Episode 66: Burgundifying the Bishoprics

Triptych with the Virgin and Child, Saints and Donors painted by the Master of Delft c.1500. The far left of the triptych shows David of Burgundy as the Bishop of Utrecht. 

Throughout the reigns of all the Burgundian Dukes so far, they have been constantly trying to expand their influence over the Church in the Low Countries. In the mid-1450s, Philip the Good would take that project as far as it had ever gone by placing Burgundians on the Episcopal thrones of Utrecht and Liege.

Time Period Covered: 1455-1460

Notable People: Philip the Good, David of Burgundy Bishop of Utrecht, Louis of Bourbon Bishop of Liege, Gijsbrecht van Brederode, Reinoud van Brederode, Duke Arnold of Guelders, Catherine of Cleves Duchess of Guelders, Jean de Lannoy Stadtholder of Holland, Rudolph von Diepholz Bishop of Utrecht, John of Heinsberg Bishop of Liege

Notable Events/Developments: Death of Rudolph von Diepholz, Election of Gijsbrecht van Brederode, Siege of Deventer (1456), David of Burgundy becomes Bishop of Utrecht, Louis of Bourbon becomes Bishop of Liege

Saint Martin’s Cathedral in Utrecht

Sources

Philip the Good by Richard Vaughan

Staat en kerk in Holland en Zeeland onder de Bourgondische hertogen, 1425-1477 by A. G. Jongkees

The Chronicle of Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland with the Chronicle of the Bishops of Utrecht by Cornelius Aurelius

Recueil des croniques et anchiennes istories de la Grant Bretaigne, a present nomme Engleterre by Jean de Wavrin

Handbook of Dutch Church History ed by Herman J. Selderhuis

The Golden Age of Burgundy by Joseph Calmette

In the Shadow of Burgundy: The Court of Guelders in the Late Middle Ages by Gerard Nijsten

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

Jean de Heinsberg (1419-1455): Ou le Dilemme d’Un Prince-Eveque de Liege Ecertele par des Options Politiques Antagonistes by Alain Marchandisse

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