Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/96

 BURGUNDY

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BURGUNDY

"El Castellano" and "El Boletfn Eclesiastieo " are under the direction of the archbishop.

Flc5rez, La Espaila Sagrada (1743-1886); Gil DXvila, Teatro de las Iglesias de Esparia; Venero, Historia de la Viudad de Burgos; Cant6n, Memorias para la Historia de Burgos; Cuadrado, Descripciones de Espana; Salva, Burgas a Yuela Pluma; Street, Gothic Architecture in Spain.

Tmso Lopez.

Burgundy (Lat. Burgundia, Ger. Burgund, Fr. Bourgogne), in medieval times respectively a kingdom and a duchy, later a province of France (to 1789), and now represented mostly by the departments of Ain, Saone-et-Loire, Cote-d'Or, and Yonne. It has nearly 2,000,000 inhabitants, and is famous for its diversified scenery, its rich wines, its rivers and canals, varied industries, mineral wealth, and many prosperous cities. In the fifth century a Germanic tribe, the Burgundi or Burgundiones, conquered from the Romans the fertile basins of the Rhone, the Saone, and the Loire, but were unable to main- tain their sovereignty (Lyons, Geneva, Vienne) which in the next century they lost (534) to the Frankish successors of Clovis [Binding, "Das bur- gundisch-romanische Konigreich von 443-532", Leip- zig, 1S6S; Drapeyron, "Du role de la Bourgogne sous les Merovingiens " in "M6m. his a la Sorbonne", 1866, 29-42; B. Haureau, "L'Eglise et l'Etat sous les premiers rois de Bourgogne" in "Mem. de l'Aoad. des inscriptions et belles-lettres", Paris, 1867, XXVI (1), 137-172]. In the latter quarter of the ninth century this territory again acquired independence, first as the short-lived Kingdom of Aries, and then as the dual Kingdom of North and South (or Lesser) Burgundy, the latter including Provence or the lands between Lyons and the sea, while the former took in, roughly speaking, the territory north of Lyons, now divided between France and Switzerland. These kingdoms, known as Transjurane and Cisjurane Burgundy, were reunited (935) under Rudolf II. The independence of this "middle kingdom", the medieval counterpart of modern Switzerland, was short-lived, for in 1038 Emperor Conrad II obtained the crown of Burgundy for his son (later Emperor) Henry III. For two centuries German influence was uppermost in the counsels of the Burgundian rulers, but little by little the growing prestige and power of neighbouring France asserted themselves, beginning with the annexation of Lyons by Philip the Fair in 1310 and ending with that of Savoy and Nice in 1S60. During this time, in language, laws, and institutions Burgundy became regularly more closely assimilated to France, and finally an integrant part of that nation when, on the death of Charles the Bold (1477), Louis XI incorporated with France the Duchy of Burgundy and extinguished thereby, in favour of the royal prerogative, one of the most important fiefs of the French Crown (G. Hiiffer, " Das Verhalt- niss des Konigreiehs Burgund zu Kaiser und Reich, besonders unter Friedrich I", Paderborn, 1874; Reese, "Die staatsrechtliche Stellung der Bischofe Burgunds und Italiens unter Kaiser Friedrich I", Gottingen, 1885; cf. Andre Du Chesnc, "Hist, des rois, dues, et comtes de Bourgogne et d'Arles ", Paris, 1619; de Camps, "De la souverainete' de la couronne de France sur les royaumes de Bourgogne Transjurane et d'Arles", in "Mercure de France", April, 1723; von Ber touch, "Burgund als Scheide- wand zwischen Deutschland und Frankreich, einehis- torisch-politische Frage ", Wiesbaden, 1885). _

The medieval political vicissitudes of the Kingdom of Burgundy are accurately outlined in E. Freeman, "Historical Geography of Europe" (ed. Bury, Lon- don, 1903), passim. ' The following passage from that work (pp. 258-259) exhibits in a brief but philo- sophic way the political vicissitudes and role of me- dieval Burgundy: —

"The Burgundian Kingdom, which was united with those of Germany and Italy after the death of

its last separate king, Rudolf the Third [1032], has had a fate unlike that of any other part of Europe. Its memory, as a separate state, has gradually died out. The greater part of its territory has been swal- lowed up, bit by bit, by a neighbouring power, and the small part which has escaped that fate has long lost all trace of its original name or its original politi- cal relations. By a long series of annexations, spreading over more than five hundred years, the greater part of the kingdom has gradually been in- corporated with France. Of what remains, a small corner forms part of the modern Kingdom of Italy, while the rest still keeps its independence in the form of the commonwealths which make up the western cantons of Switzerland. These cantons, in fact, are the truest modern representatives of the Burgundian Kingdom. And it is on the confederation of which they form a part, interposed as it is between France, Italy, the new German Empire, and the modern Austrian Monarchy, as a central state with a guaran- teed neutrality, that some trace of the old function of Burgundy, as the middle kingdom, is thrown. This function it shares with the Lotharingian lands at the other end of the empire, which now form part of the equally neutral Kingdom of Belgium, lands which, oddly enough, themselves became Burgundian in another sense." The present article deals chiefly with Northern Burgundy since the middle of the fourteenth century, and may serve as an introduc- tion to the articles on Belgium and the Nether- lands.

States of the House op Burgundy. — The for- mation of the Burgundian State from which sprang the two Kingdoms of Belgium and the Netherlands, is an historical phenomenon of intense interest. The Duchy of Burgundy was one of the fiefs of the French Crown. Made vacant in 1361 by the death of Philippe de Rouvre, the last of the older line of dukes, it was presented by John II, King of France, to his son Philip the Bold who, at the age of fourteen, had fought so valiantly at his father's side in the battle of Poitiers. In 1369, as the result of the negotiations of his brother, King Charles V, Philip married Mar- guerite de Male, widow of his predecessor and sole heir to the countship of Flanders, thereby acquiring that magnificent domain including the cities of Ant- werp and Mechlin and the countships of Nevers and Rethel, not to mention the countships of Artois and Burgundy to be inherited from his wife's grand- mother. He thus became the most powerful feud- ary of the Kingdom of France. To be sure he had to conquer Flanders by dint of arms, as the people of Ghent, who had rebelled against the late count, Louis de Male, had no intention of submitting to his heir. But Philip had the armies of his nephew, King Charles VI, march against them and they lost the battle of Roosebeke (1382); then, after continuing the struggle for two years longer, they were finally obliged to submit in 13S5. The Peace of Tournai put Philip in possession of his countship, yet lie was not satisfied and, through adroit negotiations, he suc- ceeded in securing foothold for his family in most of the other Netherland territories. By the marriage of his daughter Margaret with Count William of Hainault, proprietor of the countships of Hainault, Holland, and Zealand, Philip provided for the annex- ation of these three domains. Moreover, he obtained for his wife, Margaret, the inheritance of her widowed and childless aunt, Jane, Duchess of Brabant and Limburg, and gave it to Anthony, his youngest son, whilst the eldest, John the fearless, was made heir to his other states (14011. But John the Fearless did nothing great for the Netherlands, being better known for his ardent participation in the troubles that disturbed the Kingdom of France during the reign of the deranged King Charles VI. After as- sassinating Louis of Orleans, the king's brother, John