Charles Martin called The Bold, was the last Duke of Burgundy from the Burgundian cadet branch of House of Valois from 1467 to 1477. He was the only legitimate son of Philip the Good and his third wife, Isabella of Portugal. Appointed as the Count of Charolais upon his birth, Charles vied for power and influence even before succeeding his father. He had a deep rooted rivalry with Louis XI, the King of France, which was the cause to many disputes and events during his life, starting with the War of the Public Weal, a revolt of French vassals under the leadership of Charles.
Charles the Bold in about 1460, wearing the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, painted by Rogier van der Weyden
La Duchesse de Bourgogne arrêtée aux portes de Bruges by Sophie Frémiet. This painting depicts the moment Isabella of Portugal, her son, Charles, and her entourage were arrested at the gates of Bruges
Charles, aged 12 or 13, standing beside his father, Philip, Duke of Burgundy; Jean Wauquelin presenting his 'Chroniques de Hainaut' to Philip the Good, 1447
Portraits of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold, folio from the Recueil d'Arras, c. 1535-1573.
Duke of Burgundy was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman emperors and kings of Spain, who claimed Burgundy proper and ruled the Burgundian Netherlands.
Image: Robert le Vieux
Image: Odo II
Image: Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy
Image: Robert II of Burgundy
