CHAPTER V
THE UNION OF THE BELGIAN PRINCIPALITIES UNDER THE DUKES OF BURGUNDY
At the very moment when all the Belgian principalities had won their complete political autonomy and rejected the French, the English, and the German influence, they were brought together under the scepter of one dynasty, and became united in a solid monarchic federation. As such, they constitute, between Germany and France, that buffer state represented on the map of Europe by the kingdoms of Belgium and Holland. The unconscious tendency of the preceding centuries was brought to a head in the fifteenth century by the dukes of Burgundy. They were aided in large part by the political circumstances of the time. France was exhausted after the Hundred Years’ War and Germany had lost the prestige and the strength of its monarchic power. In favoring the desire for a union of the Belgian principalities, the dukes saved Belgium from conquest or absorption by France. They continued and completed the work of the warriors of the battle of the Golden Spurs. The Scheldt was no longer a political barrier between the east and the west of the country. Belgium, as a united political body, was now for the first time a reality.
The achievements of the Burgundian dukes may be considered from two points of view. We may consider the territorial and geographical consolidation and the political reform.
As for the territorial consolidation, there existed, at the end of the fourteenth century, three ruling houses in Belgium, each of them dominating many provinces, and each hoping to bring the whole country under its scepter. These houses were those of Luxemburg, Bavaria, and Burgundy. The house of Luxemburg had annexed to its hereditary duchy the duchies of Brabant and Limburg; that of Bavaria ruled Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland; that of Burgundy possessed the duchy of the same name with the counties of Flanders and Artois. It was the Duchess Jeanne of Brabant who turned the scale in favor of Burgundy. Although she had promised the duchy of Brabant to the house of Luxemburg, she gave it to her niece, wife of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders. So, in 1404, according to the testamentary devises of the late Jeanne of Brabant, Brabant and Limburg went to Antoine, youngest son of Philip the Bold, while to John without Fear, the eldest son, were given Flanders and Artois. There were thus a Flemish and a Brabantine branch of Burgundy. Antoine, Duke of Brabant, married Elizabeth of Gorlitz, heiress of the duchy of Luxemburg, and annexed that vast territory to his two other duchies (1409). His son John IV, by his marriage with Jacqueline of Bavaria, added to the duchies transmitted by his father the counties of Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, and the seigneurie of Friesland. John IV was an insignificant prince. History remembers him for having, in 1425, founded the University of Louvain. His brother, Philip de Saint-Pol, died without issue, and thereupon the states of Brabant offered the possessions of the Brabantine branch of Burgundy to the head of the Flemish branch, Philip the Good, Count of Flanders (1430). As Philip the Good had purchased in 1429 the county of Namur, practically all the Belgian principalities came under the same rule. At this moment the unity of Belgium was born. Only the three ecclesiastical principalities of Cambrai, Liège, and Utrecht failed to become united with the other provinces, and in these the Burgundian dukes exerted their influence by appointing members of their family as bishops or by supporting candidates in the episcopal elections who were devoted to their interests.
Philip the Good, whom the historian Juste Lipse called, in the seventeenth century, conditor Belgii (“the founder of Belgium”), was known in his own times as the Grand Duke of the West. The fame of his power was carried to the Mediterranean, where his vessels fought the Turkish pirates. He lacked only the title of king. He instituted negotiations with the Emperor for restoring in his favor the former kingdom of Lotharingia. These negotiations did not succeed because he refused to pay to Frederick III, the German Emperor, the sum the latter demanded, and to give the oath of allegiance and vassalage for those parts of his possessions which were fiefs of the Empire. He boasted to an envoy of Louis XI, King of France, that “he wanted them to know he could have been king, if he had only willed it.”
His work was nearly destroyed by the extravagant plans and the ambition of his son, Charles the Bold, who succeeded him in 1467. The reign of Charles was dominated by the struggle with the shrewd King of France, Louis XI. This king watched with anxiety the increasing power of one of his vassals, and tried to circumvent his plans in all possible ways. The schemes of Charles the Bold were fantastically extensive, and the historian Philip de Comines said of him: “He tried so many things that he could not live long enough to carry them out, and they were indeed almost impossible enterprises.”
As the house of Burgundy tried to dominate the principality of Liège, Charles followed that policy by imposing upon the citizens of Liège the candidacy of Louis of Bourbon as bishop-prince. The people of the principality, stirred up by the French King, rose against the mighty duke. They paid a heavy price. In 1466 the town of Dinant was sacked by the troups of Charles the Bold, and in 1468 Liège shared the same fate. Unspeakable atrocities were committed by the Burgundian army, and fire and sword nearly decimated the populace. These disasters placed the principality for at least ten years under the domination of Charles.
The states of the Burgundian dukes were composed of two sections, separated from each other by independent principalities. In the south, they possessed the duchy of Burgundy and the county of the same name, also called Franche-Comté; in the north, Belgium and a large part of the Dutch provinces were in their hands. From 1469 on, Charles tried patiently but relentlessly to bring together both parts of his state. He took Lorraine by force and got in engagère Alsace, Brisgau, and other minor principalities. In the north he succeeded, in 1472, in winning, by the testament of the late Arnold of Gueldre, the duchy of that name and the county of Zutphen.
Adopting the plan which his father had devised, but enlarging it considerably, he began negotiations with the Emperor for the reconstitution of the former mediaeval kingdom of Burgundy, and for his appointment as King of the Romans and successor to the Empire. He failed where Philip the Good had failed.
He intended next to conquer the country of his enemy, Louis XI. After the conquest he planned to divide France between himself and his brother-in-law, Edward of England. In order to avoid the danger, the French King cleverly entangled his vassal in a war with the Swiss. Charles fought the battle of Nancy under very unfavorable circumstances. His army was severely defeated and he himself killed. His body was discovered in the ice of a frozen pool, pierced by three deadly wounds and half devoured by wolves.
His young daughter Mary took on her shoulders the heavy burden entailed upon her as his successor.
The territorial federation of all the Belgian principalities by the Burgundian dukes involved as a consequence the political unification of these provinces. Having but one prince, they also had but one government. It was necessary, of course, that the individual institutions of each principality should disappear, and the political life of the country was subjected to the centralizing tendency of a common monarchy. Above the local institutions were established central institutions, common to all the territories: the council of the duke, an advisory body; the chancellor of Burgundy, a kind of prime minister; the Grand Council, a governmental body, which Charles the Bold, more autocratic than his father, divided into two new colleges, with distinct functions—the Council of State, a political college, and the Parliament of Malines, a supreme court of justice (1473).
Such a centralization of the national institutions was quite necessary if the danger of being dominated by France was to be avoided. France was rapidly becoming united under the leadership of its kings, who possessed a permanent army, the right to impose a perpetual taille, and the exercise of sovereign justice. In the face of this united and powerful monarchy, the Burgundian state could not remain separated. The Belgian provinces could no longer remain isolated from each other and limit themselves to an individualistic and egotistic policy. It was seen that everything ought to be concentrated in the hands of a strong prince. That was the new idea that was introduced into the constitution of the Belgian principalities, an idea that had never appeared prior to the fifteenth century. Throughout the Middle Ages the antiquated idea of the state as a collective person distinct from its members never clearly appears. The concept of sovereignty—absolute power subject to no control—was also lacking. The individual life dominated the life of the community. Little by little the renascence of the study of Roman law introduced other concepts, namely, those of state and sovereignty. The students of Roman law, the “legists,” stood for a government that would be one, indivisible, strong, absolute, and active. They believed that all that tended to limit the complete exercise of public authority should be discarded: the state was held to be impersonal and almighty. That new concept of the state was embodied in the politics of the Burgundian dukes during the fifteenth century. Centralization and the absolute power of the prince took the place of the former personal and collective privileges. This idea triumphed, not only because the Burgundian dukes were strong, but also because it was in accordance with the needs of the time and the wishes of the majority of the people.
Of course, the dukes, when they tried to realize their political centralization, met with some resistance on the part of the powerful communes. But Philip the Good cleverly avoided any open fight. He simply tried to subject the cities to his control—to prevent them from being a state within the state. He took part in the appointment of the magistrates, ordered their accounts to be examined by his officers, forbade advantage to be taken of the small cities and the peasantry, and made the judgments of their tribunals subject to review by his own councils of justice. Flanders endeavored to evade the results of that policy. There were serious revolts in Bruges (1436-47) and in Ghent (1450-53), and the cities of Brabant, particularly Malines, seemed unwilling to adapt themselves to the new situation.
All this local resistance was ruthlessly broken by Charles the Bold when he became duke. The autonomy of the cities was completely disregarded, the traditions were changed without consideration, the privileges remained unrecognized. Charles kept the appointment of all the municipal charges in his own hands. The omnipotence of the sovereign was, according to him, the only warrant for order and justice, such as he himself desired for his possessions.
Political centralization would, however, never have been achieved by the dukes if they had not enjoyed the support of certain classes of the people. They had, indeed, the help of the noblemen, who were despised and ignored by the communes, and were therefore ready to help all the enemies of the cities. Moreover, the dukes succeeded in destroying the feudal character of the nobility, in softening it, and in converting it into a body of courtiers. They attracted the noblemen by making them royal allowances, by granting them gifts of land or money, offices at court, etc. A golden chain soon bound all the feudalists, once so independent; and life at court soon robbed them of their former spirit of freedom. Before long, the favor of the prince constituted the only chance of success in political and social life. In order to keep the nobles loyal to his person, Philip the Good founded at Bruges, in 1480, the famous and privileged order of the Golden Fleece.
Only the Burgundian and Picardian nobles, however, were to be found at court, occupying the public offices, and entirely submissive to their sovereign. The Belgian nobles could not forget that the rights of the prince, according to national tradition, were not without limits; they desired a guaranty against the dangers of personal government. They desired a government in which the duke would not be able to declare war without the consent of the states, in which he would regulate his expenses in accordance with the income of his domain, and in which he would act only after having taken the advice of his council.
The dukes were also supported in their efforts toward centralization by the clergy. Philip the Good had abolished exemption from taxation till that time enjoyed by the clergy, asserting that the common law was opposed to such privileges. Following the example of the King of France, the Duke limited the temporal power of the clergy, narrowed their jurisdiction, and imposed upon the church his candidates for bishoprics and monasteries. On the other hand, the Duke extended the political power of the clergy, giving them the first place in the States-General and in the councils. The States-General was a new institution, also introduced by the Burgundian dukes. Before the existence of the States-General, the prince was compelled, whenever a levy of taxes was desired, to deliberate separately with the delegates of each Belgian province and to obtain their consent. Philip the Good thought it more expedient to gather them all together in his presence at the same time. That meeting was called the meeting of the States-General. As the States-General did not meet except at the express order of the sovereign, and for his own advantage, this institution served as an instrument for weakening provincial individualism and strengthening the central government.
In the States-General the clergy were granted the first place; they, as well as the nobles, therefore became supporters of the policy of the dukes. By such methods, by persuasion, by distribution of money, and even by violence, the Burgundian dukes succeeded in transforming the institutions of the Belgian principalities into a monarchical rule.
Most of the new institutions were modeled after those existing in France, but adapted to the local situation and needs of Belgium. No principality lost its own autonomy, its own constitution, or its privileges. The Burgundian state was an agglomeration of states, a juxtaposition of territories. There was no universal power; the dukes were not “princes of Belgium” or “princes of the Netherlands”; they ruled every principality separately and were dukes of Brabant, counts of Flanders, dukes of Luxemburg, counts of Hainaut, Namur, etc. But their power was as vast as their wealth. When Philip the Good died in 1467, he left a personal fortune whose annual income nearly equaled that of the republic of Venice and was as much as four times that of the republic of Florence, three times that of the King of Naples, twice that of the Pope and of the Duke of Milan. No wonder that he was called “the Grand Duke of the West.”
THE MASTERPIECE OF MATHIEU DE LAYENS: TOWN HALL OF LOUVAIN
(It escaped destruction during the conflagration of August 26, 1914)
What about the Belgian civilization in the time of the Burgundian dukes?
We know that, toward the end of the fourteenth century, Flanders suffered a decline after the bloody civil war: the German merchants left Bruges, Ghent lost a part of its population, Ypres was half destroyed, Ostend became a sandy waste. The “polders” were inundated; wolves and wild boars infested the country.
Fifty years later, during the reign of the Burgundian dukes, Belgium had again become the richest country in Europe. That revival was, of course, not attributable to the dukes alone. It must be remembered that the Belgians are an industrious people and that the geographical position of the country is highly favorable. But the political union of all the provinces, peace, and a good administration contributed largely to the revival of the nation. The political work of the Burgundian dukes brought about the unification of coinage, the free relations between the different principalities, the order and safety necessary for the development of trade and industry. From an economic point of view, the dukes endeavored to conserve and to enlarge the resources of the country. They took prohibitive measures against the English cloth industry in favor of the Flemish manufacture. Charles the Bold endeavored to dredge the sand out of the harbor of Bruges and to save that city from disaster. In the fifteenth century Antwerp, supported by the dukes, became the largest market of the north. In Luxemburg the gold and silver mines began to be operated, employing the mine-workers of the region of Liège.
Although the economic policy of the dukes may be described as still somewhat incoherent, it may yet be said to have embraced excellent principles. A declaration is preserved to the effect that “one of the main points of all good policy, upon which the public welfare is based, is to get and to keep good and lasting money, as well golden as silver coin.”
Notwithstanding these principles and the various measures taken for the protection of trade, a crisis in the cloth industry was soon apparent. This was due to the transformation in the wool trade. Bruges was the big wool market of the Continent, but, since the development of the English cloth industry, the English producers had kept the raw material at home, thereby diminishing the stock of wool in Flanders. The price had greatly increased, and Flemish manufacturers were obliged to use Spanish wool of inferior quality. This, of course, spelled the decline of the Belgian cloth industry. The decline of Louvain’s prosperity was somewhat mitigated by the foundation there of the University in 1425. Nothing, however, could save Ypres. Its craftsmen, threatened with starvation, migrated to England; houses were abandoned and fell into ruin; in 1456 a third of the population was begging for bread along the roads.
Other parts of the country were less affected by the crisis in the cloth industry. Ghent had its grain staple; Brussels, where the dukes resided, imported articles of luxury; Malines had its Parliament; Antwerp took the place of Bruges as a seaport. Since 1442, English merchants had settled in Antwerp, and this meant the end of Bruges and of the part played by Flanders in the economic life of Belgium. It was now the turn of Brabant. At the same time, a new industry was being introduced into Flanders and Brabant, the technical features of which were much the same as those of the cloth industry. Wool was replaced by flax, and instead of cloth manufacture we hear next of the linen industry. As manufacture on a large scale, mediaeval in its forms and restrictive and exclusive in its spirit of corporation, could no longer support itself, the new linen industry soon came to be carried on in the homes of the operatives, mainly in the country. Driven out of Flanders by circumstances, the cloth industry now sought to prolong its life in a little town of the Ardennes—Verviers, near Liège (1480).
The conditions of trade likewise experienced decline and revival at the same time. In this particular the outstanding feature is the decline of Bruges. As is well known, credit operations on a large scale sometimes bring about big bankruptcies. Until the death of Charles the Bold (1477), Bruges remained the financial and banking center of Europe. It was filled with Italian bankers, among them agents of the Medici, the Portinari, and the Guidetti. A large number of foreign merchants resided at Bruges, grouped in colonies known as “nations.” Among them were the “nations” of Florence, of Spain, and of the Osterlings. In 1457 the shipping in the harbor was represented by three vessels from Venice, one from Portugal, two from Spain, six from Scotland, forty-two from Bretagne, twelve from Hamburg, four whale-boats, and thirty-six to forty fishing smacks. The vessels came mainly from Spain and Portugal. They brought merchandise hitherto unknown to the people of Belgium: oranges, lemons, rose-water, candy, jam, oriental tapestry, etc. From the Portuguese warehouses in Africa came monkeys, lions, parrots.
In the course of the fifteenth century, however, for reasons already indicated, the merchants of the German Hansa left Bruges. As a result of the fall of the Flemish cloth industry and the prohibitive measures taken against England in favor of Flanders, the shipping company of the English Merchant Adventurers sent large numbers to settle at Antwerp in 1442-44. They were joined by the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese merchants. The bankers soon followed. At the end of the fifteenth century the glorious old Flemish city showed 4,000 to 5,000 empty houses. From then on it became known as “Bruges la morte.” Its rival, Antwerp, had become the center of the cloth-weaving industry.
The inundations in Zeeland at the beginning of the fifteenth century had considerably enlarged the western Scheldt and afforded a direct route to the sea. Taking advantage of this circumstance, Antwerp, from the very beginning, showed a highly modern and liberal spirit. It reduced the taxes on foreign merchants, whereas Bruges, in order to save the situation, maintained its restrictive and drastic legislation and tried to uphold its economic privileges and its highly protectionist measures. Moreover, Antwerp did not share the revolutionary spirit of the Flemish communes. There were no bloody struggles against the dukes, and there was the best of understanding with the central power.
The new spirit of Antwerp is shown in its commercial organization. There were two fairs yearly, held on the principle of commercial liberty. Those visiting the fairs were protected by a special passport. Whereas a monopoly existed in the professions of broker and money-changer in Bruges, at Antwerp they were open to all. The right of citizenship was easily acquired. In 1460, Antwerp established the first exchange that existed in Europe. At the end of the fifteenth century the city had become the great commercial center of the north. But, as earlier in the case of Bruges, the more important commerce was in the hands of foreigners. The people of Antwerp were but auxiliaries and intermediaries, brokers, forwarding agents, charterers of vessels, etc. The same phenomenon is observable in the Antwerp of today.
On the other hand, the political and economic transformations which resulted in such crises in city life proved advantageous for the peasantry, for the people of the countryside. The decline of the tyranny of the big cities tended to bring to the peasant more and more of freedom. He was now free to engage in industry at home and to become a paid workman in the service of the capitalist. The old restrictions of the feudal law and the law of the manor were gone.
Even in the realm of charity the changing order was manifest. It was now taken in hand by the state. Special ordinances against beggars were issued in 1461 for Flanders and Brabant. Heretofore, the beggar had been abandoned to the tender mercies of the church and of private charity. Thenceforth he was taken in hand by the government. The state refused to encourage beggars; it controlled them and forced them to work. A special license for begging was granted to children under twelve years and to persons over sixty years, and to mothers with numerous children and without work. Those found begging without a license were imprisoned. The institutions for charity, heretofore exclusively religious, were taken over by the local governments. Boards of trustees were appointed by the municipalities and the finances were controlled by the échevins.
As for literary and artistic conditions in the Burgundian period, it is to be noted that French influence gradually disappeared after the battle of the Golden Spurs. French of course remained the language of the court, of the nobility, of the wealthy citizens. French, together with Latin, also remained as the language of diplomacy. But it made no more gains. At this time Flemish began to take its place in civic life. As a result of the victory of democracy in most of the cities, Flemish became the language of the administration and was used for the registration of real estate and for accounts. Through existing relations with the merchants of the Hansa it became also the language of commercial affairs. Primary schools were established in all the cities, and instruction was given in the language of the people. The literary works of Van Maerlandt, whose influence has already been described, came freely into the possession of, and were read by, the humblest craftsmen.
When Charles the Bold tried to impose French as the only official language, vigorous discontent was the result, and in 1477 the so-called “Grand Privilege” of Mary of Burgundy resulted in the re-establishment of Flemish. The knowledge of Flemish also spread through the Walloon country. Walloon merchants settled in Antwerp and Flemish merchants went to Namur and Dinant.
Under these favorable conditions, Flemish literature developed rapidly; but the development mainly affected Brabant. Brabant now took the place formerly occupied by Flanders. The Brabantine dialect, instead of the Flemish one, soon became dominant in literature. One of the best writers of this time was Jan Boendale (†1365), the famous author of the Brabantsche Yeesten (“Deeds of Brabant”). Boendale was serious and practical, and had no sympathy for France, like Van Maerlandt. He was an enemy both of the democracy and of the nobility; the merchants and the peasants were the classes with which he showed the most sympathy. Another Flemish author of great fame was Jan Van Ruysbroeck (†1381), also a native of Brabant. He was the herald of mysticism and of divine love, and occupies the first rank among all the religious writers of the Middle Ages. He wrote in a wonderful prose and surpassed everyone in inspiration of thought. The Flemish literature owes also much to another mystic, Gerard de Groote (†1384), of Deventer, founder of the “Brethren of Common Life.” The members of that community issued a large number of religious tracts, all of them written in Flemish. They founded excellent schools, where instruction was given by teachers from the University of Paris, and they were the first to introduce the art of printing into the Netherlands. The most famous printer of the Netherlands, Thierry Martens, of Alost, was one of their pupils. Wherever they founded communities and schools they introduced the art of printing, e.g., in Alost, Bruges, Brussels, Deventer, Gouda, Louvain, and Utrecht.
As for French literature in Belgium during the Burgundian period, its output was mainly devoted to the aristocracy, and consisted chiefly of historical material. The names of the historians Jean le Bel, Jean Froissart, Monstrelet, and Chastelain are well known. Froissart was a cosmopolitan writer, and most of the historians of this school showed only a dynastic learning. There was no question of patriotism. They praised the Burgundian dukes because these dukes were their protectors and benefactors.
Artistic life, on the other hand, was not divided into two separate currents, as was the literary life. In matters of art, Flemish and Walloon collaborated during the fifteenth century and together produced a real Belgian art. The masters of this period were the Flemings Jan and Hubert Van Eyck and the Walloon Roger de la Pasture or Van der Weyden.
Since the end of the thirteenth century Belgian art had become completely original. It was the wealth of city life that rendered that phenomenon possible. The wealth of the burgesses served to found many art industries. Sculpture, painting, and the goldsmith’s art were no longer exclusively religious; they became more and more secular. The erection of large churches ceased. Painters were busy decorating guild halls and city halls, banners and tents, and painting for craft guilds and for dramatic societies. The oldest products of Belgian art are to be found in sculpture, especially monuments in stone or yellow copper. The cleverness of technique and the realism of outline compel admiration. The artists copied with exactness what they noted in their surroundings. For the stiff meagerness of the Gothic style they substituted a more rounded form, and produced a truer art as a result. One of the most famous sculptors of this period was Claus Sluter, native of Zeeland, creator of the celebrated sculptures of Dijon. Those masterpieces, made when Ghiberti and Donatello flourished in Italy, enable the Netherlands to share with that country the first place in art of this period.
The painters forsook more slowly than did the sculptors the traditions of the preceding period, but during the period of the Burgundian dukes they made rapid strides. The painters are to be found among the Flemings and the Walloons; they were not influenced by the foreign schools, and they dwelt in the cities of Flanders and Brabant, where the presence of wealthy merchants and the residence of the court afforded them the opportunities for the exercise of their art. Hubert Van Eyck, of Limburg, came to Ghent about 1430; his brother Jan settled in Bruges in 1425; Roger Van der Weyden left Tournai and located in Brussels in 1435. Other famous names are those of Peter Christus, of Brabant; Simon Marmion, of Valenciennes; Juste Van Wassenhove, of Ghent; Hugo Van der Goes, of Ghent; Thierry Bouts, of Haerlem; and the anonymous “Master of Flémalle.” This is a period in which art and craftsmanship meant quite different things; the personality of the painter was now in free course of development.
Music also now began to be recognized as the expression of the genius of both Belgian races, although musicians were chiefly found among the Walloons, whereas the painters were mainly Flemings. The names of the musicians Jan Ockeghem (1494-96), a Fleming, and Josquin des Prés (1450), a Walloon, may be mentioned as having substituted the choir with many voices for the choir with one voice, and as having introduced counterpoint in musical composition. Architecture now came to be regarded as of less importance than sculpture. Its tendency was to a profusion of ornaments; the simplicity of lines and the severe majesty of the Gothic style of the thirteenth century disappeared. The prominence of sculptural decoration was especially noticeable in the city halls of Brussels and Louvain (1444-48), the latter the masterpiece of Mathieu de Layens and one of the richest examples of sculpture in the fifteenth century. Louvain was fortunate also in possessing its no less famous university (1425). That seat of learning was founded at the request of Duke John IV of Brabant by Pope Martin V. The faculty of theology was added to the three other faculties (arts, law, and medicine) by Pope Eugen IV in 1432. During the first quarter of the sixteenth century the University of Louvain played an unparalleled part in the intellectual life of Belgium.
Such was the splendid achievement of Belgian culture in the times of the Burgundian dukes. The untimely death of Charles the Bold on the battlefield of Nancy threatened ruin to the marvelous results of their policy. The news of his death was scarcely made public when the strong Burgundian state he dreamed of collapsed. Lorraine, Alsace, and the neighboring countries regained their independence, Liège threw off the yoke, and the shrewd Louis XI, notwithstanding the treaties, annexed the cities of the Somme and of Picardy to France, conquered Artois, and took possession of the duchy of Burgundy and of the Franche-Comté.
This was a disastrous beginning for the young daughter of Charles the Bold, Mary of Burgundy. It was necessary that she be married and so obtain a protector as promptly as possible. The States-General accepted the candidacy of Maximilian of Hapsburg, son of the Emperor Frederick III of Germany. That marriage laid the foundation for the European supremacy of the house of Hapsburg, and gave to Belgium a dynasty which remained in power until the French Revolution.
Prior to the marriage of Mary, the States-General had taken advantage of the disastrous situation in which the young princess found herself, and wrested from her the so-called “Grand Privilege” (February 11, 1477), whereby the Parliament of Malines was abolished and a “Grand Council” was established, with limited power and including representatives of all the Belgian provinces. At the same time, each principality succeeded in obtaining collective provincial privileges. Thus most of the new institutions and rules introduced by the Burgundian dukes were abolished, and the former privileges of the communes were again recognized. After the death of Princess Mary (1482), the reaction of the communes became even more violent. A son named Philip had been born to Mary and Maximilian; history knows him as Philip the Fair. The Belgians immediately recognized the infant archduke, but they continued the fight against his father Maximilian. After a bloody struggle in which both France (assisting Flanders) and Germany (assisting Maximilian) interfered, victory remained in the hands of the Hapsburgs (1492).
The resistance of the Flemish communes to autocracy and centralization was henceforth shattered. Broken and impoverished, they no longer questioned the authority of the prince. Philip the Fair and Charles V continued at peace and achieved the work of monarchic centralization initiated by the Burgundian dukes.