Chapter 7 - Burgundy from 1477 to 1480
Burgundy at the time of Charles the Bold's death
The year of 1477 would be a watershed in Burgundian history.
Margaret was joined in Ghent at the castle of Ten Waele by Philip, now eight years old, Isabella, age seven and four year old John. Margaret was pregnant with her last child and the chaos in the coming months added to the drain on her energy.
The defeat of Charles would become material for legends all over Europe. The duke himself would be subject of ballads, epics and folklore from every pen and poet in the reals of Castile and Aragon, Germany, England and off course France. The fascinations would be comparable to Hannibal and Alexander the Great, something that would have gladden the duke in the afterlife. Decades after, rumours would persist of him living like a hermit in a cave or a desolated prisoner a la Richard the Lionheart.
The shockwaves would resonate the strongest in Charles’s own duchy and with his family. With the death of Charles the Bold rose another war, one less grandiose perhaps, but one vital, nonetheless. Two people would fight over the late Duke’s inheritance with ferocity. One was King Louis XI of France who had long wished to dismantle Burgundy and now with the duke dead had a clear possibility. On the other side stood the now dowager duchess, Margaret of York, equally determined to prevent the inheritance of her sons from being lost to ravenous wolves.
It would be a fight between giants.
The years of 1477-80 would be hard for Burgundy. Foreign enemies posed a danger, as well as internal ones. Charles of Burgundy had not been a gentle ruler to his people and with this tyrant gone, the Burgundian subjects began to erupt in frustration and rage. The loss of thousands in Alsace and the harsh taxation, the abuse of ducal officials and the suppression of regional rights added righteous fury to the people’s fire.
Margaret of York’s first action after hearing about the disaster of Zurich was to put the castle of Ten Waele under heavy guard. Her young children’s survival was to be safeguarded. With Philip, now duke in his own right, soon to be eight years old, a regency was necessary until he came of age. Isabella and John, her other children, needed to survive as well. All three were placed under an armed household. Philip already had a minor household himself.
The dowager duchess second act was to send for the Estates General to converge in Ghent as soon as possible. An army of messengers were dispatched all over the duchy; promising lesser taxations, a more open government, and a gentler hand in ruling.
Despite the strife that opened, some checks and balances remained to prevent total chaos. Charles the Bold had two thriving sons, even if they were young. The danger of Mary’s future husband becoming the ruler of Burgundy was gone and the male line of Burgundy were intact. Margaret herself proved a force in her own right, the cities and councils were well acquainted with their duchess, and she had proven herself more trustworthy and open than her husband. Her actions, already starting the week after Charles’s death also went a long way to assure many.
The Great Privilege, drafted a week after the news of Zurich broke, was a political move that settled the biggest issues. When the Estates General assembled later in October at Ghent the charter presented several things: The reminder of the 500, 000 crowns that Charles had been promised was renounced, the Estates would be allowed to gather at any location, the regional courts rights were strengthened to prevent the central court at Malines (much hated by the people), and a Grand council made up by delegates by the Estates would make up the regency with the duchess. Margaret however demanded custody of her children, both her sons and Isabella. The Estates were mollified by the offer and the heavily pregnant dowager elicited sympathy.
Margaret of York, Dowager Duchess granting the Great Privilege
Margaret had several supporters that rallied around her. Anthony, Count of La Roche, Charles’s bastard brother, Philippe de Crévecoeur, the ducal governor of Picardy and Charles Biche, the late Duke’s chamberlain stayed and threw their support for her. Other ducal administrators consisted of Chancellor Hugonet, Lord Humbercourt and Lord Ravenstein. These three men were not popular, particularly the first two. The people hated Humbercourt for his cruelty and oppression of cities and Hugonet had been chief enforcer of Charles’s harsh taxation. Another ducal official in Ghent became the target of the people’s rage: Jan Van Melle, a corrupt tax collector who had enriched himself.
However, the biggest danger to Burgundy was France. Louis XI had immediately leapt into action after hearing about Zurich. French forces invaded the Duchy of Burgundy, the County of Burgundy as well as Macon and Charolais. Louis had no right to claim these lands as Philip were the rightful heir to many. However, the lack of ducal oversight in the past years from Charles and Margaret had left large part of the population there feeling neglected and more in tune with the Frenchs then their northern counterpart where ducal presence was stronger. While Louis could not claim all of Burgundy’s fief as Philip of Burgundy and little John prevented the claim that the Burgundian lands were forfeit to the French crown, he had no intentions of doing nothing. In October the regions were overrun with French forces, and Margaret was unable to help them. Some French forces attacked Hainault and Luxemburg as well to distract the remaining ducal forces. Several villages near the border ended up being burned and even some soldiers managed to press much further, the cities of Amiens and Mons in Picardy and Hainault experienced fighting. All these places were far away from Ghent. The duchess was unable to aid with all her effort focusing on keeping the Flemish from erupting. Her pregnancy also incapacitated her as she was unable to travel as much as she usually would in times of crisis.
Margaret did gain a certain goodwill with the Estates from the Great Privilege and the French invasions did rally a larger amount of the Burgundian people to a unity. The burning of their villages did surprisingly not endear the victims to Louis forces and the loss of farms and supplies in winter made the delegates of Hainault and Luxemburg, especially, to fiercely support their dowager duchess. Another stroke of genius to get more support were the release of Adolf, Duke of Guelders from his imprisonment in Hesdin on the condition he fought for the duchy.
Adolf von Egmont, Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen
Adolf’s twin children, Charles and Philippa had grown up in the court and had, to their father’s dismay become very close to Philip. Another commander to help Margaret were Jacques of Savoy, who had nearly perished with Charles as Zurich and had come close to giving his life to save him. Jacques returned to court to redeem himself from his failure. Both would give their life in the end to protect the duchy.
While Louis fought the war against the duchy, he had one large problem the whole time. He had no legal claim to Philip’s realms. But on the other hands, he did enjoy a certain support from several french nobles, brought by the promise that they would get lands and castles in the Franche-Comte of Burgundy. Louis also said that Charles the Bold had broken his pledge as Louis’s vassal for the lands that laid in France and that unless Philip would come to court and pay tribute for Burgundy, the lands were forfeited. It was a thin excuse to many, but wars had been waged over less. The king also had a far stronger army at that point and many clever royal advisors that were happy to do his biddings.
Margaret on the other hand defended her sons’ legal claims against an invader. But she suffered from the internal tensions and had a smaller army. In December she had to ease up as she had to rest in the last weeks and on the 21 of December she gave birth to a daughter, named Anne.
Margaret of York, Dowager Duchess of Burgundy
The inaction of the Holy Roman Emperor also benefited France. Since the hoped for marriage between Mary of Burgundy and Archduke Maximilian had come to naught with the marriage to Lorraine in 1473, Frederick initially did not stir himself for the first year even if the Free County of Burgundy was a imperial fief. Maximilian had married Hedwig Jagiellon, the eldest daughter of King Casimir IV of Poland and Archduchess Elizabeth of Austria in 1474. So far, the couple had two daughters, Eleanor and Elizabeth in 75 and 77.
Louis did send a delegation to the dowager as well, with a proposal of marriage between Isabella of Burgundy and Charles, dauphin of France. Margaret turned that down, hoping for her brother’s support against France. While she waited for responses, she sent request for aid to her stepdaughter Mary in Lorraine. Nicholas of Anjou were eager to support his allies, but there were other factors pressing regarding his own realms. The year before France had invaded Anjou and Bar in a naked power grab against Lorraine, and the Estates of Lorraine had started peace talks with Louis in 1477. The ducal couple pressured the Estates for men to drive the French out of their regions and to aid Philip. But process was slow even if more and more people supported them, as the encroachment alarmed many in 1478. Margaret also reached out to other allies; ambassadors were dispatched to England, and to Emperor Frederick III. The ducal embassy to England met with difficulties in their negotiations. Margaret had offered her son Philip’s hand to Mary of York, Edward’s second daughter. The idea of a marriage between Anne of Burgundy and Edward, prince of Wales also resurged. Edward was enthusiastic about a double marriage between England and Burgundy, but his sister was hesitant. To make things even worse, Edward seemed to have little to no intention of paying a dowry for Mary. He was still very attached to his French pension from the Treaty of Picquigny. In exchange for Mary, he offered an invasion of France in return for a Burgundian pension, something that Margaret doubted would occur.
Finally, after three months of negotiations, an agreement was made. Baby Anne of Burgundy was betrothed to her cousin, the Prince of Wales. The marriage would take place at her 14th birthday in 1491. She would bring a dowry of 120, 000 crowns and in return the Burgundians could raise 10, 000 archers from England. Edward proved to be gracious enough (after heavy pressure) to send a force of 3000 men to Calais under the command of his brother, Richard of Gloucester in autumn of 1478.
Edward, Prince of Wales in 1482
The turbulence in Flanders continued well until March 1478. The Great Privilege had been accepted by the Estates, but the anger towards certain ducal officials did not subside. Margaret might be held in higher esteem, and no one was willing to attack the dowager while she was pregnant or after, but the same could not be said for others. Humbercourt, Hugonet and Jan Van Melle, as well as Guillaume de Clugny, the papal Pronotary soon found themselves as targets. All four men were arrested early in March and Melle’s house plundered by its wealth. Despite Margaret’s attempts of creating a proper trial, the men were sentenced to death and beheaded in public in late March.
The bloodletting seemed to have calmed down the Flemish people, as their most hated officials had faced justice. In April, a week after his eight birthday, Philip of Burgundy was sworn in as Count of Flanders at the St Nicholas Church. The public appearance of the young duke and Margaret with baby Anne seemed to win a lot of the Flemish over, especially Philip who displayed a maturity and dignity far above his years.
One other notable ally of Margaret would be Jehan van Dadizele. Jehan was the lieutenant general of Flanders and an important member of the Flemish nobility. He had been one of the negotiators when the Estates received the Great Privilege and defended the Flemish rights. A trusted and able man of Flanders, he requested a meeting with the dowager duchess, the great council and duke Philip. The meeting took place in mid-April and he offered the ducal family his council in exchange for the rights of Flanders to be upheld.
Margaret accepted him as advisor and Jehan gave the young Philip his pledge, in return Philip swore to upheld the rights as his liege lord. Jehan would be a prominent member of Philip’s regency, keeping order in Flanders, much to public relief. The result of Jehan’s reconciliation were that Margaret was able to depart Ghent in late May. She moved to her dower town of Binche in Hainault to support the efforts of expelling the french invaders and give support for the populace there. Her two eldest children came with her on the journey, but John and Anne remained at Ghent. When she arrived in Binche Margaret had also organised an impressive and solemn service in the late duke’s memory. The ceremony took place at night with a long procession of torchbearers winding through the city, who had been clad in black velvet. The dowager had paid for twenty pauper’s mourning clothes who took part in the ceremony. She and the children travelled with the train, Philip on horseback. Margaret and Isabella sat in an open carriage, both in black fur-lined gowns.
The Estates General had been hard pressed by the delegates of Hainault, among others, to raise a force strong enough to repel the French invaders in January. The estates agreed to raise a force of 12,000 men, around 7,000 had been levied in February. The presence of the young duke and their beloved dowager provided a huge rally, and the new force attacked the French at Hainault and after spring, the area had been freed of invaders. By June Margaret was able to receive the French army at Hainault surrender. Several captains had been taken prisoners by the Burgundians and weapons and pieces of artillery fell into their hands as well. In exchange for his war captains, Louis freed the Count of Chimay and Olivier de La Marche who had been taken ransom. La Marche was a important courtier and he would remain one of the dowager’s most trusted men.
Louis XI directed the remaining men to move back to Luxemburg. However, the French army had not been freed of trouble either. Dysentery had spread among the men and even in France, there were increased voices that his attack on Burgundy was unfunded. He had no rights to any fief belonging to the late Duke since Charles the Bold had male heirs at his death. One prominent action was Pope Sixtus IV who sent an embassy to Paris to protest his invasion. The threat of excommunication was included. Margaret and Philip would remain in Hainault until summer’s end. In Binche Margaret accomplished several goals; she met with the Hainault council as well as the leading officials in her dower town and Philip was sworn in as Count of Hainault in the neighbouring city of Mons in June.
Margaret sent a delegation to London to try to get her brother, Edward IV of England to act. She also directed 5,000 men to repel the French invaders in Luxembourg. In result Louis had to withdraw from Luxemburg in autumn of 1478. Despite that the military continued in the county of Burgundy, Charolais and Macon for a long while.
The delegates of Picardy and Artois also backed their duke and around 2, 500 additional men joined the fighting. In 1478 Philip was sworn in as Count as Artois and Picardy at St Omer. The nine year old Duke had by now learned his first practical lessons in governance and military tactics.
Despite of all the efforts, perseverance of the heartland of the Burgundian empire turned out to be impossible. Louis efforts of winning over the estates of Burgundy was in full swing by spring of 1478. He offered generous conditions towards the councils. Lenient taxations, a less corrupt government and privileges to the merchant community. Already in Charles the Bold’s time there had been a drift in that region towards France, so the plan had a good chance of succeeding. Despite that there was still a large community staying loyal to the ducal rulers and they protested heavily against the invasions. The Estates General were not able to defend the county efficiently either. The French efforts in the lower Burgundy paid off, as the majority of the Estates in Burgundy declared for the French after a summer of nonstop fighting in 1478. This action broke with the Estates General who had turned to support Philip and his mother.
Margaret stayed at Mons with Philip and Isabella and until late September when she and her family moved to Malines. The four ducal children needed a safe home for the foreseeable future, particularly John and the girls. Malines was an excellent choice for residence. Brabant was a more loyal region to the ducal rulers, rather than Flanders and Malines itself was centrally placed among Margaret’s dower towns. The city was guarded by walls and moats, making it easily defended. It had a reputation for being clean and livestock was not allowed to wander free. The ports were busy with traffic and the large population could sustain the industrial and commercial prosperity. Lacemaking provided work for the women of the city, as well as carpet weaving. Manufacturers of glass, pottery and leatherworks domineered the industry. Malines also had a reputation for metal crafts and armouries and bellmakers.
It was a ideal place for a ducal residence, but one problem remained. Malines did not have a ducal palace. Margaret solved that by purchasing the property of the bishop of Tournai. She also brought the seven adjourning houses and their land. The city of Malines welcomed their ducal family, and she received around 3, 000 florins to bear up the expenses. Isabella, John, and baby Anne finally had a proper home. Philip would not stay in Malines at much as his siblings, as he travelled a lot with his mother around the Low Countries until his 16th birthday.
In the beginning of 1479, the playing field had evened against France. The fighting had concentrated in the lower Burgundy. The final battle between the French and duchy took place in the city of Dole in the County of Burgundy. Flemish, Hainaults, Brabants, and Luxembourgian troops joined with men from England, some imperial troops, Lorraine soldiers and men from the duchy of Burgundy still loyal to their former ducal lieges. Adolf, Duke of Guelders and Jacques of Savoy held the command, while Richard, Duke of Gloucester led the english troops. In total they numbered 12,000 men. The date of the infamous day was on June 17th. The man commanding the French army was no other than Pierre de Rohan-Gié, Marshal of France.
Pierre, Marshal of France
Jacques of Savoy had taken a lesson from the defeat in Zurich and he urged the commanders to adopt a similar method of fighting against the French and their 11,000 strong troops.
The fighting began early in the morning and lasted for almost 30 hours, according to historians. The result of the battle was close to a draw. The ducal forces lost close to 8,500 men, while the French lost around 9,000 men in total. Corpses laid strewn all over the place, injured men crushed beneath the dead and the several soldiers fled only to drown in the river Doubs. Commanders on both sides died, Adolf and Jacques fought to the end in the battle, but so did Pierre. Eyewitness on both sides said that his death had come at the hands of the Duke of Gloucester, who in a charge of pure and unadulterated Plantagenet glory, killed the marshal of France himself. Rumours spread that just before his demise, Pierre had cried out for help, calling to him men after he had been unhorsed: “
Mon royaume pour un cheval!”
The Marshal’s last words had been
“My kingdom for a horse!”
Richard were injured in the battle as well, but the medics tended to him and he recovered after a month enough to ride again. The legend of the brave Plantagenet duke slaying the marshal of France would become a well-known story in the York dynasty and when he returned, he found find a hero’s welcome. But joy soon turned to sorrow for Richard. His wife, Anne Neville found herself pregnant three months after his return, but she died in July of 1480 from a premature birth with a male foetus. Richard was left a widower with two young daughters, Joan and Eleanor, just as his brother Edward had been a decade earlier. To make matters worse, Edward’s loathed Scottish queen gave birth to a small daughter around that time, even as the Duke of York, now three years old suffered from delicate health.
The reality of the situation soon set in for both parties. While the French forces had been narrowly beaten, the winning side did not have the ability to retake the Duchy either. Both sides sued for peace in autumn. Louis, realising that the best way to end the conflict and get what he wanted sent a treaty to the Low Countries as well as Lorraine.
Louis terms for peace contained the following:
-Isabella of Burgundy would be betrothed to the Dauphin and be raised in France until the wedding (Louis wanted the marriage to take place when she turned 14).
Her dowry would be the Duchy of Burgundy, and the Counties of Charolais and Macon.
-France would pay a war restitution of 150, 000 crowns to Philip and swear to never wage a war on the Low Countries again.
-France would return all the territories of Anjou and Bar to Lorraine and pay 80,000 crowns in restitution to Nicholas and Mary. France would not make any claim to the various Counties of Maine, Guise, Mortain and Gien either.
-French forces would also leave the County of Burgundy and it would be returned to Philip.
The council had mixed receptions to that treaty. On one hand it would resolve the problems with France, but on the other, the Duchy of Burgundy belonged rightfully to Philip. The terms were also favourable to Lorraine their strongest ally. But the dauphin was also still betrothed to Cecily of York, the second daughter of Edward IV. On the other hand Anne of Burgundy was still the future princess of Wales and Philip still betrothed to Mary of York.
The Flemish cities reacted positively to the French proposal. Margaret however was not convinced and refused the offer. In the winter of 1479 negotiations had reached a standstill. Louis decided to press the dowager further, sending two letters bearing his terms for a treaty. One was for Margaret and the other was to the Estates in Flanders. Margaret initially turned the treaty down, not wanting to give her daughter to the French. She was determined to regain Burgundy. Unfortunately, this time the dowager played straight into Louis hands.
After hearing her rejection, Louis sent a delegation to Ghent, demanding to know why the dowager duchess was not open to negotiations. Perhaps the letter sent to her had been lost? The estates in Flanders sent representatives to Margaret to get to the mystery. Under pressure the dowager was forced to show that she had received the letter from Louis, causing the Flemish cities to erupt in anger. Now it looked like Margaret had been dishonest with the Estates, not wanting to negotiate out of stubborn pride. This caused an uproar against the dowager and the Grand Council. Calls to end the war was shouted in the streets of Ghent and Brussels. The Flemish called for the custody of Philip to be removed from the dowager as well. Facing enormous pressure by the people, Margaret and the Grand Council were forced into open negotiations with the King of France.
In February of 1480 the Treaty of Arras was struck between Burgundy and France. Louis terms was agreed upon, with a few small changes, the marriage would take place at Isabella’s 15th birthday, not the 13th. Isabella would also keep a few Burgundians in her household, among those a couple of ladies chosen by her mother. The future dauphine would leave for France in summer of 1480. However, those changes were not of great importance to him. He had succeeded in his goal, even if the prize had been very high.
Once the treaty of Arras had been made by both parties, the anger towards the dowager lessened. Jehan van Dadizele, the lieutenant General of Flanders had been one of the chief negotatiors with France and he reassured the the Flemish people that the dowager would keep her word. Duke Philip would stay with his mother.
Isabella of Burgundy in 1481, the painting was made by Jean Hey. A miniature portrait was sent to her mother Margaret the same year.
Margaret spent the spring and summer with her daughters as her constant companion. Preparations for her journey to France included an updated trousseau with clothing, gold and silver plates, tapestries, and other possessions. Records for the dowager’s expenses shows cloth of gold and silver being ordered, fine Rennes linen, scarlet, purple and green velvets, and blue and pink silks, along with the payments for tailors and shoemakers. Margaret also employed a jewel smith to make a collection of jewellery for her daughter. Necklaces of gold with rubies and diamond rings, as well as collar of white roses with pearls was included in her belongings.
As a bibliophile Margaret also ensured that her daughter would leave with plenty of literature of different genres. The introduction of the printing press earlier would ensure that Margaret lived in a court of living authors. A few of the books given to Isabella came from her mother.
-Les Chroniques de Flandre, a book about the history of Flanders. Perhaps a reminder to her daughter of her heritage.
-La Somme le Roi, a sermon from a famous theologian Father Laurent du Bois, popular at court.
-Vie de St Colette, a religious work about St Colette.
-Recueil des Histories de Troie, (Collection of the stories of Troy), a copy of the book Margaret had gotten by William Caxton, who had introduced the printing press in England. Margaret had been his patron.
-Le Livre de la Cité des Dames, (The book of the city of ladies), the classic work of Christine de Pizan.
Isabella showed a tendency of clinginess to her mother and oldest brother during these preparations, perhaps anxiety for the separation. Leaving her little siblings, John and Anne was especially hard. Isabella had doted on them ever since they were born and in the nursery of Malines. Despite her long friendship with Philippa of Guelders, the other girl would stay in the Low Countries. The reputation of Louis XI as a father-in-law seemed to scare her. To Isabella, growing up with her duchy nearly constantly at war with France, the king had taken the form of a giant spider or a demon with horns and three eyes. Her inquiries about the dauphin got better results. Charles was described as an intelligent and charming boy.
Charles VIII of France
It was said that the miniature picture of Isabella that Charles received left the prince with positive feelings towards his fiancé.
In late July Isabella left with her mother and the entourage towards France. She was accompanied to Reims, where the royal delegates meet them at the cathedral. John II, duke of Bourbon, Anne of France, the eldest daughter of Louis XI and the bishop of Reims. Her arrival was celebrated as a alliance of peace by the French people. Isabella was handed over before the cathedral and publicly acclaimed as the Dauphine of France. The betrothal was blessed by the bishop of Reims inside the cathedral. Isabella and Margaret spent three days together in Reims, to make sure that all the belongings got transferred and to let the Burgundians rest before the journey home. Margaret learned too her relief that Isabella’s education as dauphine would be handled by Anne of France, a capable and tall woman, who seemed kind to the little princess. After the three days the dowager duchess returned to the Low Countries with her people.
Like with her stepdaughter, Margaret would see her daughter again and she would receive letters from Anne of France and Isabella. But nevertheless, the loss of her oldest girl would sting for a long while. But Margaret would receive a small consolidation price a few weeks afterwards as Mary, Duchess of Lorraine would welcome a daughter, named Margaret for the dowager herself.
Anne of France, Duchess of Bourbon. Louis’s daughter and the caretaker to Isabella of Burgundy.
Authors Note: Jehan was otl murdered in 1481, probably on the orders of archduke Maximilian, who tried to circumvent the Flemish rights, something that backfired on him. Here he survives and becomes a councillor to Philip and Margaret, so the Flemish situation is much better.
