Page 45 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

THE HIST OR Y OF BEL GIUM  43

their rule in the Low Countries, adding
Limburg in 1396 and the Duchy of Brabant
(which included Brussels) in 1404. Under
Philip the Good (r.1419–67), Flanders entered
a golden age. Philip was the richest man in
Europe and his court was one of the most
fashionable and celebrated of the time.
In 1429, Bruges became the capital
of Burgundy. For over a century, it had
been an important trading city, with a
population similar to that of London Death of Charles the Bold depicted by Eugene Delacroix in 1831
and Paris. It had a resident international
community, with Italian bankers as well The Turning Point
as merchants from England, Scotland, Philip’s son and successor, Charles (r.1467–77)
Spain, Germany, Genoa and Venice. used strong-arm tactics that earned him
Paintings by the city’s artists, including the sobriquets Charles the Bold and Charles
those by Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling, the Rash. He captured Dinant in 1466 and
bear witness to the extra ordinary riches of Liège in 1468. That same year, he was married
the well-to-do classes in clothing, jewellery for the third time, to Margaret of York, sister
and fur nishings. of Edward IV of England. Their wedding
Ruling from his Prinsenhof palace, Philip celebration in Bruges was one of the most
the Good created the idealistic Order of the spectacular feasts of medieval Europe.
Golden Fleece (a reference to the wool However, Charles overreached himself.
trade). This order of chivalry was dedicated In his bid to conquer all of Lorraine, he
to St Andrew and brought many of the was defeated and killed at the Battle
kings and lead ing nobles of Europe of Nancy, and, as a result, lost the
to Bruges to iron out their disputes. In 1441, Burgundian holdings in France.
Philip the Good acquired the Duchy of His only direct heir was his
Luxembourg. The only gap that daugh ter, 20-year-old Mary, who
now remained in the Burgundian now became ruler of the
pos sessions was the central remaining Burgundian territories
band of terri tory along the River in the Low Countries. Louis XI of
Meuse, belonging to the France hoped to marry his son
Bishopric of Liège, which to Mary of Burgundy, but her
included Dinant and Tongeren. stepmother, Margaret of York,
Yet, even here, Philip managed to had other plans. In 1477, Mary
exert control by installing his was married to the Habsburg
protégé Louis of Bourbon as Mary of Burgundy Archduke Maximilian of Austria,
prince-bishop. (1457–82) son of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Philip the Good and Isabella
1477 Death of
Charles the Bold; his
1430 Philip the Good 1468 Charles the Bold, daughter Mary
marries Isabella of Duke of Burgundy, marries Maximilian
Portugal, his third wife seizes Liège of Austria
1400 1425 1450 1475
1419 Philip the 1425 Foundation of the
Good succeeds as University of Leuven
Duke of Burgundy Tomb of Charles the Bold in
Bruges’s cathedral

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