A biography of Philip and a study of the emergence of the
Burgundian state under his aegis in the years 1384-1404, paying
particular attention to his crucial aquisition of Flanders. There
is comprehensive analysis of how Philip'sgovernment worked. Boydell
& Brewer does a major service by the simultaneous reissue of
Richard Vaughan's studies of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy. Four
distinguished scholars add extra value by contributing an
introductory chapter for each ducal reign, surveying its
historiography since the original publication... The story, which
Vaughan tells with verve, has its full share of dramatic turns[:]
this is much more, though, than simply a narrative history;
Vaughan's meticulousexplorations of the administrative and
financial structures that underpinned ducal authority, and of the
court and its culture, are integral to his exposition [...] His
achievement remains monumental. There are no comparable, modern,
in-depth studies of these four larger-than-life players on the late
medieval European stage, in English or in any other language. They
are, besides, eminently readable. Maurice Keen, TIMES LITERARY
SUPPLEMENT Whenin 1363 the duke of Burgundy died without an heir,
the duchy returned to the French crown. John II's decision to give
it to his fourth son, Philip, had some logic behind it, given the
independence of the inhabitants; but in so doing he created the
basis for a power which was to threaten France's own existence in
the following century, and which was to become one of the most
influential and glittering courts of Europe. Much of this was due
to the characterof Philip the Bold; by marrying the daughter of the
count of Flanders, he inherited the wealth of the great Flemish
towns in 1384, and the union of the two great fiefdoms to the north
and east of France under one ruler meant thatthe resources of the
duke of Burgundy were as great as those of the kingdom itself. From
1392 onwards, he was at loggerheads with the regent of France, his
brother Louis, duke of Orleans, and this schism was to prove fatal
to thekingdom, weakening the administration and leading to the
French defeat by Henry V in 1415. Richard Vaughan describes the
process by which Philip fashioned this new power, in particular his
administrative techniques; but he also gives due weight to the
splendours of the new court, in the sphere of the arts, and records
the history of its one disastrous failure, the crusade of Nicopolis
in 1396. He also offers a portrait of Philip himself, energetic,
ambitious and shrewd, the driving force behind the new duchy and
its rapid rise to an influential place among the courts of Europe.
General
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