BURGUNDY

When, in 843, the Empire was divided among the grandsons of Charlemagne, the eldest of them, Lothair, received the middle strip between the modern France and Germany, stretching from the mouth of the Rhine southwards to Rome. Aggression from both sides wore the kingdom away, until by the fourteenth century nothing of it remained except the much-disputed province of Lorraine.

It was a generous impulse on the part of the French king, followed by a singular chain of coincidences, which led to the revival of this ancient state in the fifteenth century, and very nearly resulted in a powerful and vigorous middle kingdom which must have changed the whole course of European history. In the year 1361 King John of France bestowed on his youngest son, Philip "the Bold," as a reward for his bravery at Poitiers, the Duchy of Burgundy. This fief had fallen to the Crown, and King John little thought that he was founding a state which within three generations would be scheming to overthrow the French monarchy.
Philip married the heiress of Louis de Male, Count of Burgundy, and also of Flanders, Nevers, Rethel and Artois, so that on the death of Louis in 1383 the Duchy and County of Burgundy became reunited for the first time since the ninth century, and, added to the important lands in the Netherlands, formed the nucleus of a powerful state. The dukes of Burgundy contrived to annex provinces by marriage and by treaty, among them Holland, Hainault and Brabant. Under Philip "the Good" (1419 - 1467) the frontiers were extended in many directions, and he made his court the most brilliant in Europe.

Where Philip was cautious and patient, his son Charles "the Rash" was violent and impetuous; the chronicler Philip de Commines aptly described (In his "Memories".) Charles as "le sanglier." The wily King Louis XI of France, "the Spider,'' who reigned from 1461 to 1483, was more than a match for Charles, and thwarted his ambition to take the title of king. He stirred up strife, too, among Charles's subjects which the Duke did nothing to allay by his high-handed conduct.

There was great hostility to Burgundian rule in Swabia, and in 1474 war broke out. The Swiss showed again the courage which had won them their independence, and although Charles fought with great determination, his troops were defeated again and again. At last, Charles himself was killed at the siege of Nancy in 1477, and with him perished the danger which France and Switzerland had both so greatly feared.

The task Charles had set himself had proved too complicated for his abilities, and he had a distressing habit of alienating the sympathies of those whom he most wanted to win. Charles left no son; on his death his dominions passed to his daughter Mary, who married the Hapsburg Emperor Maximilian. France recovered the Duchy of Burgundy, but most of the other lands were transferred to German rule. Thus ended the attempted revival of "the middle kingdom."