[MR] Wikipedia: Birth of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1396 was born Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, aka "Philip the
Good". Regular readers of my posts have no doubt noticed my fascination
with House Valois Burgundy. These Dukes of Burgundy were pretty slimy
characters, but they did everything with oodles of style and class that
made them some of the coolest slime balls in the history of Europe. Philip
may not have been the slimiest, but he certainly was the richest, and thus
the coolest of the lot.

Philip indeed was one of the richest men in Europe, perhaps only second to
various Popes. One of his possessions was Flanders, which was where the
money was, thanks to the wool trade from England. Europe was a cold place,
and everybody wanted wool clothes. The Flemish weavers made the best woolen
cloth, plus a lot of trash for the peasants. Every sack of wool, every bolt
of cloth, every finished garment had a tax on it (or taxes, if you think
about it), and that all went into the Duke of Burgundy's pocket. Thus the
wealth, though Philip already had a head start by inheriting well. The
Burgunidan family fortune was partly based on massive graft by his
grandfather who had been a regent of France. By the end of Philip's life in
1467, Burgundy was one of the most important powers in Europe, controlling
the Duchy of Burgundy, the Free County of Burgundy (in the Holy Roman
Empire), plus a huge chunk of northern and eastern France. In his own
right, Philip ruled Luxembourg (purchased for cash!), and most of what is
today Holland and Belgium.

Philip was no miser, and spent his vast wealth not only on his own
pleasures, but also promoting Burgunidian arts, crafts and industries,
including art, tapestries, illuminated books, furniture, jewelry, etc.
Examples of all these goodies were on display at Philip's court, and copies
were available for purchase, with agents ready to take orders from
taste-conscious nobles. Europe's glitterati who received coveted
invitations to Philip's court all had their checkbooks ready.

I've never figured out why Philip was known as "The Good", because he
wasn't. He played the French off against the English in the Hundred Years
War, shopped Joan of Arc to the English, engaged in some nasty wars of
conquest to expand his own territories, massacred the inhabitants of a
couple of cities that rose against his rule, and bedded countless wives of
other men, producing 26 known bastard children in the process.

You will note from the van der Weyden portrait copy on the Wikipedia page
that Philip had almost no chin. Odd, because van der Weyden usually
flattered his subjects with a lot of "cosmetic surgery" on his canvases.
Maybe Philip looked even worse in real life. Lack of a chin apparently
didn't matter to women, since Philip was almost as rich as God.

You can learn more about Philip the Good at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_the_Good .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆