Magnanimous Dukes and Rising States: The Unification of the Burgundian Netherlands, 1380-1480

Description

In the late fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, the Dukes of Valois-Burgundy created a composite monarchy in the Netherlands, an area that had been dominated for centuries by several regional dynasties. In this way they laid the foundation for the modern states of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg. The rise of the House of Burgundy can be read as the success story of a dynasty that in little over a century managed to assemble a great number of principalities, thus creating a new state. The Burgundian takeover, however, resulted in a modernization of administration, jurisdiction, and finances. The process of unification and the character of the union are the central topics of Magnanimous Dukes and Rising States. Robert Stein mirrors continuity and modernization in Burgundian times with the bankruptcy of the former dynasties and the decline of feudal government. The powerful towns played an important background role; it was only with their support that a unification of the Netherlands was possible, but this support was not unselfish. This study is about the development of power relations and institutions in the field of tension between ruler and subject, between centralization and particularism. Cover Magnanimous Dukes and Rising States: The Unification of the Burgundian Netherlands, 1380–1480 Copyright Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures List of Maps List of Tables List of Abbreviations 1: The Burgundian Union: By Way of Introduction 1.1 LIMITS 1.2 STATE FORMATION IN THE BURGUNDIAN NETHERLANDS 2: The Titles 2.1 INTRODUCTION 2.2 THE BORDER AREAS OF THE EMPIRE AND FRANCE 2.3 THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE BOLD 2.3.1 The Duchy of Burgundy and the Flemish Inheritance The Brabant Inheritance 2.3.2 The Succession of Philip the Bold 2.4 EXPANSION IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 2.4.1 The Namur Inheritance 2.4.2 The Bavarian Inheritance 2.4.3 The Definitive Acquisition of the Brabant Heritage 2.4.4 The Succession in Luxemburg 2.4.5 The Reign of Charles the Bold and the Acquisition of Guelders and Zutphen 2.5 PATTERNS 2.6 CONCLUSION 3: The Representative Institutions 3.1 INTRODUCTION 3.2 STATES AND ORDERS 3.2.1 The States 3.2.2 The Third Order 3.2.3 The Second Order 3.2.4 The First Order 3.3 POLITICAL ROLE 3.4 CONCLUSION 4: The Attraction of a Union 4.1 INTRODUCTION 4.2 BANKRUPT DYNASTIES 4.2.1 Expenditures Strategy Debts 4.3 FINANCIAL AND SOCIAL REPERCUSSIONS 4.4 THE BURGUNDIAN ALTERNATIVE 4.4.1 Burgundy 4.4.2 Flanders 4.5 CONCLUSION 5: Towards a New Structure of Government 5.1 INTRODUCTION 5.2 THE NUCLEUS OF POWER 5.2.1 The Court 5.2.2 Chancellor and Privy Council 5.3 THE PROVINCES 5.3.1 Stadtholders and presidents 5.3.2 Regional Councils 5.3.3 Appointment Strategies 5.3.4 Officers and Scholars 5.4 THE INTEGRATION OF THE ADMINISTRATION 5.5 CONCLUSION 6: The Jurisdiction 6.1 INTRODUCTION 6.2 THE BAILIWICKS 6.3 THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL CHAMBERS 6.3.1 Ministry of Public Affairs 6.3.2 The Keeping of Records and the Clerk of Court’s Office 6.3.3 Regulations 6.3.4 Influences 6.4 THE GREAT COUNCIL AND PARLIAMENT OF MECHELEN 6.5 CONCLUSION 7: The Financial Organization 7.1 INTRODUCTION 7.2 RECEIVERS 7.3 AUDITING THE ACCOUNTS 7.3.1 The Mint Office 7.4 THE RESULTS 7.5 FOR THE COMMON GOOD? 7.6 CONCLUSION 8: The Taxes 8.1 INTRODUCTION 8.2 ARGUMENTATION 8.3 THE FINANCIAL IMPORTANCE 8.4 THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FISCAL BURDEN 8.5 CONCESSIONS 8.6 CLERGY AND NOBILITY 8.7 CONCLUSION 9: Summa summarum Epilogue Bibliography Index