Walking on the Silver Line: A Valois-Bourgogne TL
- Thread starter Liminia1
- Start date
True but still, Charles could have not asked for a better heir.
And i know you're not in for a habsburg-burgundy alliance but i also wish the best for max
Thank Isabella and Margaret. Charles didn't really do much in raising Philip. I may have a side chapter dedicated to court and government under Charles.
That they do, like the cousins that you despise on family gathering and the next one you're taking selfies with them, rinse and repeat.
Thank you ladies, and please do.
Chapter 7.5 Persevering Dreams of Colchis, 1457-1472
Charles the Absolute cut a very strong and steadfast figure, and his realms would reflect that, while other European realms were in war and in chaos Burgundy especially the Burgundian Netherlands were quite peaceful and prosperous. Charles' relationship with his third wife, Margaret of York would describe his internal governance the best. He would never be with his wife often perhaps only visiting his wife and children rarely while he was off campaigning, Margaret would not necessarily mind the coldness as raising three children and governing the realms in his absence would prove to be a momumental task for her, but unlike his father Philip the Good: Charles would not have any illegitimate children respecting his wife. Whether it was a practical move to govern the split realms or merely wishing to stray away from his father's insatiable appetites of the flesh, Charles' relationship with his realms and his family would be cold, distant but in goodwill.
Margaret of York deserves most of the credit for maintaining the realms under Charles but his administrative, and judicial duties should not be understated. In his 5 years of governing Holland, he would develop a habit of being notoriously indecisive but yet firm in his opinions. Philip the Good however seeing this weakness sought to correct it by forcing him to own up to his indecisiveness and he would suffer these mistakes with various sporadic revolts in Holland throughout his tenure as governor. Charles would adopt a stance of cautious but decisive, he would never state his opinion or even form one until his advisors explained to him the situation and their thoughts. This would be perhaps best seen in his conference at Trier in which a policy laid out by his advisors which went for a push to maximalist objectives during the conference would be what Charles adopted throughout the conference, only to compromise to where Philip's position was a decade prior. His judicial and financial reforms would advance the Burgundian state overall, albeit it would definitely ruin his popularity with the urban elites.
His judicial reforms are of particular note, as while he followed his predecessors in establishing a French line of judicial systems, he would do so painstakingly slowly and only through some support from the local nobility. This would culminate in the establishment of the parlement of Malines which superseded all of his French and Imperial courts. This was done incredibly slowly and through Burgundian money and constant rhetoric to the general estates of the Netherlands. This parlement would be considered a greater court of appeals which would be merged along with the counties of Flanders, Artois, Boulogne along with any of the former French fiefs that were freed in 1471. This judicial court would be quite limited in scope as it can hear appeals that mattered with the crown, or with cases the involved joint jurisdiction. His financial reforms which were already underway by his lieutenancy of Philip the Good in uniting the various financial administrations into one larger administration, it would be completed by Charles the Bold at least for his northern territories in a larger chambre des comptes. Only through various bribes, threats and speeches did these reforms succeed and while immensely popular within the populace and the less wealthy. The magnates and incredibly well off merchants were completely against these changes. A mixture of Burgundian propaganda, partisans, and the charm of his son and wife would quell the rebellions against Charles throughout 1469-1473.
The estates general of the Netherlands would be transformed into the estates general of Burgundy in 1470, with deputies from the two Burgundies partaking in the estates as soon as possible. His reforms on centralization would prove most beneficial in the summons of 1473 where shortages of corn exports in Flanders occurred, Charles' centralizing reforms gave him enough power to fix the issue on hand with his famous ordinances. Local age old privileges were disregarded in favour of standardization and centralization throughout the realms, his popularity would fluctuate generally amongst Burgundy but the privelged old elite would still despise his efforts and mount any resistance against the reforms which he throughly crushed.
His ecclesiastical reforms would not be as successful however did lay the groundwork for Philip's archdiocese reforms. Charles would appoint Hue de Lannoy to the archbishopric of Bescanon who was appointed through painstaking negotiation with the city, the emperor and the pope. The weakening of Liege, Cambrai, Utrecht, later on Verdun, Metz, Toul and Strasbourg by the power of the newly appointed archbishop would slowly begin as Burgundy continued to press for a cardinal for Burgundy. All of these reforms would lay groundwork much like his predecessors and would only be completed by Philip the Rich.
Philip the Rich, heir apparent to the Burgundian state would be Charles' greatest success although it would be more accurate to portray his education as a result of Isabella of Bourbon and later Margaret of York's education. Isabella would reside in Holland throughout Charles' time as stadholder and the time there would teach Philip to not necessarily be too enjoyed in the illustrious court of Burgundy at the time but instead to speak to the larger populace and enjoy the sights of the bustling medieval city of Amsterdam at the time, Isabella smartly only spoke to Philip in Dutch who would pick up the language quickly and later on would teach him French as that was the other language in the court of Charles the Absolute. Margaret of York would arrive to a studied and learned Philip the Rich and would further increase his education, by teaching him English, Latin and later on with great difficulty German. Under Margaret, Philip would observe the court life under Charles the Absolute which Margaret would run. Margaret would also insist that Philip stay by her side when she was conducting administration. As a result of being molded almost entirely by Margaret, when Anne of Champagne arrived Philip was the ideal prince speaking to her in fluent French and touring the lands of the Burgundian Netherlands with her. Margaret would not prioritize Philip however and began to tutor Anne as well, who was a natural talent at governance, finance and administration much to Margaret's joy. Charles in 1473 would reenter his son's life and begin teaching him Italian which Charles' had a passion and love for. Most importantly Charles would try to teach Philip public speaking as that was a key tool for any aspiring duke, and Philip would surpass Charles in this aspect much to Charles' joy. Due to Philip's study in law, finance, administration from Margaret, Philip would not speak with as much passion and emotion compared to his father but he was far more successful in convincing people that their interests were taken care of under Philip who would use a mixture of conflicting laws, incentives and plain logic to win over the people. Charles' education for Philip however, would be mostly focused on martial skill.
Charles' main achievements were his reforms in the Burgundian army in theory a professional standing army. In practice this army was riddled with flaws throughout his reign and only due to Charles' insistence did this standing army would be able to provide Charles his long awaited battlefield victory at the end of his reign. Throughout his reforms an underlying theme of harsh discipline was given to Burgundian armies who were elaborately organized and armed richly and to the teeth. The two minor victories in Brustem and Montlhery would ingrain with Charles, patience when it came to battles and the importance of artillery and infantry. His vanguard was routed both times, but it would be English archers and Burgundian artillery that would save him. Charles realized the usage of the smoke from a salvo dedicated to a specific spot was incredibly powerful as a tool to distract and obscure his opponent. His son, Philip would be taught this as well. These minor victories combined with the losses in Dijon, and witnessing the victories of the English and importantly the armies of Swiss would teach him to fully use his armies. The prevalence of Burgundian infantry would be shown by Philip the Rich during the wars of Constance, as Burgundy would develop their own two tiered infantry. Light mobile infantry as a vanguard, which was considered highly disciplined by Charles while his heavy infantry would be inspired by English archers, French crossbowmen and field artillery. This incredibly modern army would be both very quick and yet incredibly slow. Often times Burgundy would arrive at the battlefield with their light infantry and buy time to let the other half of Burgundian arms to set up in order to crush any army on the field.
Charles' usage of military governorships and posts was quite modern and instrumental to the creation of a Burgundian standing army. Charles would create various military offices separate from civilian ones which had no authority other than law enforcement, while Burgundian finances for this standing army would come from the general estates of Burgundy, Charles would insist on military academies in order to train them lightly in their respective role within their unit, while permanent training would be done within Charles' military camps, Burgundian soldiers would start off with some basic training within their local states. Burgundian military governors would also be responsible for training their local security forces which were under the direct oversight by the governor himself and indirectly under the local estates. This would provide another centralizing tenet of his reforms as Burgundian recruitment would be placed out of the estates but affirmed or gave the privilege for internal security to the estates.
Burgundy at the time was fighting for its life against France as every day nobles and people switched sides for their allegiance however what was crucial here was Charles was incredibly good at removing such "traitors" to his realm, the complete destruction and servitude of the Croy family, and the replacements of the various council members under Philip the Good, finally the removal of Louis of Saint-Pol would be the most famous of these "purges". Burgundian diplomacy especially in this era was very fluid much like Europe was at the time, however what Charles could count on was the allegiance of the counts of Cleves, and Julich-Berg both of which were de facto Burgundian vassals. The trustworthiness of allies such as England, Scotland, Denmark, Venice, Savoy and Milan were all questioned especially in the resubjugation war of 1475. Historians would love to say Burgundy's slow expansion eastward was gradual and calculated, it was not. Burgundian foreign policy except their resentment towards France was always changing and completely fluid, this can especially be seen in Charles' interactions with the emperor. It would not be Burgundian foreign policy that was the stable thing in Charles' life but instead Charles' administrative capabilities or more accurately Margarets'.
Margaret of York deserves most of the credit for maintaining the realms under Charles but his administrative, and judicial duties should not be understated. In his 5 years of governing Holland, he would develop a habit of being notoriously indecisive but yet firm in his opinions. Philip the Good however seeing this weakness sought to correct it by forcing him to own up to his indecisiveness and he would suffer these mistakes with various sporadic revolts in Holland throughout his tenure as governor. Charles would adopt a stance of cautious but decisive, he would never state his opinion or even form one until his advisors explained to him the situation and their thoughts. This would be perhaps best seen in his conference at Trier in which a policy laid out by his advisors which went for a push to maximalist objectives during the conference would be what Charles adopted throughout the conference, only to compromise to where Philip's position was a decade prior. His judicial and financial reforms would advance the Burgundian state overall, albeit it would definitely ruin his popularity with the urban elites.
His judicial reforms are of particular note, as while he followed his predecessors in establishing a French line of judicial systems, he would do so painstakingly slowly and only through some support from the local nobility. This would culminate in the establishment of the parlement of Malines which superseded all of his French and Imperial courts. This was done incredibly slowly and through Burgundian money and constant rhetoric to the general estates of the Netherlands. This parlement would be considered a greater court of appeals which would be merged along with the counties of Flanders, Artois, Boulogne along with any of the former French fiefs that were freed in 1471. This judicial court would be quite limited in scope as it can hear appeals that mattered with the crown, or with cases the involved joint jurisdiction. His financial reforms which were already underway by his lieutenancy of Philip the Good in uniting the various financial administrations into one larger administration, it would be completed by Charles the Bold at least for his northern territories in a larger chambre des comptes. Only through various bribes, threats and speeches did these reforms succeed and while immensely popular within the populace and the less wealthy. The magnates and incredibly well off merchants were completely against these changes. A mixture of Burgundian propaganda, partisans, and the charm of his son and wife would quell the rebellions against Charles throughout 1469-1473.
The estates general of the Netherlands would be transformed into the estates general of Burgundy in 1470, with deputies from the two Burgundies partaking in the estates as soon as possible. His reforms on centralization would prove most beneficial in the summons of 1473 where shortages of corn exports in Flanders occurred, Charles' centralizing reforms gave him enough power to fix the issue on hand with his famous ordinances. Local age old privileges were disregarded in favour of standardization and centralization throughout the realms, his popularity would fluctuate generally amongst Burgundy but the privelged old elite would still despise his efforts and mount any resistance against the reforms which he throughly crushed.
His ecclesiastical reforms would not be as successful however did lay the groundwork for Philip's archdiocese reforms. Charles would appoint Hue de Lannoy to the archbishopric of Bescanon who was appointed through painstaking negotiation with the city, the emperor and the pope. The weakening of Liege, Cambrai, Utrecht, later on Verdun, Metz, Toul and Strasbourg by the power of the newly appointed archbishop would slowly begin as Burgundy continued to press for a cardinal for Burgundy. All of these reforms would lay groundwork much like his predecessors and would only be completed by Philip the Rich.
Philip the Rich, heir apparent to the Burgundian state would be Charles' greatest success although it would be more accurate to portray his education as a result of Isabella of Bourbon and later Margaret of York's education. Isabella would reside in Holland throughout Charles' time as stadholder and the time there would teach Philip to not necessarily be too enjoyed in the illustrious court of Burgundy at the time but instead to speak to the larger populace and enjoy the sights of the bustling medieval city of Amsterdam at the time, Isabella smartly only spoke to Philip in Dutch who would pick up the language quickly and later on would teach him French as that was the other language in the court of Charles the Absolute. Margaret of York would arrive to a studied and learned Philip the Rich and would further increase his education, by teaching him English, Latin and later on with great difficulty German. Under Margaret, Philip would observe the court life under Charles the Absolute which Margaret would run. Margaret would also insist that Philip stay by her side when she was conducting administration. As a result of being molded almost entirely by Margaret, when Anne of Champagne arrived Philip was the ideal prince speaking to her in fluent French and touring the lands of the Burgundian Netherlands with her. Margaret would not prioritize Philip however and began to tutor Anne as well, who was a natural talent at governance, finance and administration much to Margaret's joy. Charles in 1473 would reenter his son's life and begin teaching him Italian which Charles' had a passion and love for. Most importantly Charles would try to teach Philip public speaking as that was a key tool for any aspiring duke, and Philip would surpass Charles in this aspect much to Charles' joy. Due to Philip's study in law, finance, administration from Margaret, Philip would not speak with as much passion and emotion compared to his father but he was far more successful in convincing people that their interests were taken care of under Philip who would use a mixture of conflicting laws, incentives and plain logic to win over the people. Charles' education for Philip however, would be mostly focused on martial skill.
Charles' main achievements were his reforms in the Burgundian army in theory a professional standing army. In practice this army was riddled with flaws throughout his reign and only due to Charles' insistence did this standing army would be able to provide Charles his long awaited battlefield victory at the end of his reign. Throughout his reforms an underlying theme of harsh discipline was given to Burgundian armies who were elaborately organized and armed richly and to the teeth. The two minor victories in Brustem and Montlhery would ingrain with Charles, patience when it came to battles and the importance of artillery and infantry. His vanguard was routed both times, but it would be English archers and Burgundian artillery that would save him. Charles realized the usage of the smoke from a salvo dedicated to a specific spot was incredibly powerful as a tool to distract and obscure his opponent. His son, Philip would be taught this as well. These minor victories combined with the losses in Dijon, and witnessing the victories of the English and importantly the armies of Swiss would teach him to fully use his armies. The prevalence of Burgundian infantry would be shown by Philip the Rich during the wars of Constance, as Burgundy would develop their own two tiered infantry. Light mobile infantry as a vanguard, which was considered highly disciplined by Charles while his heavy infantry would be inspired by English archers, French crossbowmen and field artillery. This incredibly modern army would be both very quick and yet incredibly slow. Often times Burgundy would arrive at the battlefield with their light infantry and buy time to let the other half of Burgundian arms to set up in order to crush any army on the field.
Charles' usage of military governorships and posts was quite modern and instrumental to the creation of a Burgundian standing army. Charles would create various military offices separate from civilian ones which had no authority other than law enforcement, while Burgundian finances for this standing army would come from the general estates of Burgundy, Charles would insist on military academies in order to train them lightly in their respective role within their unit, while permanent training would be done within Charles' military camps, Burgundian soldiers would start off with some basic training within their local states. Burgundian military governors would also be responsible for training their local security forces which were under the direct oversight by the governor himself and indirectly under the local estates. This would provide another centralizing tenet of his reforms as Burgundian recruitment would be placed out of the estates but affirmed or gave the privilege for internal security to the estates.
Burgundy at the time was fighting for its life against France as every day nobles and people switched sides for their allegiance however what was crucial here was Charles was incredibly good at removing such "traitors" to his realm, the complete destruction and servitude of the Croy family, and the replacements of the various council members under Philip the Good, finally the removal of Louis of Saint-Pol would be the most famous of these "purges". Burgundian diplomacy especially in this era was very fluid much like Europe was at the time, however what Charles could count on was the allegiance of the counts of Cleves, and Julich-Berg both of which were de facto Burgundian vassals. The trustworthiness of allies such as England, Scotland, Denmark, Venice, Savoy and Milan were all questioned especially in the resubjugation war of 1475. Historians would love to say Burgundy's slow expansion eastward was gradual and calculated, it was not. Burgundian foreign policy except their resentment towards France was always changing and completely fluid, this can especially be seen in Charles' interactions with the emperor. It would not be Burgundian foreign policy that was the stable thing in Charles' life but instead Charles' administrative capabilities or more accurately Margarets'.
Amazing work!So this is the long awaited full government and court chapter. I also wanted to expand on Philip's education here LOL. Threw in a bit of Anne but most importantly 9 paragraphs 1.8k words for a half chapterSee y'all in Senlis Xd
Chapter 8: To break up the league of the well-off 1469-1475
The sale of Alsace to Burgundy would not be Charles' achievement but Philip's, as his policies and wealth would be the key driving force against the two main powers at the time, Strasbourg, Basel and the Free cities along with Charles' ally: Frederick I of the palatine. Strasbourg would be particularly aggressive against Burgundian expansion, some historians would even say they were the most anti-Burgundian besides Louis XI. The sale of Alsace would force Burgundy to take on the position of the Habsburgs who were the rivals and victims of Swiss expansion, in fact the greatest reason for the mortgage was to secure Burgundian aid against the Swiss for the Habsburgs. The Burgundians would pay off any remaining debts Sigismund owed to the Swiss thereby stopping legal expansion northwards which angered Bern. Importantly, the alliance between Sigismund and Burgundy would now ensure the Swiss would be set on a path of war against Burgundy.
The struggle of Mulhouse between the Swiss and Burgundy would immediately start off as Sigismund was already in a minor war over the lands. Burgundy would arrive under Peter von Hagenbach's command who would seemingly serve his own interests and pressure a joint offensive against the Swiss with Sigismund, only Charles' commands denied him the all out war the two sought. However, importantly Peter would anger Strasbourg through his provocative action of ordering them not to proceed in their elections. These slight verbal attacks would form an anti-Burgundian alliance between Strasbourg, the Swiss, the Free cities of Swabia and importantly the elector palatine. France would also join in this alliance albeit would pursue a neutrality treaty weirdly enough agreeing if either party went to war against Burgundy the other party would remain neutral. Even though Burgundy was able to retrieve the contents of the treaty by way of espionage, it would be only the threat of Swiss intervention which would place pressure on Burgundy and France would not even try to contact the Swiss to join their war during 1470-1472.
It would be the shifting allegiance of Sigismund of Austria that would ignite a Burgundian-Swiss war. The Swiss and Austrians would begin to reconcile and formulate an anti-Burgundian alliance which would be joined by the count of Wurttemberg. This formation of an anti-Burgundian alliance would fly underneath Charles who sent diplomats to shore up his alliance with the Austrians and to mediate his relations with the Swiss. These attempts would fail completely as the Swiss were suspicious and distrustful of Charles while the Austrians seeked to reclaim their ancestral homelands. Charles would also play a double game as well, these attempts at pacification were merely placating in general as Charles feared a war with France over his control of Alsace. The Swiss would send a delegation perhaps the last attempt at war but Charles would trust his bailiff Peter over the Swiss and refuse to dismiss him. This would cause war between the Swiss and Burgundy as Charles arrived south to Grandson to intercept the Swiss army that was to attack the Free County in order to seize the lands of Alsace themselves. The following victory at Grandson, would shatter Charles' faith in Peter. Already his reports of his arrogance was concerning to Charles who wished to appoint his heir to Alsace as soon as possible, this victory would give Charles the justification to remove Peter and replace him with his son Philip.
Philip who already paid quite a bit of attention to affairs in Alsace, as Charles was preparing him to replace Peter back in 1470. Philip's fluency in German and the fame of being the Count of Charolais would give him a little breathing room. Philip would arrive at Mulhouse in February 1473, and would spend nearly two weeks in the city speaking both to the city magnates, and the populace. While, he would not succeed to bringing the city into Charles' influence, his good faith negotiations and his wealth would spark a pro-Burgundian faction in Mulhouse. Strasbourg would not react to this development well and begin to assemble a league to drive out Burgundian control over Alsace. This league of Constance would be formed mostly due to Strasbourg's insistence to drive out rival economic influence which was mostly Burgundian at this point. The Swiss begin to seriously discuss to redeem the mortgage and return the lands to the incredibly weakened Austrians. King Louis XI would fumble his diplomacy as well, as Italian mercenaries began to flow to Alsace by Charles' request which Louis did not forbid much to the Swiss' anger. Sigismund would also send his requests for an alliance to Louis who would reject it outright. What Louis did contribute though was his support of the redemption of the mortgage of Alsace by Sigismund, unfortunately he would not foot the bill for this expense. In 1473, Philip would arrive at Bern to speak to the Swiss, apologizing for Hagenbach's aggressive rhetoric and offering a conference to further mediate and strengthen relationships with the Swiss, citing the alliance of 1467. The Swiss at this point egged on by Bern and Strasbourg would refuse as they believed that they were threatened by Burgundian power and influence. Again, Philip would create another minor pro-Burgundian faction with his honey-sweetened words.
The arrival of the emperor in the autumn after the conference of Trier would further strengthen the Swiss position, although it would certainly take a while. Sigismund who at this point lost everything with the dismissal of Peter would throw his lot behind the Swiss grand alliance who all unanimously agreed to the return of Alsace to Austria. The Trier conference would not change much in this position, Philip much like Charles agreed that Alsace was permanently Burgundian, and would pressure Sigismund to agree that Burgundy was in complete control of Alsace due to the mortgage. Sigismund continued to contact the French under Louis XI, along with the Swiss. Both sides believed with French diplomacy and force of arms, Alsace would return to Austrian hands. Charles' arrival to Alsace however would strengthen Philip' position. Charles would much to Philip's happiness give two things, the prestige and further legitimacy of Philip's governorship of Alsace and more money which Philip placed into good use. Charles and Philip would invest their presence wisely visiting town after town speaking to people and would ensure loyalty through speeches and bribes.
In 1474, Philip would finally break Mulhouse' resistance as he would be appointed protector of Mulhouse much to Strasbourg's anger. Philip continued his diplomatic efforts, warmly welcoming the Swiss ambassador and showed off the classic Burgundian wealth and splendour, while Bern's militaristic classic elites wished to see Burgundy out, the ambassadors only relayed talks of peace and trade from Philip much to their anger, but the drive to remove Burgundy from Alsace was already too entrenched and levies began to assemble to drive Burgundy out. His other diplomatic efforts to Sigismund was far less warm as Philip accused him of collaborating with the French and not abiding by the treaty stating his governorship of Alsace has turned the region incredibly prosperous. This attack on Sigismund would drive him over the edge and seek a full alliance with the Swiss. Louis XI would also begin to exercise his energies into the region although he would achieve nothing novel or significant. What was significant however was the eternal peace signed between Austria and Switzerland giving Sigismund some of his lands back and would agree to the return of Alsace to Austria. The formation of the league of Constance which was a purely defensive alliance against Burgundy, with only the stated goal of returning Alsace to Austria.
Sigismund would strike first, paying back the mortgage of Alsace and immediately asking to return to his command, Alsace. Charles would refuse arguing that since this alliance was construed by Louis XI the mortgage was forfeited to a sale per the treaty of St. Omer. Strasbourg seizing the legal justification to occupy Alsace invaded at the head of an army. Philip who wasn't unarmed and with the assistance of his fiancée Anne, she would arrive at the helm of the army and drove them out of Alsace. This was quite embellished to Burgundy, Margaret was the one ordering the army to arrive and Anne at this point two years apart from Philip wished to reunite with him again. Events began to spiral, as war would spark between Austria, Bern, the League of Constance and France all united against Burgundy. Philip who at this point, gained complete support of Alsace with the arrival of an army to protect the lands would fight a protracted minor war winning only minor skirmishes. However, the league has overstretched themselves. Burgundy would enact a complete economic blockade while Margaret was sending reinforcements to Philip. Finally the confrontation at Mulhouse in which Philip was besieged at would end decisively with a Burgundian victory which sent the Swiss running into an ambush led by Burgundian arms. This victory would later lead to the raids of Strasbourg and Bern, and stern negotiations of the Swiss and Burgundians. The Swiss who already were divided against the war would sue for a separate peace with Burgundy agreeing that the treaty of St. Omer would be honoured, Bern would resent this peace but the other cities/cantons overruled Bern in this instance. Strasbourg and Austria would follow soon after in the later months of 1474.
An important reason for the quick collapse of the league was the triple alliance of Burgundy, Savoy and Milan. Bern has constantly interfered in Savoyard politics which angered the Duchess of Savoy and eventually the rise of a triple alliance would drive Bern away from Vaud and Savoy in general. Bern would argue somewhat successfully that the peace signed in 1474 denied Burgundy the right to join their war against Savoy but Philip merely disregarded this truce and ordered his armies to march into Bern demanding a ceasefire against Savoy which would further strengthen Burgundy's grip on Savoy. Bern would sign a humiliating peace in Geneva in 1475 under Philip's watch, all of Bern's ambitions westward and northward were dashed.
Philip's masterful politics in Alsace would be an harbinger to his politics in his reign. The final phase of the war of the roses and Burgundian policy there would secure his brother John II of England to secure the throne which would give Burgundy another steadfast ally. The intervention of Savoy in the Italian wars, and the troubled regency of Charles VIII all would show his approach to foreign policy and politics, historians would argue that it is a refinement of Charles' approach in which popular and noble support would be used to further achieve his goals.
The struggle of Mulhouse between the Swiss and Burgundy would immediately start off as Sigismund was already in a minor war over the lands. Burgundy would arrive under Peter von Hagenbach's command who would seemingly serve his own interests and pressure a joint offensive against the Swiss with Sigismund, only Charles' commands denied him the all out war the two sought. However, importantly Peter would anger Strasbourg through his provocative action of ordering them not to proceed in their elections. These slight verbal attacks would form an anti-Burgundian alliance between Strasbourg, the Swiss, the Free cities of Swabia and importantly the elector palatine. France would also join in this alliance albeit would pursue a neutrality treaty weirdly enough agreeing if either party went to war against Burgundy the other party would remain neutral. Even though Burgundy was able to retrieve the contents of the treaty by way of espionage, it would be only the threat of Swiss intervention which would place pressure on Burgundy and France would not even try to contact the Swiss to join their war during 1470-1472.
It would be the shifting allegiance of Sigismund of Austria that would ignite a Burgundian-Swiss war. The Swiss and Austrians would begin to reconcile and formulate an anti-Burgundian alliance which would be joined by the count of Wurttemberg. This formation of an anti-Burgundian alliance would fly underneath Charles who sent diplomats to shore up his alliance with the Austrians and to mediate his relations with the Swiss. These attempts would fail completely as the Swiss were suspicious and distrustful of Charles while the Austrians seeked to reclaim their ancestral homelands. Charles would also play a double game as well, these attempts at pacification were merely placating in general as Charles feared a war with France over his control of Alsace. The Swiss would send a delegation perhaps the last attempt at war but Charles would trust his bailiff Peter over the Swiss and refuse to dismiss him. This would cause war between the Swiss and Burgundy as Charles arrived south to Grandson to intercept the Swiss army that was to attack the Free County in order to seize the lands of Alsace themselves. The following victory at Grandson, would shatter Charles' faith in Peter. Already his reports of his arrogance was concerning to Charles who wished to appoint his heir to Alsace as soon as possible, this victory would give Charles the justification to remove Peter and replace him with his son Philip.
Philip who already paid quite a bit of attention to affairs in Alsace, as Charles was preparing him to replace Peter back in 1470. Philip's fluency in German and the fame of being the Count of Charolais would give him a little breathing room. Philip would arrive at Mulhouse in February 1473, and would spend nearly two weeks in the city speaking both to the city magnates, and the populace. While, he would not succeed to bringing the city into Charles' influence, his good faith negotiations and his wealth would spark a pro-Burgundian faction in Mulhouse. Strasbourg would not react to this development well and begin to assemble a league to drive out Burgundian control over Alsace. This league of Constance would be formed mostly due to Strasbourg's insistence to drive out rival economic influence which was mostly Burgundian at this point. The Swiss begin to seriously discuss to redeem the mortgage and return the lands to the incredibly weakened Austrians. King Louis XI would fumble his diplomacy as well, as Italian mercenaries began to flow to Alsace by Charles' request which Louis did not forbid much to the Swiss' anger. Sigismund would also send his requests for an alliance to Louis who would reject it outright. What Louis did contribute though was his support of the redemption of the mortgage of Alsace by Sigismund, unfortunately he would not foot the bill for this expense. In 1473, Philip would arrive at Bern to speak to the Swiss, apologizing for Hagenbach's aggressive rhetoric and offering a conference to further mediate and strengthen relationships with the Swiss, citing the alliance of 1467. The Swiss at this point egged on by Bern and Strasbourg would refuse as they believed that they were threatened by Burgundian power and influence. Again, Philip would create another minor pro-Burgundian faction with his honey-sweetened words.
The arrival of the emperor in the autumn after the conference of Trier would further strengthen the Swiss position, although it would certainly take a while. Sigismund who at this point lost everything with the dismissal of Peter would throw his lot behind the Swiss grand alliance who all unanimously agreed to the return of Alsace to Austria. The Trier conference would not change much in this position, Philip much like Charles agreed that Alsace was permanently Burgundian, and would pressure Sigismund to agree that Burgundy was in complete control of Alsace due to the mortgage. Sigismund continued to contact the French under Louis XI, along with the Swiss. Both sides believed with French diplomacy and force of arms, Alsace would return to Austrian hands. Charles' arrival to Alsace however would strengthen Philip' position. Charles would much to Philip's happiness give two things, the prestige and further legitimacy of Philip's governorship of Alsace and more money which Philip placed into good use. Charles and Philip would invest their presence wisely visiting town after town speaking to people and would ensure loyalty through speeches and bribes.
In 1474, Philip would finally break Mulhouse' resistance as he would be appointed protector of Mulhouse much to Strasbourg's anger. Philip continued his diplomatic efforts, warmly welcoming the Swiss ambassador and showed off the classic Burgundian wealth and splendour, while Bern's militaristic classic elites wished to see Burgundy out, the ambassadors only relayed talks of peace and trade from Philip much to their anger, but the drive to remove Burgundy from Alsace was already too entrenched and levies began to assemble to drive Burgundy out. His other diplomatic efforts to Sigismund was far less warm as Philip accused him of collaborating with the French and not abiding by the treaty stating his governorship of Alsace has turned the region incredibly prosperous. This attack on Sigismund would drive him over the edge and seek a full alliance with the Swiss. Louis XI would also begin to exercise his energies into the region although he would achieve nothing novel or significant. What was significant however was the eternal peace signed between Austria and Switzerland giving Sigismund some of his lands back and would agree to the return of Alsace to Austria. The formation of the league of Constance which was a purely defensive alliance against Burgundy, with only the stated goal of returning Alsace to Austria.
Sigismund would strike first, paying back the mortgage of Alsace and immediately asking to return to his command, Alsace. Charles would refuse arguing that since this alliance was construed by Louis XI the mortgage was forfeited to a sale per the treaty of St. Omer. Strasbourg seizing the legal justification to occupy Alsace invaded at the head of an army. Philip who wasn't unarmed and with the assistance of his fiancée Anne, she would arrive at the helm of the army and drove them out of Alsace. This was quite embellished to Burgundy, Margaret was the one ordering the army to arrive and Anne at this point two years apart from Philip wished to reunite with him again. Events began to spiral, as war would spark between Austria, Bern, the League of Constance and France all united against Burgundy. Philip who at this point, gained complete support of Alsace with the arrival of an army to protect the lands would fight a protracted minor war winning only minor skirmishes. However, the league has overstretched themselves. Burgundy would enact a complete economic blockade while Margaret was sending reinforcements to Philip. Finally the confrontation at Mulhouse in which Philip was besieged at would end decisively with a Burgundian victory which sent the Swiss running into an ambush led by Burgundian arms. This victory would later lead to the raids of Strasbourg and Bern, and stern negotiations of the Swiss and Burgundians. The Swiss who already were divided against the war would sue for a separate peace with Burgundy agreeing that the treaty of St. Omer would be honoured, Bern would resent this peace but the other cities/cantons overruled Bern in this instance. Strasbourg and Austria would follow soon after in the later months of 1474.
An important reason for the quick collapse of the league was the triple alliance of Burgundy, Savoy and Milan. Bern has constantly interfered in Savoyard politics which angered the Duchess of Savoy and eventually the rise of a triple alliance would drive Bern away from Vaud and Savoy in general. Bern would argue somewhat successfully that the peace signed in 1474 denied Burgundy the right to join their war against Savoy but Philip merely disregarded this truce and ordered his armies to march into Bern demanding a ceasefire against Savoy which would further strengthen Burgundy's grip on Savoy. Bern would sign a humiliating peace in Geneva in 1475 under Philip's watch, all of Bern's ambitions westward and northward were dashed.
Philip's masterful politics in Alsace would be an harbinger to his politics in his reign. The final phase of the war of the roses and Burgundian policy there would secure his brother John II of England to secure the throne which would give Burgundy another steadfast ally. The intervention of Savoy in the Italian wars, and the troubled regency of Charles VIII all would show his approach to foreign policy and politics, historians would argue that it is a refinement of Charles' approach in which popular and noble support would be used to further achieve his goals.
I certainly do! And very happy that Philip will ensure the throne for his brother John! Margaret for the win!
Take all the time you need.I'm working on the third
How? I have been struggling to even get a page out for my play that I have to get finished by the end of the month, and you get three chapters in one day, I call black magicI'm working on the third
Chapter 9: Success by negotiation rather than by war 1471-1476
The archbishopric of Cologne was Charles' greatest failure and a complete blunder of Burgundian foreign policy. Philip the Good already had a keen interest in the archbishopric of cologne in general and sought to appoint one of his bourbon cousins as Archbishop. This scheme would fail but it would definitely set the tone of Burgundian foreign policy in Cologne. They wanted to influence it to the point of Liege or Utrecht. Philip the Good would continue his diplomatic efforts gaining the archbishop as a grateful ally and willing to assist Cologne's terrible finances. Charles the Absolute would continue Philip's policy of furthering Burgundian interests in the region and strengthening ties of Burgundy into a de facto client state.
Archbishop Rupercht would try his best to fix the disastrous finances by raising taxes which failed and caused greater unrest and would soon arrive to a revolt against the archbishop. Charles would immediately intervene in this revolt seeking to join up with his ally the elector palatine in protecting and restoring the archbishop. However, the landgraves of Hesse would prove to be troublesome as their support for their revolt occurred with the election of Hermann as a rival candidate to the archbishopric. Burgundy would provide a mixture of financial and military support achieving what can only be described as defensive. In Cleves, Burgundy would gain further support for the archbishop as more and more money and men at arms would flow in to the archbishops side. A unfavourable status quo however set in as the extra support was not enough against the massive revolt. Mediation efforts occurred between the two parties which went nowhere and by 1473, a Declaration of Independence was given.
The conquest of Guelders would place Cologne and its revolt onto Charles' #1 priority as he wanted to solidify his influence over Cologne. The failure at the conference of Trier would have Charles assemble his armies and march north to consolidate his grip over Cologne. Rupercht would sign off a practical vassalage to the Burgundians not to similar to the agreement between Burgundy and Cleves. He would arrive to siege the city of Neuss in the summer days of 1474, ordering his forces to concentrate their fire on a particular section of the wall blasting it open. Charles had cut off any assistance but Neuss had prepared for the siege. Charles who had adopted a very economic stance towards the cities of the Rhine used various promises of Burgundian wealth and trade agreements with the lower ranking merchants to get the siege open. Charles' armies would crush and capture the rival archbishop of Cologne: Hermann of Hesse. The death would not change anything in terms of the situation in fact it worsened it when Frederick III arrived at the helm of an army. The imperial army would force Charles out of Cologne at once and Cologne would return to civil war between the estates and the archbishop. Charles however would not return to Cologne instead marching south towards Luxembourg wishing to aid his son in Alsace.
The imperial army under the lead of Frederick III would shake Burgundian diplomacy as it would earn France's eye and importantly would force the Duke of Lorraine to invade Burgundy itself believing that with French and imperial backing Lorraine would be completely free from Burgundian influence. Burgundy would not take this lying down, Antoine, the grand bastard of Burgundy secured an alliance with England while the triple alliance of Savoy, Milan and Burgundy was triggered. Finally most importantly Matthias Corvinus of Hungary was preparing for war. Just as quickly that imperial aggression against Burgundy started it soon immediately dissipated as Austria who already signed a truce in Alsace in late 1474 returned to deal with the Bohemian-Hungarian war. The peace that was signed would separate weaken France and Lorraine's position. France was already quite cautious as both Brittany and England declared any war against Burgundy would be responded with an invasion of France. This invasion would be given fruit in 1475.
King Louis XI as soon as the truce run out in 1475, launched a devastating campaign into the somme lands of Burgundy burning and sacking everything in place but this campaign would be quite limited in reach as the duchy of Burgundy and Luxembourg would be untouched in this invasion. Nonetheless, this initial invasion was devastating to Burgundian power. Charles the Absolute along with his son Philip would launch a counter attack driving out the French but any further campaigning would fail. Brittany already quite hesitant in joining the war in the beginning sued for peace incredibly quickly much to Edward and Charles' anger. Edward's inaction and slow campaigning with Charles was quite fortunate for Louis who signed eagerly the treaty of Picquigny practically bribing Edward to leave. Charles who at this point was alone against France signed the treaty of Senlis afterwards, which extended a truce between France and Burgundy until 1483. Burgundy would hand over various people to Louis for him to kill and more importantly Louis of Saint-Pol who at this point was a traitor to both was killed as well. In order to seal the truce a betrothal was agreed upon between Isabella of Burgundy, and the dauphin Charles. Philip would be quite angered over this truce and betrothal arguing with his father that his marriage to Anne of Champagne would be enough. Modern historians would disagree with Philip's assessment and praised Charles for his diplomacy as many agreed if the war continued France would inevitably win.
Charles would strike while the iron was hot, isolating all of Lorraine's allies and crushing Rene's forces from two sides, his son and bastard brother, Philip and Antoine invading from Burgundy while himself attacking from Luxembourg. His methodical and precise invasion crushed any remaining resistance to his influence over Lorraine which had been quietly accumulating over the past year by the end of the whole thing, Charles was recognized by the estates as Duke of Lorraine as Rene fled to Anjou. Charles had finally completed his long-stated goal to unite Burgundy, his careful diplomacy and slow methodical conquests which were completely different to his bold and rash demands that were extracted by Conflans, Peronne and Beaune. The circle of vultures around Burgundy continued to circle around her but Charles was slowly picking them off one by one. The Swiss who under Strasbourg and Bern were resentful and ready to invade Alsace were now in complete fear as the full attention of Burgundy would be against them. Louis who had opportunity after opportunity to invade and defeat Burgundy would fail and never do so.
Philip the Rich's contributions in the years of 1472-1476 should not be understated. His pacification of Alsace along with his military victories in Mulhouse and Nevers threw off nearly half of the Burgundian coalition against her while his attendance at the peace of Senlis would not be understated. Louis' best diplomats would be bested by Philip who pointed out that his dowry of Champagne and the inheritance of Nevers, Rethel and Eu would be more than enough to justify himself paying homage and the removal of four Burgundian partisans that Philip already despised for being incompetent cost Burgundy nothing in the long run. Only the betrothal of Isabella and Charles would anger him believing that this would be too far of a concession to France, although it is more likely Philip was just very attached to his baby sister. Philip's successes would lead to Charles elevating him into lieutenant of Burgundy and while Philip continued to plan and work with his mother to further consolidate his father's vast realms. Charles looked eastward towards the Swiss, Cologne and Frisia.
Archbishop Rupercht would try his best to fix the disastrous finances by raising taxes which failed and caused greater unrest and would soon arrive to a revolt against the archbishop. Charles would immediately intervene in this revolt seeking to join up with his ally the elector palatine in protecting and restoring the archbishop. However, the landgraves of Hesse would prove to be troublesome as their support for their revolt occurred with the election of Hermann as a rival candidate to the archbishopric. Burgundy would provide a mixture of financial and military support achieving what can only be described as defensive. In Cleves, Burgundy would gain further support for the archbishop as more and more money and men at arms would flow in to the archbishops side. A unfavourable status quo however set in as the extra support was not enough against the massive revolt. Mediation efforts occurred between the two parties which went nowhere and by 1473, a Declaration of Independence was given.
The conquest of Guelders would place Cologne and its revolt onto Charles' #1 priority as he wanted to solidify his influence over Cologne. The failure at the conference of Trier would have Charles assemble his armies and march north to consolidate his grip over Cologne. Rupercht would sign off a practical vassalage to the Burgundians not to similar to the agreement between Burgundy and Cleves. He would arrive to siege the city of Neuss in the summer days of 1474, ordering his forces to concentrate their fire on a particular section of the wall blasting it open. Charles had cut off any assistance but Neuss had prepared for the siege. Charles who had adopted a very economic stance towards the cities of the Rhine used various promises of Burgundian wealth and trade agreements with the lower ranking merchants to get the siege open. Charles' armies would crush and capture the rival archbishop of Cologne: Hermann of Hesse. The death would not change anything in terms of the situation in fact it worsened it when Frederick III arrived at the helm of an army. The imperial army would force Charles out of Cologne at once and Cologne would return to civil war between the estates and the archbishop. Charles however would not return to Cologne instead marching south towards Luxembourg wishing to aid his son in Alsace.
The imperial army under the lead of Frederick III would shake Burgundian diplomacy as it would earn France's eye and importantly would force the Duke of Lorraine to invade Burgundy itself believing that with French and imperial backing Lorraine would be completely free from Burgundian influence. Burgundy would not take this lying down, Antoine, the grand bastard of Burgundy secured an alliance with England while the triple alliance of Savoy, Milan and Burgundy was triggered. Finally most importantly Matthias Corvinus of Hungary was preparing for war. Just as quickly that imperial aggression against Burgundy started it soon immediately dissipated as Austria who already signed a truce in Alsace in late 1474 returned to deal with the Bohemian-Hungarian war. The peace that was signed would separate weaken France and Lorraine's position. France was already quite cautious as both Brittany and England declared any war against Burgundy would be responded with an invasion of France. This invasion would be given fruit in 1475.
King Louis XI as soon as the truce run out in 1475, launched a devastating campaign into the somme lands of Burgundy burning and sacking everything in place but this campaign would be quite limited in reach as the duchy of Burgundy and Luxembourg would be untouched in this invasion. Nonetheless, this initial invasion was devastating to Burgundian power. Charles the Absolute along with his son Philip would launch a counter attack driving out the French but any further campaigning would fail. Brittany already quite hesitant in joining the war in the beginning sued for peace incredibly quickly much to Edward and Charles' anger. Edward's inaction and slow campaigning with Charles was quite fortunate for Louis who signed eagerly the treaty of Picquigny practically bribing Edward to leave. Charles who at this point was alone against France signed the treaty of Senlis afterwards, which extended a truce between France and Burgundy until 1483. Burgundy would hand over various people to Louis for him to kill and more importantly Louis of Saint-Pol who at this point was a traitor to both was killed as well. In order to seal the truce a betrothal was agreed upon between Isabella of Burgundy, and the dauphin Charles. Philip would be quite angered over this truce and betrothal arguing with his father that his marriage to Anne of Champagne would be enough. Modern historians would disagree with Philip's assessment and praised Charles for his diplomacy as many agreed if the war continued France would inevitably win.
Charles would strike while the iron was hot, isolating all of Lorraine's allies and crushing Rene's forces from two sides, his son and bastard brother, Philip and Antoine invading from Burgundy while himself attacking from Luxembourg. His methodical and precise invasion crushed any remaining resistance to his influence over Lorraine which had been quietly accumulating over the past year by the end of the whole thing, Charles was recognized by the estates as Duke of Lorraine as Rene fled to Anjou. Charles had finally completed his long-stated goal to unite Burgundy, his careful diplomacy and slow methodical conquests which were completely different to his bold and rash demands that were extracted by Conflans, Peronne and Beaune. The circle of vultures around Burgundy continued to circle around her but Charles was slowly picking them off one by one. The Swiss who under Strasbourg and Bern were resentful and ready to invade Alsace were now in complete fear as the full attention of Burgundy would be against them. Louis who had opportunity after opportunity to invade and defeat Burgundy would fail and never do so.
Philip the Rich's contributions in the years of 1472-1476 should not be understated. His pacification of Alsace along with his military victories in Mulhouse and Nevers threw off nearly half of the Burgundian coalition against her while his attendance at the peace of Senlis would not be understated. Louis' best diplomats would be bested by Philip who pointed out that his dowry of Champagne and the inheritance of Nevers, Rethel and Eu would be more than enough to justify himself paying homage and the removal of four Burgundian partisans that Philip already despised for being incompetent cost Burgundy nothing in the long run. Only the betrothal of Isabella and Charles would anger him believing that this would be too far of a concession to France, although it is more likely Philip was just very attached to his baby sister. Philip's successes would lead to Charles elevating him into lieutenant of Burgundy and while Philip continued to plan and work with his mother to further consolidate his father's vast realms. Charles looked eastward towards the Swiss, Cologne and Frisia.
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Do you mock me sir, I will see you at the village square at high noon, bring your best revolver