The Burgundian State is a concept coined by historians to describe the vast complex of territories that is also referred to as Valois Burgundy.
Portrait of Duke John the Fearless, after Jean Malouel
Portrait of Duke Philip the Good, after Rogier van der Weyden
Portrait of Duke Charles the Bold by Rogier van der Weyden
Charles V was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506 to 1555. He was heir to and then head of the rising House of Habsburg. His dominions in Europe included the Holy Roman Empire, extending from Germany to northern Italy with rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and Burgundian Low Countries, and Spain with its possessions of the southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia. In the Americas, he oversaw the continuation of Spanish colonization and a short-lived German colonization. The personal union of the European and American territories he ruled was the first collection of realms labelled "the empire on which the sun never sets".
The entrance gate to the Prinsenhof, Dutch for "Princes' Court", in Ghent, where Charles V was born
A painting by Bernhard Strigel representing the extended Habsburg family with a young Charles in the middle
A 1519 portrait of Charles V by Bernard van Orley with the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece prominently displayed