Grand Dukes of the West: A History of Valois Burgundy

Charles VII and his son Louis had a strained relationship to say the very least, and the Dauphin was eager to escape his father's court and head to Dauphine. Distance would not mend things between father and son, and before long, the Prince was fleeing to Burgundian territory, complicating the already complicated relationship between Philip the Good and Charles VII.Time Period Covered: 1445-1456Notable People: Philip the Good, Louis XI, Charles Duke of Orleans, Charles I Duke of Bourbon, Charles Count of Nevers, John of Nevers Count of Etampes, Louis of Luxembourg Count of Saint-Pol, Pierre de Breze, Agnes Sorel, Rene of Anjou, Charles of Anjou Count of Maine, Antoine de Chabannes Count of Dammartin, Francesco SforzaNotable Events/Developments: Turmoil at Charles VII's Court, The Provocations of the Paris Parlement, Louis of Luxembourg's Dual Loyalties, Dauphin Louis' Exile in Dauphine, Dauphin Louis arrives at the Burgundian Court

Throughout the reigns of all the Burgundian Dukes so far, they have been constantly trying to expand their influence over the Church in the Low Countries. In the mid-1450s, Philip the Good would take that project as far as it had ever gone by placing Burgundians on the Episcopal thrones of Utrecht and Liege.Time Period Covered: 1455-1460Notable People: Philip the Good, David of Burgundy Bishop of Utrecht, Louis of Bourbon Bishop of Liege, Gijsbrecht van Brederode, Reinoud van Brederode, Duke Arnold of Guelders, Catherine of Cleves Duchess of Guelders, Jean de Lannoy Stadtholder of Holland, Rudolph von Diepholz Bishop of Utrecht, John of Heinsberg Bishop of LiegeNotable Events/Developments: Death of Rudolph von Diepholz, Election of Gijsbrecht van Brederode, Siege of Deventer (1456), David of Burgundy becomes Bishop of Utrecht, Louis of Bourbon becomes Bishop of Liege

All his life, Philip the Good dreamed of going on Crusade, and all his life other things kept getting in the way. But even though the Duke of Burgundy never made it on Crusade, the Crusading Ideal still played a large part in the Duke's reign, image, and stature as a Prince.Time Period Covered: 1421-1456Notable People: Philip the Good, Gilbert de Lannoy, Bertrandon de la Broquiere, Geoffroy de Thoisy, Waleran de Wavrin, Olivier de la Marche, Pope Pius II, Alphonso V of Aragon and Naples, Louis the Rich Duke of BavariaNotable Events/Developments: Travels of Gilbert de Lannoy, Travels of Bertrandon de la Broquiere, Crusade of Varna, Fall of Constantinople, The Feast of the Pheasant, The Diet of Regensburg (1454)

The Dukes of Burgundy presided over one of the great flowerings of Art and Culture in the Later Middle Ages. While the Northern Renaissance was not a purely Burgundian phenomenon, the Burgundian Court and the Cities of the Burgundian Low Countries were at the Center of advances in Painting, Music, Building and more.The Duke of Burgundy, the Burgundian Nobility, and the rising Bourgeoisie, all commissioned art at a greater scale than ever before and they cultivated some of the best artists of the age in the process.Time Period Covered: 1400sPainters: Jan van Eyck, Rogier van Der Weyden, Robert CampinComposers: Guillaume Dufay, Gilles Binchois, Antoine BusnoisWriters: Georges Chastellain, Michaut Taillevent, Jean Molinet, Antoine de la Salle, Olivier de la Marche, Philippe de CommynesArtistic Movements: Early Netherlandish Painting, Brabantine Gothic Architecture, Burgundian/Franco-Flemish School of Music, Grands Rhetoriquers

Tournaments were more than an excuse for knights to whack each other with sticks, they were elaborate court events filled with splendor, ritual, and the careful exercise of violence. Perhaps nobody in Burgundy exemplified the Tournament as much as Jacques de Lalaing; through his skill in the lists, Jacques won fame on par with modern star athletes.Time Period Covered: 1430-1453Notable People: Jacques de Lalaing, Philip the Good, Rene of Anjou, Pierre de Bauffremont Count of Charny, Philippe de Ternant, Jean de Boniface, Juan de Merlo, Galeotto BalthazarNotable Events/Developments: Rise of Pas d'Armes, Pas of Charlemagne's Tree (1443), Tournament of Nancy (1444), Pas of the Fountain of Tears (1449-1450)