And so the political - religious chaos caused by Luther has hit the foundations of the Reich, very curious to see how the triarchy will develop later, although I think that an ATL version of the Smalkand league will still form ( only probably more unified, due to the two serious threats to its borders, the Valois Burgundians and the Habsburgs ( who should have managed to get their hands on Wurttemberg, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the peasant war and the Danish distraction that is keeping Burgundy occupied ) it will be interesting to see how it will proceed the Catholic response to the challenge launched by Luther, you have already mentioned a sort of proto Counter-Reformation carried out in the Burgundian territories, who knows if Rome will take inspiration from it to try to create a uniform movement ( similar to the Tridentine ideas of Otl ) to be exported throughout the continent, although I believe that the nomination of a non-Italian cardinal as pontiff would have a greater impact ( so as to discredit one of the primary points of Protestant propaganda, concerning the Papal downgrading to a mere national ( Italian ) church in contrast with its universalist claims )
Walking on the Silver Line: A Valois-Bourgogne TL
- Thread starter Liminia1
- Start date
hahahahahah so funny in all seriousness though I really need to get on with colonialism and in particular the beginning of the Burgundian Indies Company.
You know as a local representative of the Telugu population, could I perchance convince you to leave my people free and out of European hands, in exchange ports will be given and Burgandy will be made the Preferred Economic Trade Partner?
I don't think so, the great game between Iberia and Burgundy will begin and it will start with the marriage of Isabella of Portugal with the new prince of Namur. (I don't have a name ;-; )
Once again I must watch my beloved people fall to forieign controle, poor me
you can also use the dynastic names coming from Lorraine ( now a Burgundian dominion ) this could give you small variations with the names, as well as meaning that the inclusion of those territories has officially taken place, it would also facilitate the identification of the local population with the new ruler, giving a sort of sense of continuity with the past
Chapter 26: To burn the faithful and to reward the sinners 1526 - 1530
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The Italian question was not settled with the complete defeat of the French at Pavia. The most powerful of the states, the papacy still stood between the imperial-spanish alliance. The battle of Pavia didn't immediately doom the papacy as Pope Clement VII who overstretched his forces in alliance with the French. The Colonna faction of the papacy forced a mediation with the newly coronated emperor: Albert III and would mediate the difference giving the emperor incredible power forcing down a compromise between the two factions. This would weaken the papacy considerably and Charles I would take advantage of this situation to finally remove the papacy from his new kingdom.
In 1526, the Kingdom of Naples, a de jure vassal of the Papacy was dissolved along with the Aragonese kingdom of Sicily due to Charles I of Spain wishing to completely remove any other ties to the papacy. Charles would begin to reorganize them as duchies which were under the Aragonese Crown. Through a usage of various of interesting legal wording and importantly through political will he had both kingdoms of Sicily dissolved triggering the papacy. Both of these kingdoms were technically a papal fief and the dissolvement of these kingdoms and assumption into the Crown of Aragon was practically a Declaration of Independence. Charles asserted that he was merely exercising the powers of the treaty of Madrid signed in 1526, however since the papacy was not actually participating in that treaty. Pope Clement VII saw it as treasonous, even worse was the execution of the treaty of Madrid for the Milanese who within the month agreed to the terms and recognized Albert III as heir if Francesco II had no male heirs. Francesco already was not entirely pleased with the imperial presence there along with the forced agreement of recognition and began to seek further allies.
Burgundy who had completely lost the war of danish succession and seeing the chaos that unfolded with the diet of worms and the Swabian Peasant's war saw Italy as an opportunity to further weaken the imperial line and reestablish the ancient Burgundian sphere of Italy that was not seen since the treaty of Moncelari in 1475. France under Henri's attempt at reconciliation with the French through the relatively light terms of the Treaty of Madrid would pay off as Francis, Richard and Henri would meet in Cambrai to sign a new peace and a triple alliance against the Imperial-Spanish alliance coalescing around Italy. This alliance however, would prove to be quite weak as all three parties were only putting aside their conflicts over Artois, Champagne and Calais in order to deny the Habsburgs-Trastamara alliance further power in Italy. This alliance would be further complicated due to the backroom negotiations between the three and the Habsburg-Trastamara. Burgundy was not entirely opposed to Spain seizing Naples as they saw it as impossible to maintain. They were very much steadfast in refusing Habsburg control of Milan however, as they wished to appoint their second son William as Duke of Milan which Francesco was not opposed to as gaining Burgundy as an ally had led Milan to prosper and his people were quite fond of the Burgundians seeing them as the last protectors of peace. France was opposed completely to the Spanish acquisition of Naples from them and wished to retake it especially considering Francis was the former king of Naples himself, he still had ambitions over Milan but he waited patiently to execute those plans. England would be the most unwilling to do so seeing the remarriage of Richard IV with Katherine of Aragon in particular kicking in doubt for the king. Importantly to England, the majority of these talks were under the impression to further boost English prestige and they had no reasons or qualms to war against the Spanish.
The nail in the coffin of this doomed alliance would be the inclusion of Venice joining in this league. Albert III was now quite eager to win glory for himself, and assembled his imperial army with the imperial diet of 1526 in Nuremberg he repealed the edict of worms, giving the protestants more room to breathe and declared a new Italienzug to be coronated as emperor. This direct threat would pit the empire against the League of Cognac. England would leave the war immediately, officially due to a small pretension over the honours given to their king but in reality realizing the situation was hopeless. Henri for his part launched an attack on the protestants who at this point also were in Cologne, his elector and Munster a reformist bishop who betrayed the Burgundian cause. This war between the protestants and Burgundy would keep Henri busy as the various princes of the empire saw this as an attack and breaking of the diet of Worms in 1495. They would back the two bishoprics as Henri would lead his armies devastating Cologne and Munster. Albert III, played his cards close to his chest and launched an all out assault into Italy with the armies of Charles I of Spain heading to Rome from Naples.
The betrayal of Charles III of Bourbon who fled to Vienna to pledge his allegiance to Albert III in exchange for recognition for his title of Duke of Provence and the incorporation of the Bourbon lands into the Holy Roman Empire would set off Albert's Italienzug led by Charles who marched south defeated Venice and Milan in short succession which Francesco would flee to Burgundy to which the Burgundians would welcome him warmly and begin to rebuild a new army to invade Italy and liberate the duchy of Milan. Albert however, would continue gaining the allegiance and alliance of the duchy of Ferrara keen on dismantling the papacy. The devastating sack of Rome would forever taint the reputation of Albert III, who while saving the library of the Vatican after taking the city with a quick siege would imprison the pope and force him to negotiate a new peace that would further strengthen the imperial presence in Italy. Pope Clement VII for his genius would flee to Provence and later arrive at Burgundy disguised and arriving at the court of Nancy. Henri who at this point returned to Nancy after signing an insignificant peace with Cologne and Munster in which they agreed to principle to respect the fifth council of the latheran and to restore/revive catholic education would be shocked with the papacy arriving. The pope would finally give his approval to the annexation of various prince-bishoprics and the surrender of papal authority there, while Clement VII offered Henri a crown, instead Henri realizing this would ruin his position with the electors decided against it and pushed for various reformist ideals including an ecumenical council importantly he would gain a new privilege which would define Burgundy, the pragmatic sanction of Nancy. This was a new version of the pragmatic sanction of Bourges but for Burgundy, recognizing the current lands of Henri I the fortunate of Burgundy's clergy to answer to a crown cardinal that was directly subordinate to the pope, appeals would be subject first to a council in Nancy before being sent to the Roman curia with a minimum of 1/3 members of the roman curia and Burgundian council approving the appeal of the case, along with importantly the Duke of Burgundy being granted the right to appoint all candidates of the church to any position within Henri's holdings however, only with papal approval should those candidates gain their position. This pragmatic sanction was a heavy but recoverable blow to the papacy as similar deals were signed with France in 1516.
Burgundy would become a new centre of renaissance after the sack and most if not all historians agree that this sack either triggered or was the last possible start date for the Burgundian renaissance as Italian artists, and thinkers fled to Burgundy where the pope was and where Henri would freely sponsor this type of renaissance. The imprisonment and later escape of Clement would also produce some various consequences, the papacy was now ordered to produce a new general council to deal with the issues of Lutheran thought, Albert would be crowned emperor as well, forcefully and quickly with the imprisoned Clement and marched back north to deal with the French. The complete collapse to the Medici in Florence would further strengthen the position of the Trastamara as well, with Charles I of Spain eagerly during the imprisonment of Clement force him to recognize the collapse of the two kingdoms of Sicily, and agreed to the recognition of the local nobility who reformed a now Second Kingdom of Sicily for Charles I of Spain who was now crowned by himself Charles IV of Sicily.
Richard IV who at this point was furious over the sack of Rome immediately pledged his forces with France and went to war against the Spanish-Habsburg alliance. The combined armies of Burgundy, England and France would arrive shortly afterwards in Milan to face off against Albert himself who led his combined Imperial-Spanish armies. This decisive victory for the League of Cognac would lead to two separate wars, Burgundy marched east head towards Austria in the hopes of crushing and driving out imperial influence once and for all. Francis I of France marched south to Naples to face off against Charles I of Spain and Sicily to finally reconquer the dissolved kingdom of Naples. England however would march to Rome to liberate and restore the papacy back to Rome. Unfortunately the betrayal of Genoa, who was always a reluctant ally of the League would doom this triple effort of bringing back the status quo. The shattering of the French armies in Naples would force Francis to retreat, Clement who just recently returned to Rome surrendered to Charles and Albert while Burgundy would fight a slow retreat back into Vaud and Aosta. This decisive defeat would force a new treaty this time in Cambrai in which the treaty of Madrid was recognized but with only minor changes, the recognition of the pragmatic sanction of Nancy, and importantly for Milan and Burgundy the recognition of Francesco II as Duke of Milan instead of the outright conquest that Albert tried to do, delaying the annexation of Milan by the Habsburgs for another couple of years.
This abandonment of England, France and Burgundy would leave the papacy to surrender recoronating Albert III as emperor this time with a proper ceremony and proof that this wasn't forced as some princes believed. Clement would be forced to absolve the participants of the sack of Rome and would gain minor territories from Venice as compensation. The real losers in this war was Venice and Florence who were stripped of their territories in Naples, and Austria would annex various parts of Venice as well. Florence would fall and be restored as the duchy of Florence with Alessandro d'Medici as duke. The complete abandonment by the pope would force him to be subservient to both the Spanish and the Habsburgs trying to push for a stricter policy against the protestants but once again avoiding both Burgundian and Imperial pressure for another general council against the Lutherans. Importantly for Burgundy and secretly, the papacy agreed to dissolve the Kingdom of Burgundy/Arles from a papal viewpoint as it was officially defunct and agreed if the emperor would approve the dissolvement of the kingdom they would approve and pressure the imperial to elevate Henri as King of Burgundy, this would set the nearly two century long struggle for the creation of the fourth kingdom of Burgundy. What was genuinely real however, was the proclamation of the pragmatic sanction of Nancy which consolidated the church in Burgundy under the crown cardinal: Erasmus, which would inevitably allow greater effort exerted for the Burgundian counter-reformation and also importantly proved a point in anti-clericalism which while would not be used by the princes for nearly two centuries would be the keystone to the German mediatisation.
In 1526, the Kingdom of Naples, a de jure vassal of the Papacy was dissolved along with the Aragonese kingdom of Sicily due to Charles I of Spain wishing to completely remove any other ties to the papacy. Charles would begin to reorganize them as duchies which were under the Aragonese Crown. Through a usage of various of interesting legal wording and importantly through political will he had both kingdoms of Sicily dissolved triggering the papacy. Both of these kingdoms were technically a papal fief and the dissolvement of these kingdoms and assumption into the Crown of Aragon was practically a Declaration of Independence. Charles asserted that he was merely exercising the powers of the treaty of Madrid signed in 1526, however since the papacy was not actually participating in that treaty. Pope Clement VII saw it as treasonous, even worse was the execution of the treaty of Madrid for the Milanese who within the month agreed to the terms and recognized Albert III as heir if Francesco II had no male heirs. Francesco already was not entirely pleased with the imperial presence there along with the forced agreement of recognition and began to seek further allies.
Burgundy who had completely lost the war of danish succession and seeing the chaos that unfolded with the diet of worms and the Swabian Peasant's war saw Italy as an opportunity to further weaken the imperial line and reestablish the ancient Burgundian sphere of Italy that was not seen since the treaty of Moncelari in 1475. France under Henri's attempt at reconciliation with the French through the relatively light terms of the Treaty of Madrid would pay off as Francis, Richard and Henri would meet in Cambrai to sign a new peace and a triple alliance against the Imperial-Spanish alliance coalescing around Italy. This alliance however, would prove to be quite weak as all three parties were only putting aside their conflicts over Artois, Champagne and Calais in order to deny the Habsburgs-Trastamara alliance further power in Italy. This alliance would be further complicated due to the backroom negotiations between the three and the Habsburg-Trastamara. Burgundy was not entirely opposed to Spain seizing Naples as they saw it as impossible to maintain. They were very much steadfast in refusing Habsburg control of Milan however, as they wished to appoint their second son William as Duke of Milan which Francesco was not opposed to as gaining Burgundy as an ally had led Milan to prosper and his people were quite fond of the Burgundians seeing them as the last protectors of peace. France was opposed completely to the Spanish acquisition of Naples from them and wished to retake it especially considering Francis was the former king of Naples himself, he still had ambitions over Milan but he waited patiently to execute those plans. England would be the most unwilling to do so seeing the remarriage of Richard IV with Katherine of Aragon in particular kicking in doubt for the king. Importantly to England, the majority of these talks were under the impression to further boost English prestige and they had no reasons or qualms to war against the Spanish.
The nail in the coffin of this doomed alliance would be the inclusion of Venice joining in this league. Albert III was now quite eager to win glory for himself, and assembled his imperial army with the imperial diet of 1526 in Nuremberg he repealed the edict of worms, giving the protestants more room to breathe and declared a new Italienzug to be coronated as emperor. This direct threat would pit the empire against the League of Cognac. England would leave the war immediately, officially due to a small pretension over the honours given to their king but in reality realizing the situation was hopeless. Henri for his part launched an attack on the protestants who at this point also were in Cologne, his elector and Munster a reformist bishop who betrayed the Burgundian cause. This war between the protestants and Burgundy would keep Henri busy as the various princes of the empire saw this as an attack and breaking of the diet of Worms in 1495. They would back the two bishoprics as Henri would lead his armies devastating Cologne and Munster. Albert III, played his cards close to his chest and launched an all out assault into Italy with the armies of Charles I of Spain heading to Rome from Naples.
The betrayal of Charles III of Bourbon who fled to Vienna to pledge his allegiance to Albert III in exchange for recognition for his title of Duke of Provence and the incorporation of the Bourbon lands into the Holy Roman Empire would set off Albert's Italienzug led by Charles who marched south defeated Venice and Milan in short succession which Francesco would flee to Burgundy to which the Burgundians would welcome him warmly and begin to rebuild a new army to invade Italy and liberate the duchy of Milan. Albert however, would continue gaining the allegiance and alliance of the duchy of Ferrara keen on dismantling the papacy. The devastating sack of Rome would forever taint the reputation of Albert III, who while saving the library of the Vatican after taking the city with a quick siege would imprison the pope and force him to negotiate a new peace that would further strengthen the imperial presence in Italy. Pope Clement VII for his genius would flee to Provence and later arrive at Burgundy disguised and arriving at the court of Nancy. Henri who at this point returned to Nancy after signing an insignificant peace with Cologne and Munster in which they agreed to principle to respect the fifth council of the latheran and to restore/revive catholic education would be shocked with the papacy arriving. The pope would finally give his approval to the annexation of various prince-bishoprics and the surrender of papal authority there, while Clement VII offered Henri a crown, instead Henri realizing this would ruin his position with the electors decided against it and pushed for various reformist ideals including an ecumenical council importantly he would gain a new privilege which would define Burgundy, the pragmatic sanction of Nancy. This was a new version of the pragmatic sanction of Bourges but for Burgundy, recognizing the current lands of Henri I the fortunate of Burgundy's clergy to answer to a crown cardinal that was directly subordinate to the pope, appeals would be subject first to a council in Nancy before being sent to the Roman curia with a minimum of 1/3 members of the roman curia and Burgundian council approving the appeal of the case, along with importantly the Duke of Burgundy being granted the right to appoint all candidates of the church to any position within Henri's holdings however, only with papal approval should those candidates gain their position. This pragmatic sanction was a heavy but recoverable blow to the papacy as similar deals were signed with France in 1516.
Burgundy would become a new centre of renaissance after the sack and most if not all historians agree that this sack either triggered or was the last possible start date for the Burgundian renaissance as Italian artists, and thinkers fled to Burgundy where the pope was and where Henri would freely sponsor this type of renaissance. The imprisonment and later escape of Clement would also produce some various consequences, the papacy was now ordered to produce a new general council to deal with the issues of Lutheran thought, Albert would be crowned emperor as well, forcefully and quickly with the imprisoned Clement and marched back north to deal with the French. The complete collapse to the Medici in Florence would further strengthen the position of the Trastamara as well, with Charles I of Spain eagerly during the imprisonment of Clement force him to recognize the collapse of the two kingdoms of Sicily, and agreed to the recognition of the local nobility who reformed a now Second Kingdom of Sicily for Charles I of Spain who was now crowned by himself Charles IV of Sicily.
Richard IV who at this point was furious over the sack of Rome immediately pledged his forces with France and went to war against the Spanish-Habsburg alliance. The combined armies of Burgundy, England and France would arrive shortly afterwards in Milan to face off against Albert himself who led his combined Imperial-Spanish armies. This decisive victory for the League of Cognac would lead to two separate wars, Burgundy marched east head towards Austria in the hopes of crushing and driving out imperial influence once and for all. Francis I of France marched south to Naples to face off against Charles I of Spain and Sicily to finally reconquer the dissolved kingdom of Naples. England however would march to Rome to liberate and restore the papacy back to Rome. Unfortunately the betrayal of Genoa, who was always a reluctant ally of the League would doom this triple effort of bringing back the status quo. The shattering of the French armies in Naples would force Francis to retreat, Clement who just recently returned to Rome surrendered to Charles and Albert while Burgundy would fight a slow retreat back into Vaud and Aosta. This decisive defeat would force a new treaty this time in Cambrai in which the treaty of Madrid was recognized but with only minor changes, the recognition of the pragmatic sanction of Nancy, and importantly for Milan and Burgundy the recognition of Francesco II as Duke of Milan instead of the outright conquest that Albert tried to do, delaying the annexation of Milan by the Habsburgs for another couple of years.
This abandonment of England, France and Burgundy would leave the papacy to surrender recoronating Albert III as emperor this time with a proper ceremony and proof that this wasn't forced as some princes believed. Clement would be forced to absolve the participants of the sack of Rome and would gain minor territories from Venice as compensation. The real losers in this war was Venice and Florence who were stripped of their territories in Naples, and Austria would annex various parts of Venice as well. Florence would fall and be restored as the duchy of Florence with Alessandro d'Medici as duke. The complete abandonment by the pope would force him to be subservient to both the Spanish and the Habsburgs trying to push for a stricter policy against the protestants but once again avoiding both Burgundian and Imperial pressure for another general council against the Lutherans. Importantly for Burgundy and secretly, the papacy agreed to dissolve the Kingdom of Burgundy/Arles from a papal viewpoint as it was officially defunct and agreed if the emperor would approve the dissolvement of the kingdom they would approve and pressure the imperial to elevate Henri as King of Burgundy, this would set the nearly two century long struggle for the creation of the fourth kingdom of Burgundy. What was genuinely real however, was the proclamation of the pragmatic sanction of Nancy which consolidated the church in Burgundy under the crown cardinal: Erasmus, which would inevitably allow greater effort exerted for the Burgundian counter-reformation and also importantly proved a point in anti-clericalism which while would not be used by the princes for nearly two centuries would be the keystone to the German mediatisation.
Chapter 26.5 Houses within a castle
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The Burgundian state while the largest state within the empire would have multiple families running underneath it managing the incredibly large kingdom under the title of Stadholder or governor of various positions. A lot of these families would have other centres of wealth and power to draw from ironically and yet only one house would genuinely overcome the shadow of Valois-Bourgogne. Perhaps this is why both Philip the Rich and Henri the Fortunate were so acclaimed by historians. In other modern kingdoms, you had other great nobles of the realm such as Anjou, and Bourbon for France, and Wittelsbach and Wettin for the Holy Roman Empire but in Burgundy these nobles are not mentioned at all throughout and would only be described for their loyalty and individual persons who helped their Burgundian duke.
Bourbon-Vendome, this family would be primarily based in Artois and Saint-Pol which were originally lands owned by the Luxembourgs who passed it on to Bourbon-Vendome. Francis de Bourbon would be the key figure of Bourbon-Vendome in Burgundy as he served faithfully in many positions such as governor of Artois, Boulogne and Picardy. Philip the Rich spent decades trying to cultivate this family's loyalty in order to further his own network in France with the hope of turning Bourbon-Vendome into his eyes and ears in France. Henri would brilliantly maneuver Bourbon-Vendome towards England having an Burgundian agent of Bourbon-Vendome marry an English princess, Margaret of England who brought an incredibly rich dowry and would give Bourbon-Vendome even further power and connection. These Burgundian-French connections would divide the family's loyalties as many members of the house were also princes of the blood in France or prince du sang. Antoine de Bourbon-Vendome would be the epitome of this as with the death of Charles III of Bourbon he inherited the large and extensive claims of the house of Bourbon. Burgundy would back these efforts to no avail, and yet it would be this house that would tear Burgundy and steal the Burgundian inheritance of France itself.
The house of Baden would prove to be the most influential in Transjurania owing to its control over the margraviate of Baden. Valois-Bourgogne would always use this house to control Strasbourg, Basel and Trier as many bishops were of this house, importantly however was its influence in Burgundy itself and it's dictation of Swabian and later Swiss policy. Baden was instrumental to the invitation of Burgundy into the Swabian league while the Burgundian-Swiss wars while minor would be mostly led and fought by the house of Baden. It would also be this house that would divide that would later turn to Protestantism weakening the fortunes of this house as the protestant branch was ruthlessly removed by the Burgundians and the catholic side would slowly fade to irrelevance as Burgundy openly allowed the weakening of the Baden house's influence in Burgundy and instead increase its influence in Baden and Württemberg.
The de Croy family or the house of Croy would perhaps be the most Burgundian house of the family as their place and power laid firmly in Burgundy itself, all three of its branches were appointed as stadholders of various positions and would be shuffled around quite frequently with many of its members being appointed to church positions within Burgundy. The rise of this family would date back to Philip the Good but with its enormous power Charles the Absolute would crush and shatter this family only forcing it to kneel and have a fraction of its influence in 1477. This family would see the first Burgundian cardinal in the roman curia elected, with Pope Clement VII approving the Croy bishop of Cambrai to be moved to the Roman Curia when his return arrived, and it would be through this connection in which allowed Burgundy to continuously pursue its policy of Burgundian Catholic reformation.
The house of Wittelsbach especially its palatine branch would dictate a lot of the Burgundian policy in expansionist efforts across the Rhine river. The inheritance of Bavaria-Straubing under Philip the Good would be the epitome of this expansionist effort as later on Burgundy would utilize the Wittelsbachs as electors and backers for their attempts at the imperial crown. Importantly, was Rupercht of Cologne, and the entirety of Philip the Upright's descendants until the protestant elector: Otto Henry of the Palatine. Arguably another important figure was Henry of the Palatine who convinced or agreed with Henri I of Burgundy to use anti-clericalism to buy out all the secular powers of a prince-bishop.
The house of Savoy would be linked almost completely with the house of Valois-Bourgogne, ever since the death of Yolande of Valois the house of Valois-Bourgogne has took on a practical guardianship of the house of Savoy especially under the years of regency, and this would be a mutually beneficial relationship with the Savoyards, as Burgundy would constantly fight to restore Savoy back to the house from France especially throughout the Italian wars which would succeed in 1559. It would be this policy that would grant Burgundy the lands of Transjurania and would further assist in their claims as the true heirs of the defunct kingdom of Arles. The joint vicariates both houses had would prove especially useful in imperial policy towards the Kingdom of Italy.
The house of Oldenburg or more importantly its collapse after the imprisonment of Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Sweden would prove to be a slight bargaining chip for the Burgundians as the marriage of this house and it's subsequent revival under Frederick I of Denmark would allow Burgundy to develop connections across Europe, in particular in Poland which had not been in the Burgundian eyes since its feeble attempt at pushing a Polish prince to the throne under Philip the Bold. This house of Oldenburg would also prove to be one of its protestant connections which would prove to be incredibly useful in the religious wars that would soon to follow. Another house that wasn't as important to Burgundy was the House of Calais or officially the house of Valois-Bourgogne-York which would allow a firm Burgundian partisan throughout the reign only resulting into what can be called the war of English succession.
The house of Nassau and later Orange-Nassau would be the key commercial pillars of Burgundy as they gained prominence as stadholders and landowners owning various minor estates in Brabant and Holland. Importantly it was the house of Orange who had roots in Provence moved east and northwards towards Burgundy merging with the house of Nassau to gain further wealth and prominence in Burgundy, with René of Châlon in particular sponsoring various exploration and colonization issues in fact it would be this house under William the Explorer in which they would gain the position as head of the Burgundian Indies Company.
Bourbon-Vendome, this family would be primarily based in Artois and Saint-Pol which were originally lands owned by the Luxembourgs who passed it on to Bourbon-Vendome. Francis de Bourbon would be the key figure of Bourbon-Vendome in Burgundy as he served faithfully in many positions such as governor of Artois, Boulogne and Picardy. Philip the Rich spent decades trying to cultivate this family's loyalty in order to further his own network in France with the hope of turning Bourbon-Vendome into his eyes and ears in France. Henri would brilliantly maneuver Bourbon-Vendome towards England having an Burgundian agent of Bourbon-Vendome marry an English princess, Margaret of England who brought an incredibly rich dowry and would give Bourbon-Vendome even further power and connection. These Burgundian-French connections would divide the family's loyalties as many members of the house were also princes of the blood in France or prince du sang. Antoine de Bourbon-Vendome would be the epitome of this as with the death of Charles III of Bourbon he inherited the large and extensive claims of the house of Bourbon. Burgundy would back these efforts to no avail, and yet it would be this house that would tear Burgundy and steal the Burgundian inheritance of France itself.
The house of Baden would prove to be the most influential in Transjurania owing to its control over the margraviate of Baden. Valois-Bourgogne would always use this house to control Strasbourg, Basel and Trier as many bishops were of this house, importantly however was its influence in Burgundy itself and it's dictation of Swabian and later Swiss policy. Baden was instrumental to the invitation of Burgundy into the Swabian league while the Burgundian-Swiss wars while minor would be mostly led and fought by the house of Baden. It would also be this house that would divide that would later turn to Protestantism weakening the fortunes of this house as the protestant branch was ruthlessly removed by the Burgundians and the catholic side would slowly fade to irrelevance as Burgundy openly allowed the weakening of the Baden house's influence in Burgundy and instead increase its influence in Baden and Württemberg.
The de Croy family or the house of Croy would perhaps be the most Burgundian house of the family as their place and power laid firmly in Burgundy itself, all three of its branches were appointed as stadholders of various positions and would be shuffled around quite frequently with many of its members being appointed to church positions within Burgundy. The rise of this family would date back to Philip the Good but with its enormous power Charles the Absolute would crush and shatter this family only forcing it to kneel and have a fraction of its influence in 1477. This family would see the first Burgundian cardinal in the roman curia elected, with Pope Clement VII approving the Croy bishop of Cambrai to be moved to the Roman Curia when his return arrived, and it would be through this connection in which allowed Burgundy to continuously pursue its policy of Burgundian Catholic reformation.
The house of Wittelsbach especially its palatine branch would dictate a lot of the Burgundian policy in expansionist efforts across the Rhine river. The inheritance of Bavaria-Straubing under Philip the Good would be the epitome of this expansionist effort as later on Burgundy would utilize the Wittelsbachs as electors and backers for their attempts at the imperial crown. Importantly, was Rupercht of Cologne, and the entirety of Philip the Upright's descendants until the protestant elector: Otto Henry of the Palatine. Arguably another important figure was Henry of the Palatine who convinced or agreed with Henri I of Burgundy to use anti-clericalism to buy out all the secular powers of a prince-bishop.
The house of Savoy would be linked almost completely with the house of Valois-Bourgogne, ever since the death of Yolande of Valois the house of Valois-Bourgogne has took on a practical guardianship of the house of Savoy especially under the years of regency, and this would be a mutually beneficial relationship with the Savoyards, as Burgundy would constantly fight to restore Savoy back to the house from France especially throughout the Italian wars which would succeed in 1559. It would be this policy that would grant Burgundy the lands of Transjurania and would further assist in their claims as the true heirs of the defunct kingdom of Arles. The joint vicariates both houses had would prove especially useful in imperial policy towards the Kingdom of Italy.
The house of Oldenburg or more importantly its collapse after the imprisonment of Christian II of Denmark, Norway and Sweden would prove to be a slight bargaining chip for the Burgundians as the marriage of this house and it's subsequent revival under Frederick I of Denmark would allow Burgundy to develop connections across Europe, in particular in Poland which had not been in the Burgundian eyes since its feeble attempt at pushing a Polish prince to the throne under Philip the Bold. This house of Oldenburg would also prove to be one of its protestant connections which would prove to be incredibly useful in the religious wars that would soon to follow. Another house that wasn't as important to Burgundy was the House of Calais or officially the house of Valois-Bourgogne-York which would allow a firm Burgundian partisan throughout the reign only resulting into what can be called the war of English succession.
The house of Nassau and later Orange-Nassau would be the key commercial pillars of Burgundy as they gained prominence as stadholders and landowners owning various minor estates in Brabant and Holland. Importantly it was the house of Orange who had roots in Provence moved east and northwards towards Burgundy merging with the house of Nassau to gain further wealth and prominence in Burgundy, with René of Châlon in particular sponsoring various exploration and colonization issues in fact it would be this house under William the Explorer in which they would gain the position as head of the Burgundian Indies Company.
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you goodI completely forgot the house of Orange-Nassaubut yeah I put them there
Chapter 27: Ventures to a wider and diverse world 1517 - 1535
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Henri I of Burgundy would be the most captivated and would be very fierce in the expansion of the Burgundian trade network and in particular the Burgundian global trade. The Burgundian Indies Company would be the most powerful company the world had seen since the Knights Templar and would last for a solid century well until 1623, when the company was forcibly nationalized by the electorate of Burgundy. The start of this Burgundian corporation and company would have its roots under Philip the Rich. The Burgundian Maritime Company was a short lived company which joined with the various other commerce and trading guilds within Burgundy and centralized and formed under Philip the Rich's watchful eye. This Burgundian Indies Company would slowly began to sail eastwards for spices after the treaty of Tordesillas was signed between Spain, Portugal and the papacy.
The roots of this company were fairly simple it was to rival and outcompete the Hanseatic League, a league that was slowly dying. Philip the Rich arguably would accelerate this process three times over with his alliance with the Kalmar Union and with his placement of his brother as King of England. By the time of Christian II's ascension as king and Philip's death, the Burgundian Maritime Company would be trading as far as Novgorod to Lisbon, making quite the incredibly large fortune for this company, and this company would generate loads of goodwill amongst the other rulers in the Baltic Sea, which would be a key reason to engaging Christina of Denmark with Sigismund II of Poland. It would be this wealth and generosity that would allow the company to sponsor various Italian explorers and bankers in order to further Burgundian wealth. However, the fall of Christian II and the resurgence of the Hanseatic for a brief period would force the company to accelerate their efforts to global trade, ironically it would be this change that would fall in line with the renaming of the company into the Burgundian Indies Company.
The discovery of the new world by Columbus would not immediately stir Burgundy into action in the new world, as Spain was still a key vital ally to Henri and his ambitions in Italy but it did not limit exploration by the Company who would send various explorers and scouts before finally settling in Tobago and establishing the first Burgundian outpost there. This would be the policy of Burgundian colonialism in the Americas until the foundation of Arcadia or New Lotharingia. This would take over various decades with Burgundy slowing building up outposts and colonies in specifically the Caribbean and later on in Arcadia founding New Amsterdam. These outposts were relatively small and profitable as the Burgundian Indies Company for the new world had no real appetite for conquest and merely focused on trade and profit perhaps the sole reason why the colonies were stable and would not be conquered by the Spanish despite the treaty saying it was their land.
The key focus of the Burgundian Indies Company would be towards the east funding and creating a duopoly of the Indies trade from the Indian Ocean. This process would take several years as Burgundian outposts would first be created in 1517 buying the Portuguese outpost of Aguz. This would be further exemplified with the marriage of Philip, Prince of Namur and Isabella of Portugal who's dowry was particularly small granting Burgundy the right to ignore the treaty of Tordesillas and perhaps a couple more ports along Africa but it would kickstart the beginnings of various expeditions towards the spice islands and India finally arriving in Surat and Batavia respectively. It would be however, Burgundian monetary wealth from the crown itself that would allow this company to set their footing on this lucrative trade.
The key rivalry between Burgundy and Portugal would not be forgotten as while Portugal seeked to monopolize its presence especially in the Gold Coast, India and the Indies. Burgundy was just as keen to gain its hand in the lands itself and that goodwill that was generated with the marriage would quickly dry up as Burgundy would immediately create a permanent outpost in the Gold Coast and later the Cape Colony which while other Europeans didn't see as much of a particular value to, the Burgundian Indies Company saw immense value as a trading hub and began to significantly invest in the lands, expanding it and creating the Cape Colony by 1532. These expansion efforts would continuously work as Burgundy would land in China and later Japan beating out the Portuguese for control over the trade there and allowing Burgundy to set up a outpost or port in Japan to conduct trade with. Other examples of this great rivalry would take place in Ceylon, Mauritius, and Formosa as Burgundy with the incredible patronage of their renaissance had access to greater tools of navigation and would strategically place outposts, ports and colonies at various islands and towns in order to maximize efficiency travelling from India to Burgundy.
Burgundy's explorations especially in New Holland are the most well known as while Burgundy was not famous amongst the exploratory nations such as Spain and Portugal, they played their cards exceptionally well, treating the whole world not as some divine or christian mission to explore and conquer the world but as how the company treated the other europeans: the key to trade and making loads of profit that would find their ways back into the royal coffers. It would be this wealth and investment which would see the rise of a Burgundian or Catholic Renaissance. While Italy experienced a renaissance that was already quite catholic in its nature, Burgundy would be quite explicit in where it got its inspiration from. While Burgundy would remain stably and steadily catholic it can not be said for the other princes of the empire. An incredible example of this renaissance prosperity and stability would be the flood of St. Felix in 1530 in which would devastate Flanders and Zeeland. A combined royalist and Burgundian company operation would be able to evacuate as much of the people there quickly relocating them inland towards Guelders and Julich however it would still be a tragedy for Burgundy with the loss of nearly 70000 people due to the flood however, such a flood barely put any pressure onto the Burgundian apparatus.
The Schmalkdic league would begin to form to rival primarily Burgundian influence and their pursuit of crushing and neutering the reformation with both a carrot and a stick as protestant historians argued. Hesse in particular was the founder of this league and would lead his various princes to join him, of particular note was Cologne and Munster who already were not pleased with the interference and destruction inflicted on them in the war of the League of Cognac. Albert III who already was quite favourable with the protestants continued his approach of reconciliation towards them which would not necessarily succeed as his brother, Frederick was not entirely approving of the idea as the remaining Swiss cantons converted to oppose his rule in Chur. Events would occur as the three sides were obvious, the protestants now united under this newly formed league would proclaim the confession of Augsburg which would run directly in contrast with the Burgundians who declared them all traitors and had the edict of Worms reenacted with an incredible amount of pressure. Albert III would be stuck in the middle trying his best not to give the Burgundians the power to imperial ban the protestants and but also unwilling to allow Protestantism to grow unchecked. Albert would be hamstrung by this and it would be clear especially in the diet of Regensburg which finally pushed a criminal code that was promised to the estates in 1495 but did nothing else of value.
It was now abundantly clear that the three pillars were set in stone with the emperor on one side, the league on the other and Burgundy all fighting for dominance and security against the other two. Burgundy had lost practically its wall of buffers and suffered a humiliating defeat from Denmark and was already too eager to crush the protestants. The protestants much in the same way wished to deny Burgundy the chance to do so and expand their religion to a point where it would be independent of the papacy, the emperor at this point was on pins and needles trying precariously to balancing the two and praying that the general council of the church would be called so that this heresy would finally come to an end. However, the emperor would never rest as just after the diet, his brother in law died and the war of Milanese succession would begin.
The roots of this company were fairly simple it was to rival and outcompete the Hanseatic League, a league that was slowly dying. Philip the Rich arguably would accelerate this process three times over with his alliance with the Kalmar Union and with his placement of his brother as King of England. By the time of Christian II's ascension as king and Philip's death, the Burgundian Maritime Company would be trading as far as Novgorod to Lisbon, making quite the incredibly large fortune for this company, and this company would generate loads of goodwill amongst the other rulers in the Baltic Sea, which would be a key reason to engaging Christina of Denmark with Sigismund II of Poland. It would be this wealth and generosity that would allow the company to sponsor various Italian explorers and bankers in order to further Burgundian wealth. However, the fall of Christian II and the resurgence of the Hanseatic for a brief period would force the company to accelerate their efforts to global trade, ironically it would be this change that would fall in line with the renaming of the company into the Burgundian Indies Company.
The discovery of the new world by Columbus would not immediately stir Burgundy into action in the new world, as Spain was still a key vital ally to Henri and his ambitions in Italy but it did not limit exploration by the Company who would send various explorers and scouts before finally settling in Tobago and establishing the first Burgundian outpost there. This would be the policy of Burgundian colonialism in the Americas until the foundation of Arcadia or New Lotharingia. This would take over various decades with Burgundy slowing building up outposts and colonies in specifically the Caribbean and later on in Arcadia founding New Amsterdam. These outposts were relatively small and profitable as the Burgundian Indies Company for the new world had no real appetite for conquest and merely focused on trade and profit perhaps the sole reason why the colonies were stable and would not be conquered by the Spanish despite the treaty saying it was their land.
The key focus of the Burgundian Indies Company would be towards the east funding and creating a duopoly of the Indies trade from the Indian Ocean. This process would take several years as Burgundian outposts would first be created in 1517 buying the Portuguese outpost of Aguz. This would be further exemplified with the marriage of Philip, Prince of Namur and Isabella of Portugal who's dowry was particularly small granting Burgundy the right to ignore the treaty of Tordesillas and perhaps a couple more ports along Africa but it would kickstart the beginnings of various expeditions towards the spice islands and India finally arriving in Surat and Batavia respectively. It would be however, Burgundian monetary wealth from the crown itself that would allow this company to set their footing on this lucrative trade.
The key rivalry between Burgundy and Portugal would not be forgotten as while Portugal seeked to monopolize its presence especially in the Gold Coast, India and the Indies. Burgundy was just as keen to gain its hand in the lands itself and that goodwill that was generated with the marriage would quickly dry up as Burgundy would immediately create a permanent outpost in the Gold Coast and later the Cape Colony which while other Europeans didn't see as much of a particular value to, the Burgundian Indies Company saw immense value as a trading hub and began to significantly invest in the lands, expanding it and creating the Cape Colony by 1532. These expansion efforts would continuously work as Burgundy would land in China and later Japan beating out the Portuguese for control over the trade there and allowing Burgundy to set up a outpost or port in Japan to conduct trade with. Other examples of this great rivalry would take place in Ceylon, Mauritius, and Formosa as Burgundy with the incredible patronage of their renaissance had access to greater tools of navigation and would strategically place outposts, ports and colonies at various islands and towns in order to maximize efficiency travelling from India to Burgundy.
Burgundy's explorations especially in New Holland are the most well known as while Burgundy was not famous amongst the exploratory nations such as Spain and Portugal, they played their cards exceptionally well, treating the whole world not as some divine or christian mission to explore and conquer the world but as how the company treated the other europeans: the key to trade and making loads of profit that would find their ways back into the royal coffers. It would be this wealth and investment which would see the rise of a Burgundian or Catholic Renaissance. While Italy experienced a renaissance that was already quite catholic in its nature, Burgundy would be quite explicit in where it got its inspiration from. While Burgundy would remain stably and steadily catholic it can not be said for the other princes of the empire. An incredible example of this renaissance prosperity and stability would be the flood of St. Felix in 1530 in which would devastate Flanders and Zeeland. A combined royalist and Burgundian company operation would be able to evacuate as much of the people there quickly relocating them inland towards Guelders and Julich however it would still be a tragedy for Burgundy with the loss of nearly 70000 people due to the flood however, such a flood barely put any pressure onto the Burgundian apparatus.
The Schmalkdic league would begin to form to rival primarily Burgundian influence and their pursuit of crushing and neutering the reformation with both a carrot and a stick as protestant historians argued. Hesse in particular was the founder of this league and would lead his various princes to join him, of particular note was Cologne and Munster who already were not pleased with the interference and destruction inflicted on them in the war of the League of Cognac. Albert III who already was quite favourable with the protestants continued his approach of reconciliation towards them which would not necessarily succeed as his brother, Frederick was not entirely approving of the idea as the remaining Swiss cantons converted to oppose his rule in Chur. Events would occur as the three sides were obvious, the protestants now united under this newly formed league would proclaim the confession of Augsburg which would run directly in contrast with the Burgundians who declared them all traitors and had the edict of Worms reenacted with an incredible amount of pressure. Albert III would be stuck in the middle trying his best not to give the Burgundians the power to imperial ban the protestants and but also unwilling to allow Protestantism to grow unchecked. Albert would be hamstrung by this and it would be clear especially in the diet of Regensburg which finally pushed a criminal code that was promised to the estates in 1495 but did nothing else of value.
It was now abundantly clear that the three pillars were set in stone with the emperor on one side, the league on the other and Burgundy all fighting for dominance and security against the other two. Burgundy had lost practically its wall of buffers and suffered a humiliating defeat from Denmark and was already too eager to crush the protestants. The protestants much in the same way wished to deny Burgundy the chance to do so and expand their religion to a point where it would be independent of the papacy, the emperor at this point was on pins and needles trying precariously to balancing the two and praying that the general council of the church would be called so that this heresy would finally come to an end. However, the emperor would never rest as just after the diet, his brother in law died and the war of Milanese succession would begin.
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