1.
Charles the Bold
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Charles the Bold, baptised Charles Martin, was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. He was the last Duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois and is also known as Charles the Rash. His early death at the Battle of Nancy at the hands of Swiss mercenaries fighting for René II, Charles the Bold was born in Dijon, the son of Philip the Good and Isabella of Portugal. Before the death of his father in 1467, he bore the title of Count of Charolais, afterwards, he assumed all of his fathers titles, including that of Grand Duke of the West. He was also made a Knight of the Golden Fleece just twenty days after his birth, invested by Charles I, Count of Nevers, Charles was brought up under the direction of Jean dAuxy and early showed great application alike to academic studies and warlike exercises. His fathers court was the most extravagant in Europe at the time, in 1440, at the age of seven, Charles was married to Catherine, daughter of King Charles VII of France and sister of the Dauphin. She was five years older than her husband, and she died in 1446 at the age of 18, in 1454, at the age of 21, Charles married a second time. He wanted to marry a daughter of his distant cousin Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and his father chose Isabella of Bourbon, who was three years younger than he was. Isabella was the daughter of Philip the Goods sister Agnes and a distant cousin of Charles VII of France. Their daughter Mary of Burgundy was Charles only surviving child, she inherited all the Burgundian domains before her marriage to Maximilian of Hapsburg, the son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. Charles was on terms with his brother-in-law Louis, the Dauphin of France. For his third wife, Charles was offered the hand of Louis XIs daughter Anne, the wife he ultimately chose, however, was his second cousin Margaret of York. Upon the death of his father in 1467, Charles was no longer bound by the terms of the Treaty of Arras, and he decided to ally himself with Burgundys old ally England. Louis did his best to prevent or delay the marriage with Margaret, but in the summer of 1468, it was celebrated sumptuously at Bruges, the couple had no children, but Margaret devoted herself to her stepdaughter Mary. After Marys death many years later, she kept Marys two infant children as long as she was allowed. On 12 April 1465, Philip relinquished control of the government of his domains to Charles, who spent the next summer prosecuting the War of the Public Weal against Louis XI. Charles was left master of the field at the Battle of Montlhéry on 13 July 1465, during the negotiations for the treaty, his wife Isabella died suddenly at Les Quesnoy on 25 September, making a political marriage suddenly possible. As part of the treaty, Louis promised him the hand of his infant daughter Anne, with the territories of Champagne and Ponthieu as a dowry, in the meanwhile, Charles obtained the surrender of Ponthieu
2.
Tour Jean-sans-Peur
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The tower contained bed chambers and the grand stairway of the original residence, which stood next to it. It was completed between 1409–1411 by Jean sans Peur, the original hôtel occupied about a hectare of land, the boundaries of which are now marked by the rues Étienne Marcel, Montorgueil, Saint-Sauveur, and Saint-Denis. The tower itself is located at 20 rue Étienne Marcel, in the courtyard of an elementary school and it is one of the best surviving examples of medieval residential architecture in Paris. The tower is open to the public and presents changing expositions on life in the Middle Ages, the first hôtel particulier or manor, on the site was built by the Counts of Artois, whose domains included most of northern France and Flanders. Part of the land was outside the wall, the part within Paris. As the city grew, a new wall built by Charles V, little is known about this first hôtel, which was largely rebuilt by its later owners. In 1369 the hôtel passed to Philip the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, by his marriage to Marguerite, the records of the concierge of the house show that between July 1371 and Easter 1375, he carried out important construction works, including the building of a tower. After Philips death in 1404, it became the property of Jean de Bourgogne, better known as Jean sans Peur, the construction of the tower took place during the Hundred Years War, when the kings of France and England fought for supremacy in France. Paris was also a battleground of the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War, on November 23,1407, just as it appeared that the Armagnacs had triumphed, Louis dOrléans was murdered on the street by men in the pay of Jean sans Peur. In 1408, Jean quickly regained favor by leading a military campaign in Flanders, and was forgiven by the king, who made him the guardian of his heir. The Chronicle of Enguerrand de Monstrelet reported, In this time a force of workers made for John a strong chamber of well-crafted stone, in the form of a tower and this tower had the advantage of keeping him safe. Although the base of the tower may have built by his father. From 1409 to 1413, Jean sans Peur conducted his fight against the Armagnacs from his fortified residence and he had his own unofficial militia, called the Cabochiens, made up of butchers, knackers and other workers of the powerful butcher corporation Grande Boucherie Saint-Jacques. However, the opposition to his rule grew so strong that he was forced to flee Paris in 1413. He returned in triumph in 1418, but in 1419 he was murdered by his opponents on the bridge of Montereau, under the eyes of the new Dauphin, the future Charles VII. The residence was inherited by his son, Philip the Good, during his reign, Burgundy reached to the height of its glory, he greatly expanded its territory, conquering most of the Netherlands and buying the Duchy of Luxemburg. During one campaign, his soldiers captured Joan of Arc, and handed her over to the English and he only returned permanently in 1461, after an absence of twenty-six years, when king Louis XI returned to Paris. Thereafter, he entertained lavishly, holding banquets under a tent of velours
3.
Charles the Bald
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Charles the Bald was the King of West Francia, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor. After a series of wars during the reign of his father, Louis the Pious. He was a grandson of Charlemagne and the youngest son of Louis the Pious by his second wife and he was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder brothers were already adults and had been assigned their own regna, or subkingdoms, by their father. The attempts made by Louis the Pious to assign Charles a subkingdom, first Alemannia, at a diet in Aachen in 837, Louis the Pious bade the nobles do homage to Charles as his heir. Pepin of Aquitaine died in 838, whereupon Charles at last received that kingdom, which angered Pepins heirs, the death of the emperor in 840 led to the outbreak of war between his sons. In the following year, the two confirmed their alliance by the celebrated Oaths of Strasbourg. The war was brought to an end by the Treaty of Verdun in August 843, Louis received the eastern part of the Carolingian Empire, known then as East Francia and later as Germany. Lothair retained the title and the Kingdom of Italy. He also received the regions from Flanders through the Rhineland. The first years of Charless reign, up to the death of Lothair I in 855, were comparatively peaceful, during these years the three brothers continued the system of confraternal government, meeting repeatedly with one another, at Koblenz, at Meerssen, and at Attigny. In 858, Louis the German, invited by disaffected nobles eager to oust Charles, Charles was so unpopular that he was unable to summon an army, and he fled to Burgundy. He was saved only by the support of the bishops, who refused to crown Louis the German king, and by the fidelity of the Welfs, in 860, he in his turn tried to seize the kingdom of his nephew, Charles of Provence, but was repulsed. On the death of his nephew Lothair II in 869, Charles tried to seize Lothairs dominions, besides these family disputes, Charles had to struggle against repeated rebellions in Aquitaine and against the Bretons. Led by their chiefs Nomenoë and Erispoë, who defeated the king at the Battle of Ballon and the Battle of Jengland, the Bretons were successful in obtaining a de facto independence. Charles also fought against the Vikings, who devastated the country of the north, the valleys of the Seine and Loire, at the Vikings successful siege and sack of Paris in 845 and several times thereafter Charles was forced to purchase their retreat at a heavy price. By the same edict, he ordered fortified bridges to be put up at all rivers to block the Viking incursions, two of these bridges at Paris saved the city during its siege of 885–886. In 875, after the death of the Emperor Louis II, Charles the Bald, supported by Pope John VIII, traveled to Italy, receiving the crown at Pavia. Louis the German, also a candidate for the succession of Louis II, revenged himself by invading and devastating Charles dominions, and Charles had to return hastily to West Francia
4.
John II of France
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John II, called John the Good, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1350 until his death. While John was a prisoner in London, his son Charles became regent and faced several rebellions, to liberate his father, he concluded the Treaty of Brétigny, by which France lost many territories and paid an enormous ransom. In an exchange of hostages, which included his second son Louis, Duke of Anjou, when John was informed that Louis had escaped from captivity, he voluntarily returned to England, where he died in 1364. He was succeeded by his son Charles V, John was nine years old when his father had himself crowned as Philip VI of France. Initially a marriage with Eleanor of Woodstock, sister of King Edward III of England, was considered, Bohemia had aspirations to control Lombardy and needed French diplomatic support. The military clauses stipulated that, in the event of war, the political clauses ensured that the Lombard crown would not be disputed if the king of Bohemia managed to obtain it. Philip selected Bonne of Bohemia as a wife for his son, as she was closer to child-bearing age, and the dowry was fixed at 120,000 florins. John reached the age of majority,13 years and one day, on 27 April 1332, the wedding was celebrated on 28 July at the church of Notre-Dame in Melun in the presence of six thousand guests. The festivities were prolonged by a two months when the young groom was finally knighted at the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Upon his accession as Duke of Normandy in 1332, John had to deal with the reality that most of the Norman nobility was already allied with the English camp, effectively, Normandy depended economically more on maritime trade across the English Channel than on river trade on the Seine. The Duchy had not been English for 150 years, but many landowners had holdings across the Channel, consequently, to line up behind one or other sovereign risked confiscation. Therefore, Norman members of the nobility were governed as interdependent clans and it was split into two key camps, the counts of Tancarville and the counts of Harcourt, which had been in conflict for generations. King Philip, worried about the richest area of the breaking into bloodshed, ordered the bailiffs of Bayeux. Geoffroy dHarcourt raised troops against the king, rallying a number of nobles protective of their autonomy, the rebels demanded that Geoffroy be made duke, thus guaranteeing the autonomy granted by the charter. Royal troops took the castle at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte and Geoffroy was exiled to Brabant, three of his companions were decapitated in Paris on 3 April 1344. In 1342, John was in Avignon at the coronation of Pope Clement VI, by 1345, increasing numbers of Norman rebels had begun to pay homage to Edward III, constituting a major threat to the legitimacy of the Valois kings. The defeat at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346, defections by the nobility, whose land fell within the broad economic influence of England, particularly in the north and west, increased. Consequently, King Philip VI decided to seek a truce, Duke John met Geoffroy dHarcourt, to whom the king agreed to return all confiscated goods, even appointing him sovereign captain in Normandy
5.
Philip the Bold
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Philip the Bold was Duke of Burgundy and jure uxoris Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy. The fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and his wife, Bonne of Luxembourg and his vast collection of territories made him the undisputed premier peer of the kingdom of France and made his successors formidable rivals of the kings of France. Born in Pontoise in 1342, Philip gained his cognomen the Bold at the age of 14 and he remained in the custody of the English with his father until the terms of their ransom were agreed to in the Treaty of Brétigny of 1360. His father had been the ruler of the duchy since the death of Duke Philip I in 1361, Philip would rule the duchy as Philip II until his death. He was actually the stepbrother of Philip I of Burgundy, whose mother Joan was married to King John II of France, Philip the Bolds father, Margaret became the widow of Philips stepbrother Duke Philip I of Burgundy while still a child of about 11. As her fathers heiress, Margaret would bring rich possessions to Philip the Bold. From 1379 to 1382, Philip helped his father-in-law Louis II put down revolts in Flanders, particularly in Ghent, the revolts were finally ended in 1385, following the death of Louis II, with the Peace of Tournai. As jure uxoris Count of Flanders, he would keep in mind the interests of the Flemish cities. Philip was very active at the court of France, particularly after the death in 1380 of his brother King Charles V, among Philips acts while regent was the suppression of a tax revolt in 1382 known as the Harelle. The regency lasted until 1388, always with Philip assuming the dominant role, Louis of Bourbon was largely an unimportant figure due to his personality and his status. In 1392, events conspired to allow Philip to seize power once more in France, Charles VIs friend and advisor Olivier de Clisson had recently been the target of an assassination attempt by agents of John V, Duke of Brittany. The would-be assassin, Pierre de Craon, had taken refuge in Brittany, Charles, outraged at these events, determined to punish Craon, and on 1 July 1392 led an expedition against Brittany. While traveling to Brittany, the king, already overwrought by the progress, was shocked by a madman who spent half-an-hour following the procession to warn the king that he had been betrayed. When a page dropped a lance, the king reacted by killing several of his knights and had to be wrestled to the ground, Philip, who was present, immediately assumed command and appointed himself regent, dismissing Charles advisors. He was the ruler of France until 1402. His seizure of power, however, had consequences for the unity of the House of Valois. This struggle only served to enhance the reputation of Philip, since he appeared to be a sober and honest reformer in comparison to the profligate and irresponsible Louis. Although Charles VI confirmed his brother as regent in 1402 in a moment of sanity, Louiss misrule allowed Philip to regain control of France as regent in 1404
6.
Louis XI of France
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Louis XI, called the Prudent, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father Charles VII. Louis was a devious, the king forgave his rebellious vassals, including Louis, to whom he entrusted the management of the Dauphiné, then a province in southeastern France. Louiss ceaseless intrigues, however, led his father to him from court. From the Dauphiné, Louis led his own political establishment and married Charlotte of Savoy, daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy, against the will of his father. Charles VII sent an army to compel his son to his will, but Louis fled to Burgundy, where he was hosted by Philip the Good, when Charles VII died in 1461, Louis left the Burgundian court to take possession of his kingdom. His taste for intrigue and his diplomatic activity earned him the nicknames the Cunning. In 1472, the subsequent Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, however, Louis was able to isolate Charles from his English allies by signing the Treaty of Picquigny with Edward IV of England. The treaty formally ended the Hundred Years War, with the death of Charles the Bold at the Battle of Nancy in 1477, the dynasty of the dukes of Burgundy died out. Louis took advantage of the situation to seize numerous Burgundian territories, including Burgundy proper, without direct foreign threats, Louis was able to eliminate his rebellious vassals, expand royal power, and strengthen the economic development of his country. He died in 1483 and was succeeded by his son Charles VIII, Louis was born in Bourges on 3 July 1423, the son of King Charles VII of France. At the time of the Hundred Years War, the English held northern France, including the city of Paris, and Charles VII was restricted to the centre and south of the country. Louis was the grandson of Yolande of Aragon, who was a force in the family for driving the English out of France. Just a few weeks after Louiss christening at the Cathedral of St. Étienne on 4 July 1423, shortly thereafter, a combined Anglo-Burgundian army threatened Bourges itself. Duke Philip II was the reigning Duke of Burgundy while he was king, phillip was an uncle of King Charles VI, and he actually served on a council of regents for King Charles. The Dukes of Anjou, Berry, and Bourbon, all uncles of Charles VI, all effective power in France actually lay with this council of dukes. In its position of independence from the French throne, Burgundy had grown in size, during the Hundred Years War, the Burgundians allied themselves with England against the French crown. Indeed, the Burgundians were responsible for the capture of Joan of Arc, Joan later led troops in other victories at the Battle of Jargeau and the Battle of Patay. Nevertheless, Louis grew up aware of the weakness of the French nation
7.
House of Bourbon
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The House of Bourbon is a European royal house of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century, by the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg currently have Bourbon monarchs, the royal Bourbons originated in 1268, when the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon married a younger son of King Louis IX. The house continued for three centuries as a branch, while more senior Capetians ruled France, until Henry IV became the first Bourbon king of France in 1589. Restored briefly in 1814 and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, a cadet Bourbon branch, the House of Orléans, then ruled for 18 years, until it too was overthrown. The Princes de Condé were a branch of the Bourbons descended from an uncle of Henry IV. Both houses were prominent in French affairs, even during exile in the French Revolution, until their respective extinctions in 1830 and 1814. When the Bourbons inherited the strongest claim to the Spanish throne, the claim was passed to a cadet Bourbon prince, a grandson of Louis XIV of France, who became Philip V of Spain. The Spanish House of Bourbon has been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 1700–1808, 1813–1868, 1875–1931, Bourbons ruled in Naples from 1734–1806 and in Sicily from 1734–1816, and in a unified Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1816–1860. They also ruled in Parma from 1731–1735, 1748–1802 and 1847–1859, all legitimate, living members of the House of Bourbon, including its cadet branches, are direct agnatic descendants of Henry IV. The term House of Bourbon is sometimes used to refer to this first house and the House of Bourbon-Dampierre, the second family to rule the seigneury. In 1268, Robert, Count of Clermont, sixth son of King Louis IX of France, married Beatrix of Bourbon, heiress to the lordship of Bourbon and their son Louis was made Duke of Bourbon in 1327. His descendant, the Constable of France Charles de Bourbon, was the last of the senior Bourbon line when he died in 1527. Because he chose to fight under the banner of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and lived in exile from France, the remaining line of Bourbons henceforth descended from James I, Count of La Marche, the younger son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon. With the death of his grandson James II, Count of La Marche in 1438, all future Bourbons would descend from James IIs younger brother, Louis, who became the Count of Vendôme through his mothers inheritance. In 1514, Charles, Count of Vendôme had his title raised to Duke of Vendôme and his son Antoine became King of Navarre, on the northern side of the Pyrenees, by marriage in 1555. Two of Antoines younger brothers were Cardinal Archbishop Charles de Bourbon, Louis male-line, the Princes de Condé, survived until 1830. Finally, in 1589, the House of Valois died out and he was born on 13 December 1553 in the Kingdom of Navarre
8.
Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy
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The Palace of the Dukes and Estates of Burgundy or Palais des ducs et des États de Bourgogne is a remarkably well-preserved architectural assemblage in Dijon. Finally, the 19th façade of the musée on place de la Sainte-Chapelle was added on the site of the palaces Sainte-Chapelle, the Palace houses the citys town hall and the musée des Beaux-Arts. Richard II of Burgundy, known as Richard the Avenger, was named marquis and he was one of the six Peerage of France installed under his suzerain, King Louis III of France. After 1477, the kings of France named governors to rule Burgundy, sometimes they came personally to Dijon, where the palace was turned into a royal residence to receive them while in the province of Burgundy. The ducal tombs were reinstalled in the Salle de garde following the razing of the Chartreuse de Champmol, during the 2010–12 renovation of the palace, a number of sculptures from tombs have traveled on exhibit. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon Dukes of Burgundy Dijon Media related to Palais des Ducs at Wikimedia Commons Official Site of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon
9.
Hamearis lucina
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Hamearis lucina, the Duke of Burgundy, the only member of the genus Hamearis, is a European butterfly in the family Riodinidae. For many years, it was known as the Duke of Burgundy fritillary, Riodinidae is currently treated as a distinct family within the superfamily Papilionoidea, but in the past they were held to be the subfamily Riodininae of the Lycaenidae. Earlier, they were considered to be part of the now defunct family Erycinidae, the genus Hamearis, described by Jacob Hübner in 1819 is a monotypic genus of uncertain position. Here it is considered part of subfamily Nemeobiinae, tribe Zemerini, some authors have instead advocated its separation as type genus of a subfamily of its own, Hamearinae. The male has a wingspan of 29–31 millimetres, and the female 31–34 mm, the upperside of the wings are marked in a chequered pattern strongly reminiscent of a fritillary butterfly, however, the Duke of Burgundy may be separated by its wing shape. Hamearis lucina also has a distinctive underwing pattern, the species range is restricted to the Western Palaearctic, from Spain, the UK and Sweden to the Balkans. It is the representative of its family in Europe. Hamearis lucina was added to the UK Biodiversity Action Plan in 2007 and it is also listed in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which requires anyone wishing to trade the species to have a licence. Hamearis lucina is listed on the German IUCN Red List, but is considered of least concern on a Europe-wide basis, two distinct habitats are used in the UK, Grassland on chalk or limestone Clearings in ancient woodland Colonies prefer areas where the food plants grow among tussocky vegetation. The species prefers north- or west-facing slopes in downland habitats, as adults, the sexes exhibit distinctly different behavioural patterns. Males are highly territorial, defending small sheltered, but warm, spectacular aerial dog fights occur between males. Females are less showy, but are prone to wander, frequently travelling 250 m, new colonies have been established more than 5 km from the nearest known existing colony. Eggs are typically laid in groups on the underside of leaves of a host plant. Particularly good plants or leaves may have eggs from more than one female, the egg is spherical, with a flattened base, measuring 0.6 mm in diameter. The eggs are glossy and opaque, turning to a uniform pale green, prior to hatching. Significant, though unintentional, predators of H. lucina eggs are large snails, the eggs hatch after 7–21 days depending on weather conditions. Newly emerged caterpillars are almost transparent, with a few pale hairs. They move down to the base of stems, where they spend the daylight hours
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