Philip the Bold married Margaret of Flanders, and when her father died in 1384, he acquired through her inheritance not only the adjacent County of Burgundy and other lands in eastern France, but also Flanders in the Low Countries, with its concentration of wealthy urban areas. The next period of major expansion was in the 1420s and 1430s when Philip the Good added further extensive domains by purchase, diplomacy and inheritance. These were in eastern and north eastern France, but more significantly, in the Low Countries as well. The Brabantine inheritance of 1430 and the cession of Jacqueline of Hainaut's lands in 1433, when added to Flanders, meant that Philip's territories would include a powerful contiguous domain covering most of the Low Countries and referred to as the Burgundian Netherlands.
Finally, the last Valois duke, Charles the Bold, through almost continuous warfare after his accession in 1467, briefly extended the domains further but was killed in battle in 1477 without a male heir, the last of the dynasty being his daughter Mary of Burgundy. The Duchy of Burgundy itself was then absorbed back into France and most of the remaining territories, as a result of Mary's marriage to Maximilian of Habsburg, passed to the House of Habsburg, forming part of a much larger empire.[5]
Territories of the Valois dukes of Burgundy
The dukes' lands straddled the border areas between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire and were divided into two groups of possessions.[5] In the south was the Duchy of Burgundy itself, and the neighbouring County of Burgundy (the modern Franche-Comté), a fief of the Empire. These possessions were separated from the Burgundian Netherlands in the north, where the dukes derived most of their wealth, power and prestige.[note 1] Charles the Bold briefly united the southern and northern domains through conquest but these gains were lost with his death in 1477.[8]
The following is a list of territories held, at any time, by a Valois duke of Burgundy, either in their own right or jure uxoris.[note 2]
The territories were inherited by Philip's wife, Margaret of Flanders, from her father Louis of Male, Count of Flanders who died in 1384.[18][19][20] Philip then took control of the territories and assumed the various comital and other titles.[21] Margaret died in 1405, a year after Philip, and the territories were inherited by the next duke, John the Fearless, except Nevers, Rethel, Isle, Chaource, Villemaur[22] and Donzy.[23]
Following Charles the Bold's death in 1477, Flanders passed to the House of Habsburg through marriage to Charles's daughter and heir, Mary,[25] as did Mechelen.[26]
Philip's uncle, Anthony, inherited Brabant from his great aunt in 1406.[40] Anthony's son, Philip of St. Pol, bequeathed it to Philip on his death in 1430.[41] Antwerp was a dependency of Brabant,[42] as was Limburg and the Lands of Overmaas.[43]
In personal union since the 13th century.[39] Philip increased his influence over the counties leading the ruler, Jacqueline of Hainaut, to cede her rights to him in 1433.[54]
Seized in 1443.[58] Philip paid the ruler, Elizabeth of Görlitz, a pension of 7,000 florins per year for inheritance rights.[59] Succeeded on her death in 1451.[58]
Following Charles the Bold's death in 1477, the duchy passed to the House of Habsburg through marriage to Charles's daughter and heir, Mary.[25]
Charles seized the Duchy by force in 1473. Shortly before Charles's invasion Arnold, Duke of Guelders died and left the Duchy to him in his will.[65] The County of Zutphen was a dependency.[66]
Guelders re-asserted its independence on Charles's death 1477.[13] His Habsburg heirs attempted to recover the Duchy. Achieved by his great-grandson, Charles V, in 1543.[67]
In 1475, Charles seized Lorraine by force from René II, Duke of Lorraine and had himself installed as Duke in December of that year.[68] Bar, a dependency of Lorraine,[69] was occupied as well.[70]
With Charles's defeat and death at the Battle of Nancy, January 1477, René II recovered the Duchies.[71]
^The two groups of domains were referred to as "our lands over here" and "our lands over there", originally from the perspective of where the duke happened to be when the reference was made. However, reflecting the changing focus of the Burgundian state, the Low Countries territories came to be permanently called the "lands over here" and the southern domains the "lands over there".[6] Nevertheless, Burgundy, as the dukes' original domain, continued to be at the heart of the polity's identity and, for example, the duke's subjects in the Low Countries even began referring to themselves as "Burgundians".[7]
^In fact, the margraviate of Antwerp first came into Burgundian hands when Philip the Bold acquired it as part of Margaret of Flanders' inheritance in 1384.[44] After Philip's death in 1404, Antwerp did not pass to the next duke, John the Fearless, but instead was vested in his younger brother, Anthony who also acquired Brabant.[45] It again became a possession of a duke of Burgundy when Philip the Good inherited the margraviate on the death of Anthony's son, Philip of St. Pol, in 1430.[46]
^The Duke of Brabant was also "Duke of Lothier" (that is, of Lower Lorraine[47]). This was a titular honorific only, without any territory attached to it.[48]
^The Count of Holland was also "Lord of Friesland". This was a titular lordship only, without political reality, but the title had, nevertheless, been used by the Counts of Holland since the 13th century.[49] In fact, unusually, feudalism did not exist in medieval Friesland[50] and it had no lord (the Frisian freedom).[51] Although the Emperor Maximilian I had attempted to impose Albert of Saxony as imperial lord over the area,[52] it was not until Charles V's annexation in 1524 that the Lordship of Friesland or Frisia was created.[52][53]
^The legal rights acquired in the territories were relatively limited. In addition to Sigismund being able to recover the domains on repayment of the loan, much of the lands were already mortgaged with the creditors having significant pre-existing rights.[64] The attempt to enforce full Burgundian control, despite this, led to a rebellion and loss of the territories in 1474.[63]
McDonald, R. Thomas (1995). "Boulogne-sur-Mer". In Kibler, William W.; Zinn, Grover A. (eds.). Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Garland. ISBN978-0-8240-4444-2.
Stein, Robert (2010). "Introduction". In Stein, R.; Pollmann, J. (eds.). Networks, Regions and Nations: Shaping Identities in the Low Countries, 1300-1650. Brill. ISBN978-90-04-18024-6.
