General Notes

Charles the Bold (1433-77), last duke of Burgundy, the son of Philip the
Good, duke of Burgundy, and Isabella of Portugal (1397-1471), born in Dijon.
In 1452 he became count of Charolais. When King Louis XI of France forced
Philip to cede some towns on the Somme River, Charles formed the League of
the Public Weal, an alliance of noblemen. League forces threatened Paris and
defeated the king at Montlhéry, near Paris, in 1465. The result was the
Treaty of Conflans, by which the towns on the Somme were restored and the
counties of Boulogne, Guines, and Ponthieu were granted to Charles.
Succeeding his father as duke in 1467, he became ruler of the territories
that constitute the Low Countries as well as the duchy of Burgundy and
Franche Comté, or the Free County of Burgundy. In 1468, Charles married his
third wife, Margaret of York (1446-1503), and formed an alliance with her
brother, Edward IV, king of England. Richer and more powerful than any other
prince, Charles planned to restore the old kingdom of Burgundy and fought a
series of intermittent wars with France. In 1475 Charles made himself master
of Lorraine. In March of the following year he invaded Switzerland and was
defeated at Grandson. Three months later he suffered a still more severe
defeat at Morat (now Murten). Nevertheless Charles refused to agree to peace
terms and laid siege to Nancy in October 1476. There he was defeated and
killed on January 5, 1477. His daughter and heiress, Mary of Burgundy
(1457-82), soon thereafter married Maximilian of Habsburg, but Maximilian
was forced to relinquish all the Burgundian lands except Flanders.