Maximilian did not hesitate to defend the heritage of his wife, culminating in the 1479 Battle of Guinegate, where he defeated the troops of King Louis XI. However, after Mary of Burgundy died on 27 March 1482, leaving the inheritance of her father to Philip, their son, Maximilian had to cope with difficulties to prevail as an accepted regent for their son. To settle the conflict with France, he by the Treaty of Arras agreed to marry his daughter, Archduchess Margaret of Austria, to the Dauphin of France, the later King Charles VIII, bringing the Imperial County of Burgundy to the French crown as her dowry. France retained most of its Burgundian fiefdoms except for the affluent County of Flanders, which passed to Maximilian (but soon rebelled against the archduke).
Legacy
Although the betrothal was later renounced and Charles VIII would marry Duchess Anne of Brittany, the Burgundian inheritance effectively remained under French control thus ending the dream of a Burgundian kingdom or an independent Duchy of Burgundy once and for all. Maximilian however remained dissatisfied with the agreement and in 1493 forced King Charles VIII to sign the Treaty of Senlis, by which he re-acquired the County of Burgundy as well as the French counties of Charolais and Artois.
References
^Saenger, Paul. “Burgundy and the Inalienability of Appanages in the Reign of Louis XI.” French Historical Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, 1977, pp. 1–26. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/286114. Accessed 3 Feb. 2023.