Chapter 1: A time of peace enforced by internal strife. 1457-1462 roughly
  • Burgundy much like every other country in Western Europe was completely sewn due to internal strife, the Croy Family, a power noble family that held positions in court was trying desperately to gain even more power to supplant the house of Valois-Bourgogne, evidently seen in the forceful marriage of Jacqueline of Luxembourg, eldest daughter of the powerful, Louis of Saint Pol. This marriage would secure the Croy Family in terms of strength within the house of Valois-Bourgogne but it would set a rivalry between this house and the Count of Charolais, Charles the Absolute of Burgundy. Charles, only Count of Charolais was quite angry at his father Philip the Good of Burgundy. He was removed from government as he had no say in running Charolais but instead stuck around Artois with his forced French wife Isabel of Bourbon. Only his mother, Isabella of Portugal supported him, but god would give Charles luck. He would give birth to a son, Philip named after his father in hopes of reconciling the bond between father and son. This would undoubtedly work although it would be incredibly tough, Philip now seeing a grandson began introducing Charles into government sacking Jean II de Lennoy from his position of stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland and giving it to Charles. This would not go down well with the Croy family but due to the birth of Philip and the return of Isabella the self exiled Duchess of Burgundy and the exiled chancellor Nicholas Rolin. Charles began to exert a far greater influence over Burgundy and continued this power struggle between himself and the Croy Family.

    The dauphin of France, Louis was considered the wild card and living up to his name as the universal spider, was playing off of two things. The first was the spellbound foolishness of Philip the Good and his belief in a reconciliatory attitude to France. Under this foolishness that the French king was not outright hostile to Burgundy played this weird back and forth, using the Dauphin to promote better relations while refusing the king's order. Swearing up and down that he, Philip the Good was a servant of the King of France while at every turn he would do his best to refuse crown authority. The second was his alliance and network of contacts in Burgundy that Charles, count of Charolais was actively dismantling with his shadow war against the Croy family, only through Philip's good will was he still in a dominant position in Burgundy. Charles watched in anger and shock as his father continued this flip-flopping and absolutely despised the Dauphin and France in general. He watched as Charles VII formed what can only be described as a return to Orleanist encirclement. His alliance with Denmark, the purchasing of the claims of Luxembourg from the Saxons, the Lancastrian support, conference at Savoy, and the alliance of the Swiss the subsequent alliance with Bohemia who at this point was under Ladislaus the Posthumous and would soon turn the empire against the powerful Burgundian state. He constantly argued with his father that Charles VII could not be trusted as he was forming an encirclement against the Burgundian state. Philip finally acquiesced seeing the impassionated speeches made by Charles invoking his grandfather John the Fearless, arguing that the Dauphin now King Charles VII was directly responsible or negligent in his death, he listed out these infractions that Philip himself witnessed and resolved, declaring to the estates general at Bruges. "We can not be free under the King, for the king sees us not as a subject but as a rival that seeks to dismantle our state, strip us of our privileges, burn our cities, and loot our lands until the coffers of the French are satisfied." Charles declared to the estates general. This declaration would finally cause Philip to abandon his indecisiveness and returned to an anti-French attitude in the year 1460, interestingly he would not give up on the dauphin as Charles conceded that he would see if Louis would act like his father towards Burgundy. It would be a costly mistake for the Burgundian dukes although not a complete one.

    Philip the Good, believed that in Reims his greatest achievement was made as he shattered Charles VII's great plans of encirclement with the exiled Dauphin. Louis XI of France was crowned surrounded by Burgundian arms, and his new ally Edward of York assumed the throne as Edward IV of England. He would still find enemies in the Holy Roman Empire as Frederick III, cousin of the late Ladislaus would see Burgundy as a threat once more. For now, Burgundy and France continued in an uneasy peace as Charles continued to dismantle what he saw as "French partisans and spies working for the spider king" but in reality he was merely removing advisors and consolidating power for himself. The Croy family became a practical vassal and with the arrival of one William Hugonet, Charles was establishing internal peace through an authoritarian hand. This anti-French attitude would seemingly pay off as the appointment of one David of Burgundy as bishop of Utrecht would prove to be another piece added to the Burgundian State. This internal peace was only because of the changes happening in the other nations at the time most importantly France.

    It isn't a dauphinst France that came out of the Hundred Years' War. It was an Armagnac France that came out of the Hundred Years War. When the mad King Charles VI disinherited and threw out the Dauphin. It was not because the dauphin was too ambitious or too competent to the point of jealousy but instead of political intrigue that saw England and Burgundy align themselves after the death of John the Fearless. This throwing of the dauphin would lead him directly into the arms of the Armagnacs, and raising him under the armagnac banner would be the death nail for Charles VII or Charles the Victorious. He saw his mother in law as his actual mother, the powerful Yolande of Aragon, who with Angevin interests in mind would seek him to decentralize his realm to help her family, the house of Valois-Anjou. Charles VII was not a man of great will or of great action, the only reason he had his epithet was the holy maiden's arrival. Joan of Arc, who led the charge to have Charles VII crowned king. Just because a crown was given, didn't change the man. His inaction cost the holy maiden her life, and throughout the various years, this lack of action would spur the new dauphin to action. Louis XI of France considered his father weak and feeble, while this portrayal is widely rejected, it held some merit in the eyes of the dauphin. Louis did not see his father's reforms of the army and his brilliant Burgundian diplomacy in breaking the long powerful Anglo-Burgundian Alliance. He only saw the inaction of his father and the playing of favourites such as Agnes Sorel, and Charles, Count of Maine.

    The Praguerie, named after what the French saw as civil unrest in Prague was the humbling of the dauphin. Charles VII in a spur of action crushed the rebellion in a matter of months against the rebellious Duke of Bourbon and Duke of Alencon. This event would humble Louis in terms of attitude but not ambition. Rumours whispered that Charles was only spurred to ruin his heir and not against the English. We would not hear the last of this ambitious and rebellious dauphin as he would be the centre of attention after demolishing the Swiss and ransacking Austrian Alsatian lands. Even the emperor was shaken after this decisive victory and the threat of the loss of the homelands of the Habsburgs. Once again, Charles VII, king of France reined his son in and this moment of glory however brief was lost immediately. That moment was seared in the Dauphin's head. He would return once again, humbled and resentful. The death of Margaret of Scotland, his first wife would be a blessing in disguise, long had the dauphin been jealous of his wife, as she had the court and the crown's attention and joy, but her death caused even more resentment between the dauphin and the crown. Dauphin Louis who assumed he would inherit at the very least the wealth from Margaret was even more isolated from court. An ambitious and embittered dauphin was never good for a king, and he would drive the mistress of the king to near death, this courtly war of intrigue and manipulation was ended with the birth of Charles, Duke of Berry. The dauphin would be exiled to dauphine, finally granting him a semblance of power.

    As the king grew ever stronger, using the new professional army to drive the English back into the sea, the dauphin was consolidating his power in Dauphiné. His taste for power and for ruling was well served throughout as Dauphiné was now the centre of attention in Burgundy, France and Northern Italy. Dauphiné was a power that began to enter the diplomatic stage, seeking a full coalition against Milan over Sforza's seizure of power, the marriage between the Dauphin and Charlotte of Savoy. Dauphiné would be a warning to France, this centralized state would be the absolutist dream of its next king. The king and the nobility, would not allow this to happen. After all, when a king is crowned by nobles, they are a puppet are they not? Or at least that is what the Dauphin thought, ironically he also tried to be crowned by the nobility but hypocrisy in politics is a small sin. The invasion and seizure of Dauphin drove him into exile with only a handful of advisors, not even his new wife joined him. Where else would he go but into the hands of France's most powerful vassal. The Duke of Burgundy welcomed him with open arms not realizing he invited a fox into his henhouse.

    A king weakened by nobles, tempted by women. The kingdom that only drove out the English because they believed Henry V was too powerful and forceful of will to align with their interests, by using such powerful nobility, the crown is as weak as ever. The king is old and is dying, but still believes in his youth due to his multiple affairs. Its saving grace lies in Burgundy where an absolutist dauphin, tempered by defeat, scholarly in politics, and ambitious in rulership waits for even the slightest chance to seize what he sees as his rightful throne. When this absolutist dauphin came to power that is exactly what he did, immediately by throwing a small carrot and appointing his now 15 year old younger brother as Duke of Berry, immediately breaking the backbone of any resistance against his coronation. The removing of Charles' many mistresses including Agnes Sorel and the expansion of the parlament of Paris which served him well breathing absolutist power into France again. The reforms were very similar to the reforms conducted at Dauphiné and while the nobility was dissatisfied with it, Louis would play the game quite well as he began to place incredible pressure on Savoy and Aragon seeking to incorporate portions of it into France. His efforts would be most successful in Aragon as he extracted a couple of counties from the Aragonese in the succession of John II of Aragon and Louis turned France's eye on Burgundy in the aftermath of the famous Feast of the Pheasant.

    On the other side of the channel in England, the glory days of Henry V were over with the ascension of his son Henry VI. England started a Hundred Years War for the full conquest of France and has lost completely. Charles VII no matter how ineffective he was at governing saw to the victories and the driving out of English continental power. The betrayal of Burgundy, the cowardice of Somerset and the destruction of the English treasury has cost the king, his prestige, legitimacy and sanity. However, unlike France England had two saving graces, Richard, Duke of York and Margaret of Anjou. England after the death of John, Duke of Bedford. The Lancastrian position in France crumbled, with defeat after defeat by the hands of the holy maiden, Joan of Arc who lead the dauphin Charles VII to be King of France. Henry VI was rushed into the crown at the age of two but that did not benefit the position. The betrayal of the Burgundians at Arras, allowed Charles to sweep the Ile de France, but the marriage of Henry VI to Margaret of Anjou sent England's fortunes in a downward spiral, originally the marriage was supposed to be with Henry and Marie of Armagnac but these negotiations proved indecisive as a combination of Charles forces, and Louis the dauphin's brilliant political manoeuvring brought down these negotiations. Instead Henry was married to Margaret of Anjou, a brilliant diplomatic victory for Charles VII of France but spearheaded by the ambitious dauphin. The loss of Maine back to Charles count of Maine, was proven to be unpopular amongst the English as Henry and Margaret were attacked indirectly by the blame being shifted onto the Earl of Suffolk.

    When you were borne from a powerful duchess, and you are married to a weak king, would you not claim to be a strong queen? Margaret of Anjou began to strong-arm her way through government in order to stabilize the realm immediately after her marriage, but her appointment of Somerset allowed the rise of the heir presumptive to the throne, and the most powerful noble of the realm. Richard Duke of York, was a cousin of Henry VI and as he considered himself, the saviour of England. He held back the French until Somerset's appointment in which he was sent to Ireland to govern it. Somerset's defeat and the loss of the entirety of Northern France gave him the edge needed to strike back against Margaret. The alliance with between himself and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick lead to a civil war between the York and Lancaster.

    Margaret was the saviour of England, or as so she dreamed, by creating a faction, driving out Richard of York, from his position as Lord Protector and bearing a son, she was completely in charge of the realm. It would be her faction and advisors that would drag her down. Somerset's incompetence in France drove York into action. York outraged at being shoved out of the crown by the queen would lead a practical rebellion when the king was incapacitated and killed Somerset, but this murder would put parliament into a resentment and King Henry's return to sanity would isolate him from any further intrigue. Another failure at parliament and York resigned, bitter and vengeful. Margaret now holds the cards through indirect control of the king. This fragile peace would not last, a saviour from the shadows against the noble killing saviour. A crucial mistake in letting the noble killing saviour, Richard Duke of York escape from royal arrest would unleash a chain of events that would drive the Lancastrians out and establish Richard as de facto king, only to make a mistake and die before not being crowned and letting Margaret of Anjou and Edward of Westminster escape to Scotland but now Edward IV son of the late Richard was king and he saw his father win the crown by blood and iron and he would not do the same in his reign.

    The Holy Roman Empire was in utter chaos in these trying times, Albert II of Germany, the heir of the Luxembourgs and Sigismund of Bohemia is long dead, his cousin Frederick III was acclaimed Holy Roman Emperor but he only ruled Inner Austria. (Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia) This weakened emperor was only elected because he was indeed weak but he was ambitious marrying Eleanor of Portugal and trying to establish the Habsburgs as a dynasty to last. This was seen through the rise of Ladisalus as King of Bohemia, Hungary and Archduke of Austria restoring Albert II's great union but it has collapsed with his death. Frederick could only claim upper Austria while his brother Albert VI fought him tooth and nail for that inheritance. All-out war would spark over the archduchy as the energetic archduke would fight against the emperor. To the north, a Hussite regent is proclaimed King, George of Podebrady is now king of Bohemia, and his rule is unstable trying to keep an internal peace. He is ever so slightly successful but as always he is ambitious as well, he sold his claims to Luxembourg to France and dreams of Imperial Ambition. The trend of anti-burgundian imperial ambition would continue under the Saxons led by Frederick II, along with the Margrave of Brandenburg, Frederick II Hohenzollern were relatively new into the imperial electoral politics but one thing is for sure. The empire would not allow Burgundian influence to grow even more, but the Empire has long fractured and is weak, anyone can see when David of Burgundy was appointed bishop of Utrecht and the empire did nothing.
     
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    Chapter 2: Musings over a crusade, to deal with church, and the rise of a dutch prince 1455-1465
  • The fall of Constantinople was the event that changed the course of history, for the loss of the queen of cities would drive Philip the Good to insanity in the hopes of a crusade. Philip the Good at the end of his life, with this event hanging over his head called a crusade to retake the greatest city of the world in the famous Feast of the Pheasant where the order of the Golden Fleece unanimously declared their support for the crusade. Philip's energies and resources began to gather and concentrate around the idea of a great crusade. Only in 1454, the third Ghent war was ended decisively in Philip's favour, and the internal strife between duke and city would end for now. The imperial diet of Frankfurt in 1455, only further strengthened the cause with the Holy Roman Empire promising to contribute to the crusade, this is also when another crusader king Alfonso V of Aragon would enter the scene. Philip the Good's greatest supporter in this crusade would be the great crusader king of Aragon.

    Alfonso V of Aragon and Naples, or Alfonso the Magnanimous was a great supporter of the legendary Skanderbeg and a man of keen interest in the balkans, only very recently did he gain the theoretical vassalage of Bosnia and was considered for the crown of Hungary in exchange of a crusade, he was a man of war, conquering the kingdom of Naples and proclaiming himself King of the Two Sicilies. The rich Duke of Burgundy would continue his contact with Alfonso and the pope Nicholas V, later his successor Callixtus III. These foundational efforts would be delayed until 1456.

    The musings of a crusade by Philip the Good only allowed Charles in his governorship in Holland to strengthen his position in court and in the Burgundian State, the removal of the Croy Family from power and the various military captains gave Charles regent like status as he was soon appointed lieutenant-governor of Flanders, Brabant, Holland and Zeeland giving him siginificant power over the Burgundian Netherlands. His governance over these four realms would signal to his epithet of the Absolute, as he increased the amount of money in the treasury through the stripping of privileges and increase of taxes to the various cities and his anti-french, absolutist rhetoric continued, only his continuous movements between the various cities and his generosity and vainness of his wealth kept the cities placated for the time being. Eventually he would return to his father's court in Lille to deal with Philip's last great expansion. The bishopric of Utrecht and the return to Liege.

    Importantly for Charles was his movement throughout Burgundy, while Philip and his wife Isabella would remain in Holland with their son. His assumption as lieutenant governor of the two Burgundies and the mentorship provided by both his mother Isabella and the chancellor Nicholas Rolin would prove to be of immense help to the energetic duke as while Charles was still quite the militaristic duke but his time governing Burgundy would teach him and spark his passion into finance and centralization. The watchful eye of both the duchess and chancellor would teach the young count

    The bishopric of Liege would be the greatest achievement of Philip the Good, it would also be the bane of Charles the Absolute. In 1455, the bishop of Liege died and Philip the Good began to exert huge pressure on both the chapter and the papacy to appoint a close cousin of his, Louis of Bourbon as bishop while in Utrecht another bishop died, and Philip who began to divert his energies and powers from the crusade to the bishoprics continuously pressured the appointment of his bastard son David of Burgundy to bishop. These two appointments would secure Burgundian power in the Burgundian Netherlands leaving only Frisia as the last obstacle towards a complete Burgundian dominance over the Netherlands. Although objectively these bishoprics would be independent it would be through three generations of strong-willed dukes that these bishoprics would transform into mere Burgundian provinces by de facto. His administrative reforms and financial reforms allowed a reduction in corruption throughout Burgundy and would also pit him against royalist officers which would further entrench his anger towards France.

    The changes of two popes from Nicholas V, Callixtus III and now Pius II would be the death nail to the Burgundian crusade, already the crusade weakened with the death of Alfonso V of Aragon, as the two kingdoms split and Naples was now plunged in war over succession and the papal meddling did not help at all. If it was not the continuous arrival of Byzantine refugees, the crusading effort would already be dead. Philip the Good would recognize this change in situation in which the congress of Mantua called upon a crusade against the turks, he would send only funds and a token force to help. The other rulers would not do better and the crusading effort was dead. The ottoman response would be fierce however, Mehmed II called that Rome would fall just like Constantinople and Philip the Good's head would be his. This provocation would reignite the old duke's desire to crusade. Charles who firmly held the court refused to sell the lands of Somme to France to grant greater funds to Burgundy, instead his extreme taxes would grant the old duke his funds and armies. This would cause another revolt that was brutally suppressed by Charles with his armies, his governorship of the urban elites taught him to play them off of each other to gain further power.

    This crusade which only came to be a Burgundian expedition led by Antoine, Grand Bastard of Burgundy would make their way to Provence before returning with Pope Pius II's death being announced. This Burgundian crusade was struck down with a perfect storm, the death of the crusader king, an anglo-french war that denied Burgundy the time to act, a string of papal and bishop deaths that distracted Philip and finally, the lack of action from the imperials. The greatness and chivalry of this attempt of Burgundy to crusade would be forever remembered and reenacted in Burgundy but more importantly it kept Philip distracted from Charles' rise to absolute power. The end of this crusade would end with Charles becoming regent while Philip would be confined to his bed and eventually his deathbed.

    Philip the Rich would be raised in Holland after being born in Brabant, unlike his father Philip would take in great effort towards his studies and would speak fluent Dutch first before French. His education which was funded by the ducal court would be primarily raised by Isabella of Bourbon who believed that he should be governing over fighting. Charles would arrange his marriage to Anne, eldest daughter of the king of France although this would not happen until the treaty of Conflans. The marriage would not sooth the relations between France and Burgundy. France was centralizing at an alarming rate to the count, and Burgundy, their most powerful vassal would not allow that to happen. The French nobility would spark a war for its public good. The marriage that was supposed to set peace between Burgundy and France would shatter instantly as Charles joined the league of the public weal in order to break the crown of France completely.
     
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    Chapter 3: For the good of the nobility, otherwise known as the public 1465
  • Charles the Absolute was the first firmly anti-french ruler of Burgundy. Philip the Good, for all of his wisdom and prestige could not recognize that fundamental truth of French hostility to Burgundy. France would not allow such a powerful vassal in its doorstep, Charles VII would do everything but war in order to crush Burgundy, his heir Louis XI would do everything including war to completely dismantle the Burgundian state. Philip the Good dithering and and half-committed policy regarding France would set his heir firmly against him, Charles watched as the congress of Arras was just not delayed and never fully implemented as various royal pregoratives were still exercised in Burgundy, he watched as corruption driven by Charles VII and later Louis XI infected the Burgundian court, fortunately Charles' rise through the birth of a son crushed any pro-French faction within the Burgundian court, the former chancellor was wielded as a puppet of Charles, with both himself and his mother Isabella of Portugal bringing him back into a anti-French and mildly pro-English perspective. The Croy Family was removed from power and their wealth seized by usage of imperial laws and jurisdictions. Isabella of Portugal would be the lynchpin of this whole purge of Burgundy, keeping Philip the Good in the dark while increasing her son's authority and power. Charles' rhetoric skills only sharpened in this time, many speeches which drove on anti-French attitudes in what can only be called proto-nationalism, as they drove resentment against the king. The usage of the Estates General of the Netherlands to give Charles an army and funds primed him ready for any conflict with France, and that conflict arose when the French nobility revolted against the king.

    The Burgundian alliance network under Charles grew with one objective in mind to stop French expansion, Burgundy remedied their alliance not with the house of Valois-Anjou who had the largest influence in France but instead with its heir in Lorraine. John II of Lorraine became a firm Burgundian ally, ironically it was the usage of various tactics the French used in Burgundy, a mixture of bribing the advisors, council and estates of Bar and Lorraine turned them into a pro-Burgundian faction in Lorraine but more importantly John II was more concerned over his inheritance in France seeing Louis XI do his best to seize it turned him into a willing Burgundian ally. John II, long lasting rival to the French joined up with Charles eager to reclaim his lost lands in Rousillion. In Cleves, Philip's influence was now turned into a de facto vassalage under Charles. The restoration of the age-old alliance of Brittany and Burgundy for Charles created a storm of unruly nobility willing to ally. Burgundy's old allies of Orleans and Bourbon fell under Charles' great noble alliance with new ones their age old enemy of Armagnac, and various others. Finally, the two most important pieces fell for Charles, the king's brother and the elector palatine.

    Charles, Duke of Berry was the favoured son of Charles VII but was not the eldest, his brother Louis XI took the throne with Burgundian arms and Charles would be too slow not arriving in Paris until Louis was firmly sitting on the throne. Louis realizing that Charles was the only legitimate opposition to his ascendancy granted him the appanage of Berry immediately to remove the opposition immediately which Charles gratefully accepted. Berry would still prove to be a thorn for Charles to take as royal power was entrenched and would remain that way under Louis the Spider after 8 years of trying unsuccessfully to control the duchy, he moved to Brittany and formed a triple alliance with Charles of Burgundy and Francis II of Brittany. The perfect storm Charles has cast over France was setting in and the French king was blinded by it. The last few pieces would come in the months of March and April.

    Charles the Absolute of Burgundy, did not want to start a war immediately so he chose not to form an alliance with England but instead requested mercenary support from England gaining the famed English longbowmen in his army, in Savoy, while the duke would not be willing to commit to an anti French alliance he did agree to absolute neutrality, in Milan, the duke had less luck as Sforza was already courted by Louis XI, seeing the signs on the wall managed to gain the alliance of Milan. Burgundy instead began to eye to break the age old Auld alliance and managed to gain an informal alliance with Scotland and would gain another mercenary company of Scots. The "ace" in the hole would be Frederick the Victorious, the regent of the elector palatine, he would be Charles' first electoral ally within the Holy Roman Empire, he would prove in this war a capable military commander for the Burgundians and Charles would learn a lot from him.

    Charles the Absolute now with all of his allies ready and his mercenaries arriving in Bruges a couple days ago signalled to Charles Duke of Berry to launch the revolt. Charles proclaimed that his appanage, the Duchy of Berry was unlawfully seized and declared he would seize it back by force of arms and called for all fellow nobles to rise up to retake their feudal privileges. Burgundy with their full force rose against France, the nobles of Albret, Orleans, Brittany, Bourbon, Lorraine, Armagnac and Nemours joined Burgundy, Louis XI began to rally his standing army in order to counter this perfect storm, the Milanese began to march westward to assist Louis. Savoy would break their neutrality and would reluctantly give access to Milanese troops but at this point this was too late. The only allies Louis had was the house of Valois-Anjou and the branch of Burgundy-Nevers.

    Charles would rush his traitorous cousin John II of Nevers down taking the county and relentlessly pushed into Champagne and would face off the royalist army in Montlhery. Charles the Absolute would face against the legendary Gaston of Foix and Louis XI but his ace in the hole Frederick the Victorious, who advised and convinced him to adopt a slow approach to battle. This slow approach and the usage of English mercenaries which raised overall morale allowed Charles the Absolute to crush the royal army here, a usage of Burgundian Artillery, and English Longbowmen would be the key factor here. King Louis XI was thrown off of his horse and captured along with his uncle Charles, Count of Maine. This victory would not be enough for Charles who knew that negotiating a captive king would prove to be impossible due to the reasons of duress. Charles would join up with Bretons under Francis II who laid siege to Paris and forced the king to witness the peace provided to the estates of France in the following months.

    The treaty of Conflans, would be signed, various clauses provided some return to power to the various nobles but for Burgundy what was important was that remaining royal power would never return as various French fiefs were absolutely immune and Charles booted out any attempt of French royal authority in Burgundy through this war. Picardy would be given to Burgundy and the inheritance of Nevers would be secured by Charles for his dynasty. The event that would shake the treaty would be the death of Isabella of Bourbon, this would give Louis the opportunity to negotiate for a marriage this time he would try to marry Anne formerly Philip's bethoral to Charles. This immediate change enraged Charles and forced the details of the betrothal into the treaty between Philip the Rich and Anne of Champagne. Ponthieu would be ceded to Charles immediately in the following treaty along with Picardy while Louis would agree to a 1.2 million crowns and if the sum was not paid by the time of the actual marriage which was set on Anne's 15th birthday which was in 1476, Champagne would be given to Philip as the remaining payment of the dowry.


    The treaty of Saint-Maur would be the finalization of the war of the public weal as it would be known. Burgundy has completely crushed France due to France's internal conflict and while Louis would use royal blessings on Burgundy in order to get them off his back while he worked tirelessly to undo the treaty of Conflans. He would see the death of the Armagnac house and would concentrate his power in the south while within a year he would reseize Normandy and Berry from his brother Charles who once again fled to Brittany. His centralization efforts would undo the entire treaty beside its provisions to Burgundy and Brittany. What would be important was the change of the French nobility as former Burgundian allies such as Saint-Pol, Nemours, and importantly Lorraine began to shift back to France as Burgundy the mastermind and clear victor of the war of the public weal would see its allies look on in envy and seek greater wealth and power in Burgundy. It would be in this environment that King Louis would arrive at Peronne to discuss both the betrothal and the adjustments to the treaty of Conflans. The third Liege war however, would once again shake the environment.
     
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    Chapter 4: To deal with death, the people, and the king 1465-1468
  • Philip the Good's epitaph would claim himself as the great pacifier of the urban elites of Flanders most particularly in Bruges, Ghent and Liege. Charles would disagree as he saw the radical elements of the urban populace grow in strength and quarrel against the moderate elites. Philip the Good's attempt at expanding ducal authority by intervening constantly against urban privileges would cause a large but disorganized revolt against Charles' Burgundian State. Charles throughout his time of governing Holland, which was an urban hub at the time would teach him the importance of power dynamics. The revolt of Ghent after Philip's death would be crushed through absolute force and his promotion of new urban elites to suppress any attempt to revolt against Burgundy. The usage of what can only be described as corruption, and brainwashing by Charles towards any city appointed official would end the popular revolts that plagued the last three dukes of Burgundy.

    The prince bishopric of Liege would be the last great Burgundian resistance to Charles the Absolute. In the war of the public weal, Charles the Absolute would gain his first experience in sieges as the first liege war as he easily defeated the peasant militia in Montenaken and he would learn the importance of discipline as the peasantry outnumbered him decisively but his troops crushed this militia. King Louis who was already engaged in the war of the public weal swore his support towards the Liegeois. King Louis would not save the people of Liege as the Burgundian troops seized Sint-Truiden and the new peace ensured his cousin Louis of Bourbon was reinstalled as prince-bishop. The Burgundians would believe that this was a sideshow compared to the war of the public weal, it would not as Liege would be a center of unrest for Burgundy.

    In 1466, Durant rose up against the prince-bishop and against Philip the Good. Charles laid siege to Durant and would have his first taste of siege warfare. The state of the art Burgundian artillery would once again prove to be Charles' saving grace as he burned the city to the ground and killed 800 leading men and seizing all of their wealth. Philip the Good's death would only further agitate the unrest in Liege as the hated prince-bishop, Louis of Bourbon who proved completely inadequate in governing or religion fled the prince bishopric. Charles would lead a new fresh army of 25000 men and decisively defeated the Liegeois in Brustem. Charles noted that his vanguard was nearly defeated in this battle and only his reinforcements arrival crushed the Liegeois. As the new Duke of Burgundy, he began to reform the vanguard of his army into a mobile and deadly force resembling the Swiss army.

    Charles the Absolute's arrival at Liege would only force the Liegeois to surrender once again. The Burgundians appointed a new governor to oversee Liege and Louis of Bourbon, Guy of Humbercourt. The following peace treaty was designed to strengthen the chains binding Liege to Burgundy and remove any attempt on rebellion, the county of Loon was completely demilitarized with all the fortified positions there torn down by Charles' army. Liege was forced into a de facto vassalage as Charles ensured that he was deemed their protector and the prince bishopric was a protectorate of Burgundy. The French abandoned Liege twice now, the third time it would be the French King crushing this last rebellion.

    King Louis XI of France has continuously tried his best to tear apart the treaty of Conflans that ruined his royal power over Burgundy. The usage of parlament of Paris, an economic blockade and the isolation of allies for Burgundy. These provocative measures were quite annoying to the duke but nothing impossible to manage, often Burgundian diplomats would just nail the treaty of Conflans to the door of Parlament of Paris, and various French bailiffs were sent away with nothing more than a copy of the following treaty. The most egregious example of this French soft power was when the French bailiff pursued a case in Hainaut, an imperial fief ruled by Charles. Charles' bailiff at the time gave him two manuscripts, one containing the treaty of conflans, on top of the vassalage agreement between the estates of Hainaut and the imperial crown. The economic blockade would be the most effective against Burgundy as war against France was not in Burgundy's interest while Louis tore up the treaty against his southern lords and drove his brother into exile in Brittany. The diplomatic effort to form a grand coalition against Burgundy just like how Charles created one against France would utterly fail when the marriage between Charles and Margaret of York would occur finally restoring the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. It would be this economic and judicial war background when Louis arrived in Peronne in renegotiating Conflans.

    The arrival of the king to Peronne was one of anticipation and joy for Charles the Absolute. King Louis XI arrived to Peronne part of the County of Vermandois which had some legal grey area in the Treaty of Arras to allow the king to personally inspect the land. He would be greeted by Charles the Absolute in all of his glory and his army. The economic blockade done by France was already quite legally grey, showing off his wealth and army would possibly convince Louis to abandon the blockade and renegotiate the treaties to bolster Burgundian independence. King Louis arrived looking for any excuse to seize the lands for himself and to further strengthen the crown, instead Charles treated him like a kingly guest to further show off his power and wealth to the king who would only look on in frustration as he believed the embargo was not working. As the duke and king continued to discuss and renegotiate the treaties between themselves, a revolt rose within Liege again. Burgundian propaganda would insist that this was king Louis' doing but evidence points to the king being completely caught off guard. Charles had the king immediately de facto imprisoned on suspicion of funding and indirectly leading the rebellion.

    Charles the Absolute was no fool when it came to medieval politics and argued that he was merely guaranteeing Louis' safety and promised he would return to Paris after the revolt ended. However, he forced the king to join him in crushing the third and final revolt of Liege. The Burgundian force mercilessly crushed the Liege revolt, as the king watched in a mixture of fear and admiration. The Burgundians drove a Liegeois force into a church, surrounded it and Charles ordered in front of Louis to burn the church to the ground, in Liege the king watched as the Burgundians tied hundreds of Liegeois together and threw them into the Meuse river. He then ordered the city burned while the Burgundian army tore down any remain fortifications in Liege. The effective fear and crippling of Liege would ensure that the prince-bishopric would remain loyal until Philip the Rich took over as duke. More importantly, Charles would return to negotiating with Louis, the showcase of Burgundian wealth and military power would shake the king as they continued to negotiate.

    This semi-hostage situation would not give Charles few concrete demands. Any attempt to extract unreasonable demands would make Louis revoke the entire treaty due to duress. The negotiations continued until the following treaty of Peronne was signed. The terms of the treaty would not be respected by Louis as he would declare the treaty invalid due to duress but through what can only be described as Burgundian maneuvering, Charles ensured every term was fulfilled. The treaties of Arras and Conflans would be swore to be upheld, while the alliance between England and Burgundy would be acknowledged, crucially Burgundy would gain full independence if this treaty was broken. King Louis was utterly humiliated in this shadow war, a mixture of Burgundian posturing, scarecrowing and Burgundian wealth was what defeated Louis, this was his second loss against Burgundy which was doubled with the loss of England in 1470 and the peace of Beaune in 1472. King Louis would learn that in order to break Burgundy would be the usage of Burgundian urban elites, and in 1476, France would come back with a vengeance against Burgundy.
     
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    Chapter 4.5 The good, naive and chivalric 1419-1467
  • Philip the Good at first glance is considered one of the greatest dukes of all time. His founding of the order of the Golden Fleece, the rapid expansion of the Netherlands, and his successful navigation through the hundred years war is what gave various amateur historians huge praise for him. Historians would constantly debate about his reign and his steps to founding the Burgundian State. The general consensus amongst the scholarly community was that while Philip was decent at internal politics, his foreign policy was a mess, and when you compare his state to Charles the Absolute and John the Fearless both of those rulers probably were considerably better for Burgundy in the long term than Philip. His son, Charles would summarize it the best, "If he ruled in a golden age of peace and stability for Burgundy, I have no doubt that his rule would be the peak of that era."

    Philip the Good started his reign off with a murder. His father, John the Fearless would be killed in Paris by Armagnac partisans. He was raised as a governor of Burgundy during his childhood and early adult life. John the Fearless was in Paris fighting tooth and nail for the regency of France for Charles VI. His experience in rulership would prove incredibly useful as he secured his inheritance without much problem. His mother, Margaret of Bavaria would be the lynchpin towards this succession as her widowship would force France to depose the dauphin, notably Philip did not immediately rush to Paris despite Isabeau, the queen's pleas. This would be a foreshadowing of Philip's direction towards France. Philip the Bold used France to benefit Burgundy and expand his own realm, John the Fearless would fight tooth and nail to keep this French funds to expand his own realms and powers. Philip the Good would pursue a policy of withdrawal to the point of negligence. His usage of only black clothing would be a political statement and rally the remnants of the Burgundian faction formerly lead by John to fight against the Dauphin.

    The treaty of Troyes made between Philip the Good and Henry V was an alliance reluctantly chosen by Philip. A mixture of fear against the Armagnacs and fear of English/Lancastrian retaliation of Burgundian lands made this alliance possible, even with this alliance Philip was rarely contributing to the overall goals and terms of the treaty. He quarrelled with his English allies constantly over the lowlands. The conquest of Hainaut was of particular importance as Jacqueline of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland fled to England only through John of Bedford did England narrowly avoid war against Burgundy. The amount of truces forged between the Dauphin's agents particularly Bourbon and Burgundy were so numerous that you could argue that Burgundy was neutral in this war. Burgundy only crushed various Dauphinist castles within his own territories. This withdrawal of French affairs perhaps due to his fear of being killed just like his father would be shown in quite a dramatic way with Henry V's death. Philip the Good, would refuse the regency of France.

    Henry V's death would be considered a turning point in English history but to Burgundy it was merely just another step in Burgundy's withdrawal from French affairs. Already in 1421, during Henry V's reign Burgundy was entirely focused on internal and low country affairs, it would provide no support to Henry's campaign for France, and it would play a small part in the reasons in why Henry died early as he died campaigning himself. The death of Charles VI in Paris forced Philip to attend the funeral but he gave up the regency to John, Duke of Bedford. The position of sole regent of France was the epitome of what his grandfather: Philip the Bold, and his father: John the Fearless desired, practical control of France. This withdrawal from French affairs would develop into negligence for Philip the Good. The rising strength of the dauphin would not spur the duke into action and in 1424, Philip completely withdrew Burgundy from France until 1429. Ironically it would be the English led by John, Duke of Bedford that would keep this near absent alliance together with money and force of arms. John who married Anne of Burgundy, Philip's sister would de facto hire Burgundian armies to assist him in wars against the dauphin to keep Lancastrian France. Perhaps the only thing that politically kept this alliance together was the attempt from Philip to separate his domains from the French crown in particular the parlament of Paris, which he failed utterly at. Philip the Good would struggle the most against Parisian lawyers compared to his predecessors and his domains would forever be in a shadow war against Paris for control until Charles the Absolute declared Burgundian independence in 1471.

    The death of Anne of Burgundy would be the turning point for Philip the Good, as the long strained English Alliance was broken completely in the following Treaty of Arras. The political situation in 1435 was a deteriorating English position, and Burgundy finished their expansion in the lowlands with Jacqueline giving up all of her domains to Philip the Good. In fact, his constant quarrelling in the campaign over Champagne would be the death nail to this English alliance. However, he would trade a useless ally to a manipulative and evil rival. The treaty of Arras guaranteed all of Burgundy's gains with the alliance in England and gave Philip in theory complete de facto independence from France, but his naivety or his lack of will proved otherwise.

    His imperial and urban politics would only be saved by good fortune. The expansion of ducal authority over the cities caused various revolts in Flanders, in particular Ghent. These were still easily crushed by Philip but this continuous urban unrest would persist for his heir Charles, and would only be removed by his grandson: Philip the Rich. His imperial politics were only saved by an incredible amount of luck. The death of the branch of Burgundy-Brabant, Wittelsbach-Starubing, and the bankruptcy and subsequent death of John III of Namur would give Philip incredible power over the Netherlands, this would be his defining achievement as he later placed bishops into Liege and Utrecht. However, historians would see this as a fluke and a stroke of good luck as he would not be so lucky in imperial politics. The death and fight over the inheritance of his aunt, Catherine of Burgundy would see Philip fail utterly to secure Ferrette, due to his failed diplomacy and military action instead the Habsburgs would retain Alsace until 1469 with the mortgage and subsequent seizure by Charles. The negotiations over the imperial vicarate of the Kingdom of Burgundy would also fail utterly due to a lack of effort from the Burgundian side. Philip the Good would further isolate himself with the sale and seizure of Luxembourg which nearly triggered a coalition of nations against Burgundy, only through sheer luck with Charles VII's death did this not happen.

    The expansion of the court of Burgundy and the subsequent golden age of courtly life, and chivalry could be argued as the defining achievement for Philip the Good, and to some extent it was for that golden standard would not improve until Philip the Rich's ascension as duke. However, some contemporary analysis would suggest that the extravagant court was the main reason of growing pro-French factionalism within the court and the urban unrest generated by Philip the Good. Charles VII would use his funds instead of equalizing the magnificence of his court to Philip wisely spent his money bribing and creating a network of French partisans within Burgundy that would be further strengthened under Louis XI. The urban unrest was argued due to a result of increasing taxes however, various events such as the marriage between Philip the Good and Isabella of Portugal, the creation of the order of the Golden Fleece and the marriage between Charles the Absolute and Margaret of York would redeem the utility of the extravagant Burgundian court in many historians eyes.

    Perhaps, Philip the Good's greatest achievement was the usage of his illegitimate children. Philip the Good was unlike other rulers in Christian Europe at the time with bastards and their mothers taking on greater positions in court and in country. Philip the Good separated his mistresses from any form of politics or court life at all instead using his bastard children as bishops, generals and governors. The most famous of these would be Antoine the grand bastard of Burgundy, and David of Burgundy, Bishop of Utrecht. This unusual but effective strategy of governing would be the foundation of ironically Philip's legitimate heir as he would use them to drive out his rivals to the throne such as the Croy Family, Saint-Pol, and Burgundy-Nevers. The usage of these bastard children were already questionable even to historians as many argued this needlessly separated Philip from Charles but more importantly it separated Philip from Isabella who was a brilliant diplomat at the time. She was the one who managed to implement the majority of the clauses in the treaty of Arras and would fight the shadow war for Philip but the amount of illegitimate children along with the strained relationship between father and son drove Isabella away for some time which would cost Philip dearly in diplomatic skill.

    What historians would collectively agree was that during the 1440s and 1450s, Burgundian foreign policy was a mess under Philip. Philip pursued fruitlessly a reproachment with France not realizing that France was pursuing a policy of annexation of the entire Burgundian state. The bribery and creation of a French faction within Burgundy persuaded the duke to indulge in his own pleasures and leave the affairs of state to that faction. They would also feed the ambitions of a crusade into Philip the Good and would be shown most obviously in Louis' attempt to purchase the towns of the Somme. The Croy Family would be the epitome of this pro-French faction as they would foster a great crusade famously shown in the Feast of the Pheasant. The fall of Constantinople would be the event that would convince Philip to prepare a crusade and his diplomatic actions were perhaps a return to his brilliant diplomatic maneuvering that was seen in the lowlands 20 years prior and yet the result would lead nowhere as luck shot him down with the death of kings and of popes. For all of this bluster and brilliance in creating a united European front for a crusade, the Croy's would just strengthen French ties most significantly with the marriage of Charles to Isabella of Bourbon even though Isabella of Portugal was pushing for a marriage with Anne of York instead.

    Ironically it is due to this marriage that Philip would finally set his French policy in mind, with all the distraction he experienced with the attempts at crusading. Charles would slowly build his own faction, experience and power. The turning point of that would be the birth of Philip the Rich, which finally granted Charles a place in government and let him take off in power. The pro-french faction was dismantled in court but remained in the populace especially in Burgundy and Artois. Perhaps Philip respected and enjoyed the change for the duke was still quite active personally and politically advising his son on various things such as internal governance and maintenance of court. During the 10 years in which Charles acted as the duke's lieutenant, his policies of withdrawal from France were making significant progress not because of peace, negotiation and goodwill. Charles showed Philip that in order for his policies to succeed it would have to be done through war, power plays, and threats. Philip would realize this only in his last years and would thank his son squeezing his hand on his deathbed forgiving him of all of the times he has gone against his father.

    It would be Charles the Absolute that would save Philip's reign, and if it wasn't for Philip the Rich's birth perhaps the Croy family would gain so much power and Philip's state would be so weakened by France, after all Charles only crushed Louis due to experience and luck in blinding his opponent of his moves. If he was further isolated from court, the war of the public weal would not be so devastating to France and no doubt under Louis XI, Burgundy would collapse and be annexed by the French. If Charles did not gain his near 10 years of experience in governing, he would not be so effective in dealing with the urban populace of the Burgundian Netherlands at the time, most importantly if Philip the Rich were not born, Burgundy would fall de facto back to the crown of France due to age old appanage rules.

    So do we leave Philip as the Good for his massive expansion efforts into the Burgundian Netherlands, his patronage of the arts and glamorous and extravagant court. Or do we call him Philip the Naive, his unrest creating policies for his urban subjects, for his blunders in France and in the Holy Roman Empire as he could not secure Ferrette militarily or diplomatically and neglected the powerful Burgundian base in France to being annexed outright by the dauphin, Charles VII? A growing consensus amongst historians revolving his epithet is Philip the Chivalric. He believed he was still a part of France due to tradition, but in his circumstances also saw himself as an independent "grand duke". His innovations in courtly life and of chivalry would give him eternal fame, but yet chivalry is outdated ever since Agincourt. Philip the Chivalric was the last duke of the old generation believing that honour and oaths meant everything, but the new generation would only speak using coins, swords and fiery language. Charles the Absolute would write about his father: "My father taught me many lessons but the most important lesson I learned from him was to never trust the King of France." It does sum up his life quite simply, he was not the best and not the worst Duke of Burgundy, but he was screwed left right and centre by the two kings of France, Charles VII and Louis XI.
     
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    Chapter 5: Of flowers and roses (1457-) 1467-1472
  • King Louis XI's most successful attempt in dismembering Burgundy was in the period of 1469-1472. The humiliation of the Treaty of Peronne would be just the latest insult and incentive for France to dismember Burgundy, not that it already didn't have it enough reasons to not. King Louis XI would further consolidate his power by enforcing his disgraced brother Charles and invested him the duchy of Guyenne/Aquitaine which fulfilled a single term of the treaty of Peronne. Technically, fulfilling his obligations he still twisted the treaty to ensure a loyal south in case of war, Burgundy fearing war would begin a military buildup against France waiting if the treaty was broken or if the trigger of a war between Brittany and Burgundy. This wasn't completely unjustified on Charles' part, the shadow war for control between Burgundy and France began to heat up after the treaty. Brittany was of particular importance for France and Burgundy. If Brittany fell under France's influence, France would be free to wage war against Burgundy and would win easily, Brittany would fall to France shortly after. If Brittany was a firm Burgundian ally, Brittany would die but Burgundy would be ascendant in Europe. The Breton king, Francis II played his cards well, playing off French and Burgundian influence to further increase his security and stability aboard.

    This war for influence would be heavily magnified in the influence war over England. The beginning of Henry VI's insanity after the battle of Castillon, would drive the English nobility in civil war that would be known as the war of the roses. The rise of Margaret of Anjou would not necessarily see a rise of French influence in England no matter what Yorkist propaganda said at the time. Instead Margaret continued to try to consolidate her power over England with her faction: the Lancastrians. Richard, Duke of York who was stripped of his position, Lord Protector during this war for control over England would infuriate the most powerful and wealthy lord/duke of England. This would create the faction of the Yorkists. The key figure would be Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. His great support allowed Richard to kill Somerset who was Margaret's greatest ally and suffer no consequences even with his fall from power due to parliament, he would still come back due to Richard's help and nearly crowned him king if it wasn't for his death prematurely in Northumberland. This spotlight of English politics, would make him into Edward IV's right hand man but his war-like nature would turn ensure his removal years later.

    The usage of war and lack of political finesse for the Earl of Warwick would slowly drive the two men apart but the greatest betrayal of this was the marriage negotiations for Edward IV. Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville against Warwick's wishes who wanted a marriage with France, preferably Bona of Savoy or even Anne of France (Champagne) This marriage plan would fail with the announcement of the marriage of the two, it would cast out the earl who began to slowly lose favour in royal court and his followers were weakening to the Woodvilles who gathered strength due to the new position as queen consort. The weakening of his position and sights of a potential rival to the throne would cause the earl to once again march to war only to be defeated and exiled to France. The Woodvilles sought a restoration of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance which began to take full effect in 1466. Isabella of Bourbon's death would reignite English sentiment in the Anglo-Burgundian alliance unfortunately in 1462, France struck first by betrothing Anne of France (Champagne) to Philip the Rich as King Louis argued to Charles to cement the treaty of Arras, which was further agreed in 1465 during the treaty of Conflans, the death of Isabella would nearly screw the English chance for an Anglo-Burgundian alliance but Charles who no longer trusted Louis with the fiasco involving a change of betrothal for Charles would have him seek Margaret of York's hand in marriage.

    A mixture of Edward, Charles and the Woodville's will would cement the new Anglo-Burgundian alliance which would start off strong with both monarchs accepting each other's royal orders. Charles would take great pleasure in being knighted as a member of the order of the garter, while Edward would knighted as a knight of the Golden Fleece: the most prestigious knightly order in Europe at the time. This exchange of chivalry would lead to the "marriage of the century" between Margaret of York and Charles the Absolute. The return to this alliance was already in perfect circumstances as recently in the treaty of Peronne, Charles now had legal justification with this defensive alliance. Charles would soon be forced into English politics however, already he hosted two lancastrian supporters, his mother was a Lancastrian by birth but yet encouraged the marriage. This forced neutrality would be the norm as various other European powers continued their neutrality in this shadow war for England. Charles tried to mediate King and Earl but his hand would be forced as the Earl joined up with George, Duke of Clarence attacked Burgundian shipping. Charles would call upon his Burgundian navy to attack and capture the earl and duke but would fail, in fact this failure would be so huge that Burgundy would do nothing to stop the earl who now led the Lancastrian faction, sailing back to England. This naval failure would be something of note, not to Charles but to his heir Philip.

    The return of the war like Earl demanding the restoration of Henry VI would send Edward to Burgundy, a penniless refugee. Charles would receive him in anger, as Edward was incredibly weak in terms of a claim and an Anglo-French alliance would be a nightmare not remotely possible since the days of Philip the Good. However, Franco-Burgundian relations were already incredibly tense with Louis XI using his French partisans in the somme and in Burgundy to gain various towns and a complete advantage over Burgundy. All out war commenced, Burgundy was prepared for war retaking Burgundy in a matter of months and Charles would begin a campaign for the somme. The earl of Warwick launched his invasions of Burgundy from Calais. The nightmare alliance proven correct, Charles immediately dispatched any assistance for Edward who would in months soundly defeat the Lancastrians and secure the throne completely. Luck has saved Burgundy as the restoration of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance would shatter any attempts by Louis to dismantle and annex Burgundy outright.

    Charles would make use of this good fortune, restoring his grand alliance against France and continuously strengthening his own position. His old allies of Aragon, England, and Brittany returned to the fold eager to crush an overstretched France. Lorraine who fell under France's orbit returned to Burgundy under Nicholas of Lorraine. Most importantly Charles, Duke of Guyenne rose up against Louis angry over the lack of power in his new appanage. This great alliance would be a restoration of the league of the public weal as Orleans, Bourbon, and Armagnac would rise up as well. Only the death of Charles, Duke of Guyenne and various other internal issues saved Louis with the treaty of Beaune which recognized the full independence of Burgundy declared in 1471 and most importantly the agreement of having Anne of Champagne be raised in Burgundy itself. The treaty was the reinforcement of Peronne, Conflans and Arras. Louis was decisively defeated in this war due to incredible luck with Edward's restoration. Charles would further strengthen his alliances with the marriage of John his second son in 1469, to Elizabeth, firstborn of England and his wife Margaret would give birth to Isabella in 1472. The consolidation of his alliance with Aragon which would be further strengthened with the Catholic Monarchs. The alliance with Ferrante, king of Naples, a restoration of ties with Portugal and his introduction into Italy would secure peace with France for another three years. Burgundy did not establish its network of alliances until 1472 and it cost them dearly, the Burgundian campaign was only a win on paper but the Burgundian countryside was devastated much like the French country and yet France would recover far quicker than Burgundy.

    Burgundy would remain in this death cold war against France as both sides improved and increased their standing armies but England would prove to be weirdly neutral despite the hundred years war. The new English alliance did not provide the material or troops to join Charles against Louis in 1471-72, and it nearly cost the destruction of Burgundy as a state. An English army would not arrive in France until 1475, and the betrayal from that invasion would doom Edward IV's reign. Charles the Absolute would not return his eye to French affairs until that English invasion and by that point the long built Burgundian-Noble faction would collapse while Louis would rebuild person by person the pro-French faction in Burgundy, and yet Burgundy would grow ever stronger in the east as the empire and imperial affairs would attract the absolute duke his attention, but not his paranoia as that will always remain directed as the king of France.
     
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    Chapter 6: Wielding but never unsheathing a sword 1469-1473
  • Charles the Absolute's greatest territorial expansion would not be in France but in the Holy Roman Empire, even his expansion efforts in Nevers, Champagne and Eu were due to dynastic diplomacy with a slight flavour of power politics while his expansion efforts in the imperial crown would be pure power politics. The seizure of Nevers and Saint-Pol in 1472 due to the treaty of Beaune would be the first taste of Charles' territorial expansion. This would anger John II and Louis of Luxembourg but their weakness and servitude to the French king would not save their realms as they were absorbed by Charles, but his first expansion effort would be peaceful, forceful and Austrian. His expansion efforts were slow and calculated with one goal in mind, an imperial crown.

    The Burgundian dynasty has always dreamed of seizing the rich lands of Alsace, during Philip the Bold he married his daughter Catherine to the late Leopold IV of Austria in the hopes of gaining the county of Ferrente which was a prize to be won. Unfortunately these efforts would fail due to Philip the Good (Chivalric) lack of action in Ferrente causing Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor to take back the lands quite quickly. Charles would not make the same mistakes that his father made. In 1469, Sigismund of Austria was desperate for aid and assistance in defending his lands. He was the ruler of Tyrol and the ancestral Habsburg homelands, and the decisive defeats he incurred over the past decade have cost him dearly in the treaty of Waldshut. He began to pawn for a protector and an ally, his cousin the emperor was of no help. King Louis rebuffed him and refused to aid him whether or not it was out of fear of Burgundian might or he was planning on taking England itself would be uncertain. Charles however would seize the opportunity by driving a hard bargain in the treaty of St. Omer. Sigismund would mortgage his lands for a bargain to Charles in exchange for an alliance and protection but Charles would not even try to honour the terms instead, he began to rapidly push for the integrations of these lands into Burgundy as a whole, more specifically the two Burgundies in the south. Charles would play a stern role in strengthening his control over these lands. Peter von Hagenbach a long time Burgundian servant would be sent there to pacify and strengthen the control of the region and would utterly fail in this task nearly dooming Burgundy as a whole.

    The region of Alsace at this time was divided between Upper Alsace under the control of the legendary Frederick the Victorious of the Palatine, while the south was lead by the inept, and tyrannical Peter von Hagenbach. The inadequate governance and mess of its laws and estates caused the entire region to erupt in revolt which was backed by both Sigismund, the Swiss under Bern, the French who began to finance this war and the emperor Frederick III. This popular revolt lead to a joint attack on the Vaud, ruled by Savoy and the invasion of the Free County of Burgundy only Charles' arrival at the scene with his forces at the peace of 1472 against King Louis allowed him to return in force crushing the rebellions. The battle at Grandson would nearly cost Charles his life and he would barely win because of his artillery finally being used in the battle. Charles would dismiss Peter soon afterwards, and would assign a cadre of officers and bailiffs to handle Alsace. Charles would place Alsace as a top priority and begin to redeem every mortgage and continuously expanded his territory not through war but through money and cash.

    Lorraine would be Charles' greatest territorial expansion achievement and his greatest blunder. King Louis would do his very best in stopping Lorraine falling into Burgundy and nearly succeeded with John II, who broke from Charles' grand alliance and pursued his claims in Aragon. Louis would give him a couple of important towns. Nicholas of Lorraine would succeed his father in 1470 and the shadow war between Nicholas and Henry for control of Lorraine, neither would be a pro-Burgundian partisan unlike their fathers John and Thibaud. Nicholas would try his best to reassert Lorrainian independence and try his best to play Louis and Charles off. Charles would gain various concessions with Nicholas' sudden death including importantly legalizing the rights to passage. Charles would further increase his influence by allying with his long standing rival the house of Valois-Anjou and secured Rene II to the throne of Lorraine. Charles would not take greater action until 1475 and would nearly lose all of Burgundy. Burgundian diplomacy would gain only minor concessions, with Rene II's ascension who continuously increased and asserted his independence. Charles' relationship with Lorraine would remain the same even with the change of dukes and arguably his position weakened significantly with the loss of a pro-Burgundian faction.

    Friesland would be the missed opportunity for Charles' reign. Philip in the later stages of his reign began preparations to invade Friesland but Charles who continuously used diplomats and money to force the Frisians to swear fealty to Charles, these delays would only last until 1470 and Charles was about to invade and conquer Friesland but Louis' subsequent invasion of Burgundy would halt all of these attempts for invasion and would keep Friesland away from Burgundy until another scheme hatched in 1474 with Oldenburg but would fail. The key player stopping this expansion efforts would be Frederick III, who would ally with the count of East Frisia stopping any invasion in its tracks. The golden opportunity to invade would be in 1473 and yet Charles would not even react as he would be in Lorraine dealing with the succession and the great conference at Trier. Friesland would not fall to Burgundy until 1481, under Philip the Rich's reign, ironically this missed opportunity would kill Charles the Absolute.

    Guelders would be the only reason why Charles would be referred as the bold. Already in the later years of Philip the Good's reign the civil war between father and son for Guelders would continue under Charles who acted as a mediator. Burgundy's position would slowly strengthen over Guelders over the years under Charles but Charles would not act to conquer the lands until 1472. Adolf, a claimant for the duchy attacked Burgundian positions in Brabant in the middle of Louis' great invasion of Burgundy. The subsequent peace brought in Beaune would leave Adolf abandoned. Arnold would sell his succession rights to Charles who crushed Guelders and invaded the land. The capture and imprisonment of Adolf would shatter any resistance to Burgundy. The emperor would agree to Charles' ascension in Trier later on but what was crucially important Scotland would be lost as a Burgundian ally and return to France's alliance. A counterbalance would be a strengthening alliance with Cleves, and Julich-Berg. These new alliances would be nowhere near as valuable as Scotland for Burgundy but it would be a foretelling for Philip the Rich's diplomacy and Imperial foreign policy.

    It would not be the conquest but instead the subsequent administration as to why Charles was referred to as the absolute, his consolidation and centralization of power was done with blinding efficiency. Immediately, appointing a popular local ruler as stadholder and immediately united the judicial into the parlement of Mechelen. The ineffective administration was streamlined and the territory would be in effect just like any of his older possessions in the lowlands. Charles despise some historians calling him the bold was in every sense of the way incredibly slow, careful and absolute throughout his control. In Alsace he gained territories through purchase but neglected to place funds and resources to properly incorporate them until 1473 after the near destruction of Burgundy, he placed immense pressure on Lorraine but stopped short of annexing it directly, he let opportunity and opportunity slip by for Friesland and yet when his slow and careful plans succeed as they did in Guelders, it would be absolute and complete. His conquests in the early 1470s were limited in scope but detailed in plan, most importantly they were placed as low priority compared to the imperial crown which Charles sought to achieve. Ironically it would be this legacy of slow, gradual conquest Charles would readopt after the near complete destruction of Burgundian power in 1475.
     
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    Chapter 7: The fruitless pursuit of a crown 1467-1473
  • To describe Burgundy's imperial policy as limited would be an understatement. Unlike Philip the Good, Charles the Absolute was overly cautious over imperial affairs much like his slow expansion efforts into the empire. Under his father and his predecessors, Burgundy entered the scene of imperial politics as mediator and a friend to all, shoring up alliances within the Reichstag, and establishing connections throughout the empire. The most notable of these connections was Charles' long standing alliance with Frederick the Victorious who was a rival of the emperor. The relationship with the emperor was increasingly complicated with a mixture of outright hostility and yet eager willingness to ally. Charles was the most powerful ruler in the empire only rivalling the emperor himself, which would not do well with imperial matters and yet Frederick realized that an alliance to pull Burgundy away from French orbit would ensure a secure western border for decades to come. Burgundy on the other hand didn't wish to needlessly provoke the emperor but still slowly expand eastward in order to build a strong enough base to drive out the French once and for all.

    The third element of this Imperial-Burgundian would be the imperial cities and the Burgundian money-power politics played here. Mulhouse the great city within the ancestral Habsburg lands was bought out much like Bescanon by Charles the Absolute. This Burgundian soft power would be resisted by the urban elites but embraced by the masses and the ones out of power in imperial cities such as Cologne, Basel, and Strasbourg. While not as pushed by Burgundy, a reinforcement of relations with the house of Wittelsbach was pushed by Charles to act as a counterbalance to the emperor, this would be completed by Philip the Rich but the Burgundian presence began to slowly reverberate most particularly in Hesse, the chaotic lands of Swabia and the fractured lands of Bavaria. This soft power throughout the Rhine and the former Kingdom of Lotharingia would be most opposed by the Swiss confederation.

    Economic policy would be Charles' rise to prominence in imperial politics of particular importance was the wine trade along the Rhine. Charles would continuously fight against the economic policy of mercantilism at the time along the Rhine. Placing particular pressure on lowering tolls and tariffs for wine trading along the Rhine. He would find success in Burgundian vassals such as Cleves, and Guelders. He would struggle against Cologne, Julich and the Electoral Palatine. This political-economic policy would be a slow grind as Charles waged economic war against the opposing cities while bribing city magnates and placing Burgundian partisans onto various positions within the empire. The epitome of this policy would be the restoration of Ruprecht of Cologne to the archbishopric in 1475.

    The key piece of this imperial policy was the elevation of Burgundy into an imperial crown. Burgundy was hoping for one of two things, the restoration of the long forgotten and ruined Kingdom of Lotharingia which the Holy Roman Empire annexed in the 10th century fighting a war against the Merovingians over succession rights to the kingdom or the transfer of the de jure Kingdom of Burgundy which was rendered defunct as Savoy was transferred into the Kingdom of Italy and the remain princes fell under French influence. Philip the Good seeing the near impossibility of the task limited his scope to an imperial vicarate preferably over the defunct Kingdom of Burgundy. These discussions were delayed with the birth of Philip the Rich as Frederick only wanted Maximilian, his son to inherit the vast and wealthy lands of Burgundy but with Philip's birth the succession of the lands were secured for another generation. Frederick and Philip would continue to negotiate over the vicarate throughout the 1460s with no serious progress being made as Philip tried to use money and promises of an alliance to secure the imperial vicarship, Frederick would still steadfastly refuse. Charles' ascension lead nowhere but expanded the ambition of the Burgundians wishing to be crowned King of the Romans, or the restoration of the Kingdom of Lotharingia to Charles. Some modern historians argued that these were extremist demands made in order to settle on the compromise which was what Charles wanted: the imperial vicarate of Burgundy. Charles would fully use his wealth and influence to gain electoral votes and force Frederick to the negotiating table.

    Charles would spend the majority of his energies in 1469 to gather further support for his imperial ambitions, a mediation settled between Bohemia and Hungary would secure him their vote in the future election, while the archbishop of Mainz would be convinced by a Burgundian relative to support Charles' bid for the crown. Most importantly was the support from the Milanese and the papacy. The Papacy hoped to bring Burgundy into Italian affairs to further strengthen their own interests in the region most likely as a counterbalance to the Aragonese who had their relatives on the throne of Naples. The Milanese who abandoned their traditional allies of the French long ago due to Burgundian influence and pressure wished to use Burgundy against their greatest rival the Venetians. Ironically the Venetians would also support this bid along the same lines of against the Milanese. Charles in theory had a majority of the electors on his side by 1469 and would begin negotiations with Frederick to gain the crown or other concessions instead of the imperial crown with Sigismund as an intermediary throughout 1470.

    Certain events would doom Charles' imperial bid but the first one that occurred was the resumption of war between Bohemia and Hungary which Frederick got involved in siding with the Bohemians, even with this war in the background Charles continued to press his negotiations with Frederick but his alliance with the elector palatine would further doom his bid as various wars were fought indirectly between the emperor and the elector. Charles would continue to stand by his elector even though Frederick offered an agreement for the crown for his betrayal. His steadfast alliance would pay off as Frederick defeated Ludwig his rival and would in gratiuty for his support and allegiance give Charles a free hand over Alsace further consolidating and strengthening his control in 1473.

    The birth of Isabella of Burgundy, third child of Charles the Absolute would reignite negotiations between the emperor and Burgundy, once again it would be Charles taking the initiative trying to marry Isabella to Frederick's heir of Maximilian, with promises of his electors supporting Maximilian's bid along with an agreement to split up the Swiss confederation between them. Even with the near war of 1472 between the emperor and Burgundy, Charles would continue to pursue this crown vigorously. By 1473, Charles' position only further strengthened with negotiations in which Philip arrived at the imperial court with various other members of the Burgundian court to negotiate for both the imperial crown and the crown of Burgundy. Charles throughout the early months of 1473 took on the opposition leader against the Habsburgs with Bohemia's king dead, Charles mediated between Hungary and Poland for the throne while his alliance with the Palatine paid off, he was once again with the majority of electors by his side although the emperor would dispute Frederick's right to vote in the election.

    A conference would be held in Trier to negotiate over the crown Charles would receive or the imperial vicarate which was more likely his goal. Frederick however, would still delay constantly even as Charles would arrive at Trier, even he would argue it should take place in Metz as it was bigger but Charles would keep it at Trier to further his chances and to shore up support in the archbishopric. The emperor and the duke would arrive on the 30th of September and Burgundian wealth and splendour would be shown throughout Trier, while Trier would be quite cautious towards the duke it would be his son Philip who would win them over with his generosity and charm constantly speaking to the city's magnates, church and merchants. As Philip continued to shore up support and charm his way through Trier with his multilingual rhetoric, Charles would be beside Frederick with every minor altercation lowering his chances over minor things such as how exactly do they arrive in Trier, how to leave meetings and when do they separate and return to their respective lodgings. Charles would promise a crusade against the Turks with a guarantee that King Louis XI would not seize his Burgundian holdings in his absence.

    In line with modern historian's thinking Charles would present his final demands for the marriage between Isabella of Burgundy and Maximilian of Austria. A raising of the imperial ban on Holland and Zeeland, the recognition of his annexation and succession of Guelders, a recognition of Frederick as regent elector and finally the imperial vicarate of the Kingdom of Burgundy would be given to Charles as it has been vacant since the death of Charles VI of France. Frederick would continue to delay throughout the conference but by the end of this Frederick would flee Trier, not granting Charles his imperial vicarate, but he would still gain the imperial ban on Holland, and Zeeland, and the recognition of his annexation of Guelders. The failure at gaining a Burgundian crown would confuse both contemporary and modern historians. The flight of Frederick III would be most intriguing as the electors mostly were neutral or supported this development as the vicarate was not hereditary for Burgundy meaning when Charles died it would return to the empire and reaffirming a status quo of Frederick claiming the electoral seat of the palatine as regent. Modern historians would eventually come to a consensus into why Frederick fled and refused to affirm the remaining two demands. The first thing was that Frederick did not trust Charles to secure the succession for his son Maximilian, and Charles arguably was going to take the imperial crown as soon as Frederick died or an imperial election was called, the second one was a bit more personal: Frederick III despised Frederick I of the Palatine and would not allow him to take that electoral seat as that would practically guarantee Charles' imperial bid, a couple of other reasons were the sale/seizure of Alsace and Burgundian attitudes towards Venice who Charles was friendly with while Frederick wanted to crush Venice completely.

    The entire event would be a case study on Burgundian and imperial diplomacy under Charles and Frederick. Charles would never fully commit his cards until he had a completely dominant position and would play diplomacy like extortion and threats. The usage of imperial electors in order to secure himself a crown as a first attempt and then compromising to his desired position. This slow and prepared diplomacy would be directly opposed by Frederick who used a similar torturous, slow, evasive and uncertain diplomacy. Frederick would also throughout the conference personally deny Charles a crown, in 1474 he would state that there are only for 4 crowns in the Empire, Aachen, Arles, Milan and Rome. All of these crowns he claimed were on his head. Charles and Philip would leave Trier, Charles gained minor concessions while Philip would leave with the popular support of the people there. They would travel south to Luxembourg and would reunite with their family as Margaret continued to govern and strength her husband's lands domestically.

    Burgundy's conference at Trier would allow Charles to take the spotlight showing off Burgundian wealth and splendour, even though it was a complete failure by all accounts for Burgundian negotiations. His reforms into a standing army by 1473, and the introduction of Philip the Rich into the scene of Europe would keep the spotlight on Burgundy. The following year or two would be primed with opportunities as opportunity in Lorraine sprung up, the truce of France was nearing to an end, if Charles wished he could crush the French crown once and for all, the Swiss who nearly killed Charles in 1469 were now preparing and gathering allies in to drive out the Burgundian influence. Contemporaries at the time would look towards Burgundy to see their next moves. Importantly however, Philip would consider the conference as a success as his father gained minor concessions with nothing more than money and their presence, while Europe would marvel at the new prince, who won over the people, the merchants, magnates and nobility spending time with them all and speaking any language that was spoken in Trier: Latin, Dutch, French, English and German.
     
    Chapter 7.5 Persevering Dreams of Colchis, 1457-1472
  • Charles the Absolute cut a very strong and steadfast figure, and his realms would reflect that, while other European realms were in war and in chaos Burgundy especially the Burgundian Netherlands were quite peaceful and prosperous. Charles' relationship with his third wife, Margaret of York would describe his internal governance the best. He would never be with his wife often perhaps only visiting his wife and children rarely while he was off campaigning, Margaret would not necessarily mind the coldness as raising three children and governing the realms in his absence would prove to be a momumental task for her, but unlike his father Philip the Good: Charles would not have any illegitimate children respecting his wife. Whether it was a practical move to govern the split realms or merely wishing to stray away from his father's insatiable appetites of the flesh, Charles' relationship with his realms and his family would be cold, distant but in goodwill.

    Margaret of York deserves most of the credit for maintaining the realms under Charles but his administrative, and judicial duties should not be understated. In his 5 years of governing Holland, he would develop a habit of being notoriously indecisive but yet firm in his opinions. Philip the Good however seeing this weakness sought to correct it by forcing him to own up to his indecisiveness and he would suffer these mistakes with various sporadic revolts in Holland throughout his tenure as governor. Charles would adopt a stance of cautious but decisive, he would never state his opinion or even form one until his advisors explained to him the situation and their thoughts. This would be perhaps best seen in his conference at Trier in which a policy laid out by his advisors which went for a push to maximalist objectives during the conference would be what Charles adopted throughout the conference, only to compromise to where Philip's position was a decade prior. His judicial and financial reforms would advance the Burgundian state overall, albeit it would definitely ruin his popularity with the urban elites.

    His judicial reforms are of particular note, as while he followed his predecessors in establishing a French line of judicial systems, he would do so painstakingly slowly and only through some support from the local nobility. This would culminate in the establishment of the parlement of Malines which superseded all of his French and Imperial courts. This was done incredibly slowly and through Burgundian money and constant rhetoric to the general estates of the Netherlands. This parlement would be considered a greater court of appeals which would be merged along with the counties of Flanders, Artois, Boulogne along with any of the former French fiefs that were freed in 1471. This judicial court would be quite limited in scope as it can hear appeals that mattered with the crown, or with cases the involved joint jurisdiction. His financial reforms which were already underway by his lieutenancy of Philip the Good in uniting the various financial administrations into one larger administration, it would be completed by Charles the Bold at least for his northern territories in a larger chambre des comptes. Only through various bribes, threats and speeches did these reforms succeed and while immensely popular within the populace and the less wealthy. The magnates and incredibly well off merchants were completely against these changes. A mixture of Burgundian propaganda, partisans, and the charm of his son and wife would quell the rebellions against Charles throughout 1469-1473.

    The estates general of the Netherlands would be transformed into the estates general of Burgundy in 1470, with deputies from the two Burgundies partaking in the estates as soon as possible. His reforms on centralization would prove most beneficial in the summons of 1473 where shortages of corn exports in Flanders occurred, Charles' centralizing reforms gave him enough power to fix the issue on hand with his famous ordinances. Local age old privileges were disregarded in favour of standardization and centralization throughout the realms, his popularity would fluctuate generally amongst Burgundy but the privelged old elite would still despise his efforts and mount any resistance against the reforms which he throughly crushed.

    His ecclesiastical reforms would not be as successful however did lay the groundwork for Philip's archdiocese reforms. Charles would appoint Hue de Lannoy to the archbishopric of Bescanon who was appointed through painstaking negotiation with the city, the emperor and the pope. The weakening of Liege, Cambrai, Utrecht, later on Verdun, Metz, Toul and Strasbourg by the power of the newly appointed archbishop would slowly begin as Burgundy continued to press for a cardinal for Burgundy. All of these reforms would lay groundwork much like his predecessors and would only be completed by Philip the Rich.

    Philip the Rich, heir apparent to the Burgundian state would be Charles' greatest success although it would be more accurate to portray his education as a result of Isabella of Bourbon and later Margaret of York's education. Isabella would reside in Holland throughout Charles' time as stadholder and the time there would teach Philip to not necessarily be too enjoyed in the illustrious court of Burgundy at the time but instead to speak to the larger populace and enjoy the sights of the bustling medieval city of Amsterdam at the time, Isabella smartly only spoke to Philip in Dutch who would pick up the language quickly and later on would teach him French as that was the other language in the court of Charles the Absolute. Margaret of York would arrive to a studied and learned Philip the Rich and would further increase his education, by teaching him English, Latin and later on with great difficulty German. Under Margaret, Philip would observe the court life under Charles the Absolute which Margaret would run. Margaret would also insist that Philip stay by her side when she was conducting administration. As a result of being molded almost entirely by Margaret, when Anne of Champagne arrived Philip was the ideal prince speaking to her in fluent French and touring the lands of the Burgundian Netherlands with her. Margaret would not prioritize Philip however and began to tutor Anne as well, who was a natural talent at governance, finance and administration much to Margaret's joy. Charles in 1473 would reenter his son's life and begin teaching him Italian which Charles' had a passion and love for. Most importantly Charles would try to teach Philip public speaking as that was a key tool for any aspiring duke, and Philip would surpass Charles in this aspect much to Charles' joy. Due to Philip's study in law, finance, administration from Margaret, Philip would not speak with as much passion and emotion compared to his father but he was far more successful in convincing people that their interests were taken care of under Philip who would use a mixture of conflicting laws, incentives and plain logic to win over the people. Charles' education for Philip however, would be mostly focused on martial skill.

    Charles' main achievements were his reforms in the Burgundian army in theory a professional standing army. In practice this army was riddled with flaws throughout his reign and only due to Charles' insistence did this standing army would be able to provide Charles his long awaited battlefield victory at the end of his reign. Throughout his reforms an underlying theme of harsh discipline was given to Burgundian armies who were elaborately organized and armed richly and to the teeth. The two minor victories in Brustem and Montlhery would ingrain with Charles, patience when it came to battles and the importance of artillery and infantry. His vanguard was routed both times, but it would be English archers and Burgundian artillery that would save him. Charles realized the usage of the smoke from a salvo dedicated to a specific spot was incredibly powerful as a tool to distract and obscure his opponent. His son, Philip would be taught this as well. These minor victories combined with the losses in Dijon, and witnessing the victories of the English and importantly the armies of Swiss would teach him to fully use his armies. The prevalence of Burgundian infantry would be shown by Philip the Rich during the wars of Constance, as Burgundy would develop their own two tiered infantry. Light mobile infantry as a vanguard, which was considered highly disciplined by Charles while his heavy infantry would be inspired by English archers, French crossbowmen and field artillery. This incredibly modern army would be both very quick and yet incredibly slow. Often times Burgundy would arrive at the battlefield with their light infantry and buy time to let the other half of Burgundian arms to set up in order to crush any army on the field.

    Charles' usage of military governorships and posts was quite modern and instrumental to the creation of a Burgundian standing army. Charles would create various military offices separate from civilian ones which had no authority other than law enforcement, while Burgundian finances for this standing army would come from the general estates of Burgundy, Charles would insist on military academies in order to train them lightly in their respective role within their unit, while permanent training would be done within Charles' military camps, Burgundian soldiers would start off with some basic training within their local states. Burgundian military governors would also be responsible for training their local security forces which were under the direct oversight by the governor himself and indirectly under the local estates. This would provide another centralizing tenet of his reforms as Burgundian recruitment would be placed out of the estates but affirmed or gave the privilege for internal security to the estates.

    Burgundy at the time was fighting for its life against France as every day nobles and people switched sides for their allegiance however what was crucial here was Charles was incredibly good at removing such "traitors" to his realm, the complete destruction and servitude of the Croy family, and the replacements of the various council members under Philip the Good, finally the removal of Louis of Saint-Pol would be the most famous of these "purges". Burgundian diplomacy especially in this era was very fluid much like Europe was at the time, however what Charles could count on was the allegiance of the counts of Cleves, and Julich-Berg both of which were de facto Burgundian vassals. The trustworthiness of allies such as England, Scotland, Denmark, Venice, Savoy and Milan were all questioned especially in the resubjugation war of 1475. Historians would love to say Burgundy's slow expansion eastward was gradual and calculated, it was not. Burgundian foreign policy except their resentment towards France was always changing and completely fluid, this can especially be seen in Charles' interactions with the emperor. It would not be Burgundian foreign policy that was the stable thing in Charles' life but instead Charles' administrative capabilities or more accurately Margarets'.
     
    Chapter 8: To break up the league of the well-off 1469-1475
  • The sale of Alsace to Burgundy would not be Charles' achievement but Philip's, as his policies and wealth would be the key driving force against the two main powers at the time, Strasbourg, Basel and the Free cities along with Charles' ally: Frederick I of the palatine. Strasbourg would be particularly aggressive against Burgundian expansion, some historians would even say they were the most anti-Burgundian besides Louis XI. The sale of Alsace would force Burgundy to take on the position of the Habsburgs who were the rivals and victims of Swiss expansion, in fact the greatest reason for the mortgage was to secure Burgundian aid against the Swiss for the Habsburgs. The Burgundians would pay off any remaining debts Sigismund owed to the Swiss thereby stopping legal expansion northwards which angered Bern. Importantly, the alliance between Sigismund and Burgundy would now ensure the Swiss would be set on a path of war against Burgundy.

    The struggle of Mulhouse between the Swiss and Burgundy would immediately start off as Sigismund was already in a minor war over the lands. Burgundy would arrive under Peter von Hagenbach's command who would seemingly serve his own interests and pressure a joint offensive against the Swiss with Sigismund, only Charles' commands denied him the all out war the two sought. However, importantly Peter would anger Strasbourg through his provocative action of ordering them not to proceed in their elections. These slight verbal attacks would form an anti-Burgundian alliance between Strasbourg, the Swiss, the Free cities of Swabia and importantly the elector palatine. France would also join in this alliance albeit would pursue a neutrality treaty weirdly enough agreeing if either party went to war against Burgundy the other party would remain neutral. Even though Burgundy was able to retrieve the contents of the treaty by way of espionage, it would be only the threat of Swiss intervention which would place pressure on Burgundy and France would not even try to contact the Swiss to join their war during 1470-1472.

    It would be the shifting allegiance of Sigismund of Austria that would ignite a Burgundian-Swiss war. The Swiss and Austrians would begin to reconcile and formulate an anti-Burgundian alliance which would be joined by the count of Wurttemberg. This formation of an anti-Burgundian alliance would fly underneath Charles who sent diplomats to shore up his alliance with the Austrians and to mediate his relations with the Swiss. These attempts would fail completely as the Swiss were suspicious and distrustful of Charles while the Austrians seeked to reclaim their ancestral homelands. Charles would also play a double game as well, these attempts at pacification were merely placating in general as Charles feared a war with France over his control of Alsace. The Swiss would send a delegation perhaps the last attempt at war but Charles would trust his bailiff Peter over the Swiss and refuse to dismiss him. This would cause war between the Swiss and Burgundy as Charles arrived south to Grandson to intercept the Swiss army that was to attack the Free County in order to seize the lands of Alsace themselves. The following victory at Grandson, would shatter Charles' faith in Peter. Already his reports of his arrogance was concerning to Charles who wished to appoint his heir to Alsace as soon as possible, this victory would give Charles the justification to remove Peter and replace him with his son Philip.

    Philip who already paid quite a bit of attention to affairs in Alsace, as Charles was preparing him to replace Peter back in 1470. Philip's fluency in German and the fame of being the Count of Charolais would give him a little breathing room. Philip would arrive at Mulhouse in February 1473, and would spend nearly two weeks in the city speaking both to the city magnates, and the populace. While, he would not succeed to bringing the city into Charles' influence, his good faith negotiations and his wealth would spark a pro-Burgundian faction in Mulhouse. Strasbourg would not react to this development well and begin to assemble a league to drive out Burgundian control over Alsace. This league of Constance would be formed mostly due to Strasbourg's insistence to drive out rival economic influence which was mostly Burgundian at this point. The Swiss begin to seriously discuss to redeem the mortgage and return the lands to the incredibly weakened Austrians. King Louis XI would fumble his diplomacy as well, as Italian mercenaries began to flow to Alsace by Charles' request which Louis did not forbid much to the Swiss' anger. Sigismund would also send his requests for an alliance to Louis who would reject it outright. What Louis did contribute though was his support of the redemption of the mortgage of Alsace by Sigismund, unfortunately he would not foot the bill for this expense. In 1473, Philip would arrive at Bern to speak to the Swiss, apologizing for Hagenbach's aggressive rhetoric and offering a conference to further mediate and strengthen relationships with the Swiss, citing the alliance of 1467. The Swiss at this point egged on by Bern and Strasbourg would refuse as they believed that they were threatened by Burgundian power and influence. Again, Philip would create another minor pro-Burgundian faction with his honey-sweetened words.

    The arrival of the emperor in the autumn after the conference of Trier would further strengthen the Swiss position, although it would certainly take a while. Sigismund who at this point lost everything with the dismissal of Peter would throw his lot behind the Swiss grand alliance who all unanimously agreed to the return of Alsace to Austria. The Trier conference would not change much in this position, Philip much like Charles agreed that Alsace was permanently Burgundian, and would pressure Sigismund to agree that Burgundy was in complete control of Alsace due to the mortgage. Sigismund continued to contact the French under Louis XI, along with the Swiss. Both sides believed with French diplomacy and force of arms, Alsace would return to Austrian hands. Charles' arrival to Alsace however would strengthen Philip' position. Charles would much to Philip's happiness give two things, the prestige and further legitimacy of Philip's governorship of Alsace and more money which Philip placed into good use. Charles and Philip would invest their presence wisely visiting town after town speaking to people and would ensure loyalty through speeches and bribes.

    In 1474, Philip would finally break Mulhouse' resistance as he would be appointed protector of Mulhouse much to Strasbourg's anger. Philip continued his diplomatic efforts, warmly welcoming the Swiss ambassador and showed off the classic Burgundian wealth and splendour, while Bern's militaristic classic elites wished to see Burgundy out, the ambassadors only relayed talks of peace and trade from Philip much to their anger, but the drive to remove Burgundy from Alsace was already too entrenched and levies began to assemble to drive Burgundy out. His other diplomatic efforts to Sigismund was far less warm as Philip accused him of collaborating with the French and not abiding by the treaty stating his governorship of Alsace has turned the region incredibly prosperous. This attack on Sigismund would drive him over the edge and seek a full alliance with the Swiss. Louis XI would also begin to exercise his energies into the region although he would achieve nothing novel or significant. What was significant however was the eternal peace signed between Austria and Switzerland giving Sigismund some of his lands back and would agree to the return of Alsace to Austria. The formation of the league of Constance which was a purely defensive alliance against Burgundy, with only the stated goal of returning Alsace to Austria.

    Sigismund would strike first, paying back the mortgage of Alsace and immediately asking to return to his command, Alsace. Charles would refuse arguing that since this alliance was construed by Louis XI the mortgage was forfeited to a sale per the treaty of St. Omer. Strasbourg seizing the legal justification to occupy Alsace invaded at the head of an army. Philip who wasn't unarmed and with the assistance of his fiancée Anne, she would arrive at the helm of the army and drove them out of Alsace. This was quite embellished to Burgundy, Margaret was the one ordering the army to arrive and Anne at this point two years apart from Philip wished to reunite with him again. Events began to spiral, as war would spark between Austria, Bern, the League of Constance and France all united against Burgundy. Philip who at this point, gained complete support of Alsace with the arrival of an army to protect the lands would fight a protracted minor war winning only minor skirmishes. However, the league has overstretched themselves. Burgundy would enact a complete economic blockade while Margaret was sending reinforcements to Philip. Finally the confrontation at Mulhouse in which Philip was besieged at would end decisively with a Burgundian victory which sent the Swiss running into an ambush led by Burgundian arms. This victory would later lead to the raids of Strasbourg and Bern, and stern negotiations of the Swiss and Burgundians. The Swiss who already were divided against the war would sue for a separate peace with Burgundy agreeing that the treaty of St. Omer would be honoured, Bern would resent this peace but the other cities/cantons overruled Bern in this instance. Strasbourg and Austria would follow soon after in the later months of 1474.

    An important reason for the quick collapse of the league was the triple alliance of Burgundy, Savoy and Milan. Bern has constantly interfered in Savoyard politics which angered the Duchess of Savoy and eventually the rise of a triple alliance would drive Bern away from Vaud and Savoy in general. Bern would argue somewhat successfully that the peace signed in 1474 denied Burgundy the right to join their war against Savoy but Philip merely disregarded this truce and ordered his armies to march into Bern demanding a ceasefire against Savoy which would further strengthen Burgundy's grip on Savoy. Bern would sign a humiliating peace in Geneva in 1475 under Philip's watch, all of Bern's ambitions westward and northward were dashed.

    Philip's masterful politics in Alsace would be an harbinger to his politics in his reign. The final phase of the war of the roses and Burgundian policy there would secure his brother John II of England to secure the throne which would give Burgundy another steadfast ally. The intervention of Savoy in the Italian wars, and the troubled regency of Charles VIII all would show his approach to foreign policy and politics, historians would argue that it is a refinement of Charles' approach in which popular and noble support would be used to further achieve his goals.
     
    Chapter 9: Success by negotiation rather than by war 1471-1476
  • The archbishopric of Cologne was Charles' greatest failure and a complete blunder of Burgundian foreign policy. Philip the Good already had a keen interest in the archbishopric of cologne in general and sought to appoint one of his bourbon cousins as Archbishop. This scheme would fail but it would definitely set the tone of Burgundian foreign policy in Cologne. They wanted to influence it to the point of Liege or Utrecht. Philip the Good would continue his diplomatic efforts gaining the archbishop as a grateful ally and willing to assist Cologne's terrible finances. Charles the Absolute would continue Philip's policy of furthering Burgundian interests in the region and strengthening ties of Burgundy into a de facto client state.

    Archbishop Rupercht would try his best to fix the disastrous finances by raising taxes which failed and caused greater unrest and would soon arrive to a revolt against the archbishop. Charles would immediately intervene in this revolt seeking to join up with his ally the elector palatine in protecting and restoring the archbishop. However, the landgraves of Hesse would prove to be troublesome as their support for their revolt occurred with the election of Hermann as a rival candidate to the archbishopric. Burgundy would provide a mixture of financial and military support achieving what can only be described as defensive. In Cleves, Burgundy would gain further support for the archbishop as more and more money and men at arms would flow in to the archbishops side. A unfavourable status quo however set in as the extra support was not enough against the massive revolt. Mediation efforts occurred between the two parties which went nowhere and by 1473, a Declaration of Independence was given.

    The conquest of Guelders would place Cologne and its revolt onto Charles' #1 priority as he wanted to solidify his influence over Cologne. The failure at the conference of Trier would have Charles assemble his armies and march north to consolidate his grip over Cologne. Rupercht would sign off a practical vassalage to the Burgundians not to similar to the agreement between Burgundy and Cleves. He would arrive to siege the city of Neuss in the summer days of 1474, ordering his forces to concentrate their fire on a particular section of the wall blasting it open. Charles had cut off any assistance but Neuss had prepared for the siege. Charles who had adopted a very economic stance towards the cities of the Rhine used various promises of Burgundian wealth and trade agreements with the lower ranking merchants to get the siege open. Charles' armies would crush and capture the rival archbishop of Cologne: Hermann of Hesse. The death would not change anything in terms of the situation in fact it worsened it when Frederick III arrived at the helm of an army. The imperial army would force Charles out of Cologne at once and Cologne would return to civil war between the estates and the archbishop. Charles however would not return to Cologne instead marching south towards Luxembourg wishing to aid his son in Alsace.

    The imperial army under the lead of Frederick III would shake Burgundian diplomacy as it would earn France's eye and importantly would force the Duke of Lorraine to invade Burgundy itself believing that with French and imperial backing Lorraine would be completely free from Burgundian influence. Burgundy would not take this lying down, Antoine, the grand bastard of Burgundy secured an alliance with England while the triple alliance of Savoy, Milan and Burgundy was triggered. Finally most importantly Matthias Corvinus of Hungary was preparing for war. Just as quickly that imperial aggression against Burgundy started it soon immediately dissipated as Austria who already signed a truce in Alsace in late 1474 returned to deal with the Bohemian-Hungarian war. The peace that was signed would separate weaken France and Lorraine's position. France was already quite cautious as both Brittany and England declared any war against Burgundy would be responded with an invasion of France. This invasion would be given fruit in 1475.

    King Louis XI as soon as the truce run out in 1475, launched a devastating campaign into the somme lands of Burgundy burning and sacking everything in place but this campaign would be quite limited in reach as the duchy of Burgundy and Luxembourg would be untouched in this invasion. Nonetheless, this initial invasion was devastating to Burgundian power. Charles the Absolute along with his son Philip would launch a counter attack driving out the French but any further campaigning would fail. Brittany already quite hesitant in joining the war in the beginning sued for peace incredibly quickly much to Edward and Charles' anger. Edward's inaction and slow campaigning with Charles was quite fortunate for Louis who signed eagerly the treaty of Picquigny practically bribing Edward to leave. Charles who at this point was alone against France signed the treaty of Senlis afterwards, which extended a truce between France and Burgundy until 1483. Burgundy would hand over various people to Louis for him to kill and more importantly Louis of Saint-Pol who at this point was a traitor to both was killed as well. In order to seal the truce a betrothal was agreed upon between Isabella of Burgundy, and the dauphin Charles. Philip would be quite angered over this truce and betrothal arguing with his father that his marriage to Anne of Champagne would be enough. Modern historians would disagree with Philip's assessment and praised Charles for his diplomacy as many agreed if the war continued France would inevitably win.

    Charles would strike while the iron was hot, isolating all of Lorraine's allies and crushing Rene's forces from two sides, his son and bastard brother, Philip and Antoine invading from Burgundy while himself attacking from Luxembourg. His methodical and precise invasion crushed any remaining resistance to his influence over Lorraine which had been quietly accumulating over the past year by the end of the whole thing, Charles was recognized by the estates as Duke of Lorraine as Rene fled to Anjou. Charles had finally completed his long-stated goal to unite Burgundy, his careful diplomacy and slow methodical conquests which were completely different to his bold and rash demands that were extracted by Conflans, Peronne and Beaune. The circle of vultures around Burgundy continued to circle around her but Charles was slowly picking them off one by one. The Swiss who under Strasbourg and Bern were resentful and ready to invade Alsace were now in complete fear as the full attention of Burgundy would be against them. Louis who had opportunity after opportunity to invade and defeat Burgundy would fail and never do so.

    Philip the Rich's contributions in the years of 1472-1476 should not be understated. His pacification of Alsace along with his military victories in Mulhouse and Nevers threw off nearly half of the Burgundian coalition against her while his attendance at the peace of Senlis would not be understated. Louis' best diplomats would be bested by Philip who pointed out that his dowry of Champagne and the inheritance of Nevers, Rethel and Eu would be more than enough to justify himself paying homage and the removal of four Burgundian partisans that Philip already despised for being incompetent cost Burgundy nothing in the long run. Only the betrothal of Isabella and Charles would anger him believing that this would be too far of a concession to France, although it is more likely Philip was just very attached to his baby sister. Philip's successes would lead to Charles elevating him into lieutenant of Burgundy and while Philip continued to plan and work with his mother to further consolidate his father's vast realms. Charles looked eastward towards the Swiss, Cologne and Frisia.
     
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    Chapter 9.5 Braided with gold
  • May 12, 1475, Reims, Champagne

    Philip paced around in his regalia, straightening it while looking through the mirror. Charles rested his hand on his son's shoulder, to calm him as his company arrived. Charles told his son, "Rest easy, Anne would not be pleased if you were acting like this. Now get on your horse." Philip nodded and got onto the horse. Charles paced around his son, correcting the minor things with his regalia. Once Charles was pleased with the results he then joined his son on the horse, riding beside him with 12 knights in full armour and regalia behind him. The Burgundian company rode incredibly slowly while their courtiers and servants were already in Reims, decorating and preparing the city and its cathedral for Philip's arrival.

    Philip slowly rode towards to the city in with 12 knights surrounding him and his father, while he was dressed richly he also waved to the crowd who at this point were cheering on to their new count, the people didn't have a count in over a 100 years. The knights who had pins showing the various domains of the Burgundian state only marched in silence, while Charles joined in with his son and continued to wave at the crowd. The company arrived at the cathedral where Philip and Charles dismounted with the 12 knights remaining and the courtiers rushed to Charles and Philip in order to prepare them for the wedding and ensure that the wedding and later festivities were completed. Charles was excused by Philip as he rushed to deal with other matters of the wedding while the remaining courtiers added on a couple of final finishing touches to his clothing. "My count, you are ready. Every girl here would be jealous of Anne." One courtier replied, Philip gave a weak smile and nodded dismissing the courtiers. The priest, the archbishop of Reims only smiled at him, "It is a special day to marry the first count of Champagne in over 100 years you know. Stop getting nervous about this." Philip took another deep breath to calm his nerves.

    King Louis XI was in his carriage with his reunited daughter, Anne of Champagne. They didn't speak much on the ride towards the cathedral, much like Philip, Anne looked out towards the crowd cheering at her, waving all the way. King Louis looked at his daughter, he smiled, it reminded him so much of his youth and his time with the people. The carriage was a former royal carriage used by his father Charles VII but Charles and Margaret agreed it needed a remodel and decorated it richly with jewels and gold. Anne herself was richly dressed to both Margaret and Charlotte's joy. Her hair was braided with thin gold while her silken white dress was mixed with purple stripes extending down the length of the dress. The carriage would come to a halt and the 14 French courtiers which surrounded and escorted the carriage would stand in formation and escort both the king and Anne down the steps of the carriage. Anne would take Louis' hand as they both walked towards the cathedral. Anne would look on as the 12 Burgundian knights that escorted Philip stood in perfect order with their swords pointing to the ground and their heads tilted downward. Anne would enter the cathedral with the doors opening by the order of a Burgundian courtier.

    The announcement of Anne's arrival would begin the elaborate wedding ceremony, as 12 bridesmaids would begin their last fixes of the wedding dress. King Louis would also be touched on once more by 12 groomsmen in order to fix anything that was ruined during the carriage ride. When both of these touchups were completed, father and daughter were both reunited as would head down the aisle handing over Anne to Philip. Before Philip was given to Anne, however Philip would kiss the ring of Louis, thanking him to allow the marriage between himself and Anne per the wedding ceremony. Louis would stand opposite from Charles in the first bench of the cathedral, Charles would be standing on the first right bench while Louis would sit at the first left bench. Anne and Philip would hold each others hands and would stare into each other until the next step of the ceremony began.

    Margaret and Charlotte of Savoy would arrive in their full regalia as Queen of France and Duchess of Burgundy. Both would be holding flowers and would arrive in front of Philip and Anne, speaking encouraging words Charlotte would place a flower in Anne's ear while Margaret would place another flower in Philip's front pocket. The two mothers would separate and stand beside on their husband's right. Immediately afterwards the Burgundian courtiers and French Courtiers would take their seats in their respective sides. However, all of them would remain standing, the other guests would slowly start to arrive such as the English, Aragonese, Castilian, Portugese and Austrian. All evenly split up, with the remaining delagates arriving. The 24 knights and courtiers entered and closed the door, they would pair up in one knight to one courtier and they would stand surrounding the entire cathedral.

    The Maid of Honour stood up and the best man joined, it would be Joan, sister to Anne and Charles former heir to Guelders. They would give their respective groom and bride their rings. The archbishop of Reims began the ceremony exchanging rings and vows. Philip per the ceremony kissed Anne slowly and chastely. The short actual marriage ceremony would be followed by the departure. The archbishop backed by all the other priestly guests rose and left the ceremony by the side. Philip and Anne would leave together in hand towards the front. The elaborate departure of all the guests would follow as the delegations left in specific order in pairs, Philip would escort Anne into the same carriage that Anne rode in but with one last change which was the changing of horses, to the ones Philip and Charles rode into the cathedral. Surrounded by 12 knights, 6 Burgundian and 6 French they began to ride back to the great hall of Reims, Philip much like his stepmother would conduct a Joyous Entry to the city, hearing the resounding cheers of the merchants and peasantry. The entire procession was incredibly long with both King and Duke partaking in it. The various delegates joined in as representatives waving their respective banners most importantly, the banners of both Anne and Philip were prominently displayed.

    The entire city of Reims was transformed as Burgundy spent the spring months to increase the extravagance of the city with sculpted fountains sprouting wine, artificial pelicans on artificial trees, with the bridge crossing to the great hall, was lit with torches with the river below overflowing with blossoms. This extraordinary amount of splendour and wealth was designed to show off the wealth and splendour of Burgundy and to promise to the citizens of Champagne that their fortunes would improve under Philip, most importantly, Philip and Anne continued to be showered with cheers and affection throughout the ride there. Once they arrived, the two marshals of Burgundy and France stood before them and escorted them into the great hall where two thrones sat.

    There were a lot of thrones in the great hall by the most extravagant in this new court would be the Count and Countess' throne of Champagne. As the delegation sat into their respective seats with an elaborate order designed by Charles and his court, it ensured that the new Count and Countess were the main characters of this great feast. The feast was incredibly luxurious with high amounts of bread broken, wine drunk, and meat eaten. The amount of socializing and partying that occurred would keep the celebratory mood within this court for a while. Again, the return of the various delegations to their various chateaus in Reims were deliberate and elaborate with the exact time and place selected specifically along with the amount of people returning.

    The next couple of days would continue along the celebrations as the various delegates presented their gifts to the newly wed. Anne would be particularly pleased with these gifts. The newlyweds would watch plays, listen to music and would finally end with a tournament designed to honour the bride. Philip would finally be crowned by the archbishop of Reims along with his new wife Anne as Count and Countess of Champagne in an even more elaborate and even stricter etiquette, finally within a week of the actual wedding the delegations finally returned back to their respective homes. Ironically, Philip and Anne would not stay in Champagne and return to Burgundy within a couple of weeks after the wedding and yet this famous event would still be replayed in Reims every 5 years.
     
    Chapter 10: Delusions of a great city 1475-1477
  • The greatest enemy of Charles the Absolute would always be the urban cities, the revolts of Ghent and Liege in the early years of his reign would be harbinger towards this misfortune as soon Cologne, Neuss, Strasbourg and Bern would all join in. The destruction of the centralizing force that is Charles would be the goal of every city in mind, historians often accredit Louis XI as the true enemy to Burgundy but time and time again, it would be the cities that would offer the most effective amount of resistance. Bern in particular would be the most successful and famous of these anti-Burgundian and anti-Charles efforts.

    The war of Lorraine while a quick affair would divert Burgundian attention away from Savoy and Alsace, which gave Bern time and opportunity to finally crush the Savoyards and seize the Vaud, cementing Bern and Swiss confederation dominance in the region. These efforts would be focused on Savoy, as their baron: Jacques de Savoie had taken service of Charles the Absolute, this cementing of Savoyard vassalage to Burgundy would trigger Bern's fear of Burgundian ambitions towards Bern itself, which was justified as Charles the Absolute and later Philip the Rich had designs on the rich urban lands to incorporate them into Burgundy itself. Charles the Absolute however, refusing to be distracted from his plans in Lorraine would send Antoine in the autumn of 1475 to try to mediate peace between Bern and Savoy in particular the baron of Vaud, Jacques de Savoie. This would be a pretext however, as Bern and Frisbourg would invade mainly due to economic and military reasons as Bern wished to expand westward and threaten the rich Burgundian free county. The continuous influx The Swiss led by Bern would see absolute success by the end of 1475 occupying the entirety of the Vaud and threatening Geneva.

    The capture and conquest of Lorraine would further augment the strength of Bern who now restored the age old League of Constance. The reunion between Basel, Strasbourg and Bern would form a formidable league against Charles, although Frederick's neutrality and the withdrawal of the Austrians would serve as a counterbalance. Mediations between the two sides would continue throughout under the elector palatine but hostilities would only further escalate as Bern and Frisbourg would occupy the site where they nearly killed Charles: Grandson. Charles however, would pull his classic Burgundian diplomacy removing the emperor entirely from intervening by forming an alliance with the emperor in the autumn of 1475, while his armies assembled in Bescanon. In France, with the marriage of Philip and Anne about to occur, Louis would strike a bargain with Charles who abandoned the Swiss once again. Sigismund of Austria however would go back on his word and rejoin the league who promised the return of Upper Alsace for his support but importantly to Charles, he was alone and didn't have imperial backing like he did in 1474.

    The arrival of Charles and his Burgundian army into Grandson the sight of his near death would spell the end of Swiss campaigns in the Vaud as Charles easily took the fortified town unconditionally. Ironically his near death here a year ago would make him even more cautious as his armies set up camp at Grandson with the usual Burgundian companies and scouts out to hunt down any armies near Bern. The Swiss army would arrive near Grandson with lightning speed against Charles' well fortified camp, the Burgundian scouts who informed him of an army but the speed and composition of that army was unknown by the time Charles saw this band of Swiss pikemen across from his line. Charles would not make the same mistake that he made in 1474 and ordered an opening salvo of Burgundian cannon fire which devastated the Swiss pikemen who were rushing forward towards the Burgundian line. The Burgundians who already made adjustments to his tactics back in 1474, annihilated the Swiss force. This victory combined with reports from the Burgundian scouts that no army would be able to reach them and the sense of Fear throughout Bern, had his forces march towards Bern and laid siege to the city.

    The siege of Bern would end pretty quickly by negotiation as the Burgundians who were there to ostensibly protect their Savoyard allies but also to disspate any last remaining bad will towards Burgundy from Peter von Hagenbach would negotiate a truce of the status quo, recognizing Savoy's control over the Vaud and Burgundian control over Alsace. This peace by Charles could be argued as a continuation of Philip's policy of peace towards the Swiss but ironically Philip himself was displeased with the peace as Charles would march up north to deal with the situation over Cleves and Cologne. The marriage between Anne and Philip would bring Champagne into the Burgundian sphere but it would also bring a return to the shadow war between France and Burgundy, this time over Champagne. The new count and countess would play it incredibly well keeping Champagne separate from the Burgundian state as a whole, not even laying the groundwork to integrate at all. King Louis however would continuously pressure the integration in order to augment and create a new pro-French faction, these efforts would fail but would inflate Louis' pride as Philip arrived to pay homage and swear his loyalty to the king. Champagne was by all extents still ruled by the King as royalist officers staffed it and very few revenues went to Philip himself as count. Arguably the dowry was merely a prestige boost for the Burgundians as they would continuously fight over expenses and royal rights, Philip would refuse to pay the royalist officers arguing that since they directly served the king and could not be dismissed by the duke, they could not be paid by the duke but instead the king. Philip would gain some power over the county and would merely use it to lay a competent staff to run Champagne but never introduced or integrated them into Burgundy.

    Rene II, former Duke of Lorraine would attack Lorraine in the hopes of reclaiming his duchy and inheritance marched towards Nancy in 1476 in the middle of negotations this would break down the negotiations and Charles would return to the south this time sieging the key city of Bern after defeating the Lower Union in Morat. A second siege of Bern would place even more pressure on the Lower Union who would later sue for a separate peace finally agreeing to the status quo given by Charles in 1475. Rene who was now firmly backed by French finances, Lorrainian soldiers and the house of Valois-Anjou under Rene would grant further support. Philip who was in Champagne at the time would finally arrive at the head of an army with the assistance of his bastard uncle, Antoine would capture and defeat the Lorrainians forcing Rene to accept the Estates granting his father the two duchies of Bar and Lorraine. The peace of Nancy would finally end the Burgundian wars, giving Bar and Lorraine to Charles, and finally uniting de facto Burgundy and the Burgundian Netherlands. It would also be a harbinger of the end of the Swiss confederation as now Burgundy who gave placating peace, would under Philip the Rich and Henry the Fortunate would finally subjugate and conquer the urbanized and powerful Swiss west of the Aare river.

    The Burgundian wars were not only a showcase of Burgundian ambitions of uniting their vast realms into one continuous state but it would also show importantly Burgundian policy towards Italy. The near vassalage of Savoy from these wars under Yolande of Savoy, would be a key reason for Charles VIII to start his war against the Italians especially after the extinction of the house of Valois-Anjou. The reluctance of Milan to assist Savoy and Burgundy instead only providing mercenaries to Burgundy would prove to be fatal to Milan as it would eventually fall under Louis XII with their claim from the Visconti line against the Sforza. The most important thing was the complete de facto vassalage of Savoy, Burgundy would place Yolande of Savoy securely as regent for her lifetime although, Charles was quite angry at Yolande's incompetence in running the Vaud region. This would be the last affair in Burgundy's southern territories under Charles' reign, but it would not be the last affair for Charles as in the North, war was brewing for Burgundy and Charles' final attempt at state building would arrive.
     
    Chapter 11: The intricacies of succession 1475 - 1480
  • John I of Cleves would be the last independent Duke of Cleves, and would trade stability of his family in exchange for greater power concentrated in himself. In 1468, during the negotiations of the treaty of Peronne he would give up his wife's inheritance in exchange for greater monetary benefit and being appointed as stadholder of Brabant. This move would be considered by contemporaries as a great move by John as the monetary benefit outweighed the estates his wife would receive with John II of Nevers' death. This monetary benefit was actually hereditary and was essentially a bribe and pension for John and his heirs. Burgundy however would continuously strengthen their control over Cleves, appointing John as a knight of the Golden Fleece in 1451, and forcing his assistance in Charles' conquest of Guelders in 1473. The estates were bribed by Charles and later Philip in order to confirm that any move made by Cleves would be approved by Burgundy and finally in 1477, Burgundy would pay a fief rent to Cleves thereby cementing Cleves into the Burgundian sphere.

    The lightning siege of Neuss and the subsequent capture of Hermann of Hesse would not quell the resistance of the city against the archbishop of Cologne and in fact it would cause the rebels to fight even hard for control over the electorate freeing Hermann in Neuss by 1476. The appointment and creation of the free city of Cologne in 1475 would further strengthen the rebellion as now the archbishop could not invade the free city for invoking the emperor's wrath. It would be in this situation with the archbishop in control of only two towns that Charles and his army would arrive in. The papal and imperial mediation would force him not to directly intervene in the situation instead Charles would do his best to mediate the conflict but as the situation continued, Charles began with imperial backing invaded Cologne, reoccupying Neuss in the autumn of 1477. Philip the Rich who at this point was assigned as regent of Burgundy in Charles' stead would provide Charles with a clear line of supply and communication.

    The war fought by Charles would be a disaster for the Burgundians as while they continued to achieve victory in battle after battle, they would fail to make progress in major sieges with both Hesse, the papacy and to some extent the empire assisting. While Frederick signed an alliance with Charles, he would not resist bottling up Charles and his energies into Cologne, finally a peace was settled in 1478. In which Rupercht was recognized as archbishop with Hermann as his next bishop as the estates already elected him. Importantly for Charles, Burgundy, the Emperor and the Pope would ensure this peace. This peace would actually prove to a detriment to Charles, with the Archbishop's death in 1480, shortly after his own death, as when Hermann IV of Hesse would assume the archbishopric, he would finally stabilize the realm and would prove to be a capable politician playing off both the emperor and the Burgundians and securing Cologne from external influence throughout his lifetime. This peace would also shatter the notion of Burgundian invincibility that was given in 1475, after the conquest of Lorraine as the humiliation of playing town whack-a-mole would humiliate Burgundian prestige.

    The Austro-Hungarian war of 1477-1490 would be the key outlet for Burgundian soft power during this era. Frederick III was unable to convince the electors to gain support in the war but Burgundy seeing an opportunity to gain further benefits decided to assist the Habsburgs in this war. Philip, now lieutenant/regent of all Burgundy greeted Maximilian, future Holy Roman Emperor and began to negotiate over his assistance. Frederick III at this point desperate for aid seeing the Black Army ravage Austria would also oversee negotiations. Philip saw that allowing such an aggressive Hungary into the empire as Holy Roman Emperor no less would doom Burgundian ambitions, he then asked for a Burgundian version of the privilegium Maius for Burgundy. This granted an independent legistature, jurisdiction with no right to appeal to Imperial courts and importantly inseparability of the territory. The privilege was quite limited in scope, uniting Brabant, Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, Namur, Luxembourg, and Limburg together. This very limited agreement in exchange for Burgundian men at arms along with Burgundian funds was granted in the treaty of Mulhouse. Maximilian would return at the head of a professional standing Burgundian army to fight against the black army of Matthias Corvinus. This treaty of Mulhouse would be the beginning of Burgundian meddling into electoral and imperial politics, and would be a harbinger to the diarchy of the empire under the reign of Philip the Rich.

    The death of Charles, count of Maine would trigger the succession crisis of 1481. Rene II, former Duke of Lorraine was imprisoned in Burgundy although a guest would be accurate as when Rene of Anjou passed away his will left Anjou to his nephew, Charles of Maine and Provence to Rene. The only reason why this will was respected by Louis XI was Charles the Absolute agreed to pay homage as Duke of Bar to Louis, and agreed that Anjou and Maine would return to Louis after Charles, Duke of Anjou's death, and importantly to Louis, the claims of the kingdom of Naples would return to Louis. However, in 1481 with Charles of Maine would die bequeathing his lands to the King. Ironically it would be this last shadow play in which Louis would finally best Charles bribing him with the agreement of not having to pay homage or send soldiers to assist the king in any war as duke of Bar in exchange for Rene being handed over in 1479. The king would charge him with treason as he went to war with Burgundy against the truce of 1474 signed by his suzerain. Rene II would be executed summarily. Philip would protest this move, as he saw Louis seize Provence afterwards. The end of the independence of Provence would be the completion of Louis' absolutist project. He summarily failed in trying to reign in Burgundy, arguably it would be Philip who ruined this completely with the marriage of his eldest daughter to him and his victories against the royalists in Nevers.

    The king would also extinguish Armagnac, Alencon, Berry and weaken Orleans, Bourbon and Foix. The birth of Catherine of Navarre and the betrothal between her and Juan the Sickly of Spain would give the entirety of their French fiefs to king Louis in order to approve the marriage as the King would not allow another Normandy or Burgundy situation. The neutering of Orleans by marrying Joan his daughter to Louis of Orleans would ensure Orleans return to the crown after his death and Brittany was already quite weak with the birth of Anne of Brittany. King Louis was now hoping that he could repudiate the marriage between his heir Charles and Isabella in order to have him married to Anne in order to unite France with Brittany.

    The debacle of Charles' marriage would come into question as the dual treaties of Picquigny eventually settling on the English, with a formal betrothal between Elizabeth of York and Charles, dauphin of France taking place. Edward IV however, would not allow Elizabeth to travel to France until she was of 19 years of age. Richard, Duke of Gloucester was quite furious with the betrothal as he believed Elizabeth was better off married to John, second son of Charles the Absolute. However, more importantly for Philip, Isabella who was now 4 years and quite healthy was now no longer betrothed and Philip began to look for a match. The Austro-hungarian war would demolish any chance at Maximilian's marriage as Christina of Saxony's betrothal would be broken in 1477 and Philip seizing an opportunity would marry Isabella to Maximilian. This marriage would seal the Austro-Burgundian alliance of 1479 and would plant firm pro-Burgundian ideas in Maximilian's head who was fascinated by the extravagant Burgundian court. Importantly for Philip, Isabella would remain in Burgundy until the time of marriage which would occur in 1488.

    Charles final campaign into Friesland in order to seize the wayward county was planned all the way back in 1476 with the alliance between the emperor and Burgundy sealed there was no one who would assist the free republic of Frisia. Charles however would have a host of allies, his vassals of Cleves and Julich-Berg, financial support from Munster and Cologne, imperial neutrality and most importantly a joint invasion with Denmark who invaded north Frisia. However, delays such as the Angevin inheritance debacle and the Austro-Hungarian war would keep Charles in Burgundy until the early spring of 1480. Charles' forces would march north towards Friesland in the summer months slowly conquering their way through town after town. This would be the epitome of Charles' anti-urban policies and his centralization efforts. His armies were split up by multiple effective captains sieging and bribing their way into fully conquering the realm, the East Frisians already united under a count would lead into battle only to be decisively defeated at Leeuwarden. However, Charles would develop a fever in this campaign and the fever would grow worse during this campaign. Charles would live to see his forces take the city after a month long siege but on December 17, 1480. Charles the Absolute, or Charles I of Burgundy would pass away.
     
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    Chapter 11.5: A generational project 1457 - 1480
  • Charles the Absolute was a product of his time, not as famous as his father Philip the Good, but considerably more successful and to many historians, one of the best Burgundian dukes of the era. His mother, Isabella of Portugal would shape Charles considerably, arguably his notions of chivalry, love of war, and his diplomatic skills came from his mother. Isabella of Portugal was one of the most prominent Burgundian Duchesses along side Margaret of York and Anne of Champagne. Her negotiations over the treaty of Arras would be the lynchpin of Burgundian policy towards France for the entirety of Charles' reign. Isabella of Portugal would pursue instead of a policy of withdrawal like her husband would push for a policy of defensive neutrality towards France, fighting tooth and nail to secure all the gains made in the treaty of Arras.

    The childhood of Charles the Absolute was well documented in Burgundian manuscripts, he was raised in the ideals of chivalry and was a very passionate warrior and speaker. Philip would continuously display concern over Charles who wished to lead armies and joust himself. His engagement with Catherine of France was considered the first tragedy in his life and arguably one of the reasons he would remain incredibly faithful to his wives, as Charles and Catherine were quite fond of each other, if Catherine lived perhaps Charles would not be as hostile towards Louis and France but it was not meant to be with Catherine dying in 1446. This marriage was part of the Treaty of Arras agreeing to their betrothal in order to solidify peace.

    Charles' second marriage however, Isabella would push for the marriage with Anne of York to solidify Burgundy's ties to England. Philip would overrule her and have Charles married to Isabella of Bourbon. Her marriage would be quiet and happy one, Philip who wanted Isabella to solidify Charles' attitude to France would watch this scheme backfire due to both Isabella's agreeing that France under Charles VII and Louis XI would not be friendly towards Burgundy. Isabella of Bourbon could be argued to promote her family of Bourbon's interests who already revolted against Charles VII in the Praguerie, but it was more likely Isabella of Portugal, who was actively caring and raising the boy influenced his interests to a complete anti-French attitude due to years of Charles VII not enforcing the terms of Arras. This divide between Charles and Philip would continue to his son's birth which would fundamentally change Charles' status within court.

    The birth of Philip the Rich, would increase Charles' prestige in court and arguably forced Philip to look at Charles' as his heir and a man of his own right, the immediate shift in Charles' running affairs such as giving him the stadholder position and have him negotiate in Paris as Philip's ambassador would no doubt shape the young duke. It would be his time at governing that revealed the mindset of the absolutist duke. His speeches given fervently in Holland, were always with an authoritarian stint and he would be quite easily angered when insults would fly. However, he was fervent and strong willed in terms of governing and yet terribly indecisive, coming up with detailed plans every single day but scrapping them the day after coming up with even more elaborate plans. Philip who at this point was watching over quite attentively in how he governed sought to fix this indecisiveness and Charles would spend his time in Holland learning to govern with conviction. Charles' success in governing Holland was greatly attested to however, because of his increasing absolutist ideas, Holland's government would be simplified, united and streamlined much to the local nobility and merchants' anger. However, the winning over the populace by an increase in overall wealth would keep them Charles' approach happy. The minor revolts that happened in Holland however would also show his diplomatic prowess and approach, he would isolate his enemies from any potential allies and crush them with overwhelming force and friends. This manipulation of the balance of power would be something even Machiavelli would approve of. Charles the Absolute however would always have some hostility and some unpopularity especially amongst the merchants but it was his policies of centralization and united economic planning and growth that would fill the pockets of a new generation of merchants and nobles.

    Louis XI of France could be argued as the main rival of Charles the Absolute, arguably that would be false as the majority of Charles' wars were against urban cities not kings. It can not be disputed that Charles imitated Louis' approach to governance. Oliver de La Marche would attest to this, as his chronicles of Louis' time of ruling Dauphiné, Charles would study during his time in Holland. Historians would still debate whether it was Louis himself shaping Charles' into an absolutist mindset from his time spent interacting with the young duke or Charles witnessing the various urban revolts under the reign of Philip the Good that his armies had to crush or even Charles' furthering his beliefs in being a noble duke in which he gained absolute power by God. Charles' would definitely enjoy the fruits and results of his time in governing Holland as during his reign of Burgundy, he would be force of will and arms unite the vast and various domains of the Burgundian dukes. He would see to it to start small and build up, finishing the half-completed projects under Philip the Bold, John the Fearless and Philip the Good in uniting both duchy and county of Burgundy, the border between those two would be practically demolished at this point while his efforts in centralizing the various domains further north would be even further decentralized. He would forcibly weaken the various privileges of the cities to give up further authority to their estates while continuously strengthening the various courts and eventually the parlament of Malines. This would cause various minor rebellions against the duke to arise but would always be put down by Charles' armies.

    His financial reforms would be possibly the most successful policies of Charles. His belief in using the general estates of the Burgundian Netherlands and later on Burgundy to discuss and later implement economic policy was quite sound. The majority of his taxes that were raised were quite high but importantly standardized throughout the realm removing the various privileges in shrinking taxes to the duke himself, who would spend these taxes quite wisely in further economic development within Burgundy establishing the Burgundian network, a series of medieval roads that would fuel a population and urban growth. Historians would argue whether or not this Burgundian network was the beginning of the Burgundian Banana, a term describing the population density of the land between the Seine and Rhine rivers of which the majority of land would be part of Burgundy today. However, ironically the majority of the unrest towards the taxation was due to the various indemnities and fines levied against the cities for rebelling. This extraordinary taxation that was justified would further help him in his use of foreign expenses as Burgundy would use their wealth to fund their extravagant court and create various pro-Burgundian factions within the Holy Roman Empire and France.

    Was the economic warfare prescribed by Charles to fight the various cities of the Holy Roman Empire successful? Probably not, Charles would seize various French merchant's goods in wars fought against France. Meanwhile, the fight over control of the wine trade in the Rhine region would have no real long term consequences as the following peaces signed between the cities and Burgundy would reopen trade between them keeping a slightly favourable status quo for Burgundy. Modern historians would argue that at the time Burgundy was a net exporter for the cities of the Rhine, and Burgundy would suffer more with the loss of the trade. The return of French goods after the various treaties of Conflans, Beaune, and Senlis would just have the goods returned to the dispossessed French merchants costing Burgundy time and arguably money as French trade under these merchants would decrease over time, and increase in price. These slight failures in economic warfare would not necessarily doom the Burgundian state in terms of being able to gain credit as under Charles credit was just as readily available for the Burgundian state as it was under Philip the Good with especially Florentine bankers provide small but consistent sums of credit to Charles to pay off usually diplomatic expenses.

    His relation with the church would be quite difficult to describe as while Charles would consolidate the various churches under his state into one in terms of finance and administration, it would undoubtedly give the local clergy anger towards the energetic duke, but these reforms were already under way in both France and in Burgundy itself. Philip the Good under the guidance of Charles the Absolute would introduce the idea of the church tax for purchases of land for the church. This would take effect during the eve of Charles' ascension to Lorraine but at this point for Burgundy many of the local clergy would reluctantly accept this. The political appointments of bishops, deans, and archbishops would further increase Burgundian influence in both the prince-bishoprics and in the curia itself as Rome under Charles would consistently favour the Burgundians over the French. Interestingly enough Charles would take after Henry V of England in his approach of the church, as he would use the church to paint himself and his state in a positive light, thereby giving much needed popular support to Charles, and importantly to him diplomatic prestige.

    His military reforms were both useful but could have been disastrous for Burgundian military strength. Charles would lay the groundwork for a professional military force adopting the popularity of pike warfare and heavily armoured knights of the French, but his increasing reliance of mercenaries especially Italian ones would be concerning especially to Philip. Arguably the lack of discipline and morale would be crush the Burgundian army, by the time of Philip's reign but historians agree that there was very little Charles could do to fix the issue of defence as he was unpopular and the urban centres at the time focused primarily on wealth rather than soldiers. Importantly for Charles the training and reorganization of the Burgundian military apparatus would allow during the later years of his reign, would allow Philip the Rich to reorganize and build up a fully Burgundian army. Were these military reforms effective on the battlefield? Arguably not, Charles' military strategy was he would only enter a battle if the war was already won, the mistake he suffered at Grandson would reflect that in himself nearly being killed. Charles would only fight wars in which his enemy was isolated diplomatically and his focus was not split. The defeat at Grandson would also show for all the splendour of Charles' army it would still fail, the minor victories were all militarily impossible to lose.

    The diplomatic maneuvering of Charles the Absolute was on par with Louis XI and every single time, they would play each other Charles would best him. In the war of the Public Weal, Charles was incredibly lucky in blindsiding his opponent and formed a superstate to take down France from both the inside and the outside. If Charles continued this war of the public weal, undoubtedly the French crown would shatter completely. Charles would adopt his mother's stance in terms of diplomatic goals, to completely secure the Burgundian state from threats but to never overextend or overstretch as Philip's policy of withdrawal etched itself into both Charles and Isabella's mind. Arguably the war of the public weal, could be seen through Charles' as the only way to secure the treaty of Arras. However what was consistent with the pattern of Burgundian conquest was influence and isolation, the conquest of Alsace, Guelders, and Lorraine would prove direct proof of this. Sigismund of Austria was isolated of allies and could only turn to Charles for help arguably the attempts to constantly dissolve the coalition of the lower union was the failure of this policy, but it can be argued that it was merely a fault of character specifically Peter von Hagenbach. The conquest of Guelders and Lorraine would be better examples of this, specifically Lorraine as it was part of a three pronged offensive into Burgundy, but Charles' diplomatic acumen would remove both Frederick and Louis from this attack and force Rene out of Lorraine entirely.

    Marriage policy under Charles would be entirely focused on diplomatic bargaining as well. His marriage of Margaret of York would be the first sign of this as Charles would seek a realignment and reconciliation with England which would be further strengthened in the betrothal of his second son John to Elizabeth of York. The betrothal of Isabella, youngest child of Charles to Maximilian would be perhaps the genius marriage move by Charles. He would gain in one fellow swoop, the support of the current emperor in exchange for money and soldiers which Charles would happily provide. This move would also make sense politically as Matthias Corvinus was perhaps the only one powerful enough to enter into imperial circles, the papacy was blocked and regelated to regional Italian politics, the Kalmar Union was going through tumult thanks to the nobility while France had a large Burgundy stopping its way. Matthias was already allegedly the king of Bohemia and Burgundy who was the most powerful state in the empire besides the emperor would not allow a foreign power to hold the electoral dignity before itself.

    Philip and Anne's marriage however would be both confusing to historians but also the epitome of Charles' diplomatic acumen. The marriage proposal was sent to Charles back in 1463 when Louis wanted to use that marriage to enforce the treaty of Arras as the previous marriage between Catherine and Charles failed, Louis hoped a marriage between Anne and Philip would succeed in bringing Charles to kneel before the king. Arguably it would be the dowry of Champagne that would keep this marriage afloat. It was increasingly confusing in what Louis was trying to do with the marriage, whether it was to not give Champagne but instead bind Philip to Anne who would further French factionalism in Burgundy could be argued but Louis made no effort to pay the 1.2 million crowns needed for the dowry. The independence of Burgundy would not change this fact, and Philip's ascension as Count would perhaps be the best reason for Louis' choice of marrying his daughter off as Philip paid homage to him within days of his ascension. It seemed out of character for Louis to believe that as soon as his death occurred this scheme would fail completely, history would prove true as Champagne would proclaim independence in 1492. The other side of the coin was that Charles would force Louis to give up Champagne, due to the near impossible amount that was originally offered in 1465, Charles would agree to it by a forced treaty in Conflans, and the subsequent treaties of Peronne and Beaune would enforce this. In fact outright in the treaty of Senlis, Charles would cancel the dowry in exchange for Louis granting the county to Anne as soon as her marriage in 1476. A consensus formed that Louis believed this marriage would entrap Burgundy to France and Charles believed that this was a peaceful expansion effort, but this marriage would not provide peace between the two nations.

    Charles' advancements towards the court of Burgundy were nothing of particular noteworthiness. In fact, one can describe the adjustments made by Charles as purely militaristic as various chivalric and military style etiquette was introduced. Charles however would strengthen and support any change to the court itself thereby maintaining the rigid etiquette of the Burgundian court. His contributions towards Burgundian manuscripts, patronage and artwork was mostly done through the advice of his wife Margaret of York however, importantly the introduction of various Italian manuscripts, artists and elements into Burgundian patronage would be noteworthy as Charles would rightfully realize the spotlight moving towards Italy in the form of the renaissance. Charles' obsession over chivalric values would also prove to be attractive for people to enter the Burgundian court as Charles was unlike his father remaining faithful throughout his life, his marriage with Catherine was tragic, Isabella was even more so, but his marriage with Margaret would provide him with a form of love but arguably not one that was particularly romantic or passionate.

    Charles' raising Philip would perhaps be the best component of his legacy. Margaret of York, is well documented as the primary caretaker of Philip the Rich. Isabella of Bourbon's time raising young Philip would prove to give him his talents in public speaking. Margaret of York would shape the boy into a brilliant administrator, negotiator and court patron. Charles would immediately take the now 16 year old Philip and push him militarily, while Philip would not particularly enjoy his time doing military service he would recognize the value of Burgundian captains and would lead the shift towards rulers not commanding their armies personally and instead agreeing with the advice of military captains. Charles' death would leave Philip a string of nearly completed projects of centralization, an incredibly wealthy state with only a minor war it was about to win anyway. Importantly for Philip, his succession would be secure with the increasingly questioning support of Louis XI, Edward IV and the complete support of Frederick III and Maximilian.

    There is a reason why Charles the Absolute was considered one of the most powerful dukes of his time and in historians mind. The financial and judicial reforms conducted under him were rivalling Louis XI and arguably was a lot harder to do since his realm was divided in full independence and nominal rule by the Holy Roman Emperor. His diplomatic acumen was nearly unmatched with the Privilegium Burgundiae would be disputed between Philip the Rich and Charles the Absolute on who got credit for this. The complete conquest of Guelders, Lorraine, Alsace and later on Friesland were completely secure through nominal military means but mostly through diplomatic and administrative reforms. Charles would be the precursor of the Burgundian golden age under Philip and would finally complete the long awaited Burgundian project that was first undertaken by Philip the Bold, which was to unite Burgundy to Flanders geographically. And yet, Charles would fail in his goals such as the imperial vicariate, and the complete neutralization of France as a threat, or even the complete subjugation of the Rhine. Could it be argued that Charles was merely too limited in his ambitions? Yes but Philip would remark in his own manuscripts, "My father would prioritize internal stability over geographic expansion."
     
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    Chapter 12: Across the Rhine 1475 - 1483
  • The first project of Philip the Rich was the expansion to the Rhine, which would be his greatest legacy. Already in 1476 in the treaty of Mulhouse, Burgundy annexed the Alsace region that was mortgaged to them in 1476 gave them a firm hand over the region of Alsace which would be further augmented by Philip the Rich with appointment of a Burgundian partisan to the Bishopric of Strasbourg, Albert of Palatine-Mosbach in 1478 who would eagerly use Burgundian funds to strengthen his estate and buying back mortgaged lands within the Alsace region. The treaty of Nancy in 1477 would further Burgundian interests in Alsace and the Vaud region. The servitude of the baron of Vaud and the de facto vassalage of Savoy would serve as an incredibly strong buffer against the nascent Swiss confederation. The petty wars of Alsace of 1482-1483 would see only slight expansion by Burgundy and while the lands of Rappolstein, Murbach, Colmar, Selestat, the free city of Strasbourg itself, Basel and Dasburg would not be directly owned by the energetic duke, the treaties signed which were collectively known as the Alsatian peace accords would turn the entire region into a Burgundian protective. Philip would pursue a relentless policy of redeeming privileges and lands in Alsace and by the end of 1485 this process would be complete with the sale of Sausenberg to Burgundy thereby finally uniting Ferrette and Sundgau.

    The death of Frederick the Victorious and ascension of Philip the Upright as elector palatine would not change the dynamic of Burgundian-Palatine relations as Burgundy would firmly place those lands in Burgundian influence under Philip who would use Burgundian money to secure himself the role of de facto backer of the elector against the Bavarians. In 1481 with the ascension of Philip the Rich as Duke of Burgundy a formal defensive alliance would be formed between the two Philips. This alliance would be key in the war of the Bavarian succession and the rise of a reunited Bavaria later in Philip's reign. This would not be the only elector in Philip's pocket, as during his time in Trier in 1473, he would meet and later influence John II of Baden, the archbishop of Trier. Trier was the closest elector and the one most easily influenced ever since the sale and subsequent seizure of Luxembourg to Philip the Good, while Philip the Good did not necessarily sought to influence the archbishop, Charles his heir would exercise huge amounts of effort in influencing the archbishop, while not entirely successful he was able to sign various economic treaties with the electorate which eventually culminated in the imperial conference of 1473 hosted at Trier. Charles would relentlessly pursue in placing the archbishop firmly in his pocket and would succeed by the marriage between Philip and Anne, in which the archbishop asked to officiate the wedding itself, obviously King Louis rejected this offer but Charles was none the less pleased with the news as John II of Baden, archbishop of Trier seemed to be a new firm Burgundian ally.

    In Mainz, Burgundy would find less success as the appointment of a Saxon archbishop, Adelbart III and the subsequent appointment of a reformist and electoral strengthener of Berthold von Henneberg. This would begin a growing trend amongst the Rhine electors as they struggled between Burgundy and the other electors for control. Cologne would be a perfect example, already the incredibly unpopular Rupercht of the Palatine would die and be succeeded by the anti-Burgundian elector of Hermann IV of Hesse who with the assistance of the Landgrave of Hesse, Henry III would systematically remove pillars of Burgundian support, while Burgundy under Philip would still maintain economic influence over Cologne but never any political influence until Hermann's death.

    Perhaps the greatest expansion efforts of Burgundy would be under the free cities specifically the former lower union of free cities as Charles' war against them in 1478 would give him control over all the various cities except Bern, and yet imperial law would keep them nominally independent. Philip the Rich would act as the chains to keep these cities completely loyal through mostly trade directing the influx of trade through Burgundian lands and keeping them only prosperous if Burgundy was friendly towards them. The free city of Cologne would be a good example of this as in 1482, Philip would visit the city briefly and impress the city magnates and merchants with profit schemes for them that the free city would be in firm Burgundian influence throughout Philip's lifetime.

    Philip would further strengthen his grip over Utrecht and Liege, both David and Louis would swear their loyalty to Philip as the new duke. Liege would not actually revolt even with Charles' death and Philip would visit both Utrecht and Liege in 1482 thereby confirming Burgundian influence there, and through agreements with their respective estates both of these bishoprics would be content as subjects of Burgundy trading political freedom for economic prosperity. A similar story would shared in Cambrai, Tournai, Metz, Verdun and Toul. This project of centralization of ecclesiastical states would be finished with the appointment of a crown cardinal in 1485.

    Guelders would prove to be another obstacle for Burgundy after Charles' death as the imprisoned Adolf who was sent out to fight on behalf of Charles would die too shortly after the siege of Leeuwarden. This would cause a rebellion lead by Catherine of Guelders, which undid the majority of the progress made in the Frisian campaign in 1480, and instead lock Guelders and Frisia in a war of dominance which was discreetly funded by the French and the Habsburgs, the legendary Catherine of Guelders would lead this protracted guerrilla-esque war. A combined effort would lead to the overthrow of David of Burgundy from the county of Oversticht, a land of the bishopric of Utrecht and would be directly annexed by Guelders in 1482. Philip however would not spend the his major energies dealing with this war as it would be on the back of his mind for Burgundy's attention was focused on France and England. Margaret of York however would spend the majority of her energies behind it leading a brutal campaign and defeating the rebellious duchy and completely annexing Frisia and East Frisia by 1486.

    The neighbouring duchies of Cleves and Julich-Berg would begin to slowly detach themselves from Burgundian influence, the ascension of William IV of Julich-Berg would not change the situation with Burgundy as Charles practically bullied his way into de facto subjugating the young duke but the remarriage of William IV to a daughter of the elector of Brandenburg would prove to be an issue for Charles and later Philip both fearing further imperial influence as Brandenburg was a staunch imperial ally. Cleves would prove to be even more troubling as the birth of Engelbert who Elizabeth of Nevers passed on her claim to Nevers, Rethel and Eu to would prove dangerous to Philip as Elizabeth had a far stronger claim to the counties than him, while technically the peace at Beaune forced the inheritance to passed to Charles and his heir, Philip knew neither Cleves nor France would be keen on upholding the treaty, he also rightfully feared further intervention by the Holy Roman Emperor who always wished to limit Burgundian expansion and the rich county of Nevers would allow the French to serve as a distraction to remove the "King without a crown" Philip the Rich from his imperial holdings.

    The invasion of Frisia which was a disaster that was a near success for the Burgundians. Charles' unfortunate death caused the complete revolt of Guelders lead by the fearsome Catherine of Guelders. The catasrophe would force Oliver to sacrifice his gains in Frisia and fight a slow devastating retreat to Holland. The war would be primarily fought by Oliver but fiercely funded by Margaret, arguably her involvement was the grief suffered to Charles' death and she blamed it on Frisia. Oliver would spend the remainder of 1481-1482 learning various guerrilla tactics and suffering defeat after defeat such as the ambush at Meppel and the sacking of The Hague. Margaret would not give up however, and would eventually defeated the combined Frisian-Guelder force just outside the city of Utrecht itself. The decisive victory at Utrecht would lead to a painfully slow reconquest of Guelders in 1484-1485 but by the time Oliver arrived at Frisia, the war was practically over as Friesland and East Frisia was spent fighting a near 5 year long war. While some historians would argue that Philip's absence from this crucial campaign delayed it unnecessarily and caused significant damage to Burgundy many historians agree that Philip's time dedicated to the unfolding situation in France and England was far more important for the young duke.

    Lorraine and Bar would be another sign of the blurring of imperial and Burgundian borders again as while Bar was technically subject to the King of France as per the treaties of Bruges in 1301. Rene II of Lorraine would seek to unite both duchy and county during his brief time as Duke of Lorraine and Heir to Bar. Philip would continue this task in 1480 with the death of Rene of Anjou, even though he was de jure Duke of Bar, Charles had already conquered the land by 1475, and with Rene's death a new agreement signed between the two estates of Bar and Lorraine would unite the two domains and would remain inseparable by 1480 under Philip's supervision. It would be this agreement that would start a firestorm of French hostility as Louis rightfully believed in the fact that Bar would be under imperial jurisdiction and not under French however, through various Burgundian lawyers and agreements the treaty of Bar would reaffirm French suzerainty over the lands west of Meuse river.
     
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    Chapter 13: The last web of the spider 1476 - 1483
  • Philip the Rich would play incredibly cautiously towards the aging Louis XI, the marriage with Anne would not soften the hostile attitude between France and Burgundy, however Philip's ascension as count of Champagne would start a chain reaction in the relationship between Burgundy and France. Philip would pay homage to Louis XI as count of Champagne jure uxrois despite the treaty of Conflans stating that Philip did not have to pay homage and the declaration of Malines declaring all Burgundian fiefs in France to be independent and subject only to the Duchy of Burgundy. The reasons were mere placation as the Burgundians would not risk war neither could they risk their independence so when Philip arrived in Louis' court in 1476, Anne would be first paying homage as Countess of Champagne with Philip following afterwards declaring by the right of his wife, he paid homage to Louis as Count of Champagne.

    The show of proclaiming Anne to rule Champagne above Philip would not please Louis in the slightest but any further prodding against the Burgundians would be met with war against France for not respecting the treaty of Beaune. The French would not remain idle in this new power struggle against Burgundy, and relations would return to pre-1471 as the parlament of Paris, royalist officers and the general estates of France began to slowly strip Burgundian sovereignty. Anne and Philip however, much to Louis' anger would severely limit these efforts by returning to old tactics of intimidation throwing out any judgement made by the parlament of Paris or the estates of France, Burgundian diplomats returned to an old tradition of nailing treaties to the doors of the French courts. Throughout the years of 1476 - 1480 various minor conflicts would emerge, the most famous of these would be the seizure of Saint-Pol, in 1478 Louis XI would try to reinstate Peter II, count of Brienne to his titles of count of Saint-Pol, and Ligny. He would argue based on the paying of homage would restore the suzerainty of France over Burgundy.

    This affair would nearly bring Burgundy and France to war, as Charles would refuse to reinstate Peter as a the count of Ligny as Burgundy seized the land directly, he also argued in the treaty of Beaune and Senlis, Saint-Pol was given up to Burgundy and Louis had no rights to assert his suzerainty over it. This would go back and forth as both parlaments would continue to press each other to give up Saint-Pol to Peter or to Burgundy. However the secret negotiations between Philip and Peter would turn Peter into a new Burgundian partisan, appointing him as a knight of the Golden Fleece and giving him a pension and the position of governor of Saint-Pol in exchange for him giving up his claims over Ligny and Saint-Pol. Similar instances of Burgundian-French shadow politics would continue throughout Burgundy and France until the death of Charles the Absolute.

    Philip the Rich would spend his time in Brabant in 1480, after Charles' death, Philip would send word to Louis that he would not pay homage to him as the new count of Bar, until after the funeral of Charles and this funeral was elaborate and extravagant. Margaret would cry for days with the loss of her husband while Philip and Anne would grieve quietly while slowly taking over the government and strengthening the already strained administration. The estates of Burgundy would recognize Philip as their new duke during the autumn days of 1480, Philip would be proclaimed by the full estates as Philip I of Ponthieu, Lorraine, Guelders, and Zutphen, Philip II of Luxembourg, Hainaut, Auxerre, Holland and Zeeland, Philip III of Brabant, Limburg, and Lothier, Philip IV of Burgundy, Boulogne, and Flanders, Philip V of Namur, Philip VI of the Free County of Burgundy, Macon, and Artois, and finally, Philip VIII of Vermandois. This was considered unprecendented in Burgundian history as the previous four dukes, the Duke of Burgundy would head to the various estates individually and be acknowledged as their new ruler but thanks to Charles and Philip's reforms in terms of administration, the general estates of Burgundy would acknowledge collectively Philip as their new duke. The coronation was elaborate and long, as every day a new coronation for a specific county, or duchy would take place with Anne who at this point did not enjoy the successive coronations and oaths she swore to uphold the existing status quo when they ascended as duke and duchess. John, Philip's little brother would be immediately proclaimed as the new count of Charolais and would ascend as John VI of Charolais and in 1481, Philip would finally arrive in France and would be acknowledged as Philip III of Champagne and Philip I of Bar respectively paying homage to king Louis and kissing his ring.

    The amount of time that it took for Philip to arrive in France to pay homage and service to the king would not please Louis but the incredibly old and sick king was more concerned regarding his own succession, his heir Charles VIII was quite sickly and not as energetic as Louis had hoped. The death and collapse of the house of Valois-Anjou has given the King a very strong reason to invade Italy as the near vassalage of Savoy and the alliance with Milan for Burgundy. King Louis would hope the seizure of Naples for himself would balance it out along with his alliance with Florence. More importantly to Louis was the inevitable regency, right now his only option was to appoint his wife Charlotte of Savoy and full regent but her health has not improved since the illness of 1461, Louis was unsure she could continue the regency until Charles came of age. It would be even worse with Charlotte's death as the regency claims would fall upon Orleans in the form of Louis XII who Louis believed was a firm Burgundian ally, and even worse Philip the Rich by the right of his wife would press his regency claim.

    Louis XI of France would exercise a huge amount of energy in the security of the house of Valois-Anjou. In 1480, Louis would seize Anjou and Maine from Rene and Charles and would demand that these lands along with their inheritance in exchange for a pension for the two. Charles the Absolute who was convinced by both his heir and Rene II of Lorraine would intervene and force Louis to relent in the Treaty of Angers. The following exchanges between the powerful nobles would be considered by Philip a betrayal of Burgundian chivalric values that Charles had insisted on. The will of Rene of Anjou would be ignored in this case as Louis demanded Rene II of Lorraine to be handed over for treason against the French crown. Philip who personally enjoyed the company of the young and passionate Rene would try to convince his father to refuse but Charles agreed to hand him over. Charles' main logic was the security of his conquest of Bar and Lorraine which would be secured in the treaty of Angers. In fact during these negotiations, Charles forced Louis to agree to Rene's death in order to further secure his conquests from the former duke. Louis would walk away from the treaty securing the inheritance of all of Valois-Anjou except Bar and Lorraine while Charles would gain further security for his conquests and importantly another legal refusal of homage as the new Duke of Bar.

    The problem of the regency would take Louis' entire energy and cleverness to set an equilibrium, he would restore the marriage between Peter II of Bourbon with Marie d'Orleans in 1482, finally allowing the marriage to take place, he also took note of John of Bourbon's lack of heirs and rightfully believed his inheritance would fall to Peter thereby uniting the ducal inheritance of Bourbon. He would give the future Louis XII, Normandy as a new appanage in 1482 and would gift his son direct lands of Berry and Aquitaine or Guyenne. This purposeful weakening of the crown was intentional in order to give his heir a strong power base to draw from. He would also strengthen the estates with the estate summoning of 1481, thereby recognizing the scheme, which placed Bourbon, Orleans, and Champagne along with his royal advisors all of equal position in case Charlotte of Savoy died early in the regency. What was even more complete thanks to the coronation of Anne as countess of Champagne he declared that Philip who had no fiefs in France itself could not partake in the regency as he declared that only the immediate family of his heir could partake in the regency and the most prominent nobles of the realm and those whom he trusted.

    This was a double edged sword for Philip, as now the King of France renounced his suzerainty of Bar, which immediately swore allegiance to Philip's duchy of Burgundy thereby bringing the small duchy into the general estates of Burgundy further centralizing his realm but it removed Philip any opportunity to even interfere in regency affairs for France. Philip would do his best stopping this agenda arriving at the general estates of France in 1481, arguing that the king can not remove the duchy of Bar voluntarily from the crown to which the marshal of France responded, "And what of the treaty of Beaune or the declaration of Malines?" This rebuttal humilated the young duke and eventually with the estates agreeing to the agenda Philip immediately declared that he was still Count of Champagne jure uxrois to stop the royal guards from unceremoniously removing the young duke. Philip and Anne would still leave with dignity and pride as count and countess but the removal of Bar would still pose a problem to the young duke.

    Savoy would prove to be quite difficult in reigning in as a new large de facto vassal of Philip. The death of Yolande de Valois, would remove the regency of Philibert of Savoy and he was still 13 years of age. Charles would claim the regency of the young boy in 1478 with the death of Yolande through a mixture of force of arms and proximity of blood claiming his lineage from his great-aunt Mary of Burgundy. This claim was dubious at best if not downright fabricated at worst as Louis XI was far closer in terms of proximity of blood but with the Savoyard nobles especially in the Vaud region swearing unofficial loyalty to Charles and the Emperor Frederick III recognizing his regency by 1479, Charles de facto assumed the regency although on paper it was a regency of the nobility or an interregnum if you will. Philip's ascension as duke would not change this dynamic but competing interests especially Milan's would prove even more difficult for Philip to rule over the final two months of his regency, with Philibert reaching the age of 15, Philip wisely dissolved the regency and declared Philibert to be capable of rule, unfortunately his death in 1482 would prove to be even more of a pain for Philip as the new heir Charles was still underage with Philip once again forced to quietly influence the regency. This continued meddling in the affairs of Savoy would cement Burgundian influence in the north but the encroaching Burgundian influence would be considered a threat by remaining Italian states.

    The sudden death of King Edward IV of England and later afterwards King Louis XI of France would force Philip to completely devoted his time and affairs in Western Europe as England was now under the regency of Richard, Duke of Gloucester a pro-Burgundian ally and Philip would arrive at the general estates with his wife to see her sworn into the regency council of France under Charlotte of Savoy who was leading regent for the time being. The following years of 1483 - 1486 would see Philip relentlessly devote his energies into securing France and England as Burgundian allies/subjects and by the end of this great project Burgundy would finally reach its long dreamt and long awaited golden age.
     
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    Chapter 13.5: The king without a crown (This is an extra LOL)
  • The general estates of Burgundy would be a very unique early form of a legislative body as the majority of its work was purely financial as the chancellor of Burgundy would ask the general estates for levies of men or extra taxes in the form of aides. This early form of legislation would partake under the reigns of Philip the Good, who would mainly use this to initiate dialogue between the northern lands of the Burgundians, which were Flanders, Holland and Brabant. The augmentation of the estates under Isabella of Portugal can not be understated as she expanded the cooperation into interstate trade and smoothened relations over between the now united duchies.

    Charles the Absolute would begin to expand but also gut the general estates, while still using them to consult on aides. Charles would begin to expand the size of the general estates, incorporating all of the independent fiefs he gained in the declaration of Malines in 1471. In 1476, with the annexation of Lorraine, Burgundy and its southern neighbours and dependencies would join it even further. Charles would employ the estates for mostly advisory and financial purposes. It would be used as a state tool of propaganda while the majority of taxation, military levies, judicial conduct, economic planning, executive and legislative planning would be done through the other instruments of Burgundian governance.

    Philip the Rich would consolidate all of these various institutions of Burgundian government to be directly subservient to the general estates of Burgundy and the duke himself granting near immense power with the reforms of his father Charles the Absolute. This would streamline and make it far more efficient in terms of governing Burgundy and various unique privileges were stripped away from the vast Burgundian domains and Burgundy as a whole would be united and further consolidated under the Burgundian estates which were instruments of Burgundian Absolutism.

    It would be in this environment Anne would be crowned, Anne I of Burgundy, Free County of Burgundy, Artois, Flanders, Macon, Hainaut, Namur, Holland, Zeeland, Brabant, Limburg, Lothier, Boulogne, Vermandois, Auxerre, Luxembourg, Ponthieu, Lorraine, Guelders, and Zutphen. She was already coronated as Duchess of Bar and Champagne back in 1476 and 1477. What was interesting about this coronation was Burgundy refusing to coronate both Philip and Anne as Barons of Salins and Bar-sur-seine. Perhaps it was a matter of pride or ego for the two as the refusal to be coronated for minor territories such as the barony of Salines, or the Bar-de-seine. Historians would argue it was down to a mixture of pride for the couple and practical logic as it would just drag on the lengthy coronation process as both lands were subservient to Champagne and the Free County of Burgundy anyway. Importantly for the two was that neither of them were coronated in the duchy of Frisia or duchy of Alsace as those two would be established in 1486. Arguably the Burgundians had merit to at least crown themselves duke and Duchess of Frisia as the counts of Holland claimed the title since the house of Holland in the 11th century claiming the title of lord of Friesland. Philip would pragmatically choose not to arguably because he had no use of de jure titles.
     
    Chapter 14: The nobles above the crown 1475 - 1486
  • Edward IV of England lead an incredible reign of stability by the treaty of Picquigny with practically no enemies in his court and with his sister the Duchess of Burgundy, and his daughter as the future dauphiné of France. Edward has practically united the bloody and fractured kingdom of England and lead it into a new reign of peace. Arguably, Edward merely spent his time in court dealing with the nobility and dealing with the remaining Lancastrian elements. The person who would personify this era of peace was Richard, Duke of Gloucester. He would lead a brutal pacification of the north and would begin to prepare to subjugate Scotland, who Edward would support a pretender to further English interests by 1482. This low intensity war between England and Scotland would be engineered by King Louis XI who wished to break the betrothal of Dauphin Charles in order for him to marry Anne of Brittany who would in theory unite Brittany and France together. The restoration of the Auld Alliance would force Richard to stay north away from royal affairs as he began to lead raids into Scotland and soon a full invasion signing a favourable peace in 1482. Edward would still not trust the Scots and backed another pretender rebel and would begin preparations for another invasion of Scotland.

    Edward's sudden death in 1483 would reignite a new rivalry, this time between the Yorks and Woodvilles. The Woodvilles led by the new queen dowager sought to remove Richard from his role as lord protector by having Edward V of England's coronation happen early so that no regency and thereby no lord protector would occur but Margaret of York who was already in England and in London would absolutely refuse this as she was sent there by Philip in 1480 in the hopes of breaking the engagement between Elizabeth of York and Dauphin Charles. The presence of Margaret of York would complicate things for the woodvilles, as she was there continuously speaking to Edward IV during his deathbed and arguably her influence over the young Elizabeth of York would prove to complicate things. The removal of the betrothal of Elizabeth of York to Dauphin Charles in 1482, by Louis XI would give Margaret of York an incredible opportunity by convincing Edward IV of England in once again the marriage between Elizabeth and John which all parties agreed to happen, signing the official betrothal in late 1482. Margaret and her Burgundian councillors would form a third front as the will of Edward IV named her as the executor of the will. She demanded the royal council wait until the new regent, Lord Protector of England, Richard Duke of Gloucester preside over the council before any decisions happen.

    John was given the county of Holland to as his new fief under the Burgundian state with the birth of Charles II of Charolais. This would further sweeten the deal for Richard III who already reaffirmed the betrothal of Elizabeth and John with the marriage to take place in 1485, while Philip would still rule Holland directly through the usage of the general estates and the various other instruments of governance. Philip was prepared with the ascension of Richard III to give up his title of Holland to his brother John in order to strengthen his English ties but with the news of the reported murder of Edward V and Richard Duke of York, he privately confessed to his step-mother that John could prove to be the stabilizing influence of England that it so desperately needed after the death of Edward IV.

    Richard now Lord Protector of England, would arrive in London only to see the firmly stacked royal council led by the Queen, Elizabeth Woodville nullify the will by declaring a coronation within the month of Edward V, king of England. Richard and Margaret were both pissed at this monopolization of power by the woodvilles. Margaret would form what can be described as a triumvirate with Lord Hastings and Richard arresting Earl Rivers and capturing the king. This seizure of the king would force Elizabeth Woodville to flee to the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey. Events began to rapidly progress as Richard as Lord Protector declared the royal council who dared strip him of his rights as Lord Protector were traitors and declared them guilty of high treason.

    The jar was open however, as the woodvilles declared the act illegal and practically went through a shadow war over control of the young king, the compromise was that the king would coronated on June 22 1483 much to Margaret and Richard's anger who both believed the age of acting was far older for Richard it was age 16, the traditional age of young English kings, while for Margaret it was a more respectable 19. Richard would threaten to force the young Duke of York, also named Richard to be sent into the tower on London, almost breaking sanctuary rules by using the Archbishop of Canterbury to force Elizabeth to fold. Richard at this point advised by the devious Buckingham would force through the act of Titulus Regulus due to Edward V firmly siding with the Woodvilles, thereby nullifying Edward V's claim to the throne. Philip would recall Margaret to return to Burgundy, believing and convincing her that this civil war was too dangerous to risk her life. Philip would also importantly declare that his claim to the English throne was transferred to his younger brother John as in 1482, Anne gave birth to a new heir Charles II of Charolais. Richard would ascend the throne as Richard III of England, while the two dispossessed young king and Duke of York would be sent to the Tower of London, quietly murdered with Richard's agreement.

    Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England would form an alliance with Elizabeth Woodville agreeing to a new marriage breaking the betrothal of John and Elizabeth in order to marry Henry to Elizabeth and the ascension of Henry as king. Margaret of York would return to England once again in 1484. This time once again negotating with Beaufort and the Woodvilles, saying her son John had a better claim than Beaufort and she could secure Elizabeth Woodville and her families safety in Burgundy. Elizabeth Woodville would refuse her ambition blinding her. However, Elizabeth of York who listened hours on end of the prosperity and wealth of Burgundy would confide in Margaret of York saying she would love to. Margaret would arrive at Richard's court in the middle of Buckingham's conspiracy, as the Yorkist foundation was split between Richard, Margaret and the Woodvilles. Henry VII would form a new court in Brittany acting as a pretender king of England. He would receive support from Louis XII, Duke of Orleans and now regent of France who supported Henry's cause with troops and support.

    The battle of Bosworth in 1485 would see Margaret of York along with Elizabeth of York flee to Calais as Philip was ordered to seize the city with force of arms when Richard III died in battle. Henry VII would be crowned in the middle of battle but now his claim was firmly aloof as the senior Lancastrian blood compared to Henry VII now firmly pushed by Margaret's son John with an additional Yorkist claim by his mother and his betrothal of Elizabeth of York. The woodvilles were furious over the flight of the future queen, as now both the Lancastrian and Yorkist base began to unite not around Tudor but around Calais as John would form a new rival court in Calais firmly backed by Burgundy. Philip who also had a hand in the regency would be able to extract Louis's support for England to be removed. A papal dispensation by Innocent VIII would allow the marriage to take place in 1486 between Elizabeth of York and John II of England.

    Henry VII would seize the majority of English lands due to him claiming the right by conquest and would also marry Cecily of York who Henry VII forcibly broke the marriage of her with Ralph Scrope. This act already shunned even more allies from Henry VII's side and in 1486 in the battle of Canterbury, which was now lead by both John and Philip. Henry VII would be captured and summarily executed in London for treason against Richard III and John II of England. John II would also repeal the Titulus Regulus giving Elizabeth of York technical status as Queen of the Yorkist Claim and himself with Yorkist and Lancastrian Blood. Again the use of the right of conquest would be used seizing various other lordships, duchies and earldoms. John II would be known by the epithet of the fair as he would reconcile with his mother in law, Elizabeth Woodville but the majority of England's governance when John just ascended the English throne was done through his mother duchess and queen dowager of England and Burgundy: Margaret of York.

    Immediately following the ascension of John II of England to the English throne, the Burgundian-English relations began to fundamentally change. John would immediately exchange the County of Holland for the pale of Calais as Philip immediately annexed the land firstly for the county of Boulogne but fundamentally to give John a base of power for this claim. England would also not wish to be subject to the whims of the Holy Roman Emperor and the transfer was immediately agreed upon in the peace of Calais in 1486. The lighting paced events of the death of Edward IV would lead to the three years of three kings, Edward V, Richard III and Henry VII but importantly by the end the ascension of the house of Calais itself a branch of the house of Valois-Bourgogne would strengthen keep the Burgundian-English Alliance until the house's fall and the unification of the British Isles under the house of Stuart.
     
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    Chapter 15: A careful balance of regents until it collapses 1483 - 1491
  • The death of king Louis XI would give the full regency to Charlotte of Savoy who would be respected as full regent as she began to set up her own royal council. Philip the Rich along with his wife, Anne of Champagne would respect the wishes of King Louis as Anne was quite fond and respecting of her mother. Philip would also devote his time and energies to England as the death of Edward IV and the ascension of Richard III would force him to focus primarily on the rapid fire events occurring in England at the time. Louis of Orleans and Peter of Bourbon, joined in alliance would begin to make moves to secure themselves their respective seats on the royal council. The general estates of France were not keen to invite their most powerful former vassal into running the country in a regency.

    The death of Charlotte of Savoy would trigger the Mad War of France between Burgundy and France. The general estates would revoke the will of Louis XI of France who sought to create a carefully balanced regency in order to not trigger the Burgundian anger ironically it would be this alliance of Orleans and Bourbon that would keep this equilibrium. Philip would order his armies led by the capable Burgundian captains which Philip would later reorganize into the Burgundian officer corps into France and would invade and lay siege to Paris. Burgundy would also decisively defeat the royal armies in Beaujeu which were hastily assembled by Peter II of Bourbon. Burgundy would continue the ravage the Ile-de-France, Normandy and Valois itself until the peace of Bourges in 1485. It would reaffirm the will of King Louis XI but importantly forced the county of Vertus, and Tonnerre to be reorganized and underneath the count of Champagne and not the King of France directly. More importantly to Philip was the reorganization of the peer system in France and the forced recognition of Champagne as second peer of France despite its merger with the crown in 1316 which would have given Anne the rank of 20th peer of France instead the elevation of Champagne to second peer would also be forced to give Champagne the role of holding the crown and fastening the belt per tradition while Normandy led by Louis of Orleans and Duke of Guyenne who was the heir to the throne would hold both banners.

    State affairs would be run by the legendary Guilleme Briconnet who was a compromise candidate between the triumvirate of Champagne, Bourbon and Orleans and he would run the state in the regency by de facto assuming control of both the treasury and state affairs. Louis of Orleans would take on foreign policy along with Peter of Bourbon both eager to boot Anne out of the regency herself. Anne would be shut out of the triumvirate in terms of genuine policy but what impact she did make was significant such as the removal of French support to Henry VII in 1485 just after the battle of Bosworth Field and her impact as regent would leave an irrefutable mark in 1491 near the end of Charles' regency. Importantly for Anne and Philip, the access to French finances and to strengthen the court of France was important. Throughout the years of 1485 - 1488, Anne would use funnel French money into Champagne and later through Burgundy. The creation of a court in Reims would be precursor to the legendary permanent Burgundian court in Nancy that would be formed in 1491.

    The court here would raise Charles II, Count of Charolais, Louise de Savoy, Diane de Poitiers importantly it would also see the introduction of Isabella of Burgundy into this new temporary court, this court of Reims would be spoken of throughout France as various other nobility from England, the Holy Roman Empire and Italy would arrive. Maximilian who was now King of the Romans would arrive at Reims and speak to the courts glamour with the marriage of Isabella and Maximilian taking place in Reims rather than in Vienna as Frederick suggested. This would also allow Philip and Anne to regain the favour of the various nobles all eager to gain the attention of the future King, Charles VII who under this mixture of guidance and education would grow up to be quite shrewd as he learned of various schemes conducted by factional nobles.

    The war over Brittany or the second war of Breton succession would see Anne and Philip finally assume the sole regency of France agreeing that by 1491, Charles would reach the majority and they would return to Burgundy afterwards, Anne would declare both Peter and Louis traitors to realm in 1486. Francis II of Brittany not particularly eager to see a Franco-Burgundian Union sided with Orleans and Bourbon in order to check Anne's ambition. This would utterly fail as the following wars would see Peter and Louis imprisoned and Francis II agreeing to the betrothal and later marriage of Anne, heir presumptive of Brittany to Charles VII. Francis' death would be followed up by the invasion of Brittany in 1489 by France to force the marriage of Anne and Charles. This effort would be led by the king himself, Charles VII.

    The brilliance of this political move by Anne and Philip could not be understated through clever usage of French finances and rhetoric the majority of the nobles were somewhat open if not willing to turn a blind eye to this new Franco-Burgundian Union. The removal of the most powerful rivals to the French throne, Bourbon, Orleans and Brittany would practically guarantee Burgundy control of France. Anne and Philip however would not undo many of the absolutist reforms done by Louis XI as the royalist advisors now under the command of Charles VIII would not allow it and while this control of France would allow Philip to gain even more access to French finances and established a very strong pro-Burgundian faction within France, it would not ingratiate itself with Charles VIII who at this point began to exert a huge amount of royal authority and undercut the Burgundians at every chance he had.

    The betrothal between Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany would further drive a wedge between the regents and the king. Charles VIII would pardon Peter and Louis within the the year of 1489. The abuse of the French finances would come to a halt with once again with Charles VIII now 19 would reject any attempt for Burgundy to pay off any expenses incurred by the Burgundians with French money. The restoration of the triumvirate would also limit Burgundian expansion as the court of Reims would be moved back to Paris and with it Anne's influence would crumble, the death of Charles II, count of Charolais would also wound the headstrong Anne as she entered into a state of grief. Philip would continue to desperately entrench the crumbling Burgundian influence in France but would ultimately fail. Near the end of 1490, Burgundian influence was almost nothing in France and Charles VIII would watch over the Burgundians with every waking breath. Philip would smartly devote his time in entrenching the treaties of Arras, Conflans, Peronne, Beaune and Senlis as Duke of Burgundy rather than Count of Champagne, extracting promises and agreements with the King to ensure that these treaties be respected.

    The death of John II of Nevers would trigger the war of Lotharingia, which would be fought between Burgundy against France. Charles VIII at this point completely despising the Burgundians declared that the five treaties despite their agreement in 1490 were invalid and declared himself to take the majority as he was 20 years of age at this point, he accused Philip of treason against the crown and went to war against Burgundy. Louis of Orleans and Peter II of Bourbon who already festered wounds against the Burgundians would take up the cause with divine anger. The only pro-Burgundian person in the French court as one chronicler wrote was the practically imprisoned Duchess of Brittany, Anne. Burgundian forces would fight to a standstill as the legendary captain Tremoille would lead the French armies to victories in the Ile de France and Champagne. The treaty of Dijon would be signed in the winter months of 1491, in which Burgundy would inherit Nevers, Rethel and Eu per the treaty of Peronne, Charles VIII would respect the five previous treaties signed by his father Louis XI. Importantly for Philip the Rich, Charles VIII would acknowledge the privilegium Lotharingia signed by Frederick III. There would also be a clause that was minor to Philip but would bite back for his descendants later on, he would renounce his succession rights to the throne of France in exchange for the recognition of the privilegium Lotharingia.

    The regency of France was masterminded by Louis XI to bring a semblance of balance and stability in France during the minority of Charles VIII. This would actually work perhaps even better than Louis' imagined, as Charles VIII would be just as politically active and astute as his father. The problems with this minority rule were the implementation as both Orleans and Bourbon rightfully feared Burgundian dominance. The abuse of French finances would be reminiscent of the days of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless, although to a much lesser degree. The fruitful few months of Burgundian dominated regency would immensely benefit the already powerful state arguably starting the golden age of Burgundy. Louis did not want a Burgundian dominated France however the reasons he included Anne into the regency were of immense debate to historians as in 1465, Louis hinted the Charles the Absolute that he could take the crown of France if he had no male heirs, but Louis' policy of absolutism would be in stark contrast to Charles' state building. So which is it? Did Louis want to inherit or dismantle Burgundy? Why couldn't he just remove Anne from the regency at all? Perhaps it would best answered by Philip the Rich who stated, "My godfather and father in law was wise enough to realize that removing my wife from the regency would doom France and to give her sole regency would also doom France. I think it was in his interest to watch my wife and the other regents squabble to teach his son how to rule properly with an iron fist as he ruled."
     
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