House of Burgundy

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The coat of arms of the dukes of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold of Burgundy from Scheibler's book of arms.

The (younger) House of Burgundy ( French la maison de Valois-Bourgogne ) was a branch of the French royal family Valois from the Capetian dynasty , which in the late Middle Ages was able to unite numerous territories on both sides of the Franco-German border to form a largely closed complex of lands under his rule. At times the dukes of Burgundy were among the most powerful princes in Europe. Although they said for the western part of its dominions King of France and for the Eastern to the Holy Roman Emperor lehnspflichtig were, they were de facto as independent princes. The attempt to establish an independent kingdom failed with the death of Charles the Bold in 1477, the last Duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois, and with his heir Maria the house went out in 1482 and was inherited by the House of Habsburg through their marriage .

overview

The three branches of the House of Burgundy after the death of Philip the Bold in 1404: Burgundy, Brabant and Nevers
The power and influence of the House of Burgundy under Charles the Bold until 1477

In 1363 Philip the Bold was enfeoffed with Burgundy by his father, the French King John the Good . He acquired the Free County of Burgundy and Flanders through inheritance and purchase . His grandson Philip the Good was also able to take over the legacy of the Wittelsbachers on the Lower Rhine ( Holland , the associated Hainaut and Zeeland ), and the legacy of the Luxembourgers who died out in 1438 ( Luxembourg , Limburg and above all Brabant ). After Philip joined the English party in the French throne turmoil (→ Hundred Years War ) in 1420 with the Treaty of Troyes , he was able to pursue an independent great power policy: his father Johann Ohnefurcht , as head of the Bourguignons, had tried in vain to gain government over France and failed because of the resistance of the Armagnacs . With the Treaty of Arras (1435) Philip also acquired Picardy , and Philip's personal feudal dependency of France was ended, which brought Burgundy sovereignty initially for a period and European status to the duke. The conflict with the Valois persisted despite the formal reconciliation with King Charles VII .

His son Charles the Bold was seen by his contemporaries as the ideal of the knight and was also constantly involved in fights. With the pledging of Front Austria by Sigmund von Austria in 1469 and the acquisition of the Gelderland in 1473, the country complex finally reached its greatest extent. With Emperor Friedrich III. he negotiated about the elevation to king - Friedrich demanded the hand of Karl's daughter Maria for his son Maximilian as the price . After the unsuccessful siege of Neuss in 1474, Karl finally consented (however, because of his early death, the house of Habsburg benefited from it ).

Charlemagne's next goal was the unification of the separate Burgundian Upper Lands (Burgundy proper and the Free County) with the Lower Lands , which gave today's Netherlands its name. In 1475 he attempted to create a land connection between these parts by conquering Lorraine - but with this he also came into conflict with the Confederates (→ Burgundian Wars ). In 1477 Karl fell in the battle of Nancy . With him, this family died out as suddenly as it had risen before - a fate that is reminiscent of the career of the Luxembourgers , especially since the House of Burgundy was inherited by the Habsburgs. Maximilian's marriage to Maria of Burgundy enabled him to claim the inheritance for their son Philip the Handsome and to oppose the French King Louis XI. 1479 at the Battle of Guinegate . France at least received the actual Burgundy and Picardy. The capital Dijon fell to France and the residence was moved to Brussels . With their Burgundian heritage, the Habsburgs rose abruptly to European status and were henceforth also known as the House of Austria and Burgundy . The conflict with France ( Habsburg-French opposition ) continued through them and lasted until 1756.

At the Burgundian court in Dijon, the knightly culture once again experienced a late climax. The Burgundian court ceremony (which was imported to Spain by the Habsburgs and from then on called the Spanish court ceremony ) remained the model for all absolutist royal courts in the centuries that followed. In Flanders, art experienced an exemplary heyday, especially in painting, where the brothers van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden broke new ground.

The insignia of the dukes and the Order of the Golden Fleece , donated by Philip the Good in 1430, are in the treasury of the Hofburg in Vienna .

coat of arms

The flag of the Dukes of Burgundy combined the coats of arms of the most important lords of the main line of the House of Valois-Burgundy since Philip the Good

The coats of arms of the various members of the main line of the House of Burgundy (see coat of arms of the Capetians ) combined different titles held by the respective bearer. Since Philip the Bold, all coats of arms have contained the following elements: 1. Golden lilies on a blue background - the coat of arms of the Prince of France from the Valois royal family, framed by a red and white striped band, which distinguishes Burgundy as a subsidiary line from the royal line. They carried this coat of arms for a short time as Count of Tours . 2. The coat of arms of the older line of the Dukes of Burgundy : gold and blue stripes diagonally from top left to bottom right, bordered by a red ribbon. The following coats of arms were added after the various inheritances: 3. Duchy of Limburg , a red lion on a silver background, 4. Brabant , a gold lion on a black background, 5. County of Flanders , a black lion on a gold background.

The branch line Burgundy-Brabant also had the coat of arms of Philip the Bold in its coat of arms, several golden lilies on a blue background, bordered by a red and white striped ribbon, but combined this with the coat of arms of the Duchies of Limburg, a red lion on a silver background, and Brabant, a golden lion on a black background.

The branch line Burgundy-Nevers also had the coat of arms of Philip the Bold in its coat of arms, several golden lilies on a blue background, bordered by a red and white striped band, but combined this with the coat of arms of Flanders - the county of Nevers came from the inheritance of Margaret of Flanders -, a black lion on a golden background, and later also with those of the Counties Artois , golden lilies on a blue background, in front of it a red tournament collar with three golden castles on each of the three bibs, and Rethel , three golden rakes on a red background.

Dukes of Burgundy

The Dukes of Burgundy from the House of Valois-Burgundy were:

Master list (extract)

  1. Philip the Bold (* 1342, † 1404) 1363 Duke of Burgundy
    1. Johann Ohnefurcht (* 1371, † 1419) 1404 Duke of Burgundy; ⚭ Margaret of Bavaria (* 1363, † 1423)
      1. Margarete († 1441); ⚭ I Ludwig von Guyenne , French Crown Prince († 1415); ⚭ II Arthur of Richmond († 1458) Duke of Brittany
      2. Maria († 1463); ⚭ Adolf II. , Count of Kleve and Mark († 1448)
      3. Philip the Good (* 1396, † 1467) 1419 Duke of Burgundy; ⚭ Isabella of Portugal (* 1397, † 1471)
        1. Charles the Bold (* 1433, ⚔ 1477) 1467 Duke of Burgundy;
          1. Mary of Burgundy (* 1457, † 1482) 1477 Duchess of Burgundy; ⚭ 1477 Maximilian I , Archduke of Austria, 1508 Roman Emperor
      4. Anna (* 1404, † 1432); ⚭ John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford († 1435)
      5. Agnes (* 1407, † 1476); ⚭ Charles I Duke of Bourbon († 1456)
    2. Margarete (* 1374, † 1441); ⚭ Wilhelm II , Count of Holland († 1417)
    3. Katharina (* 1378, † 1425); ⚭ Leopold IV , Duke of Austria († 1411)
    4. Maria (* 1380, † 1422); ⚭ Amadeus VIII. , Count of Savoy († 1452)
    5. Anton (* 1384, † 1415) Duke of Brabant and Limburg, Margrave of Antwerp, Count of Rethel
      1. Johann IV. (* 1403, † 1427) Duke of Brabant and Limburg, Margrave of Antwerp and Namur; ⚭ Jakobäa von Bayern, Countess of Holland and Zealand (* 1401, † 1436)
      2. Philipp (* 1404, † 1430) Duke of Brabant and Limburg etc.
    6. Philipp (* 1389, † 1415) Count of Nevers and Rethel
      1. Karl (* 1414, † 1464) Count of Nevers and Rethel
      2. Johann (* 1415, † 1491) Count of Nevers, Rethel and Étampes
        1. Elisabeth († 1483) heiress to Nevers and Eu; ⚭ Johann I , Duke of Kleve († 1481)
        2. Charlotte († 1500) Countess of Rethel; ⚭ Jean d'Albret, lord of Orval († 1524) ( House of Albret )

See also

literature

  • Wim Blockmans, Walter Prevenier: The Promised Lands. The Low Countries Under Burgundian Rule, 1369-1530. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 1999.
  • D'Arcy Jonathan Dacre Boulton, Jan R. Veenstra (Ed.): The Ideology of Burgundy. The Promotion of National Consciousness, 1364-1565. Brill, Leiden et al. 2006 (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, Vol. 145), ISBN 978-90-04-15359-2 .
  • Joseph Calmette : The Great Dukes of Burgundy. Callwey, Munich 1963 (French original 1949; ND Munich 1996).
  • 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. (= Kröner's pocket edition. Vol. 204). 12th edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-20412-6 .
  • Walter Prevenier, Wim Blockmans: The Burgundian Netherlands. Acta Humaniora, VCH, Weinheim 1986, ISBN 3-527-17557-1 .
  • Harm von Seggern: History of the Burgundian Netherlands. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2018.
  • Richard Vaughan: Philip the Bold. Longman, London 1962 (several NDs); The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2002 (with an updated introduction and bibliography).
  • Richard Vaughan: John the Fearless. Longman, London 1966 (several NDs); The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2002 (with an updated introduction and bibliography).
  • Richard Vaughan: Philip the Good. Longman, London 1970 (several NDe); The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2002 (with an updated introduction and bibliography).
  • Richard Vaughan: Charles the Bold. Longman, London 1973 (several NDe); The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2002 (with an updated introduction and bibliography).
  • Richard Vaughan: Valois Burgundy. Lane, London 1975, ISBN 0-7139-0924-2 ( review from p. 767 ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Kamp: Burgundy. History and culture. Beck, Munich 2007, p. 66 f.