Welcome to Grand Dukes of the West
The story of Valois Burgundy is one of the most exciting of the Late Middle Ages. The four Valois Dukes of Burgundy used political intrigue, calculated splendor, economic power, and good old-fashioned violence to forge a state out of the many Duchies and Counties between France and the Holy Roman Empire. During Burgundy’s height its Dukes were seen by many as the equals of Kings and Emperors and their court was at the center of Western Europe’s cultural and political development. And then it all fell apart. Please join me as I explore the history and legacy of this forgotten kingdom.
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Episode 61: Compensating for Something?
Philip the Good being presented with Jean Wauquelin’s Book of the Conquests and Deeds of Alexander the Great. Although the Dukes of Burgundy were not kings, they sure acted like they were. The Burgundian Court was one of the largest, most extravagant, and most magnificent in all of Europe. It was a center of artistic patronage, elaborate events, and grand displays. In fact, the Burgundian Court was so central to the identity of the Dukes and the administration of their lands, that some historians have claimed that Burgundy was a Theater State.
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A depiction of a Burgundian Court Festivity, painted in the 17th Century but based on a 15th Century original. Sources
Philip the Good by Richard Vaughan
The Promised Lands by Wim Blockmans and Walter Prevenier
The Court of the Dukes of Burgundy: A Model for Europe? by Werner Paravicini
The Court of Burgundy by Otto Cartelierri
The Travels of Leo of Rozmital
The Travels of Pero Tafur
Magnificence and Princely Splendour in the Middle Ages by Richard Barber
Art and pageantry in the Renaissance and Baroque Edited by Barbara Wisch and Susan Scott Munshower
Burgundian Black Edited by Jenny Boulboulle and Sven Dupre
Domestic birds at the Palace of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy, Philip the Bold and John the Fearless by Angelique Fouchecourt
Grand Dukes of the West 