Awesome family tree! Specially the double marriage between Austria and spain!
Walking on the Silver Line: A Valois-Bourgogne TL
- Thread starter Liminia1
- Start date
Would Henri make alliances with the Ottomans, like the french did, or is he too hardcore catholic for that
Also I just realised that for the first time since the tl started, it is not a Charles of Philip, but a Henri, Thank you for this gift
Also I just realised that for the first time since the tl started, it is not a Charles of Philip, but a Henri, Thank you for this gift
God i hope not For the first part. The Habsburgs need all the help they can get.
And also happy For the name Henri
Chapter 23.3: The penultimate duke 1457 - 1517
Philip the Rich could be described as one of the most important dukes of Burgundy's history, some people would argue that Philip was one of the prime examples of the great man theory of history yet that could not be ever more false as Burgundy while constantly centralized under Philip, it would be lead by a variety of forces guiding it both domestically and internationally. An interesting way to display Philip's reign would be through the women in his life as various important decisions he made was by the guidance of his mother, sister, wife or daughter. It would be reciprocal as well with the argument that Philip drastically affected all of these people more than they affected him. His mother, Isabella of Bourbon who did not portray as strong of an influence especially compared to Margaret of York or Anne of Champagne would start the young duke's journey, learning Dutch and French throughout the boy's time in Holland. This would be one of the many reasons why he would visit Holland frequently and why he was so popular amongst the people there.
His stepmother on the other hand, had a far larger impact on Philip. Margaret of York would arguably be the person who imprinted Philip the most in terms of court, personality, and knowledge. Margaret who at this point was raised in the court of England and of Richard of York, who was the most powerful noble of the English realm was sent into the extravagant court of Burgundy that was maintained by Charles the Absolute. Arguably, Margaret shaped her stepson into a better version of her husband, teaching him English, German, Italian and Latin. The thrust into governance and administrative work would shape the young duke who strengthened the ducal council throughout his reign in terms of advice and scope much to Margaret's delight. Perhaps the most important thing Margaret fostered in Philip was the enjoyment of courtly ritual, life and of the arts. Philip was unlike his father in the sense that he was not an avid hunter, or swordsman. Instead, Philip could be seen as a true renaissance prince, enjoying the arts of falconry, manuscript creation, paintings in the style of Antwerp Mannerism and importantly architecture in particular renaissance-style architecture and late gothic architecture.
Charles the Absolute however would further the development of this renaissance prince but add a far more militaristic attachment to it. Philip would be leading armies with his bastard uncle Anthony in Charles' wars against France and the Swiss in which Anthony was not impressed with Philip's overall performance stating, "This heir would only arrive at the battlefield in the war was already won." Philip's military skill was more dedicated towards belief in his captain's skills and his logistics constantly leading an army that would be far larger than what his opponent expected or would constantly take them by surprise with usually extra reinforcements. He would not take to the sword, or fighting in general. Some records of the time showed that Philip did indeed have some proficiency in combat but Philip distasted personal combat which was unlike both his father and grandfather. The mutual adoration of Italy that Philip and Charles shared would be greatly expressed in the form of sponsorships and requests by the Burgundians. Charles believed in Italian mercenaries and with the side effect of spreading renaissance ideas in the Burgundian court. Philip focused entirely on these side effects granting generous commissions, buying various manuscripts and importantly sponsoring crafts to further improve the Burgundian court.
The extravagance of a permanent court was tested at Reims with Philip and Anne being the ones to truly generate this glittering and golden court for France. This rough draft of a court of the likes of King Arthur or of the Eastern Romans would finally see fruit in the massive construction and completion of the Palace of Colchis. This palace was just outside of the capital of Nancy for Burgundy and would show in full display the experience, and extravagance of the Burgundian court that was flourishing since the days of Philip the Good. Chroniclers would detail in great wealth and pride, the elaborate procedures for every minute detail in Colchis while describing in mouth-watering detail the amount of luxury the Burgundian dukes had in Nancy. The palace would not only be designed for the ducal lifestyle, it would also serve as the place where the majority of Burgundian governance took place and it is due to this richness and investment that the entire palace including the current Burgundian parliament was declared a UNESCO world heritage site due to the vast amounts of art, culture and wealth poured into this palace. Philip the Rich implemented drawing rooms, glittering hallways, libraries, and galleries decorating the entire palace. Other important royalist palace sites were in Malines, Brussels, Dijon, Amsterdam and Bruges. These palaces were officially residences of the various governors or stadholders of Burgundy held and the royal family would move around these palaces in order to better connect their realm and their people.
Philip the Rich was arguably the last ruler to deal with feudalism and would use feudal contracts as a means of expansion but with his centralizing authority, he got rid of any feudal contract he had with his subjects as soon as possible.
The general estates of Burgundy which were already quite established and entrenched in the Burgundian government was almost completely nullified with the agreement of the estates in 1483 with the implementation of regular taxes amongst the nobility and merchants in exchange for various forgivements of fines and special aides. Philip would still levy special aides in order to further Burgundian domination however, due to the now steady and permanent tax revenue those times were few and far in between. Philip dealt with feudal contracts with malevolent force, using the court of Malines, threats and bribes the urban resistance that troubled Charles and Philip the Good would barely exist for Philip the Rich. The stadholder positions were firmly established and made it near impossible for any stadholder to rebel against Burgundy. Some people would argue that Philip was the first "capitalist" monarch with his increasing expenditure to the Burgundian navy and in particular the Burgundian Indies Company. Historians however disagree with the notion that Philip was capitalist as under Philip the Hanseatic strangle hold over trade in the Baltic or North Sea was completely shattered and gave Philip the lion's share of wealth. This could be further proven with the rapid investment in the Burgundian populace and infrastructure for Burgundy allowing greater quantities of goods such as Burgundian wine or glasses of Champagne. Arguably these measures were geopolitical and mercantilistic in nature as Philip saw the devastating economic blockade done by Louis XI against Burgundy and Philip looked to divest his sources of grain.
Philip's marriage to Anne of Champagne was a very happy one between the two, while it was not as openly romantic as the one between Isabella and Maximilian, many chroniclers agree that their marriage was very warm compared to the other arranged marriages of Europe at the time. Anne's enjoyment of court life, patronage and of the arts certainly would have given the couple plenty to bond over while Anne arguably was more Burgundian than French having been born during Louis' exile. Philip would take on the same devoutness towards his wife as his father Charles had but Philip's relationship was well documented with grief and sadness. Philip and Anne would have three children, and a stillborn child that nearly took Anne's life in 1485. It would be for this reason that Anne would not be pregnant until it was absolutely necessary such as 1488 with the sudden death of Charles II of Charolais. His relationship with his children was quite strong as well, Margaret of Burgundy would be the most well documented as Anne and Philip taught her the strict Burgundian etiquette and turned her into a renaissance princess in order to make any man fall for her which would work well in her marriage with Christian II of Denmark. Anne's raising of Maria of Julich-Berg would also be just as well documented as the two women bonded over being heiresses and Maria would grow to be a darling in the Burgundian court.
It would not only be personal and courtly matters that Anne would intervene in Philip's life. The regency of France would be a well documented episode over Anne's influence over her husband. Philip who understood that he would not be seen well in France allowed his wife Anne to take the spotlight which paid off in spades. Her persuasion over marrying Charles II of Charolais to Elizabeth of the Palatine would not be as successful as the French regency. Philip was hesitant on going to war against the emperor and the Bavarians believing rightfully Burgundy would gain nothing from it but Anne convinced him otherwise. Her negotiations at the various peaces signed between Burgundy and France can not be overstated as it would be mostly her that got her brother to sign the treaty of Dijon. The fruitful truces of the Italian wars along with the Treaty of Brussels, Anne had some impact over, however importantly both Philip and Anne's goals aligned near completely the total creation of a Burgundian Kingdom.
If there was a person to summarize Burgundian-Imperial relations, it would be Isabella of Burgundy, Holy Roman Empress. Her strategic marriage with Maximilian of Austria was a golden opportunity for Philip's complete relation with the empire, turning them into a complete ally in the war of Lotharingia and the subsequent privileges of Burgundiae and Lotharingia. Isabella would also finally end the conflict over Further Austria, when Maximilian inherited Tyrol and Isabella's dowry which was a massive cash injection of the war-torn and money strapped Austria, again these negotiations allowed Burgundy to further their ambitions in the Swabian region. Isabella would also be the lynchpin of the great alliance against France in the Italian wars for both Charles' invasion and Louis' great conquest. Yet, her relationship with Philip would slowly deteriorate over the Italianzug, war of Landshut Succession, Bohemia and the imperial diets. Arguably it would be her that pushed Philip to not intervene in the short Bohemian Succession war.
His brother, John II the Fair of England, would dictate Burgundian-English policy as the chaotic process of getting John on the throne would pay off in spades in terms of Burgundian dominance as the Burgundian navy that was built up by Philip and Charles decisively defeated the divided English navy in Dover and Calais respectively which would set the Burgundian Indies Company to a trade war against Iberia and the Hanseatic League. The fruit of this relationship would be the runaway marriage of Francis of Bourbon and Margaret of England. The negotiations with a Burgundian proxy and English princess were quite humiliating in terms of English prestige but for Burgundy it would give further the Burgundian advantage as already with John's ascension, Flemish cloth makers were quite privileged in the trade for English wool, with John's ascension and the marriage of Margaret to Francis would allow Philip to directly monopolize the trade for some time. It would be this new house of Calais that would pull England into an incredibly tight bond with Burgundy until the English Civil War.
Philip's later years of foreign policy would be baffling to contemporaries but praised universally by Philip's successors who argued that his foresight was just beyond what others understood at the time. Philip would reorient Burgundian power and influence northwards which was especially shown with the rejection of the marriage between Margaret of Burgundy to Frederick of Naples, and marrying her off to Christian II of Denmark. This effort would be solely decidated to supplanting the Hanseatic league in terms of naval dominance, chroniclers state that Philip desired a removal from instead France supplying Burgundy with grain and food, instead looking to Poland in particular for food supplies. It would be the start of Burgundian naval dominance and would be used to dominate a war of Portuguese succession to take over the monopolies of the East Indies in particular along with the various colonial wars fought between Burgundy, England, France, Spain and Portugal. To Philip and his contemporaries, they saw this endeavour as necessary but expensive and not worth the cost to maintain mercantilism for Burgundy.
The most controversial decisions with Philip was undoubtedly his relationship with the church. The favouritism the popes displayed upon Burgundy was still present but to a much lesser degree. Philip would spend the majority of his clerical affairs to pardon and remove renaissance artists, and scientists from charges of heresy from the pope. Ironically it would be this heavy level of pressure and funding that would spark the early efforts of mediatisation of the Burgundian state, along with various reformist clerics and scholars. Philip just like his predecessors placed an enormous emphasis on learning, funding universities already in the urbanized areas and implementing various clerical reforms importantly would be the formation of the Burgundian crown-cardinal under pope Leo X in 1516. Erasmus who was a very famous Catholic humanist, was appointed and reluctantly accepted the position of crown-cardinal of Flanders. The reasons for Philip's appointment of Erasmus were vast and complex, arguably it was his belief in the fifth council of the Lateran which Philip looked at quite closely and eagerly would be the main reasons as Erasmus was quite famous amongst the Burgundian universities for his expertise and vast knowledge of theology and science. However, importantly for Philip the goals of strengthening clerical education and cracking down on church extravagances were something they both agreed, Erasmus believing that the church should be more focused on education rather than power and wealth, Philip seeing it as a way to gain even more power. This strengthening of the crown in opposition against the church would be furthered by his successor of Henri I of Burgundy, and his appointment of the leader of the counter-reformation to the position of crown cardinal during the council of Trent: John Calvin. Philip would arguably pursue a balance between Catholicism and religious tolerance which was something that was taught interesting by himself, as he would write in his manuscripts: "The failure of the crusades makes me believe that wars over religion are not what God intended, neither has our saviour called for the killing of people who sinned but merely told us to forgive and let god make that judgement." He would remain an adamant catholic personally however, seeing to a revival of catholic oriented painting and churches although whether there was any political motive behind it was heavily debated.
Philip the Rich could very easily be described as the penultimate Duke of Burgundy. Finishing the centralizing reforms of administration and judicial powers of his father, Charles the Absolute. His complete expansion of the Burgundian court that would be far more extravagant and elaborate than his grandfather, Philip the Good. Importantly his expansion efforts into Vaud, Alsace and Frisia would be considered the end goals of the Burgundian state as they would truly restore the ancient kingdom of Lotharingia. Unlike his father however, Philip was not the diplomatic genius or military genius compared to him. The indecisive wars fought against France would only be won due to internal strife within France, the Italian wars that Philip fought were disastrous for the Burgundian state. Interestingly it would be Philip's overconfidence in the Burgundian military that would cause this loss as Burgundy arguably was the leader in pike warfare and the wars that Philip lost were either the loss of cavalry that was placed in effect by Matthias Corvinus and Maximilian or the replication and expansion shown by Charles VIII and Louis XII. Henri I would however turn the tables by exploiting the usage of German mercenaries Landsknecht that Maximilian revolutionized and the incredible wealth generation from Philip would allow Burgundy to seamlessly transition into the Gunpowder age. His diplomatic skills would be far more complicated, arguably Charles' later foreign policy was in large part due to Philip's advice but his failure to maintain that imperial alliance would doom his imperial policy, his exploitation of France while successful would cost them dearly in the vengeance of 1509 but his diplomacy would secure Burgundy peace internally arguably throughout his entire reign. Perhaps Richard Vaughan described him the best, "He threw a lot more luck into the equation of Burgundian policy than his father, giving him greater success and greater failure."
His stepmother on the other hand, had a far larger impact on Philip. Margaret of York would arguably be the person who imprinted Philip the most in terms of court, personality, and knowledge. Margaret who at this point was raised in the court of England and of Richard of York, who was the most powerful noble of the English realm was sent into the extravagant court of Burgundy that was maintained by Charles the Absolute. Arguably, Margaret shaped her stepson into a better version of her husband, teaching him English, German, Italian and Latin. The thrust into governance and administrative work would shape the young duke who strengthened the ducal council throughout his reign in terms of advice and scope much to Margaret's delight. Perhaps the most important thing Margaret fostered in Philip was the enjoyment of courtly ritual, life and of the arts. Philip was unlike his father in the sense that he was not an avid hunter, or swordsman. Instead, Philip could be seen as a true renaissance prince, enjoying the arts of falconry, manuscript creation, paintings in the style of Antwerp Mannerism and importantly architecture in particular renaissance-style architecture and late gothic architecture.
Charles the Absolute however would further the development of this renaissance prince but add a far more militaristic attachment to it. Philip would be leading armies with his bastard uncle Anthony in Charles' wars against France and the Swiss in which Anthony was not impressed with Philip's overall performance stating, "This heir would only arrive at the battlefield in the war was already won." Philip's military skill was more dedicated towards belief in his captain's skills and his logistics constantly leading an army that would be far larger than what his opponent expected or would constantly take them by surprise with usually extra reinforcements. He would not take to the sword, or fighting in general. Some records of the time showed that Philip did indeed have some proficiency in combat but Philip distasted personal combat which was unlike both his father and grandfather. The mutual adoration of Italy that Philip and Charles shared would be greatly expressed in the form of sponsorships and requests by the Burgundians. Charles believed in Italian mercenaries and with the side effect of spreading renaissance ideas in the Burgundian court. Philip focused entirely on these side effects granting generous commissions, buying various manuscripts and importantly sponsoring crafts to further improve the Burgundian court.
The extravagance of a permanent court was tested at Reims with Philip and Anne being the ones to truly generate this glittering and golden court for France. This rough draft of a court of the likes of King Arthur or of the Eastern Romans would finally see fruit in the massive construction and completion of the Palace of Colchis. This palace was just outside of the capital of Nancy for Burgundy and would show in full display the experience, and extravagance of the Burgundian court that was flourishing since the days of Philip the Good. Chroniclers would detail in great wealth and pride, the elaborate procedures for every minute detail in Colchis while describing in mouth-watering detail the amount of luxury the Burgundian dukes had in Nancy. The palace would not only be designed for the ducal lifestyle, it would also serve as the place where the majority of Burgundian governance took place and it is due to this richness and investment that the entire palace including the current Burgundian parliament was declared a UNESCO world heritage site due to the vast amounts of art, culture and wealth poured into this palace. Philip the Rich implemented drawing rooms, glittering hallways, libraries, and galleries decorating the entire palace. Other important royalist palace sites were in Malines, Brussels, Dijon, Amsterdam and Bruges. These palaces were officially residences of the various governors or stadholders of Burgundy held and the royal family would move around these palaces in order to better connect their realm and their people.
Philip the Rich was arguably the last ruler to deal with feudalism and would use feudal contracts as a means of expansion but with his centralizing authority, he got rid of any feudal contract he had with his subjects as soon as possible.
The general estates of Burgundy which were already quite established and entrenched in the Burgundian government was almost completely nullified with the agreement of the estates in 1483 with the implementation of regular taxes amongst the nobility and merchants in exchange for various forgivements of fines and special aides. Philip would still levy special aides in order to further Burgundian domination however, due to the now steady and permanent tax revenue those times were few and far in between. Philip dealt with feudal contracts with malevolent force, using the court of Malines, threats and bribes the urban resistance that troubled Charles and Philip the Good would barely exist for Philip the Rich. The stadholder positions were firmly established and made it near impossible for any stadholder to rebel against Burgundy. Some people would argue that Philip was the first "capitalist" monarch with his increasing expenditure to the Burgundian navy and in particular the Burgundian Indies Company. Historians however disagree with the notion that Philip was capitalist as under Philip the Hanseatic strangle hold over trade in the Baltic or North Sea was completely shattered and gave Philip the lion's share of wealth. This could be further proven with the rapid investment in the Burgundian populace and infrastructure for Burgundy allowing greater quantities of goods such as Burgundian wine or glasses of Champagne. Arguably these measures were geopolitical and mercantilistic in nature as Philip saw the devastating economic blockade done by Louis XI against Burgundy and Philip looked to divest his sources of grain.
Philip's marriage to Anne of Champagne was a very happy one between the two, while it was not as openly romantic as the one between Isabella and Maximilian, many chroniclers agree that their marriage was very warm compared to the other arranged marriages of Europe at the time. Anne's enjoyment of court life, patronage and of the arts certainly would have given the couple plenty to bond over while Anne arguably was more Burgundian than French having been born during Louis' exile. Philip would take on the same devoutness towards his wife as his father Charles had but Philip's relationship was well documented with grief and sadness. Philip and Anne would have three children, and a stillborn child that nearly took Anne's life in 1485. It would be for this reason that Anne would not be pregnant until it was absolutely necessary such as 1488 with the sudden death of Charles II of Charolais. His relationship with his children was quite strong as well, Margaret of Burgundy would be the most well documented as Anne and Philip taught her the strict Burgundian etiquette and turned her into a renaissance princess in order to make any man fall for her which would work well in her marriage with Christian II of Denmark. Anne's raising of Maria of Julich-Berg would also be just as well documented as the two women bonded over being heiresses and Maria would grow to be a darling in the Burgundian court.
It would not only be personal and courtly matters that Anne would intervene in Philip's life. The regency of France would be a well documented episode over Anne's influence over her husband. Philip who understood that he would not be seen well in France allowed his wife Anne to take the spotlight which paid off in spades. Her persuasion over marrying Charles II of Charolais to Elizabeth of the Palatine would not be as successful as the French regency. Philip was hesitant on going to war against the emperor and the Bavarians believing rightfully Burgundy would gain nothing from it but Anne convinced him otherwise. Her negotiations at the various peaces signed between Burgundy and France can not be overstated as it would be mostly her that got her brother to sign the treaty of Dijon. The fruitful truces of the Italian wars along with the Treaty of Brussels, Anne had some impact over, however importantly both Philip and Anne's goals aligned near completely the total creation of a Burgundian Kingdom.
If there was a person to summarize Burgundian-Imperial relations, it would be Isabella of Burgundy, Holy Roman Empress. Her strategic marriage with Maximilian of Austria was a golden opportunity for Philip's complete relation with the empire, turning them into a complete ally in the war of Lotharingia and the subsequent privileges of Burgundiae and Lotharingia. Isabella would also finally end the conflict over Further Austria, when Maximilian inherited Tyrol and Isabella's dowry which was a massive cash injection of the war-torn and money strapped Austria, again these negotiations allowed Burgundy to further their ambitions in the Swabian region. Isabella would also be the lynchpin of the great alliance against France in the Italian wars for both Charles' invasion and Louis' great conquest. Yet, her relationship with Philip would slowly deteriorate over the Italianzug, war of Landshut Succession, Bohemia and the imperial diets. Arguably it would be her that pushed Philip to not intervene in the short Bohemian Succession war.
His brother, John II the Fair of England, would dictate Burgundian-English policy as the chaotic process of getting John on the throne would pay off in spades in terms of Burgundian dominance as the Burgundian navy that was built up by Philip and Charles decisively defeated the divided English navy in Dover and Calais respectively which would set the Burgundian Indies Company to a trade war against Iberia and the Hanseatic League. The fruit of this relationship would be the runaway marriage of Francis of Bourbon and Margaret of England. The negotiations with a Burgundian proxy and English princess were quite humiliating in terms of English prestige but for Burgundy it would give further the Burgundian advantage as already with John's ascension, Flemish cloth makers were quite privileged in the trade for English wool, with John's ascension and the marriage of Margaret to Francis would allow Philip to directly monopolize the trade for some time. It would be this new house of Calais that would pull England into an incredibly tight bond with Burgundy until the English Civil War.
Philip's later years of foreign policy would be baffling to contemporaries but praised universally by Philip's successors who argued that his foresight was just beyond what others understood at the time. Philip would reorient Burgundian power and influence northwards which was especially shown with the rejection of the marriage between Margaret of Burgundy to Frederick of Naples, and marrying her off to Christian II of Denmark. This effort would be solely decidated to supplanting the Hanseatic league in terms of naval dominance, chroniclers state that Philip desired a removal from instead France supplying Burgundy with grain and food, instead looking to Poland in particular for food supplies. It would be the start of Burgundian naval dominance and would be used to dominate a war of Portuguese succession to take over the monopolies of the East Indies in particular along with the various colonial wars fought between Burgundy, England, France, Spain and Portugal. To Philip and his contemporaries, they saw this endeavour as necessary but expensive and not worth the cost to maintain mercantilism for Burgundy.
The most controversial decisions with Philip was undoubtedly his relationship with the church. The favouritism the popes displayed upon Burgundy was still present but to a much lesser degree. Philip would spend the majority of his clerical affairs to pardon and remove renaissance artists, and scientists from charges of heresy from the pope. Ironically it would be this heavy level of pressure and funding that would spark the early efforts of mediatisation of the Burgundian state, along with various reformist clerics and scholars. Philip just like his predecessors placed an enormous emphasis on learning, funding universities already in the urbanized areas and implementing various clerical reforms importantly would be the formation of the Burgundian crown-cardinal under pope Leo X in 1516. Erasmus who was a very famous Catholic humanist, was appointed and reluctantly accepted the position of crown-cardinal of Flanders. The reasons for Philip's appointment of Erasmus were vast and complex, arguably it was his belief in the fifth council of the Lateran which Philip looked at quite closely and eagerly would be the main reasons as Erasmus was quite famous amongst the Burgundian universities for his expertise and vast knowledge of theology and science. However, importantly for Philip the goals of strengthening clerical education and cracking down on church extravagances were something they both agreed, Erasmus believing that the church should be more focused on education rather than power and wealth, Philip seeing it as a way to gain even more power. This strengthening of the crown in opposition against the church would be furthered by his successor of Henri I of Burgundy, and his appointment of the leader of the counter-reformation to the position of crown cardinal during the council of Trent: John Calvin. Philip would arguably pursue a balance between Catholicism and religious tolerance which was something that was taught interesting by himself, as he would write in his manuscripts: "The failure of the crusades makes me believe that wars over religion are not what God intended, neither has our saviour called for the killing of people who sinned but merely told us to forgive and let god make that judgement." He would remain an adamant catholic personally however, seeing to a revival of catholic oriented painting and churches although whether there was any political motive behind it was heavily debated.
Philip the Rich could very easily be described as the penultimate Duke of Burgundy. Finishing the centralizing reforms of administration and judicial powers of his father, Charles the Absolute. His complete expansion of the Burgundian court that would be far more extravagant and elaborate than his grandfather, Philip the Good. Importantly his expansion efforts into Vaud, Alsace and Frisia would be considered the end goals of the Burgundian state as they would truly restore the ancient kingdom of Lotharingia. Unlike his father however, Philip was not the diplomatic genius or military genius compared to him. The indecisive wars fought against France would only be won due to internal strife within France, the Italian wars that Philip fought were disastrous for the Burgundian state. Interestingly it would be Philip's overconfidence in the Burgundian military that would cause this loss as Burgundy arguably was the leader in pike warfare and the wars that Philip lost were either the loss of cavalry that was placed in effect by Matthias Corvinus and Maximilian or the replication and expansion shown by Charles VIII and Louis XII. Henri I would however turn the tables by exploiting the usage of German mercenaries Landsknecht that Maximilian revolutionized and the incredible wealth generation from Philip would allow Burgundy to seamlessly transition into the Gunpowder age. His diplomatic skills would be far more complicated, arguably Charles' later foreign policy was in large part due to Philip's advice but his failure to maintain that imperial alliance would doom his imperial policy, his exploitation of France while successful would cost them dearly in the vengeance of 1509 but his diplomacy would secure Burgundy peace internally arguably throughout his entire reign. Perhaps Richard Vaughan described him the best, "He threw a lot more luck into the equation of Burgundian policy than his father, giving him greater success and greater failure."
Arguably the Franco-Ottoman alliance was completely useless and just merely a scare tactic for France. I feel like because of an independent Burgundy there is no fear of complete encirclement for both Burgundy and France so any alliance with the Ottomans is just not logical. I feel like when it comes to this TL, it's far more likely the protestants would be thrown around as an ally or a third pillar against the many rivalries going on in Europe. I can definitely argue that fluid diplomacy which was what Europe experienced since the fall of Constantinople will just continue, temporary alliances will form and dissolve just as quickly.
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Cool, she's amazing.U can thank @isabella for the name Henri. If you see this Isabella tysm for ur help
And great chapter and description of Philip IV life
Honestly it clicked to me, a lot of Philip's decision making involved his family, also I pity Margaret queen of Scots so I had to write her a happy and quiet life for her. I probably should have done a chapter on it for the Italian wars in order to better explain why England went to war with France (but then again does England really need a reason why?)
Chapter 23.6: A critique of Philip the Rich
Good day fellow historians, I am [Insert Self-OC] and welcome to the History 206: Gateway to the Renaissance. Please settle down and take a seat. So thank you for choosing this course as part of your undergraduate degree in history. I do hope all of you will learn various things, importantly the ability to question and look through things from a critical perspective and today we will be discussing Philip the Rich of Burgundy. I'm sure all of you remember him from your high school history classes where there is a small paragraph describing the events portrayed throughout his life and reign. Certainly if you people were fascinated by him, you would have done your research and read through a couple of novels before joining this class. I don't expect all of you to have read about him beforehand by the way, but I'm fairly certain all of you agree the man is popular amongst the general public and historians right?
classroom nods heads
Great let's begin, let's recap Philip's life and reign throughout Burgundy. He was born a prince, raised in Holland, moved to Lorraine, became duke, shifted Burgundy into the empire, expanded it slightly and left it in an incredibly good spot for his heir. That's the general 60 second version right? Or at least what other people know if they haven't studied Burgundy like anyone not in this classroom right?
silence follows
Let us start first, his childhood shall we? People keep having this misinterpretation of Philip being a people's king and one who truly was with the people at the time. Unlike his predecessors who exclusively spoke French and used dutch translators in order to communicate with their subjects or learned dutch later throughout their lives. Philip the Rich didn't necessarily push to learn Dutch out of his own free will or out of his parent's belief in the Dutch language. It was just pure politics, the stadholder position of Holland was one of the most prestigious, wealthy and important ranks in government. Charles' appointment there would push the family into Holland. Arguably Charles and Isabella's raising of Philip to the Dutch language was because the local elite within Holland spoke exclusively dutch. Yes Charles realized that Dutch was going to be dominant throughout Burgundy but this was not to further reach out to the people but merely to solidify ties with the elites. This isn't some nationalist or ideal ruler of the people's moment for Philip. It was just common sense and smart rulership.
The marriage of Anne and Philip would be more likely of Louis' failure and not some forbidden romance as some romanticists like to depict. A lot of historians call this match a match made in heaven, let's discuss the implications of the marriage and how it came to be. 1461, is when Anne of Champagne was born and when the betrothal discussions already persisted. She was born in modern day Burgundy, and some romanticists/revisionists would like to say she was Burgundian by birth, let's be honest she was a French princess. Her marriage and dowry is certainly confusing, why would Louis the Spider give up Champagne to Burgundy. I think the main reason was that he believed with his death Burgundy would inherit France. That's literally it, Burgundy I will note is the most powerful state beside France and if Philip inherited France well you just have a supercharged France no? What about the birth of his son Charles VIII? Arguably the independence of Burgundian independence declaration would be key thing keeping Louis away from paying that dowry. Louis arguably spent his money on other endeavours which was the expansion of French Centralization. bureaucracy and army. The plan was that with the poison gift of Champagne it would finally reel Burgundy back into France. Did this work? Not really the death of Louis who died at the age of 60 would hamper these plans probably because he expected to live slightly longer so that his son would be more firmly shaped by him.
The death of Louis didn't magically undo his centralizing reforms that is something that is a genuine myth amongst the general public. Philip weakened France to the point where he could just outright steal champagne. That's just a complete lie, Philip despite a regency that would have greatly benefited with the dismantling of French absolutism, arguably Burgundy needed to dismantle French centralization, absolutely failed in this regard as the instruments of French strength such as the parlament, royalist officer corps, and the rights of the nobility. Philip didn't do any of that in fact he absolutely failed in this regard. Honestly the French regency was practically completely self interested, you could tell with the separate courts of Reims, Clermont, and Orleans. All parties were only interested in themselves and this would balance it out, yes Orleans, Champagne and Bourbon would gain de facto independence but as soon as Charles ascended the majority, all of these measures were revoked by him. Importantly even in the sole regency, Philip and Anne could do or did do nothing to assist their position in France or to weaken the crown itself.
Student asks: What about the priviliegium lotharingia? Wasn't that just Philip and Anne's genius move?
Looks at student with surprise and a smile
Well let's discuss that shall we? We all have heard of the privilegium Lotharingia. Our "founding document" that truly set Burgundy as a nation rather than an amalgamation of French and imperial vassals. Obviously the lesser version of this was the privilegium burgundiae which bound Brabant, Limburg, Zeeland, Holland and Luxembourg together. This was forged by Charles the Absolute in the marriage of Isabella and Maximilian. Arguably it was an advantageous move made in the greatest moment of Habsburg weakness until the religious wars. It was pretty simple as Burgundy at this point wanted more independence and the Holy Roman Empire was as decentralized and as weak as it can get. So why on earth did Philip and to a lesser degree Charles try to strengthen the Habsburgs to the point of equals without the emperor? We have to discuss the geopolitical situation at the time don't we. Let's examine the Hungarians led by the warrior King Matthias Corvinus. Hungary was a monster in terms of military strength, throughout the early life of Philip the Rich and throughout the reign of Charles the Absolute. The dominance asserted by Matthias could not be understated, he nearly ruined the entire Kingdom of Bohemia and honestly fought a brutal sack of Austria as well. Ironically it would be his policies that would stand the test of time, adopted by the Habsburgs against the Ottomans. Let's not open that jar of worms though. Important to this story was that Matthias desired the title of King of the Romans which is essentially a successor position to the holy roman emperor. Let's double check this, if Matthias is elected as Holy Roman Emperor, this would be disastrous for the Burgundians, a super charged Hungary that also ruled the emperor would bring back a better Sigismund. Both Philip and Charles would not allow this to happen.
The marriage would make common sense right? Back the underdogs in order to secure your own position. That's how the privilegium Lotharingia would be created. This was basically forged by Isabella and Philip to benefit their homeland. Now you may be asking by the time of 1491, why would Maximilian give the privilegium Lotharingia. He basically is Matthias now right? laughs No, Maximilian is not Philip in terms of finance honestly it is a surprise that both Albert and Maximilian didn't bankrupt Burgundy with the amount of loans they had. Matthias had a full fighting force and a war chest to fight it. Maximilian did not, and a good portion of that debt was from the Burgundians so by forgiving this debt for greater privileges it was possible. Honestly this would be the reason why even though Maximilian had plenty of casus belli and reasons to invade Burgundy he never did because Burgundy was his bank basically. So why did Philip fund Maximilian then? He just probably didn't believe him, while he had great military victories, the loss of the Swiss and the failure of diplomacy throughout the 1490s was probably why Philip was very comfortable with Austria. Austria had no allies other than Burgundy and maybe Bavaria. All of the "allies" were all weak and loose at best in not non existent in reality at worse. I will also note, Maximilian only got the crown by surrendering privileges to the nobility to be elected and would spent the rest of his reign trying to recover that authority. So yes, Philip made the smart move in allying the Habsburgs, so what about 1516? The bohemian succession? Honestly this one was probably Isabella's fault. Isabella and Maximilian were a very passionate couple despite the age difference, importantly Isabella was ambitious. I guess this was due to both the Burgundian pride of their own duchy and the fact within two years of her marriage she would be proclaimed queen of Hungary. That's bound to inflate one's ego, a mixture of persuasion and Burgundy just being incredibly busy and not risking imperial support in the Italian wars was probably why by the end of Philip's reign his imperial policy was a disaster no? He lost the war of Landshut Succession and made the Austrians an equal on their own footing to Burgundy.
His Italian wars, oh boi where do we begin. Is the failure of the Italian wars a complete failure on Philip or on Charles? Charles' Italian policy was by all extents a masterpiece aligning Savoy, Milan, Venice, Rome and Naples to either be a firm Burgundian ally or pro-Burgundian/anti-French. This status quo formed by Charles is probably unrealistic to last but Philip's way of maneuvering probably screwed over Italy completely. First of all, Philip did not renew the Burgundy-Naples alliance that was formed back in the 1470s. Arguably this was Philip's biggest mistake with the death of Valois-Anjou this gave France very strong claims to Naples. If Burgundy remained allied with Naples it might possibly be the end of the Italian wars. The maneuvering of Milan away from Burgundy into the empire was avoidable as well, honestly this was down due to lack of attention in the Italian peninsula other than Savoy. Philip could very easily fix this, the betrothal of Philibert to Bianca Sforza. Burgundy had a very clean shot to influence the Milanese through her but didn't do anything at all instead focusing on the north and Vaud. Venice on the other hand was practically abandoned and left to the wolves by Philip. I could go on about the failures of Italy including the attempted marriage of Margaret with Frederick but we can discuss that at a later date.
Finally let's discuss his "proudest" foreign policy achievement. The Scandinavian or anti-Hanseatic foreign policy. It was a confusing and wild storm of lucky policies. The expansion of the Burgundian navy began during the war of the roses and Charles' failure in stopping Margaret of Anjou in invading England so Burgundy already had a decent navy staffed by newly minted captains. Philip would expand these naval achievements by putting them into experience with the placement of his brother John onto the throne, so we have an incredibly powerful navy but instead of sending it out westwards towards the new world or even south towards the med or Africa in order to gain a better foothold on the lucrative Silk Road, he decides to bank on the Hanseatic league by placing all of his money onto the Kalmar Union. I can not state how bad of an idea this was, Philip was already keenly aware that the Kalmar Union was a nightmare in terms of dealing with the nobility, heck he had to intervene two separate times against the Swedes with the marriage of Margaret and Christian II. Honestly, Philip probably should have expected the war of Danish succession to occur and for Burgundy to just bounced around between Denmark-Norway and Hansa-Sweden.
Oh my look at the time and the fact all of you students are packing up. sigh
This class isn't here to just diss on Philip the Rich. In fact I think he is worthy of the epithet the Rich but this is just a taste on what we are doing in this university course. We will be expanding on what we know throughout history and looking at it through multiple lenses. We were given sort of a golden vision in which Philip did absolutely everything right but I'm here to offer you a perspective where he did nothing original or right. He screwed over the legacy of his father and only succeeded in the main goals such as Frisia, the privilegium Lotharingia and Vaud. This is an interesting take on Philip the Rich, that he screwed his father's long term goals of dominating Italy, ruining France and being elected emperor by strengthening the Habsburgs, not trying to destroy France and just abandoning Italy to the wolves. We'll be back tomorrow to look at other perspectives in history I want to open your eyes and to think of other ways to interpret history. Now go to your next classes and thank you for listening to this lecture.
classroom nods heads
Great let's begin, let's recap Philip's life and reign throughout Burgundy. He was born a prince, raised in Holland, moved to Lorraine, became duke, shifted Burgundy into the empire, expanded it slightly and left it in an incredibly good spot for his heir. That's the general 60 second version right? Or at least what other people know if they haven't studied Burgundy like anyone not in this classroom right?
silence follows
Let us start first, his childhood shall we? People keep having this misinterpretation of Philip being a people's king and one who truly was with the people at the time. Unlike his predecessors who exclusively spoke French and used dutch translators in order to communicate with their subjects or learned dutch later throughout their lives. Philip the Rich didn't necessarily push to learn Dutch out of his own free will or out of his parent's belief in the Dutch language. It was just pure politics, the stadholder position of Holland was one of the most prestigious, wealthy and important ranks in government. Charles' appointment there would push the family into Holland. Arguably Charles and Isabella's raising of Philip to the Dutch language was because the local elite within Holland spoke exclusively dutch. Yes Charles realized that Dutch was going to be dominant throughout Burgundy but this was not to further reach out to the people but merely to solidify ties with the elites. This isn't some nationalist or ideal ruler of the people's moment for Philip. It was just common sense and smart rulership.
The marriage of Anne and Philip would be more likely of Louis' failure and not some forbidden romance as some romanticists like to depict. A lot of historians call this match a match made in heaven, let's discuss the implications of the marriage and how it came to be. 1461, is when Anne of Champagne was born and when the betrothal discussions already persisted. She was born in modern day Burgundy, and some romanticists/revisionists would like to say she was Burgundian by birth, let's be honest she was a French princess. Her marriage and dowry is certainly confusing, why would Louis the Spider give up Champagne to Burgundy. I think the main reason was that he believed with his death Burgundy would inherit France. That's literally it, Burgundy I will note is the most powerful state beside France and if Philip inherited France well you just have a supercharged France no? What about the birth of his son Charles VIII? Arguably the independence of Burgundian independence declaration would be key thing keeping Louis away from paying that dowry. Louis arguably spent his money on other endeavours which was the expansion of French Centralization. bureaucracy and army. The plan was that with the poison gift of Champagne it would finally reel Burgundy back into France. Did this work? Not really the death of Louis who died at the age of 60 would hamper these plans probably because he expected to live slightly longer so that his son would be more firmly shaped by him.
The death of Louis didn't magically undo his centralizing reforms that is something that is a genuine myth amongst the general public. Philip weakened France to the point where he could just outright steal champagne. That's just a complete lie, Philip despite a regency that would have greatly benefited with the dismantling of French absolutism, arguably Burgundy needed to dismantle French centralization, absolutely failed in this regard as the instruments of French strength such as the parlament, royalist officer corps, and the rights of the nobility. Philip didn't do any of that in fact he absolutely failed in this regard. Honestly the French regency was practically completely self interested, you could tell with the separate courts of Reims, Clermont, and Orleans. All parties were only interested in themselves and this would balance it out, yes Orleans, Champagne and Bourbon would gain de facto independence but as soon as Charles ascended the majority, all of these measures were revoked by him. Importantly even in the sole regency, Philip and Anne could do or did do nothing to assist their position in France or to weaken the crown itself.
Student asks: What about the priviliegium lotharingia? Wasn't that just Philip and Anne's genius move?
Looks at student with surprise and a smile
Well let's discuss that shall we? We all have heard of the privilegium Lotharingia. Our "founding document" that truly set Burgundy as a nation rather than an amalgamation of French and imperial vassals. Obviously the lesser version of this was the privilegium burgundiae which bound Brabant, Limburg, Zeeland, Holland and Luxembourg together. This was forged by Charles the Absolute in the marriage of Isabella and Maximilian. Arguably it was an advantageous move made in the greatest moment of Habsburg weakness until the religious wars. It was pretty simple as Burgundy at this point wanted more independence and the Holy Roman Empire was as decentralized and as weak as it can get. So why on earth did Philip and to a lesser degree Charles try to strengthen the Habsburgs to the point of equals without the emperor? We have to discuss the geopolitical situation at the time don't we. Let's examine the Hungarians led by the warrior King Matthias Corvinus. Hungary was a monster in terms of military strength, throughout the early life of Philip the Rich and throughout the reign of Charles the Absolute. The dominance asserted by Matthias could not be understated, he nearly ruined the entire Kingdom of Bohemia and honestly fought a brutal sack of Austria as well. Ironically it would be his policies that would stand the test of time, adopted by the Habsburgs against the Ottomans. Let's not open that jar of worms though. Important to this story was that Matthias desired the title of King of the Romans which is essentially a successor position to the holy roman emperor. Let's double check this, if Matthias is elected as Holy Roman Emperor, this would be disastrous for the Burgundians, a super charged Hungary that also ruled the emperor would bring back a better Sigismund. Both Philip and Charles would not allow this to happen.
The marriage would make common sense right? Back the underdogs in order to secure your own position. That's how the privilegium Lotharingia would be created. This was basically forged by Isabella and Philip to benefit their homeland. Now you may be asking by the time of 1491, why would Maximilian give the privilegium Lotharingia. He basically is Matthias now right? laughs No, Maximilian is not Philip in terms of finance honestly it is a surprise that both Albert and Maximilian didn't bankrupt Burgundy with the amount of loans they had. Matthias had a full fighting force and a war chest to fight it. Maximilian did not, and a good portion of that debt was from the Burgundians so by forgiving this debt for greater privileges it was possible. Honestly this would be the reason why even though Maximilian had plenty of casus belli and reasons to invade Burgundy he never did because Burgundy was his bank basically. So why did Philip fund Maximilian then? He just probably didn't believe him, while he had great military victories, the loss of the Swiss and the failure of diplomacy throughout the 1490s was probably why Philip was very comfortable with Austria. Austria had no allies other than Burgundy and maybe Bavaria. All of the "allies" were all weak and loose at best in not non existent in reality at worse. I will also note, Maximilian only got the crown by surrendering privileges to the nobility to be elected and would spent the rest of his reign trying to recover that authority. So yes, Philip made the smart move in allying the Habsburgs, so what about 1516? The bohemian succession? Honestly this one was probably Isabella's fault. Isabella and Maximilian were a very passionate couple despite the age difference, importantly Isabella was ambitious. I guess this was due to both the Burgundian pride of their own duchy and the fact within two years of her marriage she would be proclaimed queen of Hungary. That's bound to inflate one's ego, a mixture of persuasion and Burgundy just being incredibly busy and not risking imperial support in the Italian wars was probably why by the end of Philip's reign his imperial policy was a disaster no? He lost the war of Landshut Succession and made the Austrians an equal on their own footing to Burgundy.
His Italian wars, oh boi where do we begin. Is the failure of the Italian wars a complete failure on Philip or on Charles? Charles' Italian policy was by all extents a masterpiece aligning Savoy, Milan, Venice, Rome and Naples to either be a firm Burgundian ally or pro-Burgundian/anti-French. This status quo formed by Charles is probably unrealistic to last but Philip's way of maneuvering probably screwed over Italy completely. First of all, Philip did not renew the Burgundy-Naples alliance that was formed back in the 1470s. Arguably this was Philip's biggest mistake with the death of Valois-Anjou this gave France very strong claims to Naples. If Burgundy remained allied with Naples it might possibly be the end of the Italian wars. The maneuvering of Milan away from Burgundy into the empire was avoidable as well, honestly this was down due to lack of attention in the Italian peninsula other than Savoy. Philip could very easily fix this, the betrothal of Philibert to Bianca Sforza. Burgundy had a very clean shot to influence the Milanese through her but didn't do anything at all instead focusing on the north and Vaud. Venice on the other hand was practically abandoned and left to the wolves by Philip. I could go on about the failures of Italy including the attempted marriage of Margaret with Frederick but we can discuss that at a later date.
Finally let's discuss his "proudest" foreign policy achievement. The Scandinavian or anti-Hanseatic foreign policy. It was a confusing and wild storm of lucky policies. The expansion of the Burgundian navy began during the war of the roses and Charles' failure in stopping Margaret of Anjou in invading England so Burgundy already had a decent navy staffed by newly minted captains. Philip would expand these naval achievements by putting them into experience with the placement of his brother John onto the throne, so we have an incredibly powerful navy but instead of sending it out westwards towards the new world or even south towards the med or Africa in order to gain a better foothold on the lucrative Silk Road, he decides to bank on the Hanseatic league by placing all of his money onto the Kalmar Union. I can not state how bad of an idea this was, Philip was already keenly aware that the Kalmar Union was a nightmare in terms of dealing with the nobility, heck he had to intervene two separate times against the Swedes with the marriage of Margaret and Christian II. Honestly, Philip probably should have expected the war of Danish succession to occur and for Burgundy to just bounced around between Denmark-Norway and Hansa-Sweden.
Oh my look at the time and the fact all of you students are packing up. sigh
This class isn't here to just diss on Philip the Rich. In fact I think he is worthy of the epithet the Rich but this is just a taste on what we are doing in this university course. We will be expanding on what we know throughout history and looking at it through multiple lenses. We were given sort of a golden vision in which Philip did absolutely everything right but I'm here to offer you a perspective where he did nothing original or right. He screwed over the legacy of his father and only succeeded in the main goals such as Frisia, the privilegium Lotharingia and Vaud. This is an interesting take on Philip the Rich, that he screwed his father's long term goals of dominating Italy, ruining France and being elected emperor by strengthening the Habsburgs, not trying to destroy France and just abandoning Italy to the wolves. We'll be back tomorrow to look at other perspectives in history I want to open your eyes and to think of other ways to interpret history. Now go to your next classes and thank you for listening to this lecture.
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Ooh using this chapter as a sort of vision of how Philip's policies will be seen by his countrymen in the future is a brilliant idea and very beautiful, although I have a question, technically with the amount of regions that speak a dialect derived from Latin recently annexed to Burgundy, how can Dutch be the most important language in the kingdom ?, the demographic weight should not favor the "French-like" southern dialects, or at least push towards the formation of a new Romance language with enormous borrowings from Dutch ?
Honestly I definitely see the latter occurring, we can call it Burgundian. I'm not incredibly good at language formation or creation studies ngl ;-;
Thanks to you two both for the kind words, now I have to start thinking/writing over the chaos that will strike the diarchy.