Duke Charles "the Bold"
Charles the Bold was born on the 10th November 1433 at Dijon, son of Philip the Good and Isabella of Portugal. I n 1467 he succeeded his father as duke of Burgundy. Charles was an impulsive Monarch, with absolutely no trace of diplomatic quality. He hoped to be able to add his Burgundian heritage (the Burgundy in France) with his Dutch areas. To reach this goal he conducted a lot of wars, which went, especially against the end of his regime, disastrous.
The Burgundian dukes had built a vast power area in the 14th and the 15th centuries along the border of France and the Holy Roman Empire. They wanted to transform this area into a kingdom. The father of Charles, Philip the Good, had however succeeded in accomplishing this. In 1473 success seemed to be close at hand. Charles the Bold received the duchy Trier in loan of Emperor Frederick III and was distinguished with the titles and Coat of Arms of the duchy Trier and the County Zutphen. Charles the Bold decided to test his luck a little more and requested the Emperor to raise the imperial County Burgundy, which in former days had been a kingdom, again to kingdom and him to king . The emperor feared the power of Charles the Bold too much to reject this request without reason however did not want to grant the wish for very much the same reason. At the very last moment (all preparations for the crowning were made) the emperor took a runner. At the crack of dawn, without saying his goodbyes to Charles he made his way up the river Moezel by ship so Charles would not notice his absence until much later.
One of the most striking actions of Charles naughty was the bloody subjection of prince-diocese Luik. The people from Luik revolted against the prince-bishop, who was supported by Charles. The urban militias came off worst however. A lot of cities and villages, especially Dinant and Luik, were systematically destroyed. In local politics he regarded himself as king by Gods mercy. He denied the rights and privileges of his nationals complete. To increase the royal influence in the jurisdiction, he established the parliament of Mechelen. This became the supreme profession court, which replaced the travelling High Court. Also he installed, in Mechelen, two central Courts of Auditors, which replaced the regional Courts of Auditors of Brussels and Rijsel.
He took upon himself the appointment of the local counsellors and thus bypassed the local election. The offices were no longer divided to merit, but were given to the highest bidder. As a result of this practice corruption increased. The amount of wars added towards the tax burden enormously. More and more had to be contributed by the united districts. Since 1471 the duke had been negotiating about this with their united representation: the "Staten-Generaal." The many defeats in the wars resulted in the fact that money was wasted without any returns.
Duke Charles the Bold became a casualty at Nancy on 5th January 1477 at the age of 43. The death of the duke caused a general relief in the Burgundian realm. He is succeeded by his daughter Mary of Burgundy.