Carolus Magnus Rex, 1470-1473
On January 15, 1470, at the palace of Coudenberg in Brussels, Duke Charles I of Burgundy's wife, Margaret of York (b. 1443), gives birth to a healthy son, who is christened with much pomp before the entire ducal court three days later 'Philippe, comte de Charolais'. The duke, greatly excited by the sudden prospect of a male heir for the first time in his reign, immediately orders public rejoicing throughout his vast territories and estates.
Meanwhile, across the Channel in England, the uprising of the Earl of Warwick and the resulting civil war that ensues that same year, forces the Duchess' brother, King Edward IV of England, to flee to Calais, after the traitor earl installs the deposed King Henry VI as restored king of England. The dispossed King Edward arrives in Bruges in October, and is welcomed by the pro-Yorkist court there.
While Duke Charles is initially reluctant to aide his wife's brother, the alliance of the Lancastrian forces in England against Burgundy with King Louis XI of France soon after necessitates action. With Burgundian money and reinforcements, the King Edward is thus able to arrive back in England by early 1471, and by late May has routed the rebels and secured his throne--and with it the Yorkist-Burgundian alliance.
With his enemy King Louis XI in check for the time being with the reversal of the Anglo-French alliance, the ambitious duke, his dynasty now secured by the birth of a legitimate male heir, now focuses on expanding his domains. He is particularly successful in the Low Countries, where he is able to purchase the right of succession to the Duchy of Guelders and County of Zutphen in late 1471 from his old ally, Arnold of Egmond, mostly in gratitude for the Duke of Burgundy's aide in quelling the revolts of Egmond's sons. Arnold's death in early 1473 will thus ensure the succession of Charles to his fiefs.
However, the Duke remains unsatisfied. Determined to permenantly unite his territories and gain a royal crown, he begins making overtures to Emperor Friedrich III. While the Habsburg Emperor is initially suspicious of the Duke and his seemingly endless ambition, he nevertheless decides to ally with him, mostly out of determination to ensure that Charles' ambitions remain within imperial interests. The Treaty of Cologne is signed later that year. By the terms of the agreement, Charles betrothes his daughter, Marie of Burgundy (b. 1457) to the Emperor's heir, Archduke Maximilian (b. 1459), promising both to support the latter's ambitions for the imperial crown, and also that in the event of the extinction of 'the most august House of Burgundy' in the male line, the ducal estates will revert intact to the Habsburgs. In return, the Emperor agrees to create a new 'Kingdom of Burgundy' out of the Duke's territories. Vicious gossip in the royal courts of Europe, however, asserts that the treaty was only political window dressing, and that the Emperor, ever-short on money, was in reality bought-off by the wealthy Duke of Burgundy, especially after the figure for the bride's dowry is discovered to be over 400,000 crowns!
The imperial decree, known as the 'Golden Bull of 1473', is granted by the Emperor in late June of that year. While Pope Sixtus IV duly grants his assent to the proceedings that same year, King Louis XI immediately raises his voice in protest, claiming that the incorporation of French lands into the new realm is legally null without his assent as liege-lord. Despite the protests of the French, Charles is nevertheless consecrated and crowned in the Cathedral of Trier as 'King of Burgundy' by the Elector-Archbishop.