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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 68: England or France?

    Richard Duke of York and Edmund Beaufort Duke of Somerset arguing in front of a catatonic King Henry VI.

    In the 1440s, the Burgundian Court began to be rocked by a question: should Burgundy align itself with England or France?

    Time Period Covered: 1444-1454

    Notable People: Philip the Good, Isabella of Portugal, Charles the Bold, King Charles VII, Isabella of Bourbon Countess of Charolais, Charles I Duke of Bourbon, Richard Duke of York, Edmund Beaufort Duke of Somerset, Margaret of Anjou Queen of France, King Henry VI

    Notable Events/Developments: Factions at the Burgundian Court, Changing Relations with France, Madness of Henry VI, Beginning of the Wars of the Roses, Relations between the Burgundians and the Yorkists, Charles the Bold’s Childhood, Marriage of Charles the Bold and Isabella of Bourbon

    Charles the Bold and his second wife Isabella of Bourbon.

    Sources

    Philip the Good by Richard Vaughan

    Some aspects of Burgundian attitudes towards the English during the reign of Philip the Good: George Chastelain and his circle by Graeme Small

    Royaute Francaise et Etat Bourguinon de 1435 a 1477 by Andre Leguai

    A l’ombre du Pouvoir: Les entourages princiers au Moyen Age Edited By Jean-Louis Kupper and Alain Marchandisse

    The Formidable Women Who Shaped Medieval Europe: Power and Patronage at the Burgundian Court by Susan Abernethy

    The Hundred Years War: Triumph and Illusion by Jonathan Sumption

    The Wars of the Roses : The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones

    Histoire de Charles VII by Gaston du Fresne de Beaucourt Tome V

    Ouvres of Georges Chastellain Tome III

    Memoires by Jacques du Clerq

    Memoires by Olivier de la Marche