Title:
The Burgundians : a vanished empire : a history of 1111 years and one day
Author:
Added Author:
Publication Date:
2022
Publication Information:
London : Head of Zeus, Ltd, 2022.
Physical Description:
xxxii, 590 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), genealogical tables, maps ; 24 cm
ISBN:
9781803286969
Abstract:
"At the end of the fifteenth century, Burgundy was extinguished as an independent state. It had been a fabulously wealthy, turbulent region situated between France and Germany, with close links to the English kindgom. Torn apart by the dynastic struggles of early modern Europe, this extraordinary realm vanished from the map. But it became the cradle of what we now know as the Low Countries: modern Belgium and the Netherlands. This is the story of a thousand years, a compulsively readable narrative history of ambitious aristocrats, family dysfunction, treachery, savage battles, luxury and madness. It is about the decline of knightly ideals and the awakening of individualism and of cities, the struggle for dominance in the heart of western Europe, bloody military campaigns and fatally bad marriages. It is also a remarkable cultural history, of great art and architecture and music emerging despite the violence and the chaos of the tension between rival dynasties" -- Back cover.
General Note:
"First published in the Netherlands as De Bourgondiers by De Bezige Bij in 2019. First published in English in the UK in 2021 by Head of Zeus Ltd. This paperback edition published in 2022 by Head of Zeus Ltd. part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc."--Title Page verso.
Contents:
Genealogies and Royal Houses -- Maps -- Prologue -- THE FORGOTTEN MILLENNIUM (406-1369) : From Kingdom to Duchy -- From Burgundy to Flanders -- THE BURGUNDIAN CENTURY (1369-1467): Rising From the Mud -- Ghent the Fearless -- 1789 Avant la Lettre -- Low Countries in the Making -- France as the Draught Horse of Burgundy -- Beauty and Madness -- Ostentation and Propaganda -- Murder and the Language Wars -- Arranged Marriages, Uncontrollable Tumult -- Severed Hand, Cleft Skull -- Three Counties, One Duke -- The Battle for Holland and Zeeland -- As a Woman or as a Man? -- Golden Glitter -- The Burial Pit and the Stake -- Beauty and Peace -- The Burgundian Dream -- Pheasant and Fox -- Fathers and Sons -- THE FATAL DECADE (1467-77): Joyous Entry, Sombre Reception -- The Crown for the taking -- Renewal and Innovation -- Death in the Snow -- A DECISIVE YEAR (1482) -- A MEMORABLE DAY (20 October 1496) -- Epilogue: THE LAST BURGUNDIAN -- Endnotes -- Bibliography -- Chronology -- Historic Figures -- Illustration Credits -- Acknowledgements -- Index -- About the author.
Language:
English
