Episode 51: A Terrible Wednesday

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The Duchess of Burgundy Arrested at the Gates of Bruges by Sophie Rude.

As Philip the Good retreated from Calais, he found himself going out of the frying pan and into the fire. The militias of Flanders had mutineed and the county was on the brink of rebellion.

Time Period Covered: 1432-1438

Notable People: Philip the Good, Isabella of Portugal Duchess of Burgundy, Roland d’Uutkercke, Jan Van Hoorn, Simon de Lalaing, Colard de Commines, Raase Rouven

Notable Events/Developments: Revolt of Ghent (1432), Rebellion of Cassel (1430), Failure of the Siege of Calais (1436), Rebellion of Bruges (1436-1438), Terrible Wednesday of Pentecost

This map from the 1600s depicts Eastern Flanders and Zeeland in the 14th Century. Notice how Bruges only has access to the see via the Zwin Estuary and ships heading to Bruges first have to sail by Sluis.

This map shows the three Quarters of Flanders, as well as Gallicant or Walloon Flanders. Also shown are other key sites from the episode such as the Castellanies of Cassel and Bruges and the towns of Sluis, Oostburg, and Geraardsbergen.

Sources

Philip the Good by Richard Vaughan

The Promised Lands by Wim Blockmans and Walter Prevenier

The ‘Terrible Wednesday’ of Pentecost: Confronting Urban and Princely Discourses in the Bruges Rebellion of 1436-1438 by Jan Dumolyn

Medieval Bruges c. 850-1550 by Andrew Brown and Jan Dumolyn

Medieval Flanders by David Nicholas

The Chronicles of Enguerrand De Monstrelet

Isabel of Burgundy by Aline S. Taylor

The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy by Robert Douglas Smith and Kelly DeVries

A Companion to the Hanseatic League ed. by Donald J. Harreld

Beggars, Iconoclasts, and Civic Patriots by Peter Arnade

Ducal patronage and performance as a power expression in conquered cities: The case of the Burgundian Low Countries by Oskar Rojewski

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