1464
Philip the Bold (ruled
1363-1404), a son of King John II the Good of France was given the Duchy of
Burgundy in 1363. He founded the line of the The Dukes of Burgundy, a collateral
branch of the French royal house of Capet-Valois. The Dukes of Burgundy created
one of the greatest powers of the Fifteenth century. Marriages, diplomatic
action and conquest created a territory that was reminiscent of the
Middle-Frankish Empire. Some of its lands were fiefs of the King of France,
others of the Holy Roman Emperor. The lands of the Male dynasty, that ruled
Flanders, Artois and the Free county of Burgundy (a parto of the Holy Roman
Empire), were acquired by marriage in 1384, when Philip the Bold married
Margaret of Flanders. Duke Philip was Regent of France for his insane cousin
King Charles VI. Burgundy took the side of the English in the Hundred years war,
between England and France. In 1407, Duke John the Fearless (ruled 1404-1419)
killed his kinsman the Duke of Orleans in a family brawl. This killing is said
to have started the Austro-French rivalry, that continued well into the
Eighteenth Century. Orleans, being the ancestor of the later Kings of France and
Burgundy, being the ancestor of the Habsburg rulers of Austria. John's son,
Philip the Good (ruled 1419-1467), acquired Brabant, Limburg and Luxembourg,
when the Luxembourg dynasty (of former Imperial fame) became extinct. After much
conflict, the Wittelsbach Countess of Holland, Zealand and Hainault, Jacqueline,
left her lands to her cousin, Philip the Good in 1428. Philip founded the
Order of the Golden Fleece in 1430, the main order of chivalry in Continental
Europe at the time. Some of the Burgundian successor-states (Spain, Austria,
Belgium) have continued the Order. In 1464 Philip ordered a general meeting of
the Estates of his lands. These General-Estates, the first parliament of all the
Burgundian territories was the direct ancestor of the General-Estates that took
sovereignty over the Northern Netherlands in 1588. The meeting took place in
Bruges, signifying that Burgundy proper was no longer the heartland of these
dominions. Flanders and Brabant were.
