Burgundian Netherlands

Burgundian Netherlands

In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands refers to the period when the dukes of Burgundy ruled the area, as well as Luxembourg and parts of northern France, from 1384 to 1530.

Dynastic

A fair share (but not most) of these territories were inherited by the Burgundian dukes, a younger branch of the French royal house of Valois in 1384, upon the death of Louis de Mâle, count of Flanders. His heiress, Margaret III of Flanders had married Philip the Bold (1342–1404), youngest son of John II of France and the first of the Valois dukes of Burgundy, who thus inherited the counties of Flanders, Artois, Rethel, Burgundy, and Nevers. Together they initiated an era of Burgundian governance in the Low Countries.

The Burgundian territories were expanded with the county of Namur in 1421, the duchies of Brabant and Limburg in 1430, the counties of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland in 1432, the duchy of Luxembourg in 1441 and the duchy of Guelders in 1473.

The Valois era would last until 1477, when the last Valois duke Charles the Bold died on the battlefield, leaving no male heir. The territorial Duchy of Burgundy reverted to the French crown (see Salic Law), and the Low Countries portion of the Duchy of Burgundy passed to the Habsburgs through Mary of Burgundy and her husband Maximilian of Habsburg to their son Philip the Handsome (see Seventeen Provinces).

The Burgundian dukes who ruled the Netherlandish territories were:

House of Valois, territorial Dukes of Burgundy
*Philip the Bold and his wife Margaret III of Flanders (1384–1405)
*John the Fearless (1405–1419)
*Philip the Good (1419–1467)
*Charles the Bold (1467–1477)

House of Valois, titular Duchess of Burgundy
*Mary of Burgundy (1477–1482)

House of Habsburg, titular Dukes of Burgundy
*Philip the Handsome (1482–1506); Maximilian I, regent (1482-1493)
*Charles V (1506–1555); Margaret of Austria, regent (1507-1515) and (1519–1530)

Political

The sheer burden of variety of bishoprics and independent cities, the intensely local partisanship, the various taxation systems, weights and measures, internal customs barriers, fiercely defended local rights were a hindrance to a good Valois, but attempts at enlarging personal control by the dukes resulted in revolts among the independent towns, sometimes supported by independent local nobles, and bloody military suppression in response, and an increasingly modernized central government with a bureaucracy of clerks allowed the dukes to become celebrated art patrons and establish a glamorous court life that set conventions of behavior that lasted for centuries. Philip the Good (1419-1467) extended his personal control to the southeast bringing Brussels, Namur, and Liège under his control. He channeled the traditional independence of the cities through such mechanisms as the first Estates-General, and he consolidated the region's economy.

The Estates-General met for the first time in the City Hall of Bruges on 9 January 1464. It consisted of delegates of the Estates of Brabant, Flanders, Lille, Douai, Orchies, Artois, Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, Namur, Mechelen and Boulonnais. Up to 1464, the Duke only maintained ties with each of the provincial States separately. In principle, the provincial Estates were composed of representatives of the three traditional estates: clergy, nobility and the Third Estate, but the exact composition of and the influence of each estate in the provincial Estates could differ. Convening an Estates-General in which all provincial Estates were represented was part of Philip the Good's policy of centralisation.

Ducal patronage

From 1441, Philip based his ducal court in Brussels, but Bruges was the center of commerce, though by the 1480s the inevitable silting of its harbor was bringing its economic hegemony to a close. Philip was a great patron of illuminated manuscripts and court painting reached new highs: Robert Campin, the van Eyck brothers, and Rogier van der Weyden

ocial and economic

External links

* [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bnpu/hd_bnpu.htm Metropolitan Museum:] "Burgundian Netherlands: Court Life
* [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bnpr/hd_bnpr.htm Metropolitan Museum:] "Burgundian Netherlands: Private Life

References

*Panofsky, Erwin, "Early Netherlandish Painting"
*Prevenier, W. and Blockmans W., "The Burgundian Netherlands" Cambridge University Press 1986


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Burgundian Circle — The Burgundian Circle ( de. Burgundischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. It was created in 1512.In addition to the Franche Comté (Free County of Burgundy), the circle roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e. the… …   Wikipedia

  • Burgundian Wars — Infobox Military Conflict conflict=Burgundian Wars partof= caption= date=1474 1477 place=Lorraine and northwest Switzerland casus= territory= result=Franco Swiss victory combatant1=flagicon|Bourgogne|size=80px Duchy of Burgundy combatant2=… …   Wikipedia

  • Netherlands — This article is about the country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. For other uses, see Netherlands (disambiguation). Netherlands Nederland …   Wikipedia

  • Netherlands (disambiguation) — The Netherlands is a European country with territories in the Caribbean. Netherlands may also mean: Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of the countries Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands; The geographical region of the Low… …   Wikipedia

  • Netherlands, The — • The Low Countries, as organized by Charles V, under whom the Burgundian era ended Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Burgundian School — The Burgundian School is a term used to denote a group of composers active in the 15th century in what is now northern and eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, centered on the court of the Dukes of Burgundy. The main names associated… …   Wikipedia

  • Burgundian (party) — The Burgundian party was a political allegiance in France that formed during the reign of Charles VI during the latter half of the Hundred Years War. During that era the term Burgundian also applied to loyal subjects of the dukes of Burgundy.… …   Wikipedia

  • History of the Netherlands — This article is part of a series Early History …   Wikipedia

  • Greater Netherlands — (Dutch: Groot Nederland) is the political movement to unite all Dutch speaking people into a single state. Also known as Dietsland ( Dutchland ), which uses the word Diets, an archaic term for Dutch. Greater Dutch Movement or Greater… …   Wikipedia

  • Southern Netherlands — History of the Low Countriesv · d · e …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”