War of the Burgundian Succession (1477–1493)

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The Duchy of Burgundy under Charles the Bold (1465–1477)

The War of the Burgundian Succession , also known as the War of the Dutch Succession , from 1477 to 1493 describes the War of Succession between the Kingdom of France and Maximilian von Habsburg for the Burgundian inheritance of Charles the Bold and thus for rule over the Duchy of Burgundy . The war was accompanied by uprisings by the estates striving for autonomy in the Dutch provinces .

Burgundy before the war

Flag of the Dukes of Burgundy

The Duchy of Burgundy arose in the 14th century between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire , as a branch line of the French ruling house Valois, some fiefs of the French crown located in the west with areas in the east that were under the feudal sovereignty of the Holy Roman Empire to a large extent independent ruling association summarized. In striving for independence and their own royal crown, the dukes managed to break away from the dominance of the French kings. They tried to achieve their political goals through an expansive foreign policy financed by taxation of the estates and centralization of the administration in the urban Burgundian Netherlands as well as a far-reaching court and knight culture.

The outwardly shining state was constantly on the verge of bankruptcy due to the politics of its dukes . The expansive foreign policy - especially Charles the Bold , the last Burgundian duke from the House of Burgundy-Valois - aimed at the conquest of the Duchy of Lorraine , which separated the Upper Burgundian from the Lower Burgundian provinces. The incorporation of Lorraine would have created a closed territory that would have stretched from the North Sea to the vicinity of Lyon and surrounded Paris on three sides. The Burgundian dukes would at least have become titular kings of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem.

The centralistic domestic policy of the dukes aimed at a unified state meant that the estates - especially the economically flourishing cities of Flanders Ghent , Bruges and Ypres - were to be driven into the opposition and ultimately politically eliminated. The approval of up to fifteen years of tax aid by the estates - in particular to finance the dukes' foreign policy aimed at wars of aggression - would de facto have meant their political disempowerment. The tax aid was therefore either not approved by the stands or only partially paid. Until the end of the war, the struggle to restore class autonomy repeatedly led to uprisings in the Dutch provinces and made them, especially the rich cities of Flanders, temporarily allies of France.

Course and accompanying circumstances

Outbreak of war and course after the wedding of Mary (1477)

Battle scene from the Weißkunig

Charles the Bold fell at the Battle of Nancy on January 5, 1477 , without leaving a male heir. The adult heirloom of Charles, Maria of Burgundy , refused the offer of marriage to the son of the French king Louis XI. , the only seven-year-old Dauphin Karl . On August 19, 1477 she married Maximilian von Habsburg , the son of the Roman-German Emperor Friedrich III. , to whom she was engaged since 1475. Maximilian became iure uxoris Duke of Burgundy and the duchy became part of the Habsburg household, after it had already been partially under the feudal rule of the Holy Roman Empire . Even before Mary's wedding, Louis XI. the French crown fiefs given to Charles the Bold, which could not be passed on to his heiress as a pure man fief, and occupied the actual Duchy of Burgundy , the Free County of Burgundy and the northern border areas of Picardy and Artois .

Immediately after the marriage to Mary of Burgundy and the hereditary homage by the estates of the duchy, Maximilian demanded military aid from them to expel the French occupiers and commissioned the Landgrave of Hesse and Karl von Egmond to secure the narrower borders of the Burgundian Netherlands . The French King Louis XI. asked Maximilian to keep the Peace of Soleuvre (1475) and to evacuate the occupied Burgundian lands and lords. Maximilian's claim was financially supported by the war aid granted by the estates in the amount of 500,000 Écus and diplomatically by his father, Emperor Friedrich III. supported. This protested to Ludwig XI. against the occupation of the imperial city of Cambrai and thus against violation of the imperial rights of the Holy Roman Empire and threatened France with an imperial war . Louis XI. gave in, concluded an armistice with Maximilian and caused the withdrawal of his troops from Cambrai and some other border towns. The core area of ​​Burgundy, the actual duchy around the ducal residence city of Dijon and the free county remained occupied. An armistice between Burgundy and France kept the peace in the winter of 1477/78.

The coffers already emptied by Charles the Bold did not allow Maximilian to continue the war at state expense. His father Friedrich III. could not support him and provide the requested 1000 horsemen because he was waging war against the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus and had to put down rebellions in his own country. The hope of support from his cousin Archduke Sigmund von Tirol was quickly dashed, as he was obliged to remain neutral due to French pension payments. The lack of support from the House of Habsburg prompted Maximilian to seek alliances with Spain and England . The corresponding negotiations led to the renewal of the Anglo-Burgundian trade alliance, a marriage agreement in July 1479 and the desired war alliance in July 1480. In order to finance the war, Maximilian, in view of empty coffers, was forced to coin his table silver and pledge all valuables of the Burgundian court. Maximilian repeatedly demanded new and higher taxes from the provinces of Burgundy. He and his Austrian masters were confronted with the charge that they were only exploiting the country and secretly transporting its treasures to Austria. The mood in the duchy shifted and turned against Maximilian. Fueled by France, revolts broke out in Geldern , Holland and Zealand .

Since Maximilian's military forces were tied to suppress the uprisings in the north, France opened war again in the south in May 1478. In the summer Maximilian was able to retake the Hainaut . A one-year armistice - on July 11, 1478 under pressure from the emperor and empire, the pope and the kings of Spain and England on Louis XI. came about - secured the recaptured property. Maximilian himself had to consent, because due to the payment of bribes whole mercenary associations had defected to the French. The Louis XI. Crown fiefs, which were still regarded as having fallen back , were not up for discussion in the negotiations and remained in French hands. It was precisely the strength of the French kingship, when the opportunity arises, to gradually withdraw large crown fiefs and thus eliminate possible internal rivals, which enabled the French kings - in contrast to the Roman-German kings - to consolidate the territory of France more and more.

In April 1479, France opened the war with a new campaign in order to finally come into the possession of the Free County of Burgundy and Picardy . With an army composed of around 20,000 Dutch, Germans, Swiss and British, Maximilian then moved in front of the French fortress Thérouanne, where the battle took place on August 17, 1479. By winning the Battle of Guinegate – Thérouanne Maximilian was able to maintain the county of Flanders and recapture Artois without giving the war a decisive turn. In order to ensure that the Burgundian Netherlands remained in the Holy Roman Empire and to regain the entire Burgundian heritage, Maximilian needed money to continue the war. While military aid was rejected by the Nuremberg Reichstag in October 1479, France managed to get its estates to begin with the withdrawal of troops through the help of paid mood makers - especially in Flanders. In addition, France reinforced the sea blockade against the Netherlands and seized their grain ships and the herring fleet. A general famine in the extremely hard winter of 1479/80 was the result. A peace mediation by Archduke Siegmund of Tyrol failed because no agreement could be reached on the actual Duchy of Burgundy and the Free County. The resistance formed in the large Flemish cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres, because they were hardly willing to bear the costs of the war due to the losses in trade and economy. Maximilian's attempts to centrally administer the Netherlands and Charles the Bold, contrary to the particularism of provinces and cities , and unpopular measures, such as the introduction of a new beer tax, exacerbated the domestic political situation.

In 1478, the only surviving son of Maximilian of Habsburg and Mary of Burgundy, Philip , was born in Bruges . This ensured the continued existence of the dynasty . In order to counter rumors of the birth of a girl, Philip was shown naked to the people on June 29, 1478 on his way back from baptism in the first name of his great-grandfather ( Philip the Good ). Two years later, the daughter Margarete was born in Brussels . A second son, Franz, died soon after he was born.

Through alliance agreements with England and Brittany (April 16, 1481) and largely successful campaigns against the rebellious Dutch provinces of Holland and Geldern , Maximilian had for the time being strengthened his position in the Burgundian Netherlands - until Mary of Burgundy on March 27, 1482 on the consequences of one Riding accident in Bruges died. Even before her death, in the will of March 24, 1482, she established her children as universal heirs, appointed Maximilian as guardian and decreed that he should exercise the regency of the duchy until Philip came of age . In contrast to their father, the children were recognized as heirs by the political classes of Burgundy - which included not the sovereign, but the economically and thus also politically powerful cities of Flanders . On April 28, 1482, the States General met in Ghent and demanded guardianship over Philip. Maximilian should only be granted nominal guardianship.

Course of the war after the Peace of Arras (1482)

After long armed conflicts, the engagement of Maximilian's two-year-old daughter to the French heir to the throne Charles was agreed on December 23, 1482 in the Peace of Arras, without Maximilian's participation, between members of the Flemish estates and France . Until the fiancée reached a marriageable age, Margarete was to be further educated at the French court. After the marriage, she was to receive the Free County of Burgundy and Artois as a dowry . The States General received tutelage over Philip. If he died, the Netherlands would be inherited by his sister Margarete and her husband. In addition, the French feudal sovereignty over Flanders was agreed. In return, Louis XI waived. on Bourgogne and Picardy , declared himself ready to evacuate the remaining occupied territories and no longer support the enemies of Archduke Philip. Since Maximilian's children were in Ghent's hands, the latter was forced to swear and sign the contract - from his point of view a "contract of shame" - in March 1483. Maximilian's attempt to prevent his daughter from being extradited to France failed. Margaret and the Dauphin Karl celebrated their engagement on June 16, 1483 in Amboise . On July 22nd, 1483, one month before Charles' coronation , the marriage contract was signed. However, the marriage was not consummated through official cohabitation of the spouses and the engagement was finally broken before the marriage of Charles to the Duchess of Brittany (December 6, 1491).

Suppression of the uprisings in the provinces (1482–1485)

After the Peace of Arras (1482) Maximilian wanted above all to ensure the guardianship of his son Philip, in order to legitimize his custodial government over his Burgundian legacy - initially in the Burgundian Netherlands . The provinces of Hainaut , Luxembourg , Namur , Holland and Zealand supported this, while the Flemish city of Ghent refused to surrender Philip. In order to force this from the Estates- General, Maximilian moved to Brabant , had leading representatives of the Estates arrested in Mechelen , Leuven , Brussels and Antwerp and brought to justice as traitors. The beheading of some did not achieve the deterrent effect Maximilian wanted, but sparked a general uprising in Geldern, Flanders and Brabant. A regency council consisting of representatives of the estates and "lords of the blood" was formed, which took over the guardianship of Philip and ruled the Burgundian Netherlands as guardian instead of Maximilian. Since Maximilian no longer had a legal title to rule over the Netherlands without the tutelage of Philip , even parts of the state-sponsoring Order of the Golden Fleece fell away from him. Maximilian's rule over the rebellious provinces thus became pure tyranny.

As a result of the uprisings in Flanders and Brabant, Bishop David, who ruled the city of Utrecht , was also expelled from Burgundy . It was not until September 1483 that Maximilian was able to crush the uprising and move into the city as a victor. Even Johann II. Of Cleves to the military pressure Maximilian had to bend and close in December 1483 a settlement. After Bruges' seaport Sluis and the city of Arnhem had submitted and Geldern also recognized Philip's guardianship, Maximilian's rule over the north of the Burgundian Netherlands was secured.

The south of the Netherlands, on the other hand, still rejected Maximilian's guardianship for Philip and only accepted the Ghent Regency Council formed by the rebellious provinces of Geldern, Flanders and Brabant. It came to a scandal when Maximilian sent a Flemish embassy of congratulations and homage, which after the death of the French king Louis XI. (August 30, 1483) was on the way to the new French King Charles VIII. When Maximilian dissolved the Regency Council in October 1483 and in June 1484 the attempt to mediate a General Chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece failed, open war broke out. The provinces of Holland, Hainaut, Luxembourg and Brabant sided with Maximilian. The cities of Mechelen and Antwerp in particular feared Maximilian's further punitive expeditions and hoped for trade advantages over Ghent and Bruges .

First Maximilian waged a sea war against the Flemish coastal cities in the summer of 1484 and in November 1484 captured the fortresses Callo, Zwijndrecht and Dendermonde . Maximilian was only able to repel the Flemish counter-offensive in Assche , Halle and Brussels with difficulty. After France declared war on Maximilian again towards the end of 1484 for breaking the Peace of Arras , further decisions on the battlefield were inevitable. In January 1485 Maximilian was able to conquer Oudenarde and with each further victory on the basis of the reparations due thereafter, his armed force was continuously increased, so that the rebels were forced to retreat to permanent positions.

Surrender of the Flemish cities of Bruges and Ghent (1485)

Towers of the city of Ghent - silent witnesses of former power

The war successes allowed Maximilian to advance against the Flemish capital Ghent in May 1485. His goal was to regain the guardianship of his son Philip, who was being held here as a hostage. When Maximilian threatened to devastate the surrounding area of ​​the besieged city, the peace party made up of merchants and shipowners gained the upper hand, caused the French occupation to withdraw and began peace negotiations with Maximilian. During the fifteen-day period requested by the Peace Party "to bring their townspeople to their senses" and to persuade them to surrender , Maximilian turned against Bruges. From its seaport Sluis, the city waged a pirate war against the provinces of Zealand and Holland in order to prevent the supply of goods to Antwerp and Brabant. In June 1485 Maximilian's fleet captured the merchant ships anchored in the port of Sluis. The mediation of a Spanish captain between Maximilian and the Bruges merchants prevented the Spanish and French merchant ships anchored there from being attacked. Since the situation in Ghent developed in favor of Maximilian and to prevent further losses, the Bruges asked Maximilian for forgiveness and in June 1485 allowed him to move into the city. Since Bruges accepted Maximilian's guardianship over his son Philip, Maximilian granted the request and confirmed the freedoms and rights granted to the city before the riot. Maximilian had the rebels severely punished and the French merchant ships confiscated as spoils of war ; the Spanish merchant ships, however, were allowed to sail unmolested. After the fall of Bruges, the Flemish estates made peace with Maximilian on June 28, 1485. In the peace negotiations, in addition to the surrender of his son, he enforced the recognition of his guardian government and in return confirmed Flanders' old privileges and freedoms. In return for war compensation of 360,000 Écu , Maximilian undertook not to take Philip away from the Netherlands, to take no more soldiers with him to Ghent than to Bruges and to grant a general amnesty . But instead as engage in Bruges with 500 men of war, Maximilian marched with 5,000 German mercenaries into Gent on July 7 1485th With this show of force, however, contrary to his intentions, he again provoked an uproar in the city. Assaults by the mercenaries led to a crowd and caused the townspeople to build barricades on the market. After trying in vain to appease the townspeople, Maximilian had his soldiers clear the streets and squares. The next day eight of the rebels were beheaded and about a hundred were expelled from the city. A fine of 127,000 guilders was also imposed on the gentlemen . For Maximilian, the Ghent people had lost their urban privileges through repeated revolt against his rule. On July 22nd, 1485 he had all town books and documents destroyed in public. After appointing a new mayor and filling the council with men he could rely on, he left Ghent to follow his son Philip to Brussels , whom he had already sent there.

Maximilian's journey to Aachen for the election of a king (1485)

Maximilian I, around 1500

In Brussels, Maximilian demanded new taxes from the General States convened and informed them of his intention to travel to the old empire to prepare for his election as Roman-German king . The situation had apparently relaxed enough that he could start the journey without fear of further uprisings or an attack by France. Nevertheless Maximilian was certain “that the 'Flemming' would rise up against him again and that he would have to kill 10,000 of them to have peace from them.” During his trip to the old empire he left his son in the care of Philip von Gleve , the Burgundian Chancellor Jean de Carondelet and Engelbrechts von Nassau back. He entrusted the education of Philip to Franz von Busleyden and Olivier de la Marche . On his journey to Germany, Maximilian pacified the Prince Diocese of Liège in November 1485 and met his father Friedrich III on December 2, 1485 in Aachen . together to prepare for the election of the king . Soon after his coronation in April 1486, Maximilian returned to Flanders to fend off another attack by France. For the fight against the French he had already entered into an alliance with the Duke of Brittany Francis II on March 15, 1486 . Of Friedrich III. The planned Hungarian campaign against Matthias Corvinus to regain the eastern hereditary lands of the Habsburgs , in which Maximilian was also supposed to participate, could not be carried out because the Reichstag had rejected the tax aid requested for it.

Turn of war and new uprisings in Flanders (1487–1489)

Despite the successful conquest of the cities of Thérouanne and Saint Omer , Maximilian's defensive campaign against the French did not lead to final victory. After ineffective forays through the Artois and Picardy, German and Swiss mercenaries ran away from him in droves when he could not pay them the outstanding wages . After Thérouanne and Saint Omer were lost again and Maximilian suffered a defeat at Béthune in July 1487, the war took a completely different course.

Maximilian wanted to pull the English crown back to his side in the fight against France. He therefore primarily favored trade with England, from which Antwerp in particular profited to the detriment of Bruges and Ghent. The losses in trade and unabated high taxes to finance the war led to uprisings in the cities of Flanders again. When the lower classes in Ghent regained the upper hand in the autumn of 1487, they got rid of the administration appointed by Maximilian, drove the Burgundian garrison out of the city and brought the French back. The intention of the Ghent people was to found a kind of city ​​republic under French feudal sovereignty. At the beginning of 1488 they conquered Courtrai , while Ypres also allied themselves with the advancing French.

Maximilian's Captivity in Bruges (1488)

Bruges, Kruispoort city ​​gate , Marcus Gerards , 1562

In 1488 Maximilian summoned the States General to Bruges in order to request money and troop aid for the fight against France in return for his concession in the formation of a new tax council controlled by the estates in December 1487. The mood in the city was extremely tense and directed against Maximilian. The preferential treatment of Antwerp in trade had led to high financial losses and the announcement of Maximilian's new tax plans did the rest. The feared disputes with the townspeople prompted Maximilian to take his son to safety in Mechelen as a precaution. When he soon appeared outside the city gates with 150 mercenaries and wanted to march against Ghent - 200 horsemen and 300 foot servants had already left the city to march against Courtrai - the Bruges refused to open the gates for him. In the meantime the guilds armed themselves and occupied the city gates, market and alleys. To exhort the citizens to calm down, Maximilian appeared with his servants on the Grote Markt , but did nothing. The city's 52 guilds unfolded their banners , armed the people and holed up in the market behind a wagon castle , which they surrounded with guns. Maximilian was shouted down and demanded from him to withdraw the German soldiers who were viewed as looters .

"Long Necks" on the Minnewater

Maximilian, who was unable to regain control of the city, was arrested on February 5, 1488 in the house of a spice merchant on the Grote Markt . The windows of this house, known as the Granenburg , had been barred for this purpose. Maximilian's captains and councilors were also arrested and detained separately from him if they had not already fled. The Habsburg was only given the prospect of dismissal after he had given an account of the use of the funds previously paid by the Flemish estates. In addition to punishing those guilty of wasting taxpayers' money, the rebels demanded from Maximilian: peace with France, the renunciation of the custodial government for Philip, a textile monopoly for Ghent and Bruges and the immediate removal of his German and Burgundian followers from all municipal offices. The pressure on Maximilian increased further in mid-February 1488, when the representatives of the estates at the end of the States General left Bruges without having achieved Maximilian's release from prison, or having only wanted to. Instead, the rebels demanded from Maximilian: renunciation of the tutelage and regency of Philip and his transfer to the estates, the renewal of the Peace of Arras concluded with France in 1482 and the leaving of the country against payment of an annual compensation of 100,000 ecus for life. Maximilian rejected the offer of money and the other demands of the rebels. Thereupon they erected a scaffold with a rack under the windows of the Granenburg , tortured Maximilian's councilors in front of his eyes and finally beheaded ten of them, including Maximilian's advisor Pierre Lanchal, also known as Lankhals . A legend claims that after his release Maximilian condemned Bruges - to atone for this affront and to remind forever of this disgrace - to keep swans - "long necks" - on the Minnewater forever; the swans are still represented there in large numbers today.

Philipp von Kleve, around 1480

In mid-March 1488 Maximilian was transferred to the house of the Captain General of Flanders, Philipp von Kleve , which was also barred . In view of the radical actions of the insurgents, Maximilian feared assaults on himself and extradition to Ghent or France. As a preventive measure, he made it clear that the House of Austria does not depend on himself alone. A letter smuggled out of custody shows that he was hoping his father would free him. The States General were convened in Mechelen and requests for assistance were directed to the Pope, the Empire and the princes on behalf of Maximilian's son. The city of Bruges was asked in Philip's name to release Maximilian immediately. To enforce this demand, Philipp von Kleve was ordered to use military means against the rebels. He and his troops occupied the whole area around Bruges and Ghent. The enclosed cities pressed a letter from Maximilian in which he called on his captains to moderate the siege. Although Bruges was damaged by the devastation of the surrounding area, it did not suffer as lasting damage as when the long-distance trading companies moved to Antwerp .

When Emperor Friedrich III. On April 24, 1488, when Reichshilfe was raised in Cologne, the situation turned to the detriment of the rebels. Maximilian's father had succeeded in raising an imperial army of 4,000 horsemen and 11,000 mercenaries. Based on this, an imperial embassy in Ghent and Bruges called on Maximilian to be released immediately, the Pope threatened to excommunicate and England, Spain, Portugal and the States General that met in Mechelen protested against Maximilian's imprisonment; the Spaniards even let their ships sail for Flanders. With the allies Holland and Zealand in their backs, the rebellious cities felt strong enough to keep the Habsburg imprisoned. When the Imperial Army moved in, the alliance of the rebels and Frans de Brederode crumbled , the Lords of the Blood and the Knights of the Golden Fleece separated from them. Most of the representatives of the Flanders' estates did not stick to their previous demands either. They now assumed that in the past few years it was not Maximilian but his councilors and officials who, without his knowledge, had demanded excessive taxes and mainly used them for themselves. That is why they demanded that the mostly German or Burgundian civil servants be exchanged for locals, tax breaks and the withdrawal of all war peoples. In addition, they continued to demand the renewal of the Peace of Arras and the termination of the alliance with Brittany . For the renunciation of the reign for Philip Maximilian was offered again the payment of compensation.

Referring to his predicament, Maximilian von Habsburg signed the Bruges Treaty on May 12, 1488 . In it he undertook to renounce the reign of Archduke Philip, to withdraw the foreign warring peoples from the country and to negotiate a settlement with France on the basis of the agreements made in the Peace of Arras . After he had sworn primal feud , Maximilian was released from prison on May 16, 1488. He first went to the church in solemn procession and then publicly conjured up the newly negotiated Treaty of Bruges and the Peace of Arras . He promised the citizens of Bruges to forgive what had happened and to ask the emperor to do so. Afterwards the representatives of the estates also admitted their guilt, asked Maximilian for forgiveness and swore peace. A solemn Te Deum concluded the act of reconciliation.

Rabot in Gent - Monument to the successful defense of the city against the siege by the Imperial Army in 1488, photo around 1900

But neither emperors nor imperial princes renounced the planned punitive expedition to Flanders. A prince's court convened in Leuven annulled all oaths made by Maximilian to the Flemish estates on the grounds that they had been given under duress and, in the opinion of the court, contradicted imperial law and the king's oath of the Holy Roman Empire . The Imperial Army then besieged Ghent first and devastated the area around the city. Philipp von Kleve, who had vouched for the observance of the Bruges Treaty, changed sides due to the obvious breach of contract and went over to the insurgents. Under his leadership, the Union of Flanders, Brabant, Zealand and Holland was able to hold its own against the foreign rule of the Habsburgs for many years .

Financing the fighting against the insurgents

While Maria of Burgundy initially adhered to a policy of stable money , Maximilian broke with this tradition in order to put down the Ghent uprising of 1485 and the uprisings in Flanders between 1487 and 1489. He paid for the use of German and Swiss mercenaries with silver from the enormous profits from the devaluations of 1485 and 1487–89. He achieved this by reducing the silver content of the coins issued in conjunction with increasing the amount of money in circulation. At the end of 1489, at the urging of the nobility, Maximilian returned to the policy of stable money .

Continuation of the war under Albrecht von Sachsen (1488–1492)

Albrecht the Courageous, around 1491

After the failure of the siege of Ghent, the council of princes entrusted Albrecht of Saxony with continuing the war. Emperor Friedrich III imposed on Philipp von Kleve. in Antwerp the imperial ban and then returned to the empire. Maximilian himself attacked the French on the southern border. He was supported by the allied Bretons, who attacked them in the back. With the defeat in the Battle of St. Aubin (July 27, 1488), however, the Breton attack ended. When the reigning Duke of Brittany Franz II died a few weeks later , Charles VIII had his back free again and conquered almost all of Flanders together with Philip of Cleves in a short time. Philipp von Kleve then took action against Brabant and occupied Brussels , Nijvel and Leuven . When Maximilian could not change the situation in his favor in Holland and Zealand either, he saw his last hope in an alliance with England and Spain. After Albrecht of Saxony had taken over the warfare as Reichsfeldherr, Maximilian traveled to Frankfurt to go to the Reichstag to ask for help.

Faced with the landing of the English and Spaniards in Brittany and faced with the powerful troops of Albrecht of Saxony, the French commander-in-chief Philippe de Crèvecœur began to retreat. Another aspect that prompted Philippe de Crèvecœur to do so was the policy of the French king, under the influence of the Pope, towards an all-Christian peace, with the aim of taking over the leadership of a great crusade. The defeat of the Flemish Union was foreseeable. On July 23, 1489, Charles VIII of France and Maximilian concluded the Peace of Frankfurt after a war waged by Albrecht of Saxony "mercilessly and without any sparing" . Under French mediation, at the end of September 1489, at a meeting between Maximilian's envoys and those of the Flemish cities in Montils-les-Tours, the conclusion of peace with the Flanders Union. Maximilian was granted custodial government for his son Philip until he came of age and the Flemish cities were obliged to pay reparations of 300,000 guilders . All cities and fortresses should be surrendered and hostages and prisoners released without paying ransom .

Sluis - the suburb of Bruges on the North Sea branch of the Zwin

The military leader of the insurgents Philip of Cleve was initially successful. In alliance with France he conquered almost all of Flanders, penetrated deep into Brabant in September 1488 and occupied Brussels and other cities. After Maximilian had signed treaties with France and England in 1489, he had to withdraw to Sluis and from there continued the war. In the meantime, imperial general Albrecht of Saxony conquered Bruges and forced Ghent to accept the Peace of Montils-les-Tours . However, the Flemish towns would not unconditionally surrender . In order to avoid further fighting, Albrecht von Sachsen responded. Nevertheless, in mid-1490, initiated by Philipp von Kleve, there was another uprising in Bruges. This renewed uprising was soon put down by Engelbert von Nassau and ended in December 1490 with a terrible criminal court. Only after the city had paid reparations amounting to 150,000 guilders did a general amnesty granted by the Habsburgs put an end to the acts of violence. Renegade members of the Order of the Golden Fleece, on the other hand, were mercilessly expelled from the Order or their memorials were deleted and their coat of arms was broken. Despite the submission of Ghent and Bruges, Philipp von Kleve continued the fight against the rule of the Habsburgs. He was supported by Charles VIII of France. Just like Maximilian, he wanted to put the Duchy of Brittany under his rule and was therefore anxious to keep the Habsburgs in check in its hinterland. While the troops of Albrecht of Saxony were fighting a peasant uprising in the provinces of Holland and Zealand, there was a last uprising of the lower classes in Ghent under the leadership of Jan van Coppenolle , who let Philip of Cleves into the city. The French king not only supported Philip of Cleves, but also sent Karl von Egmond - formerly in the service of Maximilian and taken prisoner by the French - to Geldern so that he, as a legitimate duke, could bring the country under his rule and thus withdraw it from Maximilian's rule would. The desert war that followed the renewed Ghent uprising did not end until autumn 1492, after the Ghentians put down the uprising of the lower classes in the city and executed their leader, Jan van Coppenolle . The Ghent people renounced their alliance with Philipp von Kleve and the French and submitted to the terms of the Peace of Montils-les-Tours .

After the peasant uprising had been suppressed in the eastern provinces, Albrecht of Saxony moved with his army against Sluis and conquered the seaport city in October 1492. With Albrecht's victory and the surrender of Philip von Kleve, to whom the Imperial General had offered favorable conditions for his submission, the 15th -year War of Succession in the northern provinces of the Netherlands. In the south, however, the Burgundian legacy and the solution of the Breton question continued to be struggled.

Maximilian's fight for Brittany (1488–1492)

Anne de Bretagne, heir daughter of Francis II.

After the defeat in the Battle of St. Aubin (July 27, 1488), the Duke of Brittany Francis II had to renounce all connections with the enemies of the French king and thus from the alliance in the Treaty of Sablé (August 20, 1488) Maximilian renounce and promise not to marry his inherited daughters without the consent of the French crown. When the Breton duke died a few weeks later on September 9, 1488, he stood up for Maximilian and Charles VIII , who after the death of Louis XI. France ruled since 1483, the Breton question - the question of how rule over the strategically important duchy can be immediately taken over.

As early as 1490 Maximilian was faced with the Hungarian question alongside the Breton question . The Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus died on April 6, 1490 in Vienna and the Habsburgs immediately asserted their right of inheritance in accordance with the Treaty of Ödenburg and the Wiener Neustadt Treaty . Although the Habsburgs left no doubt that an election other than the Maximilians as Hungarian king would result in war, in July 1490 the Hungarian magnates made the Jagellons, Vladislav of Bohemia, king. The Milanese envoy Erasmus Brascha wrote: "The king was certainly not dissatisfied with the death of Matthias Corvinus , but if he had lived until the conflict with France was settled, Maximilian would probably have been right too".

In order to recapture the eastern hereditary lands and to preserve his right of inheritance to the Stefan 's crown, Maximilian first tackled the Hungarian campaign after the death of the Hungarian king, but canceled it after an attack against the Hungarian capital of Ofen had failed. Against his father's will, he turned to the Breton question and at the Nuremberg Reichstag in March 1491 demanded military aid against France. After he had agreed on a draft imperial reform with the estates , they granted him a war aid of 8,600 men. Friedrich III. Maximilian warned firmly against the financial risk that the simultaneous warfare against France and Hungary would bring. In contrast to the compulsory tax loan system in France, which was independent of the estates, imperial aid in the Holy Roman Empire was only granted for a few months. Without the re-approval of military aid, Maximilian would lose both wars and risk being deposed as king by the imperial princes. “For Friedrich III. Maximilian's Breton policy was a 'dissolute trade' that could not last and would only cause trouble. ”But Maximilian ignored all of his father's warnings.

Already after the death of Francis II (1488) the conflict between Maximilian and the French king became through the initiation of marriage negotiations with the heiress of the Breton Duke Anne de Bretagne and through an alliance between Maximilian and Spain and England to enforce the property claim associated with the marriage tightened on Brittany. In March 1490 he commissioned Wolfgang von Polheim to marry Anne de Bretagne as his deputy per procuram . The marriage contracts were concluded on December 16, 1490 and the marriage was symbolically concluded on December 19 by Wolfgang von Polheim against the will of the French king. The French then almost completely occupied Brittany and besieged the capital Rennes . With the aim of leading his armed force through Champagne and Burgundy into Brittany, in order to take possession of them and also to marry Anne, Maximilian issued an imperial contingent to Metz . Friedrich III. but did not stop at warnings of the planned campaign. He forbade Maximilian all further negotiations with the imperial princes and forbade them to appear in Metz with a troop contingent. Since the Empire squad did not take place, Maximilian withdrew to Tyrol, while his envoys in the east with Vladislav of Bohemia the Pressburg peace negotiated (7 November 1491).

Meanwhile, the capital of Brittany, Rennes, besieged by the French, could no longer be held and had to capitulate on October 27, 1491. The offer of Charles VIII to grant her safe conduct to travel to Maximilian and the payment of a high severance payment for the renunciation of rule over Brittany, Anne refused. Anne countered French marriage proposals with the demand that she, who is married to a king herself - should she decide on another marriage - would only marry one king.

Distribution of the Burgundian inheritance of Charles the Bold until 1493

On December 6, 1491, the marriage between Charles VIII of France and Anne de Bretagne was “not only concluded, but also consummated” in Langeais Castle on the Loire . The consummation of the marriage previously concluded with Maximilian per procuram was prevented by the French siege of Rennes and was annulled by a dispensation from the French court clergy before Charles and Anne married . A dispensation from the Pope, which was issued almost a year late, initially only justified the dissolution of the still existing engagement between Karl and Maximilian's daughter Margarete of Austria .

Anne de Bretagne was crowned Queen of France on February 27, 1492 in Saint-Denis . Since the Arras agreements had become obsolete with the dissolution of the engagement of Charles VIII with Magarete of Austria, Maximilian got the Free County of Burgundy and the Artois back, but these areas were not cleared by the French. The “Franco-Breton marriage”, however, secured France's rule over Brittany for ever.

Although Maximilian complained to the imperial estates that "apart from Jesus Christ no one had suffered as much disgrace as he did from the French", the imperial estates saw the Breton question primarily as a matter of the House of Habsburg and not an imperial matter. After the order of Emperor Friedrich III. following, on August 2, 1492, when no troops had been sent to the imperial army in Metz, they transferred only 16,000 gulden of the 94,000 gulden imperial aid that the Koblenz Reichstag (1492) had granted Maximilian. Since Maximilian obviously lacked support in the empire, England and Spain were no longer ready for an alliance and began peace negotiations with France.

Liberation of the Free County of Burgundy and the end of the war (1493)

Thunderstone leaflet

Left to himself, Maximilian initially concentrated on regaining the Free County of Burgundy . The financial resources for this came mainly from Tyrol and the Austrian foothills , which Sigmund von Tyrol had ceded to Maximilian in the transfer agreement of March 16, 1490, as well as from pledges . With annual yields of 120,000–150,000 guilders, the income from the small South Tyrolean mines Gossensaß , Sterzing and Taufers , from the Saline zu Hall and the customs duties along the Brennerstrasse from 1490 formed the backbone of Maximilian's financial policy.

With a small army of 6,000 men, Maximilian managed to secure the city of Besançon and, after the victory of Field Captain Friedrich Kappler over the French in the Battle of Salins (January 17, 1493), to regain most of the Free County. The advance of Maximilian's troops was accompanied by propaganda by Sebastian Brant with his Donnerstein leaflet . In this pamphlet , Brant interpreted the decline of the Ensisheim meteorite in November 1492 as a divine omen for Maximilian's imminent victory in the war against France.

The peace negotiations between France and England led to the Treaty of Étaples on November 3, 1492 , in which Henry VII waived his old territorial claims and the French royal title against France. In order to detach the border countries Roussillon and Cerdanya from the alliance with Maximilian and to prevent future family ties with the Habsburgs, Charles VIII left them to the Catholic kings of Spain in the special peace treaty of Barcelona (January 19, 1493).

After a four-month armistice in March 1493, Maximilian also negotiated a peace with Charles VIII that would prove to be permanent and put an end to the War of the Burgundian Succession. On May 23, 1493, the conditions were written down in the Treaty of Senlis . Maximilian received Flanders and the other Dutch provinces , the Artois , the County of Charolais , the County of Noyers and the Free County of Burgundy, which was previously assured to the French crown in the Treaty of Arras as a dowry for Margaret, but not the actual Duchy of Burgundy and other areas under French Feudal sovereignty should remain. The other former Burgundian areas were to be legally decided later. It was also agreed that Margarete would return to Flanders. In return, Maximilian assured Karl, who wanted to assert French inheritance rights to the Kingdom of Naples , a free hand. In addition, when the Peace of Senlis was ratified in December 1493, in a secret supplementary treaty, he renounced all titles and rights of a Breton duke, which finally settled the Breton question .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e f g h i Karl Vocelka : The Europeanization of the Habsburg power politics. In: Klaus Herbers , Florian Schuller (ed.): Europe in the 15th century. Autumn of the Middle Ages - Spring of the Modern Age? Regensburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-7917-2412-6 , pp. 207 f.
  2. ^ A b Manfred Hollegger: The Burgundian War of Succession 1477–1493. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , pp. 42-60.
  3. ^ A b c Manfred Hollegger: The Burgundian experience. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 39.
  4. ↑ a b c Manfred Hollegger: The Burgundian Marriage 1477. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 29.
  5. ^ Hermann Kamp : The dukes of Burgundy in the late Middle Ages. In: ders .: Burgundy. History and culture. Beck, ISBN 978-3-406-53614-4 , Munich 2007, p. 29.
  6. ↑ In 1495 Maximilian I tried to enforce such a restrictive fiscal policy in the Holy Roman Empire. He wanted to introduce an imperial tax in the form of the " common penny " in order to raise funds for the wars against France and against the Ottoman Empire . (Manfred Hollegger: The Burgundian Experience. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) Ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 39.)
  7. ^ A b Victor von Kraus : Maximilian I. His life and work. Vienna 1877, p. 14 ff. (Online)
  8. ↑ Victor von Kraus: Maximilian I. His life and work. Vienna 1877, p. 17 ff. (Online)
  9. ↑ Manfred Hollegger: The Burgundian War of Succession 1477–1493. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 32.
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g Manfred Hollegger: The Burgundian War of Succession 1477–1493. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 42.
  11. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Manfred Hollegger: The Burgundian War of Succession 1477–1493. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 44.
  12. ↑ a b c d Manfred Hollegger: The Burgundian War of Succession 1477–1493. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 45.
  13. ↑ a b c d e f g Manfred Hollegger: The War of the Burgundian Succession 1477–1493. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 46 f.
  14. ↑ a b c Hermann Kamp : Burgundy. History and culture. Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-53614-4 , pp. 95, 98.
  15. ^ Hermann Kamp : Burgundy. History and culture. Beck, ISBN 978-3-406-53614-4 , Munich 2007, p. 98.
  16. ↑ a b c d Manfred Hollegger: Birth of Philip and Margarethes. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 37 f.
  17. ↑ Victor von Kraus: Maximilian I. His life and work. Vienna 1877, p. 19. (online)
  18. ^ Karl Ferdinand Haltaus : History of the Emperor Maximilian I. Leipzig 1865, p. 31 f.
  19. ↑ Victor von Kraus: Maximilian I. His life and work. Vienna 1877, p. 22 ff. (Online)
  20. ↑ a b Manfred Hollegger: Death of Mary of Burgundy 1482. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 48.
  21. ^ Hermann Wiesflecker : Maximilian I. Wien / Munich 1991, p. 51.
  22. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Manfred Hollegger: Death of Mary of Burgundy 1482. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 48f.
  23. ^ Karl Ferdinand Haltaus : History of the Emperor Maximilian I. Leipzig 1865, p. 41 ff.
  24. ↑ According to canon law , a closed marriage was only consummated after the spouses had officially cohabited. → cf. Herrman Schreiber: Knight, Death and the Devil. Kaise Maximilian I. and his time. Weltbild, Augsburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8289-0894-9 , p. 78 (here based on the marriage between Anne de Bretagne and Charles VIII, which will be discussed in the article); Karl Vocelka : The Europeanization of the Habsburg power politics. In: Klaus Herbers , Florian Schuller (ed.): Europe in the 15th century. Autumn of the Middle Ages - Spring of the Modern Age? Regensburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-7917-2412-6 , p. 209 f. (here based on the marriages between Maximilian's son Philip the Handsome and Johanna of Castile and Aragón, as well as between Maximilian's daughter Margaret of Austria and the Spanish, which were initially only symbolically - through marriage by proxy - on November 5, 1495 in Mechelen as part of a double wedding Heir to the throne John of Aragón and Castile , which were not executed until 1496 and 1497 respectively).
  25. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba Manfred Hollegger: Internal difficulties: The uprisings in Geldern, Flanders and Brabant. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 50 ff.
  26. ^ A b Manfred Hollegger: Hope for Reich reform. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 65.
  27. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at Manfred Hollegger: Maximilian's captivity in Bruges in 1488. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 54 ff.
  28. ↑ a b c d e Karl Ferdinand Haltaus : History of the Emperor Maximilian I. Leipzig 1865, p. 61 f.
  29. ^ Johan Huizinga : Autumn of the Middle Ages. Studies of forms of life and spirit in the 14th and 15th centuries in France and the Netherlands. 12th edition. Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-20412-6 , p. 24 with reference to Molinett II, pp. 226, 241, 283-287 and La Marche II, pp. 289, 302.
  30. ↑ a b c Kerstin Schweighöfer: Antwerp Bruges Gent. Merian, Munich 2015, p. 102, (travel guide)
  31. ↑ a b c d Michael North: Small history of money: from the Middle Ages to today. Munich 2009, (CH Beck), ISBN 3-406-58451-9 , p. 47. ( Preview on Google Books ).
  32. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af Manfred Hollegger: Claiming the Burgundian heritage. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 57 ff.
  33. ^ Hermann Wiesflecker: Kaiser Maximilian I. Volume 1 Vienna, 1971, p. 221.
  34. ↑ a b Manfred Hollegger: The First Hungarian War 1490/91. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 73.
  35. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Manfred Hollegger: The Breton War 1492/93. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 75 ff.
  36. ↑ Manfred Hollegger: The Breton War 1492/93. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 76.
  37. ↑ Herrman Schreiber: Ritter, Tod und Teufel. Kaise Maximilian I. and his time. Weltbild, Augsburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8289-0894-9 , p. 78.
  38. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Manfred Hollegger: The Burgundian War of Succession 1477–1493. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 78 f.
  39. ^ Manfred Hollegger: abdication of Duke Sigmund. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , pp. 71f.
  40. ↑ Manfred Hollegger: Political-strategic and economic importance of Tyrol and the foreland. In: (ders.): Maximilian I. (1459–1519) ruler and man of a turning point. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-015557-1 , p. 72f.
  41. ^ Hermann Kamp: The division of Burgundy after 1477 and its consequences. In: Burgundy. History and culture. Beck, ISBN 978-3-406-53614-4 , Munich 2007, p. 95.