Episode 70: Fathers and Sons
The arrival of Dauphin Louis at the Burgundian Court has only caused the already heightened tensions between France and Burgundy to heighten further. As Philip plays host to the King’s son, his own is finding himself ever more alienated, meanwhile the King is preparing to strike a blow against the…
Keep readingEpisode 69: Incroyable
The House of Croy had a dramatic rise over the course of the 15th Century. Beginning as Banneret Lords in Picardy, through their closeness with the Dukes of Burgundy, they gained immense riches, vast lands, and significant power. As Philip the Good aged, the Croy only grew more influential and…
Keep readingEpisode 68: England or France?
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…
Keep readingEpisode 67: A Fox That Will Eat All His Chickens
Charles VII and his son Louis had a strained relationship to say the very least, and the Dauphin was eager to escape his father’s court and head to Dauphine. Distance would not mend things between father and son, and before long, the Prince was fleeing to Burgundian territory, complicating the…
Keep readingEpisode 66: Burgundifying the Bishoprics
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…
Keep readingEpisode 65: The Almost Crusade
All his life, Philip the Good dreamed of going on Crusade, and all his life other things kept getting in the way. But even though the Duke of Burgundy never made it on Crusade, the Crusading Ideal still played a large part in the Duke’s reign, image, and stature as…
Keep readingEpisode 64: Jan van Eyck and the Northern Renaissance
The Dukes of Burgundy presided over one of the great flowerings of Art and Culture in the Later Middle Ages. While the Northern Renaissance was not a purely Burgundian phenomenon, the Burgundian Court and the Cities of the Burgundian Low Countries were at the Center of advances in Painting, Music,…
Keep readingEpisode 63: Jacques de Lalaing and the Tournament
Tournaments were more than an excuse for knights to whack each other with sticks, they were elaborate court events filled with splendor, ritual, and the careful exercise of violence. Perhaps nobody in Burgundy exemplified the Tournament as much as Jacques de Lalaing; through his skill in the lists, Jacques won…
Keep readingBonus Episode: The Formidable Women Who Shaped Medieval Europe with Susan Abernethy
Susan Abernethy, who you might also know as the Freelance History Writer, has recently put out her second book, The Formidable Women Who Shaped Medieval Europe, which dives into the biographies of over 40 women whose lives intersected with Burgundy in some way or another and adds rich context to…
Keep readingEpisode 62: Bastards of Burgundy
Two Portraits of Antoine, the Grand Bastard of Burgundy, painted by Northern Renaissance Masters Rogier van der Weyden (left) and Hans Memling (right). Philip the Good was known to suffer from the ‘weakness of the flesh.’ The Duke of Burgundy had dozens of mistresses and bastards throughout his life, so…
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Grand Dukes of the West 