courtly war of intrigue and manipulation was ended with the birth of Charles, Duke of Berry. The dauphin would be exiled to dauphine, finally granting him a semblance of power.
As the king grew ever stronger, using the new professional army to drive the English back into the sea, the dauphin was consolidating his power in Dauphiné. His taste for power and for ruling was well served throughout as Dauphiné was now the centre of attention in Burgundy, France and Northern Italy. Dauphiné was a power that began to enter the diplomatic stage, seeking a full coalition against Milan over Sforza's seizure of power, the marriage between the Dauphin and Charlotte of Savoy. Dauphiné would be a warning to France, this centralized state would be the absolutist dream of its next king. The king and the nobility, would not allow this to happen. After all, when a king is crowned by nobles, they are a puppet are they not? Or at least that is what the Dauphin thought, ironically he also tried to be crowned by the nobility but hypocrisy in politics is a small sin. The invasion and seizure of Dauphin drove him into exile with only a handful of advisors, not even his new wife joined him. Where else would he go but into the hands of France's most powerful vassal. The Duke of Burgundy welcomed him with open arms not realizing he invited a fox into his henhouse.
A king weakened by nobles, tempted by women. The kingdom that only drove out the English because they believed Henry V was too powerful and forceful of will to align with their interests, by using such powerful nobility, the crown is as weak as ever. The king is old and is dying, but still believes in his youth due to his multiple affairs. Its saving grace lies in Burgundy where an absolutist dauphin, tempered by defeat, scholarly in politics, and ambitious in rulership waits for even the slightest chance to seize what he sees as his rightful throne. When this absolutist dauphin came to power that is exactly what he did, immediately by throwing a small carrot and appointing his now 15 year old younger brother as Duke of Berry, immediately breaking the backbone of any resistance against his coronation. The removing of Charles' many mistresses including Agnes Sorel and the expansion of the parlament of Paris which served him well breathing absolutist power into France again. The reforms were very similar to the reforms conducted at Dauphiné and while the nobility was dissatisfied with it, Louis would play the game quite well as he began to place incredible pressure on Savoy and Aragon seeking to incorporate portions of it into France. His efforts would be most successful in Aragon as he extracted a couple of counties from the Aragonese in the succession of John II of Aragon and Louis turned France's eye on Burgundy in the aftermath of the famous Feast of the Pheasant.
On the other side of the channel in England, the glory days of Henry V were over with the ascension of his son Henry VI. England started a Hundred Years War for the full conquest of France and has lost completely. Charles VII no matter how ineffective he was at governing saw to the victories and the driving out of English continental power. The betrayal of Burgundy, the cowardice of Somerset and the destruction of the English treasury has cost the king, his prestige, legitimacy and sanity. However, unlike France England had two saving graces, Richard, Duke of York and Margaret of Anjou. England after the death of John, Duke of Bedford. The Lancastrian position in France crumbled, with defeat after defeat by the hands of the holy maiden, Joan of Arc who lead the dauphin Charles VII to be King of France. Henry VI was rushed into the crown at the age of two but that did not benefit the position. The betrayal of the Burgundians at Arras, allowed Charles to sweep the Ile de France, but the marriage of Henry VI to Margaret of Anjou sent England's fortunes in a downward spiral, originally the marriage was supposed to be with Henry and Marie of Armagnac but these negotiations proved indecisive as a combination of Charles forces, and Louis the dauphin's brilliant political manoeuvring brought down these negotiations. Instead Henry was married to Margaret of Anjou, a brilliant diplomatic victory for Charles VII of France but spearheaded by the ambitious dauphin. The loss of Maine back to Charles count of Maine, was proven to be unpopular amongst the English as Henry and Margaret were attacked indirectly by the blame being shifted onto the Earl of Suffolk.
When you were borne from a powerful duchess, and you are married to a weak king, would you not claim to be a strong queen? Margaret of Anjou began to strong-arm her way through government in order to stabilize the realm immediately after her marriage, but her appointment of Somerset allowed the rise of the heir presumptive to the throne, and the most powerful noble of the realm. Richard Duke of York, was a cousin of Henry VI and as he considered himself, the saviour of England. He held back the French until Somerset's appointment in which he was sent to Ireland to govern it. Somerset's defeat and the loss of the entirety of Northern France gave him the edge needed to strike back against Margaret. The alliance with between himself and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick lead to a civil war between the York and Lancaster.
Margaret was the saviour of England, or as so she dreamed, by creating a faction, driving out Richard of York, from his position as Lord Protector and bearing a son, she was completely in charge of the realm. It would be her faction and advisors that would drag her down. Somerset's incompetence in France drove York into action. York outraged at being shoved out of the crown by the queen would lead a practical rebellion when the king was incapacitated and killed Somerset, but this murder would put parliament into a resentment and King Henry's return to sanity would isolate him from any further intrigue. Another failure at parliament and York resigned, bitter and vengeful. Margaret now holds the cards through indirect control of the king. This fragile peace would not last, a saviour from the shadows against the noble killing saviour. A crucial mistake in letting the noble killing saviour, Richard Duke of York escape from royal arrest would unleash a chain of events that would drive the Lancastrians out and establish Richard as de facto king, only to make a mistake and die before not being crowned and letting Margaret of Anjou and Edward of Westminster escape to Scotland but now Edward IV son of the late Richard was king and he saw his father win the crown by blood and iron and he would not do the same in his reign.
The Holy Roman Empire was in utter chaos in these trying times, Albert II of Germany, the heir of the Luxembourgs and Sigismund of Bohemia is long dead, his cousin Frederick III was acclaimed Holy Roman Emperor but he only ruled Inner Austria. (Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia) This weakened emperor was only elected because he was indeed weak but he was ambitious marrying Eleanor of Portugal and trying to establish the Habsburgs as a dynasty to last. This was seen through the rise of Ladisalus as King of Bohemia, Hungary and Archduke of Austria restoring Albert II's great union but it has collapsed with his death. Frederick could only claim upper Austria while his brother Albert VI fought him tooth and nail for that inheritance. All-out war would spark over the archduchy as the energetic archduke would fight against the emperor. To the north, a Hussite regent is proclaimed King, George of Podebrady is now king of Bohemia, and his rule is unstable trying to keep an internal peace. He is ever so slightly successful but as always he is ambitious as well, he sold his claims to Luxembourg to France and dreams of Imperial Ambition. The trend of anti-burgundian imperial ambition would continue under the Saxons led by Frederick II, along with the Margrave of Brandenburg, Frederick II Hohenzollern were relatively new into the imperial electoral politics but one thing is for sure. The empire would not allow Burgundian influence to grow even more, but the Empire has long fractured and is weak, anyone can see when David of Burgundy was appointed bishop of Utrecht and the empire did nothing.
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So how exactly am I writing this TL this time? It's going to be very event specific, similar to the gold rose TL by material_boy but it won't be written like wikipedia (Although you have inspired me so much material_boy if you see this you are an amazing author). This chapter is absurdly long because it lays out what is happening so far in terms of Burgundy and the surrounding areas, it won't be focused on character as much instead highly focused on politics and conquest. I'll see y'all in the Feast of the Pheasants and the Burgundian Court.
Chapter 2: Musings over a crusade, to deal with church, and the rise of a dutch prince 1455-1465
The fall of Constantinople was the event that changed the course of history, for the loss of the queen of cities would drive Philip the Good to insanity in the hopes of a crusade. Philip the Good at the end of his life, with this event hanging over his head called a crusade to retake the greatest city of the world in the famous Feast of the Pheasant where the order of the Golden Fleece unanimously declared their support for the crusade. Philip's energies and resources began to gather and concentrate around the idea of a great crusade. Only in 1454, the third Ghent war was ended decisively in Philip's favour, and the internal strife between duke and city would end for now. The imperial diet of Frankfurt in 1455, only further strengthened the cause with the Holy Roman Empire promising to contribute to the crusade, this is also when another crusader king Alfonso V of Aragon would enter the scene. Philip the Good's greatest supporter in this crusade would be the great crusader king of Aragon.
Alfonso V of Aragon and Naples, or Alfonso the Magnanimous was a great supporter of the legendary Skanderbeg and a man of keen interest in the balkans, only very recently did he gain the theoretical vassalage of Bosnia and was considered for the crown of Hungary in exchange of a crusade, he was a man of war, conquering the kingdom of Naples and proclaiming himself King of the Two Sicilies. The rich Duke of Burgundy would continue his contact with Alfonso and the pope Nicholas V, later his successor Callixtus III. These foundational efforts would be delayed until 1456.
The musings of a crusade by Philip the Good only allowed Charles in his governorship in Holland to strengthen his position in court and in the Burgundian State, the removal of the Croy Family from power and the various military captains gave Charles regent like status as he was soon appointed lieutenant-governor of Flanders, Brabant, Holland and Zeeland giving him siginificant power over the Burgundian Netherlands. His governance over these four realms would signal to his epithet of the Absolute, as he increased the amount of money in the treasury through the stripping of privileges and increase of taxes to the various cities and his anti-french, absolutist rhetoric continued, only his continuous movements between the various cities and his generosity and vainness of his wealth kept the cities placated for the time being. Eventually he would return to his father's court in Lille to deal with Philip's last great expansion. The bishopric of Utrecht and the return to Liege.
Importantly for Charles was his movement throughout Burgundy, while Philip and his wife Isabella would remain in Holland with their son. His assumption as lieutenant governor of the two Burgundies and the mentorship provided by both his mother Isabella and the chancellor Nicholas Rolin would prove to be of immense help to the energetic duke as while Charles was still quite the militaristic duke but his time governing Burgundy would teach him and spark his passion into finance and centralization. The watchful eye of both the duchess and chancellor would teach the young count
The bishopric of Liege would be the greatest achievement of Philip the Good, it would also be the bane of Charles the Absolute. In 1455, the bishop of Liege died and Philip the Good began to exert huge pressure on both the chapter and the papacy to appoint a close cousin of his, Louis of Bourbon as bishop while in Utrecht another bishop died, and Philip who began to divert his energies and powers from the crusade to the bishoprics continuously pressured the appointment of his bastard son David of Burgundy to bishop. These two appointments would secure Burgundian power in the Burgundian Netherlands leaving only Frisia as the last obstacle towards a complete Burgundian dominance over the Netherlands. Although objectively these bishoprics would be independent it would be through three generations of strong-willed dukes that these bishoprics would transform into mere Burgundian provinces by de facto. His administrative reforms and financial reforms allowed a reduction in corruption throughout Burgundy and would also pit him against royalist officers which would further entrench his anger towards France.
The changes of two popes from Nicholas V, Callixtus III and now Pius II would be the death nail to the Burgundian crusade, already the crusade weakened with the death of Alfonso V of Aragon, as the two kingdoms split and Naples was now plunged in war over succession and the papal meddling did not help at all. If it was not the continuous arrival of Byzantine refugees, the crusading effort would already be dead. Philip the Good would recognize this change in situation in which the congress of Mantua called upon a crusade against the turks, he would send only funds and a token force to help. The other rulers would not do better and the crusading effort was dead. The ottoman response would be fierce however, Mehmed II called that Rome would fall just like Constantinople and Philip the Good's head would be his. This provocation would reignite the old duke's desire to crusade. Charles who firmly held the court refused to sell the lands of Somme to France to grant greater funds to Burgundy, instead his extreme taxes would grant the old duke his funds and armies. This would cause another revolt that was brutally suppressed by Charles with his armies, his governorship of the urban elites taught him to play them off of each other to gain further power.
This crusade which only came to be a Burgundian expedition led by Antoine, Grand Bastard of Burgundy would make their way to Provence before returning with Pope Pius II's death being announced. This Burgundian crusade was struck down with a perfect storm, the death of the crusader king, an anglo-french war that denied Burgundy the time to act, a string of papal and bishop deaths that distracted Philip and finally, the lack of action from the imperials. The greatness and chivalry of this attempt of Burgundy to crusade would be forever remembered and reenacted in Burgundy but more importantly it kept Philip distracted from Charles' rise to absolute power. The end of this crusade would end with Charles becoming regent while Philip would be confined to his bed and eventually his deathbed.
Philip the Rich would be raised in Holland after being born in Brabant, unlike his father Philip would take in great effort towards his studies and would speak fluent Dutch first before French. His education which was funded by the ducal court would be primarily raised by Isabella of Bourbon who believed that he should be governing over fighting. Charles would arrange his marriage to Anne, eldest daughter of the king of France although this would not happen until the treaty of Conflans. The marriage would not sooth the relations between France and Burgundy. France was centralizing at an alarming rate to the count, and Burgundy, their most powerful vassal would not allow that to happen. The French nobility would spark a war for its public good. The marriage that was supposed to set peace between Burgundy and France would shatter instantly as Charles joined the league of the public weal in order to break the crown of France completely.
Alfonso V of Aragon and Naples, or Alfonso the Magnanimous was a great supporter of the legendary Skanderbeg and a man of keen interest in the balkans, only very recently did he gain the theoretical vassalage of Bosnia and was considered for the crown of Hungary in exchange of a crusade, he was a man of war, conquering the kingdom of Naples and proclaiming himself King of the Two Sicilies. The rich Duke of Burgundy would continue his contact with Alfonso and the pope Nicholas V, later his successor Callixtus III. These foundational efforts would be delayed until 1456.
The musings of a crusade by Philip the Good only allowed Charles in his governorship in Holland to strengthen his position in court and in the Burgundian State, the removal of the Croy Family from power and the various military captains gave Charles regent like status as he was soon appointed lieutenant-governor of Flanders, Brabant, Holland and Zeeland giving him siginificant power over the Burgundian Netherlands. His governance over these four realms would signal to his epithet of the Absolute, as he increased the amount of money in the treasury through the stripping of privileges and increase of taxes to the various cities and his anti-french, absolutist rhetoric continued, only his continuous movements between the various cities and his generosity and vainness of his wealth kept the cities placated for the time being. Eventually he would return to his father's court in Lille to deal with Philip's last great expansion. The bishopric of Utrecht and the return to Liege.
Importantly for Charles was his movement throughout Burgundy, while Philip and his wife Isabella would remain in Holland with their son. His assumption as lieutenant governor of the two Burgundies and the mentorship provided by both his mother Isabella and the chancellor Nicholas Rolin would prove to be of immense help to the energetic duke as while Charles was still quite the militaristic duke but his time governing Burgundy would teach him and spark his passion into finance and centralization. The watchful eye of both the duchess and chancellor would teach the young count
The bishopric of Liege would be the greatest achievement of Philip the Good, it would also be the bane of Charles the Absolute. In 1455, the bishop of Liege died and Philip the Good began to exert huge pressure on both the chapter and the papacy to appoint a close cousin of his, Louis of Bourbon as bishop while in Utrecht another bishop died, and Philip who began to divert his energies and powers from the crusade to the bishoprics continuously pressured the appointment of his bastard son David of Burgundy to bishop. These two appointments would secure Burgundian power in the Burgundian Netherlands leaving only Frisia as the last obstacle towards a complete Burgundian dominance over the Netherlands. Although objectively these bishoprics would be independent it would be through three generations of strong-willed dukes that these bishoprics would transform into mere Burgundian provinces by de facto. His administrative reforms and financial reforms allowed a reduction in corruption throughout Burgundy and would also pit him against royalist officers which would further entrench his anger towards France.
The changes of two popes from Nicholas V, Callixtus III and now Pius II would be the death nail to the Burgundian crusade, already the crusade weakened with the death of Alfonso V of Aragon, as the two kingdoms split and Naples was now plunged in war over succession and the papal meddling did not help at all. If it was not the continuous arrival of Byzantine refugees, the crusading effort would already be dead. Philip the Good would recognize this change in situation in which the congress of Mantua called upon a crusade against the turks, he would send only funds and a token force to help. The other rulers would not do better and the crusading effort was dead. The ottoman response would be fierce however, Mehmed II called that Rome would fall just like Constantinople and Philip the Good's head would be his. This provocation would reignite the old duke's desire to crusade. Charles who firmly held the court refused to sell the lands of Somme to France to grant greater funds to Burgundy, instead his extreme taxes would grant the old duke his funds and armies. This would cause another revolt that was brutally suppressed by Charles with his armies, his governorship of the urban elites taught him to play them off of each other to gain further power.
This crusade which only came to be a Burgundian expedition led by Antoine, Grand Bastard of Burgundy would make their way to Provence before returning with Pope Pius II's death being announced. This Burgundian crusade was struck down with a perfect storm, the death of the crusader king, an anglo-french war that denied Burgundy the time to act, a string of papal and bishop deaths that distracted Philip and finally, the lack of action from the imperials. The greatness and chivalry of this attempt of Burgundy to crusade would be forever remembered and reenacted in Burgundy but more importantly it kept Philip distracted from Charles' rise to absolute power. The end of this crusade would end with Charles becoming regent while Philip would be confined to his bed and eventually his deathbed.
Philip the Rich would be raised in Holland after being born in Brabant, unlike his father Philip would take in great effort towards his studies and would speak fluent Dutch first before French. His education which was funded by the ducal court would be primarily raised by Isabella of Bourbon who believed that he should be governing over fighting. Charles would arrange his marriage to Anne, eldest daughter of the king of France although this would not happen until the treaty of Conflans. The marriage would not sooth the relations between France and Burgundy. France was centralizing at an alarming rate to the count, and Burgundy, their most powerful vassal would not allow that to happen. The French nobility would spark a war for its public good. The marriage that was supposed to set peace between Burgundy and France would shatter instantly as Charles joined the league of the public weal in order to break the crown of France completely.
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Amazing start! Very happy that Little Philip prioritazes dutch as his first language!
Chapter 3: For the good of the nobility, otherwise known as the public 1465
Charles the Absolute was the first firmly anti-french ruler of Burgundy. Philip the Good, for all of his wisdom and prestige could not recognize that fundamental truth of French hostility to Burgundy. France would not allow such a powerful vassal in its doorstep, Charles VII would do everything but war in order to crush Burgundy, his heir Louis XI would do everything including war to completely dismantle the Burgundian state. Philip the Good dithering and and half-committed policy regarding France would set his heir firmly against him, Charles watched as the congress of Arras was just not delayed and never fully implemented as various royal pregoratives were still exercised in Burgundy, he watched as corruption driven by Charles VII and later Louis XI infected the Burgundian court, fortunately Charles' rise through the birth of a son crushed any pro-French faction within the Burgundian court, the former chancellor was wielded as a puppet of Charles, with both himself and his mother Isabella of Portugal bringing him back into a anti-French and mildly pro-English perspective. The Croy Family was removed from power and their wealth seized by usage of imperial laws and jurisdictions. Isabella of Portugal would be the lynchpin of this whole purge of Burgundy, keeping Philip the Good in the dark while increasing her son's authority and power. Charles' rhetoric skills only sharpened in this time, many speeches which drove on anti-French attitudes in what can only be called proto-nationalism, as they drove resentment against the king. The usage of the Estates General of the Netherlands to give Charles an army and funds primed him ready for any conflict with France, and that conflict arose when the French nobility revolted against the king.
The Burgundian alliance network under Charles grew with one objective in mind to stop French expansion, Burgundy remedied their alliance not with the house of Valois-Anjou who had the largest influence in France but instead with its heir in Lorraine. John II of Lorraine became a firm Burgundian ally, ironically it was the usage of various tactics the French used in Burgundy, a mixture of bribing the advisors, council and estates of Bar and Lorraine turned them into a pro-Burgundian faction in Lorraine but more importantly John II was more concerned over his inheritance in France seeing Louis XI do his best to seize it turned him into a willing Burgundian ally. John II, long lasting rival to the French joined up with Charles eager to reclaim his lost lands in Rousillion. In Cleves, Philip's influence was now turned into a de facto vassalage under Charles. The restoration of the age-old alliance of Brittany and Burgundy for Charles created a storm of unruly nobility willing to ally. Burgundy's old allies of Orleans and Bourbon fell under Charles' great noble alliance with new ones their age old enemy of Armagnac, and various others. Finally, the two most important pieces fell for Charles, the king's brother and the elector palatine.
Charles, Duke of Berry was the favoured son of Charles VII but was not the eldest, his brother Louis XI took the throne with Burgundian arms and Charles would be too slow not arriving in Paris until Louis was firmly sitting on the throne. Louis realizing that Charles was the only legitimate opposition to his ascendancy granted him the appanage of Berry immediately to remove the opposition immediately which Charles gratefully accepted. Berry would still prove to be a thorn for Charles to take as royal power was entrenched and would remain that way under Louis the Spider after 8 years of trying unsuccessfully to control the duchy, he moved to Brittany and formed a triple alliance with Charles of Burgundy and Francis II of Brittany. The perfect storm Charles has cast over France was setting in and the French king was blinded by it. The last few pieces would come in the months of March and April.
Charles the Absolute of Burgundy, did not want to start a war immediately so he chose not to form an alliance with England but instead requested mercenary support from England gaining the famed English longbowmen in his army, in Savoy, while the duke would not be willing to commit to an anti French alliance he did agree to absolute neutrality, in Milan, the duke had less luck as Sforza was already courted by Louis XI, seeing the signs on the wall managed to gain the alliance of Milan. Burgundy instead began to eye to break the age old Auld alliance and managed to gain an informal alliance with Scotland and would gain another mercenary company of Scots. The "ace" in the hole would be Frederick the Victorious, the regent of the elector palatine, he would be Charles' first electoral ally within the Holy Roman Empire, he would prove in this war a capable military commander for the Burgundians and Charles would learn a lot from him.
Charles the Absolute now with all of his allies ready and his mercenaries arriving in Bruges a couple days ago signalled to Charles Duke of Berry to launch the revolt. Charles proclaimed that his appanage, the Duchy of Berry was unlawfully seized and declared he would seize it back by force of arms and called for all fellow nobles to rise up to retake their feudal privileges. Burgundy with their full force rose against France, the nobles of Albret, Orleans, Brittany, Bourbon, Lorraine, Armagnac and Nemours joined Burgundy, Louis XI began to rally his standing army in order to counter this perfect storm, the Milanese began to march westward to assist Louis. Savoy would break their neutrality and would reluctantly give access to Milanese troops but at this point this was too late. The only allies Louis had was the house of Valois-Anjou and the branch of Burgundy-Nevers.
Charles would rush his traitorous cousin John II of Nevers down taking the county and relentlessly pushed into Champagne and would face off the royalist army in Montlhery. Charles the Absolute would face against the legendary Gaston of Foix and Louis XI but his ace in the hole Frederick the Victorious, who advised and convinced him to adopt a slow approach to battle. This slow approach and the usage of English mercenaries which raised overall morale allowed Charles the Absolute to crush the royal army here, a usage of Burgundian Artillery, and English Longbowmen would be the key factor here. King Louis XI was thrown off of his horse and captured along with his uncle Charles, Count of Maine. This victory would not be enough for Charles who knew that negotiating a captive king would prove to be impossible due to the reasons of duress. Charles would join up with Bretons under Francis II who laid siege to Paris and forced the king to witness the peace provided to the estates of France in the following months.
The treaty of Conflans, would be signed, various clauses provided some return to power to the various nobles but for Burgundy what was important was that remaining royal power would never return as various French fiefs were absolutely immune and Charles booted out any attempt of French royal authority in Burgundy through this war. Picardy would be given to Burgundy and the inheritance of Nevers would be secured by Charles for his dynasty. The event that would shake the treaty would be the death of Isabella of Bourbon, this would give Louis the opportunity to negotiate for a marriage this time he would try to marry Anne formerly Philip's bethoral to Charles. This immediate change enraged Charles and forced the details of the betrothal into the treaty between Philip the Rich and Anne of Champagne. Ponthieu would be ceded to Charles immediately in the following treaty along with Picardy while Louis would agree to a 1.2 million crowns and if the sum was not paid by the time of the actual marriage which was set on Anne's 15th birthday which was in 1476, Champagne would be given to Philip as the remaining payment of the dowry.
The treaty of Saint-Maur would be the finalization of the war of the public weal as it would be known. Burgundy has completely crushed France due to France's internal conflict and while Louis would use royal blessings on Burgundy in order to get them off his back while he worked tirelessly to undo the treaty of Conflans. He would see the death of the Armagnac house and would concentrate his power in the south while within a year he would reseize Normandy and Berry from his brother Charles who once again fled to Brittany. His centralization efforts would undo the entire treaty beside its provisions to Burgundy and Brittany. What would be important was the change of the French nobility as former Burgundian allies such as Saint-Pol, Nemours, and importantly Lorraine began to shift back to France as Burgundy the mastermind and clear victor of the war of the public weal would see its allies look on in envy and seek greater wealth and power in Burgundy. It would be in this environment that King Louis would arrive at Peronne to discuss both the betrothal and the adjustments to the treaty of Conflans. The third Liege war however, would once again shake the environment.
The Burgundian alliance network under Charles grew with one objective in mind to stop French expansion, Burgundy remedied their alliance not with the house of Valois-Anjou who had the largest influence in France but instead with its heir in Lorraine. John II of Lorraine became a firm Burgundian ally, ironically it was the usage of various tactics the French used in Burgundy, a mixture of bribing the advisors, council and estates of Bar and Lorraine turned them into a pro-Burgundian faction in Lorraine but more importantly John II was more concerned over his inheritance in France seeing Louis XI do his best to seize it turned him into a willing Burgundian ally. John II, long lasting rival to the French joined up with Charles eager to reclaim his lost lands in Rousillion. In Cleves, Philip's influence was now turned into a de facto vassalage under Charles. The restoration of the age-old alliance of Brittany and Burgundy for Charles created a storm of unruly nobility willing to ally. Burgundy's old allies of Orleans and Bourbon fell under Charles' great noble alliance with new ones their age old enemy of Armagnac, and various others. Finally, the two most important pieces fell for Charles, the king's brother and the elector palatine.
Charles, Duke of Berry was the favoured son of Charles VII but was not the eldest, his brother Louis XI took the throne with Burgundian arms and Charles would be too slow not arriving in Paris until Louis was firmly sitting on the throne. Louis realizing that Charles was the only legitimate opposition to his ascendancy granted him the appanage of Berry immediately to remove the opposition immediately which Charles gratefully accepted. Berry would still prove to be a thorn for Charles to take as royal power was entrenched and would remain that way under Louis the Spider after 8 years of trying unsuccessfully to control the duchy, he moved to Brittany and formed a triple alliance with Charles of Burgundy and Francis II of Brittany. The perfect storm Charles has cast over France was setting in and the French king was blinded by it. The last few pieces would come in the months of March and April.
Charles the Absolute of Burgundy, did not want to start a war immediately so he chose not to form an alliance with England but instead requested mercenary support from England gaining the famed English longbowmen in his army, in Savoy, while the duke would not be willing to commit to an anti French alliance he did agree to absolute neutrality, in Milan, the duke had less luck as Sforza was already courted by Louis XI, seeing the signs on the wall managed to gain the alliance of Milan. Burgundy instead began to eye to break the age old Auld alliance and managed to gain an informal alliance with Scotland and would gain another mercenary company of Scots. The "ace" in the hole would be Frederick the Victorious, the regent of the elector palatine, he would be Charles' first electoral ally within the Holy Roman Empire, he would prove in this war a capable military commander for the Burgundians and Charles would learn a lot from him.
Charles the Absolute now with all of his allies ready and his mercenaries arriving in Bruges a couple days ago signalled to Charles Duke of Berry to launch the revolt. Charles proclaimed that his appanage, the Duchy of Berry was unlawfully seized and declared he would seize it back by force of arms and called for all fellow nobles to rise up to retake their feudal privileges. Burgundy with their full force rose against France, the nobles of Albret, Orleans, Brittany, Bourbon, Lorraine, Armagnac and Nemours joined Burgundy, Louis XI began to rally his standing army in order to counter this perfect storm, the Milanese began to march westward to assist Louis. Savoy would break their neutrality and would reluctantly give access to Milanese troops but at this point this was too late. The only allies Louis had was the house of Valois-Anjou and the branch of Burgundy-Nevers.
Charles would rush his traitorous cousin John II of Nevers down taking the county and relentlessly pushed into Champagne and would face off the royalist army in Montlhery. Charles the Absolute would face against the legendary Gaston of Foix and Louis XI but his ace in the hole Frederick the Victorious, who advised and convinced him to adopt a slow approach to battle. This slow approach and the usage of English mercenaries which raised overall morale allowed Charles the Absolute to crush the royal army here, a usage of Burgundian Artillery, and English Longbowmen would be the key factor here. King Louis XI was thrown off of his horse and captured along with his uncle Charles, Count of Maine. This victory would not be enough for Charles who knew that negotiating a captive king would prove to be impossible due to the reasons of duress. Charles would join up with Bretons under Francis II who laid siege to Paris and forced the king to witness the peace provided to the estates of France in the following months.
The treaty of Conflans, would be signed, various clauses provided some return to power to the various nobles but for Burgundy what was important was that remaining royal power would never return as various French fiefs were absolutely immune and Charles booted out any attempt of French royal authority in Burgundy through this war. Picardy would be given to Burgundy and the inheritance of Nevers would be secured by Charles for his dynasty. The event that would shake the treaty would be the death of Isabella of Bourbon, this would give Louis the opportunity to negotiate for a marriage this time he would try to marry Anne formerly Philip's bethoral to Charles. This immediate change enraged Charles and forced the details of the betrothal into the treaty between Philip the Rich and Anne of Champagne. Ponthieu would be ceded to Charles immediately in the following treaty along with Picardy while Louis would agree to a 1.2 million crowns and if the sum was not paid by the time of the actual marriage which was set on Anne's 15th birthday which was in 1476, Champagne would be given to Philip as the remaining payment of the dowry.
The treaty of Saint-Maur would be the finalization of the war of the public weal as it would be known. Burgundy has completely crushed France due to France's internal conflict and while Louis would use royal blessings on Burgundy in order to get them off his back while he worked tirelessly to undo the treaty of Conflans. He would see the death of the Armagnac house and would concentrate his power in the south while within a year he would reseize Normandy and Berry from his brother Charles who once again fled to Brittany. His centralization efforts would undo the entire treaty beside its provisions to Burgundy and Brittany. What would be important was the change of the French nobility as former Burgundian allies such as Saint-Pol, Nemours, and importantly Lorraine began to shift back to France as Burgundy the mastermind and clear victor of the war of the public weal would see its allies look on in envy and seek greater wealth and power in Burgundy. It would be in this environment that King Louis would arrive at Peronne to discuss both the betrothal and the adjustments to the treaty of Conflans. The third Liege war however, would once again shake the environment.
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So far so good for charles. Hope that he can manage to make Burgundy independent. Love your workOne event 8 paragraphs. Looking strongI'll see all of you in the Treaty of Peronne and the Liege wars.
Who knew giving Charles more power early on actually makes him competent? Crazy
Chapter 4: To deal with death, the people, and the king 1465-1468
Philip the Good's epitaph would claim himself as the great pacifier of the urban elites of Flanders most particularly in Bruges, Ghent and Liege. Charles would disagree as he saw the radical elements of the urban populace grow in strength and quarrel against the moderate elites. Philip the Good's attempt at expanding ducal authority by intervening constantly against urban privileges would cause a large but disorganized revolt against Charles' Burgundian State. Charles throughout his time of governing Holland, which was an urban hub at the time would teach him the importance of power dynamics. The revolt of Ghent after Philip's death would be crushed through absolute force and his promotion of new urban elites to suppress any attempt to revolt against Burgundy. The usage of what can only be described as corruption, and brainwashing by Charles towards any city appointed official would end the popular revolts that plagued the last three dukes of Burgundy.
The prince bishopric of Liege would be the last great Burgundian resistance to Charles the Absolute. In the war of the public weal, Charles the Absolute would gain his first experience in sieges as the first liege war as he easily defeated the peasant militia in Montenaken and he would learn the importance of discipline as the peasantry outnumbered him decisively but his troops crushed this militia. King Louis who was already engaged in the war of the public weal swore his support towards the Liegeois. King Louis would not save the people of Liege as the Burgundian troops seized Sint-Truiden and the new peace ensured his cousin Louis of Bourbon was reinstalled as prince-bishop. The Burgundians would believe that this was a sideshow compared to the war of the public weal, it would not as Liege would be a center of unrest for Burgundy.
In 1466, Durant rose up against the prince-bishop and against Philip the Good. Charles laid siege to Durant and would have his first taste of siege warfare. The state of the art Burgundian artillery would once again prove to be Charles' saving grace as he burned the city to the ground and killed 800 leading men and seizing all of their wealth. Philip the Good's death would only further agitate the unrest in Liege as the hated prince-bishop, Louis of Bourbon who proved completely inadequate in governing or religion fled the prince bishopric. Charles would lead a new fresh army of 25000 men and decisively defeated the Liegeois in Brustem. Charles noted that his vanguard was nearly defeated in this battle and only his reinforcements arrival crushed the Liegeois. As the new Duke of Burgundy, he began to reform the vanguard of his army into a mobile and deadly force resembling the Swiss army.
Charles the Absolute's arrival at Liege would only force the Liegeois to surrender once again. The Burgundians appointed a new governor to oversee Liege and Louis of Bourbon, Guy of Humbercourt. The following peace treaty was designed to strengthen the chains binding Liege to Burgundy and remove any attempt on rebellion, the county of Loon was completely demilitarized with all the fortified positions there torn down by Charles' army. Liege was forced into a de facto vassalage as Charles ensured that he was deemed their protector and the prince bishopric was a protectorate of Burgundy. The French abandoned Liege twice now, the third time it would be the French King crushing this last rebellion.
King Louis XI of France has continuously tried his best to tear apart the treaty of Conflans that ruined his royal power over Burgundy. The usage of parlament of Paris, an economic blockade and the isolation of allies for Burgundy. These provocative measures were quite annoying to the duke but nothing impossible to manage, often Burgundian diplomats would just nail the treaty of Conflans to the door of Parlament of Paris, and various French bailiffs were sent away with nothing more than a copy of the following treaty. The most egregious example of this French soft power was when the French bailiff pursued a case in Hainaut, an imperial fief ruled by Charles. Charles' bailiff at the time gave him two manuscripts, one containing the treaty of conflans, on top of the vassalage agreement between the estates of Hainaut and the imperial crown. The economic blockade would be the most effective against Burgundy as war against France was not in Burgundy's interest while Louis tore up the treaty against his southern lords and drove his brother into exile in Brittany. The diplomatic effort to form a grand coalition against Burgundy just like how Charles created one against France would utterly fail when the marriage between Charles and Margaret of York would occur finally restoring the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. It would be this economic and judicial war background when Louis arrived in Peronne in renegotiating Conflans.
The arrival of the king to Peronne was one of anticipation and joy for Charles the Absolute. King Louis XI arrived to Peronne part of the County of Vermandois which had some legal grey area in the Treaty of Arras to allow the king to personally inspect the land. He would be greeted by Charles the Absolute in all of his glory and his army. The economic blockade done by France was already quite legally grey, showing off his wealth and army would possibly convince Louis to abandon the blockade and renegotiate the treaties to bolster Burgundian independence. King Louis arrived looking for any excuse to seize the lands for himself and to further strengthen the crown, instead Charles treated him like a kingly guest to further show off his power and wealth to the king who would only look on in frustration as he believed the embargo was not working. As the duke and king continued to discuss and renegotiate the treaties between themselves, a revolt rose within Liege again. Burgundian propaganda would insist that this was king Louis' doing but evidence points to the king being completely caught off guard. Charles had the king immediately de facto imprisoned on suspicion of funding and indirectly leading the rebellion.
Charles the Absolute was no fool when it came to medieval politics and argued that he was merely guaranteeing Louis' safety and promised he would return to Paris after the revolt ended. However, he forced the king to join him in crushing the third and final revolt of Liege. The Burgundian force mercilessly crushed the Liege revolt, as the king watched in a mixture of fear and admiration. The Burgundians drove a Liegeois force into a church, surrounded it and Charles ordered in front of Louis to burn the church to the ground, in Liege the king watched as the Burgundians tied hundreds of Liegeois together and threw them into the Meuse river. He then ordered the city burned while the Burgundian army tore down any remain fortifications in Liege. The effective fear and crippling of Liege would ensure that the prince-bishopric would remain loyal until Philip the Rich took over as duke. More importantly, Charles would return to negotiating with Louis, the showcase of Burgundian wealth and military power would shake the king as they continued to negotiate.
This semi-hostage situation would not give Charles few concrete demands. Any attempt to extract unreasonable demands would make Louis revoke the entire treaty due to duress. The negotiations continued until the following treaty of Peronne was signed. The terms of the treaty would not be respected by Louis as he would declare the treaty invalid due to duress but through what can only be described as Burgundian maneuvering, Charles ensured every term was fulfilled. The treaties of Arras and Conflans would be swore to be upheld, while the alliance between England and Burgundy would be acknowledged, crucially Burgundy would gain full independence if this treaty was broken. King Louis was utterly humiliated in this shadow war, a mixture of Burgundian posturing, scarecrowing and Burgundian wealth was what defeated Louis, this was his second loss against Burgundy which was doubled with the loss of England in 1470 and the peace of Beaune in 1472. King Louis would learn that in order to break Burgundy would be the usage of Burgundian urban elites, and in 1476, France would come back with a vengeance against Burgundy.
The prince bishopric of Liege would be the last great Burgundian resistance to Charles the Absolute. In the war of the public weal, Charles the Absolute would gain his first experience in sieges as the first liege war as he easily defeated the peasant militia in Montenaken and he would learn the importance of discipline as the peasantry outnumbered him decisively but his troops crushed this militia. King Louis who was already engaged in the war of the public weal swore his support towards the Liegeois. King Louis would not save the people of Liege as the Burgundian troops seized Sint-Truiden and the new peace ensured his cousin Louis of Bourbon was reinstalled as prince-bishop. The Burgundians would believe that this was a sideshow compared to the war of the public weal, it would not as Liege would be a center of unrest for Burgundy.
In 1466, Durant rose up against the prince-bishop and against Philip the Good. Charles laid siege to Durant and would have his first taste of siege warfare. The state of the art Burgundian artillery would once again prove to be Charles' saving grace as he burned the city to the ground and killed 800 leading men and seizing all of their wealth. Philip the Good's death would only further agitate the unrest in Liege as the hated prince-bishop, Louis of Bourbon who proved completely inadequate in governing or religion fled the prince bishopric. Charles would lead a new fresh army of 25000 men and decisively defeated the Liegeois in Brustem. Charles noted that his vanguard was nearly defeated in this battle and only his reinforcements arrival crushed the Liegeois. As the new Duke of Burgundy, he began to reform the vanguard of his army into a mobile and deadly force resembling the Swiss army.
Charles the Absolute's arrival at Liege would only force the Liegeois to surrender once again. The Burgundians appointed a new governor to oversee Liege and Louis of Bourbon, Guy of Humbercourt. The following peace treaty was designed to strengthen the chains binding Liege to Burgundy and remove any attempt on rebellion, the county of Loon was completely demilitarized with all the fortified positions there torn down by Charles' army. Liege was forced into a de facto vassalage as Charles ensured that he was deemed their protector and the prince bishopric was a protectorate of Burgundy. The French abandoned Liege twice now, the third time it would be the French King crushing this last rebellion.
King Louis XI of France has continuously tried his best to tear apart the treaty of Conflans that ruined his royal power over Burgundy. The usage of parlament of Paris, an economic blockade and the isolation of allies for Burgundy. These provocative measures were quite annoying to the duke but nothing impossible to manage, often Burgundian diplomats would just nail the treaty of Conflans to the door of Parlament of Paris, and various French bailiffs were sent away with nothing more than a copy of the following treaty. The most egregious example of this French soft power was when the French bailiff pursued a case in Hainaut, an imperial fief ruled by Charles. Charles' bailiff at the time gave him two manuscripts, one containing the treaty of conflans, on top of the vassalage agreement between the estates of Hainaut and the imperial crown. The economic blockade would be the most effective against Burgundy as war against France was not in Burgundy's interest while Louis tore up the treaty against his southern lords and drove his brother into exile in Brittany. The diplomatic effort to form a grand coalition against Burgundy just like how Charles created one against France would utterly fail when the marriage between Charles and Margaret of York would occur finally restoring the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. It would be this economic and judicial war background when Louis arrived in Peronne in renegotiating Conflans.
The arrival of the king to Peronne was one of anticipation and joy for Charles the Absolute. King Louis XI arrived to Peronne part of the County of Vermandois which had some legal grey area in the Treaty of Arras to allow the king to personally inspect the land. He would be greeted by Charles the Absolute in all of his glory and his army. The economic blockade done by France was already quite legally grey, showing off his wealth and army would possibly convince Louis to abandon the blockade and renegotiate the treaties to bolster Burgundian independence. King Louis arrived looking for any excuse to seize the lands for himself and to further strengthen the crown, instead Charles treated him like a kingly guest to further show off his power and wealth to the king who would only look on in frustration as he believed the embargo was not working. As the duke and king continued to discuss and renegotiate the treaties between themselves, a revolt rose within Liege again. Burgundian propaganda would insist that this was king Louis' doing but evidence points to the king being completely caught off guard. Charles had the king immediately de facto imprisoned on suspicion of funding and indirectly leading the rebellion.
Charles the Absolute was no fool when it came to medieval politics and argued that he was merely guaranteeing Louis' safety and promised he would return to Paris after the revolt ended. However, he forced the king to join him in crushing the third and final revolt of Liege. The Burgundian force mercilessly crushed the Liege revolt, as the king watched in a mixture of fear and admiration. The Burgundians drove a Liegeois force into a church, surrounded it and Charles ordered in front of Louis to burn the church to the ground, in Liege the king watched as the Burgundians tied hundreds of Liegeois together and threw them into the Meuse river. He then ordered the city burned while the Burgundian army tore down any remain fortifications in Liege. The effective fear and crippling of Liege would ensure that the prince-bishopric would remain loyal until Philip the Rich took over as duke. More importantly, Charles would return to negotiating with Louis, the showcase of Burgundian wealth and military power would shake the king as they continued to negotiate.
This semi-hostage situation would not give Charles few concrete demands. Any attempt to extract unreasonable demands would make Louis revoke the entire treaty due to duress. The negotiations continued until the following treaty of Peronne was signed. The terms of the treaty would not be respected by Louis as he would declare the treaty invalid due to duress but through what can only be described as Burgundian maneuvering, Charles ensured every term was fulfilled. The treaties of Arras and Conflans would be swore to be upheld, while the alliance between England and Burgundy would be acknowledged, crucially Burgundy would gain full independence if this treaty was broken. King Louis was utterly humiliated in this shadow war, a mixture of Burgundian posturing, scarecrowing and Burgundian wealth was what defeated Louis, this was his second loss against Burgundy which was doubled with the loss of England in 1470 and the peace of Beaune in 1472. King Louis would learn that in order to break Burgundy would be the usage of Burgundian urban elites, and in 1476, France would come back with a vengeance against Burgundy.
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Chapter 4.5 The good, naive and chivalric 1419-1467
Philip the Good at first glance is considered one of the greatest dukes of all time. His founding of the order of the Golden Fleece, the rapid expansion of the Netherlands, and his successful navigation through the hundred years war is what gave various amateur historians huge praise for him. Historians would constantly debate about his reign and his steps to founding the Burgundian State. The general consensus amongst the scholarly community was that while Philip was decent at internal politics, his foreign policy was a mess, and when you compare his state to Charles the Absolute and John the Fearless both of those rulers probably were considerably better for Burgundy in the long term than Philip. His son, Charles would summarize it the best, "If he ruled in a golden age of peace and stability for Burgundy, I have no doubt that his rule would be the peak of that era."
Philip the Good started his reign off with a murder. His father, John the Fearless would be killed in Paris by Armagnac partisans. He was raised as a governor of Burgundy during his childhood and early adult life. John the Fearless was in Paris fighting tooth and nail for the regency of France for Charles VI. His experience in rulership would prove incredibly useful as he secured his inheritance without much problem. His mother, Margaret of Bavaria would be the lynchpin towards this succession as her widowship would force France to depose the dauphin, notably Philip did not immediately rush to Paris despite Isabeau, the queen's pleas. This would be a foreshadowing of Philip's direction towards France. Philip the Bold used France to benefit Burgundy and expand his own realm, John the Fearless would fight tooth and nail to keep this French funds to expand his own realms and powers. Philip the Good would pursue a policy of withdrawal to the point of negligence. His usage of only black clothing would be a political statement and rally the remnants of the Burgundian faction formerly lead by John to fight against the Dauphin.
The treaty of Troyes made between Philip the Good and Henry V was an alliance reluctantly chosen by Philip. A mixture of fear against the Armagnacs and fear of English/Lancastrian retaliation of Burgundian lands made this alliance possible, even with this alliance Philip was rarely contributing to the overall goals and terms of the treaty. He quarrelled with his English allies constantly over the lowlands. The conquest of Hainaut was of particular importance as Jacqueline of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland fled to England only through John of Bedford did England narrowly avoid war against Burgundy. The amount of truces forged between the Dauphin's agents particularly Bourbon and Burgundy were so numerous that you could argue that Burgundy was neutral in this war. Burgundy only crushed various Dauphinist castles within his own territories. This withdrawal of French affairs perhaps due to his fear of being killed just like his father would be shown in quite a dramatic way with Henry V's death. Philip the Good, would refuse the regency of France.
Henry V's death would be considered a turning point in English history but to Burgundy it was merely just another step in Burgundy's withdrawal from French affairs. Already in 1421, during Henry V's reign Burgundy was entirely focused on internal and low country affairs, it would provide no support to Henry's campaign for France, and it would play a small part in the reasons in why Henry died early as he died campaigning himself. The death of Charles VI in Paris forced Philip to attend the funeral but he gave up the regency to John, Duke of Bedford. The position of sole regent of France was the epitome of what his grandfather: Philip the Bold, and his father: John the Fearless desired, practical control of France. This withdrawal from French affairs would develop into negligence for Philip the Good. The rising strength of the dauphin would not spur the duke into action and in 1424, Philip completely withdrew Burgundy from France until 1429. Ironically it would be the English led by John, Duke of Bedford that would keep this near absent alliance together with money and force of arms. John who married Anne of Burgundy, Philip's sister would de facto hire Burgundian armies to assist him in wars against the dauphin to keep Lancastrian France. Perhaps the only thing that politically kept this alliance together was the attempt from Philip to separate his domains from the French crown in particular the parlament of Paris, which he failed utterly at. Philip the Good would struggle the most against Parisian lawyers compared to his predecessors and his domains would forever be in a shadow war against Paris for control until Charles the Absolute declared Burgundian independence in 1471.
The death of Anne of Burgundy would be the turning point for Philip the Good, as the long strained English Alliance was broken completely in the following Treaty of Arras. The political situation in 1435 was a deteriorating English position, and Burgundy finished their expansion in the lowlands with Jacqueline giving up all of her domains to Philip the Good. In fact, his constant quarrelling in the campaign over Champagne would be the death nail to this English alliance. However, he would trade a useless ally to a manipulative and evil rival. The treaty of Arras guaranteed all of Burgundy's gains with the alliance in England and gave Philip in theory complete de facto independence from France, but his naivety or his lack of will proved otherwise.
His imperial and urban politics would only be saved by good fortune. The expansion of ducal authority over the cities caused various revolts in Flanders, in particular Ghent. These were still easily crushed by Philip but this continuous urban unrest would persist for his heir Charles, and would only be removed by his grandson: Philip the Rich. His imperial politics were only saved by an incredible amount of luck. The death of the branch of Burgundy-Brabant, Wittelsbach-Starubing, and the bankruptcy and subsequent death of John III of Namur would give Philip incredible power over the Netherlands, this would be his defining achievement as he later placed bishops into Liege and Utrecht. However, historians would see this as a fluke and a stroke of good luck as he would not be so lucky in imperial politics. The death and fight over the inheritance of his aunt, Catherine of Burgundy would see Philip fail utterly to secure Ferrette, due to his failed diplomacy and military action instead the Habsburgs would retain Alsace until 1469 with the mortgage and subsequent seizure by Charles. The negotiations over the imperial vicarate of the Kingdom of Burgundy would also fail utterly due to a lack of effort from the Burgundian side. Philip the Good would further isolate himself with the sale and seizure of Luxembourg which nearly triggered a coalition of nations against Burgundy, only through sheer luck with Charles VII's death did this not happen.
The expansion of the court of Burgundy and the subsequent golden age of courtly life, and chivalry could be argued as the defining achievement for Philip the Good, and to some extent it was for that golden standard would not improve until Philip the Rich's ascension as duke. However, some contemporary analysis would suggest that the extravagant court was the main reason of growing pro-French factionalism within the court and the urban unrest generated by Philip the Good. Charles VII would use his funds instead of equalizing the magnificence of his court to Philip wisely spent his money bribing and creating a network of French partisans within Burgundy that would be further strengthened under Louis XI. The urban unrest was argued due to a result of increasing taxes however, various events such as the marriage between Philip the Good and Isabella of Portugal, the creation of the order of the Golden Fleece and the marriage between Charles the Absolute and Margaret of York would redeem the utility of the extravagant Burgundian court in many historians eyes.
Perhaps, Philip the Good's greatest achievement was the usage of his illegitimate children. Philip the Good was unlike other rulers in Christian Europe at the time with bastards and their mothers taking on greater positions in court and in country. Philip the Good separated his mistresses from any form of politics or court life at all instead using his bastard children as bishops, generals and governors. The most famous of these would be Antoine the grand bastard of Burgundy, and David of Burgundy, Bishop of Utrecht. This unusual but effective strategy of governing would be the foundation of ironically Philip's legitimate heir as he would use them to drive out his rivals to the throne such as the Croy Family, Saint-Pol, and Burgundy-Nevers. The usage of these bastard children were already questionable even to historians as many argued this needlessly separated Philip from Charles but more importantly it separated Philip from Isabella who was a brilliant diplomat at the time. She was the one who managed to implement the majority of the clauses in the treaty of Arras and would fight the shadow war for Philip but the amount of illegitimate children along with the strained relationship between father and son drove Isabella away for some time which would cost Philip dearly in diplomatic skill.
What historians would collectively agree was that during the 1440s and 1450s, Burgundian foreign policy was a mess under Philip. Philip pursued fruitlessly a reproachment with France not realizing that France was pursuing a policy of annexation of the entire Burgundian state. The bribery and creation of a French faction within Burgundy persuaded the duke to indulge in his own pleasures and leave the affairs of state to that faction. They would also feed the ambitions of a crusade into Philip the Good and would be shown most obviously in Louis' attempt to purchase the towns of the Somme. The Croy Family would be the epitome of this pro-French faction as they would foster a great crusade famously shown in the Feast of the Pheasant. The fall of Constantinople would be the event that would convince Philip to prepare a crusade and his diplomatic actions were perhaps a return to his brilliant diplomatic maneuvering that was seen in the lowlands 20 years prior and yet the result would lead nowhere as luck shot him down with the death of kings and of popes. For all of this bluster and brilliance in creating a united European front for a crusade, the Croy's would just strengthen French ties most significantly with the marriage of Charles to Isabella of Bourbon even though Isabella of Portugal was pushing for a marriage with Anne of York instead.
Ironically it is due to this marriage that Philip would finally set his French policy in mind, with all the distraction he experienced with the attempts at crusading. Charles would slowly build his own faction, experience and power. The turning point of that would be the birth of Philip the Rich, which finally granted Charles a place in government and let him take off in power. The pro-french faction was dismantled in court but remained in the populace especially in Burgundy and Artois. Perhaps Philip respected and enjoyed the change for the duke was still quite active personally and politically advising his son on various things such as internal governance and maintenance of court. During the 10 years in which Charles acted as the duke's lieutenant, his policies of withdrawal from France were making significant progress not because of peace, negotiation and goodwill. Charles showed Philip that in order for his policies to succeed it would have to be done through war, power plays, and threats. Philip would realize this only in his last years and would thank his son squeezing his hand on his deathbed forgiving him of all of the times he has gone against his father.
It would be Charles the Absolute that would save Philip's reign, and if it wasn't for Philip the Rich's birth perhaps the Croy family would gain so much power and Philip's state would be so weakened by France, after all Charles only crushed Louis due to experience and luck in blinding his opponent of his moves. If he was further isolated from court, the war of the public weal would not be so devastating to France and no doubt under Louis XI, Burgundy would collapse and be annexed by the French. If Charles did not gain his near 10 years of experience in governing, he would not be so effective in dealing with the urban populace of the Burgundian Netherlands at the time, most importantly if Philip the Rich were not born, Burgundy would fall de facto back to the crown of France due to age old appanage rules.
So do we leave Philip as the Good for his massive expansion efforts into the Burgundian Netherlands, his patronage of the arts and glamorous and extravagant court. Or do we call him Philip the Naive, his unrest creating policies for his urban subjects, for his blunders in France and in the Holy Roman Empire as he could not secure Ferrette militarily or diplomatically and neglected the powerful Burgundian base in France to being annexed outright by the dauphin, Charles VII? A growing consensus amongst historians revolving his epithet is Philip the Chivalric. He believed he was still a part of France due to tradition, but in his circumstances also saw himself as an independent "grand duke". His innovations in courtly life and of chivalry would give him eternal fame, but yet chivalry is outdated ever since Agincourt. Philip the Chivalric was the last duke of the old generation believing that honour and oaths meant everything, but the new generation would only speak using coins, swords and fiery language. Charles the Absolute would write about his father: "My father taught me many lessons but the most important lesson I learned from him was to never trust the King of France." It does sum up his life quite simply, he was not the best and not the worst Duke of Burgundy, but he was screwed left right and centre by the two kings of France, Charles VII and Louis XI.
Philip the Good started his reign off with a murder. His father, John the Fearless would be killed in Paris by Armagnac partisans. He was raised as a governor of Burgundy during his childhood and early adult life. John the Fearless was in Paris fighting tooth and nail for the regency of France for Charles VI. His experience in rulership would prove incredibly useful as he secured his inheritance without much problem. His mother, Margaret of Bavaria would be the lynchpin towards this succession as her widowship would force France to depose the dauphin, notably Philip did not immediately rush to Paris despite Isabeau, the queen's pleas. This would be a foreshadowing of Philip's direction towards France. Philip the Bold used France to benefit Burgundy and expand his own realm, John the Fearless would fight tooth and nail to keep this French funds to expand his own realms and powers. Philip the Good would pursue a policy of withdrawal to the point of negligence. His usage of only black clothing would be a political statement and rally the remnants of the Burgundian faction formerly lead by John to fight against the Dauphin.
The treaty of Troyes made between Philip the Good and Henry V was an alliance reluctantly chosen by Philip. A mixture of fear against the Armagnacs and fear of English/Lancastrian retaliation of Burgundian lands made this alliance possible, even with this alliance Philip was rarely contributing to the overall goals and terms of the treaty. He quarrelled with his English allies constantly over the lowlands. The conquest of Hainaut was of particular importance as Jacqueline of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland fled to England only through John of Bedford did England narrowly avoid war against Burgundy. The amount of truces forged between the Dauphin's agents particularly Bourbon and Burgundy were so numerous that you could argue that Burgundy was neutral in this war. Burgundy only crushed various Dauphinist castles within his own territories. This withdrawal of French affairs perhaps due to his fear of being killed just like his father would be shown in quite a dramatic way with Henry V's death. Philip the Good, would refuse the regency of France.
Henry V's death would be considered a turning point in English history but to Burgundy it was merely just another step in Burgundy's withdrawal from French affairs. Already in 1421, during Henry V's reign Burgundy was entirely focused on internal and low country affairs, it would provide no support to Henry's campaign for France, and it would play a small part in the reasons in why Henry died early as he died campaigning himself. The death of Charles VI in Paris forced Philip to attend the funeral but he gave up the regency to John, Duke of Bedford. The position of sole regent of France was the epitome of what his grandfather: Philip the Bold, and his father: John the Fearless desired, practical control of France. This withdrawal from French affairs would develop into negligence for Philip the Good. The rising strength of the dauphin would not spur the duke into action and in 1424, Philip completely withdrew Burgundy from France until 1429. Ironically it would be the English led by John, Duke of Bedford that would keep this near absent alliance together with money and force of arms. John who married Anne of Burgundy, Philip's sister would de facto hire Burgundian armies to assist him in wars against the dauphin to keep Lancastrian France. Perhaps the only thing that politically kept this alliance together was the attempt from Philip to separate his domains from the French crown in particular the parlament of Paris, which he failed utterly at. Philip the Good would struggle the most against Parisian lawyers compared to his predecessors and his domains would forever be in a shadow war against Paris for control until Charles the Absolute declared Burgundian independence in 1471.
The death of Anne of Burgundy would be the turning point for Philip the Good, as the long strained English Alliance was broken completely in the following Treaty of Arras. The political situation in 1435 was a deteriorating English position, and Burgundy finished their expansion in the lowlands with Jacqueline giving up all of her domains to Philip the Good. In fact, his constant quarrelling in the campaign over Champagne would be the death nail to this English alliance. However, he would trade a useless ally to a manipulative and evil rival. The treaty of Arras guaranteed all of Burgundy's gains with the alliance in England and gave Philip in theory complete de facto independence from France, but his naivety or his lack of will proved otherwise.
His imperial and urban politics would only be saved by good fortune. The expansion of ducal authority over the cities caused various revolts in Flanders, in particular Ghent. These were still easily crushed by Philip but this continuous urban unrest would persist for his heir Charles, and would only be removed by his grandson: Philip the Rich. His imperial politics were only saved by an incredible amount of luck. The death of the branch of Burgundy-Brabant, Wittelsbach-Starubing, and the bankruptcy and subsequent death of John III of Namur would give Philip incredible power over the Netherlands, this would be his defining achievement as he later placed bishops into Liege and Utrecht. However, historians would see this as a fluke and a stroke of good luck as he would not be so lucky in imperial politics. The death and fight over the inheritance of his aunt, Catherine of Burgundy would see Philip fail utterly to secure Ferrette, due to his failed diplomacy and military action instead the Habsburgs would retain Alsace until 1469 with the mortgage and subsequent seizure by Charles. The negotiations over the imperial vicarate of the Kingdom of Burgundy would also fail utterly due to a lack of effort from the Burgundian side. Philip the Good would further isolate himself with the sale and seizure of Luxembourg which nearly triggered a coalition of nations against Burgundy, only through sheer luck with Charles VII's death did this not happen.
The expansion of the court of Burgundy and the subsequent golden age of courtly life, and chivalry could be argued as the defining achievement for Philip the Good, and to some extent it was for that golden standard would not improve until Philip the Rich's ascension as duke. However, some contemporary analysis would suggest that the extravagant court was the main reason of growing pro-French factionalism within the court and the urban unrest generated by Philip the Good. Charles VII would use his funds instead of equalizing the magnificence of his court to Philip wisely spent his money bribing and creating a network of French partisans within Burgundy that would be further strengthened under Louis XI. The urban unrest was argued due to a result of increasing taxes however, various events such as the marriage between Philip the Good and Isabella of Portugal, the creation of the order of the Golden Fleece and the marriage between Charles the Absolute and Margaret of York would redeem the utility of the extravagant Burgundian court in many historians eyes.
Perhaps, Philip the Good's greatest achievement was the usage of his illegitimate children. Philip the Good was unlike other rulers in Christian Europe at the time with bastards and their mothers taking on greater positions in court and in country. Philip the Good separated his mistresses from any form of politics or court life at all instead using his bastard children as bishops, generals and governors. The most famous of these would be Antoine the grand bastard of Burgundy, and David of Burgundy, Bishop of Utrecht. This unusual but effective strategy of governing would be the foundation of ironically Philip's legitimate heir as he would use them to drive out his rivals to the throne such as the Croy Family, Saint-Pol, and Burgundy-Nevers. The usage of these bastard children were already questionable even to historians as many argued this needlessly separated Philip from Charles but more importantly it separated Philip from Isabella who was a brilliant diplomat at the time. She was the one who managed to implement the majority of the clauses in the treaty of Arras and would fight the shadow war for Philip but the amount of illegitimate children along with the strained relationship between father and son drove Isabella away for some time which would cost Philip dearly in diplomatic skill.
What historians would collectively agree was that during the 1440s and 1450s, Burgundian foreign policy was a mess under Philip. Philip pursued fruitlessly a reproachment with France not realizing that France was pursuing a policy of annexation of the entire Burgundian state. The bribery and creation of a French faction within Burgundy persuaded the duke to indulge in his own pleasures and leave the affairs of state to that faction. They would also feed the ambitions of a crusade into Philip the Good and would be shown most obviously in Louis' attempt to purchase the towns of the Somme. The Croy Family would be the epitome of this pro-French faction as they would foster a great crusade famously shown in the Feast of the Pheasant. The fall of Constantinople would be the event that would convince Philip to prepare a crusade and his diplomatic actions were perhaps a return to his brilliant diplomatic maneuvering that was seen in the lowlands 20 years prior and yet the result would lead nowhere as luck shot him down with the death of kings and of popes. For all of this bluster and brilliance in creating a united European front for a crusade, the Croy's would just strengthen French ties most significantly with the marriage of Charles to Isabella of Bourbon even though Isabella of Portugal was pushing for a marriage with Anne of York instead.
Ironically it is due to this marriage that Philip would finally set his French policy in mind, with all the distraction he experienced with the attempts at crusading. Charles would slowly build his own faction, experience and power. The turning point of that would be the birth of Philip the Rich, which finally granted Charles a place in government and let him take off in power. The pro-french faction was dismantled in court but remained in the populace especially in Burgundy and Artois. Perhaps Philip respected and enjoyed the change for the duke was still quite active personally and politically advising his son on various things such as internal governance and maintenance of court. During the 10 years in which Charles acted as the duke's lieutenant, his policies of withdrawal from France were making significant progress not because of peace, negotiation and goodwill. Charles showed Philip that in order for his policies to succeed it would have to be done through war, power plays, and threats. Philip would realize this only in his last years and would thank his son squeezing his hand on his deathbed forgiving him of all of the times he has gone against his father.
It would be Charles the Absolute that would save Philip's reign, and if it wasn't for Philip the Rich's birth perhaps the Croy family would gain so much power and Philip's state would be so weakened by France, after all Charles only crushed Louis due to experience and luck in blinding his opponent of his moves. If he was further isolated from court, the war of the public weal would not be so devastating to France and no doubt under Louis XI, Burgundy would collapse and be annexed by the French. If Charles did not gain his near 10 years of experience in governing, he would not be so effective in dealing with the urban populace of the Burgundian Netherlands at the time, most importantly if Philip the Rich were not born, Burgundy would fall de facto back to the crown of France due to age old appanage rules.
So do we leave Philip as the Good for his massive expansion efforts into the Burgundian Netherlands, his patronage of the arts and glamorous and extravagant court. Or do we call him Philip the Naive, his unrest creating policies for his urban subjects, for his blunders in France and in the Holy Roman Empire as he could not secure Ferrette militarily or diplomatically and neglected the powerful Burgundian base in France to being annexed outright by the dauphin, Charles VII? A growing consensus amongst historians revolving his epithet is Philip the Chivalric. He believed he was still a part of France due to tradition, but in his circumstances also saw himself as an independent "grand duke". His innovations in courtly life and of chivalry would give him eternal fame, but yet chivalry is outdated ever since Agincourt. Philip the Chivalric was the last duke of the old generation believing that honour and oaths meant everything, but the new generation would only speak using coins, swords and fiery language. Charles the Absolute would write about his father: "My father taught me many lessons but the most important lesson I learned from him was to never trust the King of France." It does sum up his life quite simply, he was not the best and not the worst Duke of Burgundy, but he was screwed left right and centre by the two kings of France, Charles VII and Louis XI.
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Amazing work! Philip the Chivalric truly Made a name For himself!1 Character Study 12 Paragraphs Long
Yes the what if is essentially what happened OTL
Chapter 5: Of flowers and roses (1457-) 1467-1472
King Louis XI's most successful attempt in dismembering Burgundy was in the period of 1469-1472. The humiliation of the Treaty of Peronne would be just the latest insult and incentive for France to dismember Burgundy, not that it already didn't have it enough reasons to not. King Louis XI would further consolidate his power by enforcing his disgraced brother Charles and invested him the duchy of Guyenne/Aquitaine which fulfilled a single term of the treaty of Peronne. Technically, fulfilling his obligations he still twisted the treaty to ensure a loyal south in case of war, Burgundy fearing war would begin a military buildup against France waiting if the treaty was broken or if the trigger of a war between Brittany and Burgundy. This wasn't completely unjustified on Charles' part, the shadow war for control between Burgundy and France began to heat up after the treaty. Brittany was of particular importance for France and Burgundy. If Brittany fell under France's influence, France would be free to wage war against Burgundy and would win easily, Brittany would fall to France shortly after. If Brittany was a firm Burgundian ally, Brittany would die but Burgundy would be ascendant in Europe. The Breton king, Francis II played his cards well, playing off French and Burgundian influence to further increase his security and stability aboard.
This war for influence would be heavily magnified in the influence war over England. The beginning of Henry VI's insanity after the battle of Castillon, would drive the English nobility in civil war that would be known as the war of the roses. The rise of Margaret of Anjou would not necessarily see a rise of French influence in England no matter what Yorkist propaganda said at the time. Instead Margaret continued to try to consolidate her power over England with her faction: the Lancastrians. Richard, Duke of York who was stripped of his position, Lord Protector during this war for control over England would infuriate the most powerful and wealthy lord/duke of England. This would create the faction of the Yorkists. The key figure would be Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. His great support allowed Richard to kill Somerset who was Margaret's greatest ally and suffer no consequences even with his fall from power due to parliament, he would still come back due to Richard's help and nearly crowned him king if it wasn't for his death prematurely in Northumberland. This spotlight of English politics, would make him into Edward IV's right hand man but his war-like nature would turn ensure his removal years later.
The usage of war and lack of political finesse for the Earl of Warwick would slowly drive the two men apart but the greatest betrayal of this was the marriage negotiations for Edward IV. Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville against Warwick's wishes who wanted a marriage with France, preferably Bona of Savoy or even Anne of France (Champagne) This marriage plan would fail with the announcement of the marriage of the two, it would cast out the earl who began to slowly lose favour in royal court and his followers were weakening to the Woodvilles who gathered strength due to the new position as queen consort. The weakening of his position and sights of a potential rival to the throne would cause the earl to once again march to war only to be defeated and exiled to France. The Woodvilles sought a restoration of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance which began to take full effect in 1466. Isabella of Bourbon's death would reignite English sentiment in the Anglo-Burgundian alliance unfortunately in 1462, France struck first by betrothing Anne of France (Champagne) to Philip the Rich as King Louis argued to Charles to cement the treaty of Arras, which was further agreed in 1465 during the treaty of Conflans, the death of Isabella would nearly screw the English chance for an Anglo-Burgundian alliance but Charles who no longer trusted Louis with the fiasco involving a change of betrothal for Charles would have him seek Margaret of York's hand in marriage.
A mixture of Edward, Charles and the Woodville's will would cement the new Anglo-Burgundian alliance which would start off strong with both monarchs accepting each other's royal orders. Charles would take great pleasure in being knighted as a member of the order of the garter, while Edward would knighted as a knight of the Golden Fleece: the most prestigious knightly order in Europe at the time. This exchange of chivalry would lead to the "marriage of the century" between Margaret of York and Charles the Absolute. The return to this alliance was already in perfect circumstances as recently in the treaty of Peronne, Charles now had legal justification with this defensive alliance. Charles would soon be forced into English politics however, already he hosted two lancastrian supporters, his mother was a Lancastrian by birth but yet encouraged the marriage. This forced neutrality would be the norm as various other European powers continued their neutrality in this shadow war for England. Charles tried to mediate King and Earl but his hand would be forced as the Earl joined up with George, Duke of Clarence attacked Burgundian shipping. Charles would call upon his Burgundian navy to attack and capture the earl and duke but would fail, in fact this failure would be so huge that Burgundy would do nothing to stop the earl who now led the Lancastrian faction, sailing back to England. This naval failure would be something of note, not to Charles but to his heir Philip.
The return of the war like Earl demanding the restoration of Henry VI would send Edward to Burgundy, a penniless refugee. Charles would receive him in anger, as Edward was incredibly weak in terms of a claim and an Anglo-French alliance would be a nightmare not remotely possible since the days of Philip the Good. However, Franco-Burgundian relations were already incredibly tense with Louis XI using his French partisans in the somme and in Burgundy to gain various towns and a complete advantage over Burgundy. All out war commenced, Burgundy was prepared for war retaking Burgundy in a matter of months and Charles would begin a campaign for the somme. The earl of Warwick launched his invasions of Burgundy from Calais. The nightmare alliance proven correct, Charles immediately dispatched any assistance for Edward who would in months soundly defeat the Lancastrians and secure the throne completely. Luck has saved Burgundy as the restoration of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance would shatter any attempts by Louis to dismantle and annex Burgundy outright.
Charles would make use of this good fortune, restoring his grand alliance against France and continuously strengthening his own position. His old allies of Aragon, England, and Brittany returned to the fold eager to crush an overstretched France. Lorraine who fell under France's orbit returned to Burgundy under Nicholas of Lorraine. Most importantly Charles, Duke of Guyenne rose up against Louis angry over the lack of power in his new appanage. This great alliance would be a restoration of the league of the public weal as Orleans, Bourbon, and Armagnac would rise up as well. Only the death of Charles, Duke of Guyenne and various other internal issues saved Louis with the treaty of Beaune which recognized the full independence of Burgundy declared in 1471 and most importantly the agreement of having Anne of Champagne be raised in Burgundy itself. The treaty was the reinforcement of Peronne, Conflans and Arras. Louis was decisively defeated in this war due to incredible luck with Edward's restoration. Charles would further strengthen his alliances with the marriage of John his second son in 1469, to Elizabeth, firstborn of England and his wife Margaret would give birth to Isabella in 1472. The consolidation of his alliance with Aragon which would be further strengthened with the Catholic Monarchs. The alliance with Ferrante, king of Naples, a restoration of ties with Portugal and his introduction into Italy would secure peace with France for another three years. Burgundy did not establish its network of alliances until 1472 and it cost them dearly, the Burgundian campaign was only a win on paper but the Burgundian countryside was devastated much like the French country and yet France would recover far quicker than Burgundy.
Burgundy would remain in this death cold war against France as both sides improved and increased their standing armies but England would prove to be weirdly neutral despite the hundred years war. The new English alliance did not provide the material or troops to join Charles against Louis in 1471-72, and it nearly cost the destruction of Burgundy as a state. An English army would not arrive in France until 1475, and the betrayal from that invasion would doom Edward IV's reign. Charles the Absolute would not return his eye to French affairs until that English invasion and by that point the long built Burgundian-Noble faction would collapse while Louis would rebuild person by person the pro-French faction in Burgundy, and yet Burgundy would grow ever stronger in the east as the empire and imperial affairs would attract the absolute duke his attention, but not his paranoia as that will always remain directed as the king of France.
This war for influence would be heavily magnified in the influence war over England. The beginning of Henry VI's insanity after the battle of Castillon, would drive the English nobility in civil war that would be known as the war of the roses. The rise of Margaret of Anjou would not necessarily see a rise of French influence in England no matter what Yorkist propaganda said at the time. Instead Margaret continued to try to consolidate her power over England with her faction: the Lancastrians. Richard, Duke of York who was stripped of his position, Lord Protector during this war for control over England would infuriate the most powerful and wealthy lord/duke of England. This would create the faction of the Yorkists. The key figure would be Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. His great support allowed Richard to kill Somerset who was Margaret's greatest ally and suffer no consequences even with his fall from power due to parliament, he would still come back due to Richard's help and nearly crowned him king if it wasn't for his death prematurely in Northumberland. This spotlight of English politics, would make him into Edward IV's right hand man but his war-like nature would turn ensure his removal years later.
The usage of war and lack of political finesse for the Earl of Warwick would slowly drive the two men apart but the greatest betrayal of this was the marriage negotiations for Edward IV. Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville against Warwick's wishes who wanted a marriage with France, preferably Bona of Savoy or even Anne of France (Champagne) This marriage plan would fail with the announcement of the marriage of the two, it would cast out the earl who began to slowly lose favour in royal court and his followers were weakening to the Woodvilles who gathered strength due to the new position as queen consort. The weakening of his position and sights of a potential rival to the throne would cause the earl to once again march to war only to be defeated and exiled to France. The Woodvilles sought a restoration of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance which began to take full effect in 1466. Isabella of Bourbon's death would reignite English sentiment in the Anglo-Burgundian alliance unfortunately in 1462, France struck first by betrothing Anne of France (Champagne) to Philip the Rich as King Louis argued to Charles to cement the treaty of Arras, which was further agreed in 1465 during the treaty of Conflans, the death of Isabella would nearly screw the English chance for an Anglo-Burgundian alliance but Charles who no longer trusted Louis with the fiasco involving a change of betrothal for Charles would have him seek Margaret of York's hand in marriage.
A mixture of Edward, Charles and the Woodville's will would cement the new Anglo-Burgundian alliance which would start off strong with both monarchs accepting each other's royal orders. Charles would take great pleasure in being knighted as a member of the order of the garter, while Edward would knighted as a knight of the Golden Fleece: the most prestigious knightly order in Europe at the time. This exchange of chivalry would lead to the "marriage of the century" between Margaret of York and Charles the Absolute. The return to this alliance was already in perfect circumstances as recently in the treaty of Peronne, Charles now had legal justification with this defensive alliance. Charles would soon be forced into English politics however, already he hosted two lancastrian supporters, his mother was a Lancastrian by birth but yet encouraged the marriage. This forced neutrality would be the norm as various other European powers continued their neutrality in this shadow war for England. Charles tried to mediate King and Earl but his hand would be forced as the Earl joined up with George, Duke of Clarence attacked Burgundian shipping. Charles would call upon his Burgundian navy to attack and capture the earl and duke but would fail, in fact this failure would be so huge that Burgundy would do nothing to stop the earl who now led the Lancastrian faction, sailing back to England. This naval failure would be something of note, not to Charles but to his heir Philip.
The return of the war like Earl demanding the restoration of Henry VI would send Edward to Burgundy, a penniless refugee. Charles would receive him in anger, as Edward was incredibly weak in terms of a claim and an Anglo-French alliance would be a nightmare not remotely possible since the days of Philip the Good. However, Franco-Burgundian relations were already incredibly tense with Louis XI using his French partisans in the somme and in Burgundy to gain various towns and a complete advantage over Burgundy. All out war commenced, Burgundy was prepared for war retaking Burgundy in a matter of months and Charles would begin a campaign for the somme. The earl of Warwick launched his invasions of Burgundy from Calais. The nightmare alliance proven correct, Charles immediately dispatched any assistance for Edward who would in months soundly defeat the Lancastrians and secure the throne completely. Luck has saved Burgundy as the restoration of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance would shatter any attempts by Louis to dismantle and annex Burgundy outright.
Charles would make use of this good fortune, restoring his grand alliance against France and continuously strengthening his own position. His old allies of Aragon, England, and Brittany returned to the fold eager to crush an overstretched France. Lorraine who fell under France's orbit returned to Burgundy under Nicholas of Lorraine. Most importantly Charles, Duke of Guyenne rose up against Louis angry over the lack of power in his new appanage. This great alliance would be a restoration of the league of the public weal as Orleans, Bourbon, and Armagnac would rise up as well. Only the death of Charles, Duke of Guyenne and various other internal issues saved Louis with the treaty of Beaune which recognized the full independence of Burgundy declared in 1471 and most importantly the agreement of having Anne of Champagne be raised in Burgundy itself. The treaty was the reinforcement of Peronne, Conflans and Arras. Louis was decisively defeated in this war due to incredible luck with Edward's restoration. Charles would further strengthen his alliances with the marriage of John his second son in 1469, to Elizabeth, firstborn of England and his wife Margaret would give birth to Isabella in 1472. The consolidation of his alliance with Aragon which would be further strengthened with the Catholic Monarchs. The alliance with Ferrante, king of Naples, a restoration of ties with Portugal and his introduction into Italy would secure peace with France for another three years. Burgundy did not establish its network of alliances until 1472 and it cost them dearly, the Burgundian campaign was only a win on paper but the Burgundian countryside was devastated much like the French country and yet France would recover far quicker than Burgundy.
Burgundy would remain in this death cold war against France as both sides improved and increased their standing armies but England would prove to be weirdly neutral despite the hundred years war. The new English alliance did not provide the material or troops to join Charles against Louis in 1471-72, and it nearly cost the destruction of Burgundy as a state. An English army would not arrive in France until 1475, and the betrayal from that invasion would doom Edward IV's reign. Charles the Absolute would not return his eye to French affairs until that English invasion and by that point the long built Burgundian-Noble faction would collapse while Louis would rebuild person by person the pro-French faction in Burgundy, and yet Burgundy would grow ever stronger in the east as the empire and imperial affairs would attract the absolute duke his attention, but not his paranoia as that will always remain directed as the king of France.
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