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

by Robert Stein

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.

Genres: History

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most general readers are probably going to find this monograph too technical to hold their interest, though for me it hit a certain sweet spot, as I've had this question for awhile as to why there was even a polity of Burgundy. The short answer is that the Burgundian dynasty was able to use arms, money, and the promise of better government to sweep away the ramshackle local dynasties of the Low Countries, and build what Stein calls a composite monarchy; at least until Charles the Bold overreached in trying to create a monarchy recognized by France and the Holy Roman Empire alike. The basic conclusion that Stein comes to is that there really wasn't a Burgundian state, but the foundations for the existing states of the Low Countries were established.