Duchy of Burgundy
Valois dukes

Under the Valois dukes of Burgundy, the duchy flourished. A match between Philip the Bold and Margaret of Dampierre – the widow of Philip of Rouvres – not only reunited the duchy with the County of Burgundy once more, as well as with the County of Artois, but also served to bring the wealthy counties of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel under the control of the dukes. By 1405, following the deaths of Philip and Margaret, and the inheritance of the duchy and most of their other possessions by their son John the Fearless, Burgundy stood less as a French fief and more as an independent state. As such, it was a major political player in European politics. The Burgundian State was reckoned to include not only the original territories of the duchy of Burgundy in what is now eastern France, but also the northern territories that came to the dukes through the marriage of Philip and Margaret.

Philip the Bold had been a cautious man in politics. His son, John the Fearless (r. 1404–1419), however, was not, and under him Burgundy and Orléans clashed as the two sides squabbled for power. The result was an increase of Burgundy's power, but the Burgundian State came to be regarded as an enemy of the French crown. From John's death, the dukes were treated with caution or outright hostility by Charles VII and his successor, Louis XI.

The last two dukes to directly rule the duchy, Philip the Good (r. 1419–1467) and Charles the Bold (r. 1467–1477), attempted to secure the independence of their state from the French crown. The endeavour failed; when Charles the Bold died in battle leaving no sons, Louis XI of France declared the duchy escheated and absorbed the territory into the French crown. Charles's daughter, Mary, inherited the rest of his domain and claimed the Duchy of Burgundy. Her heirs called themselves dukes of Burgundy, refusing to accept the loss of the duchy. The War of the Burgundian Succession took place from 1477 to 1482. Eventually, King Louis XI of France and Archduke Maximilian of Austria, Mary's widower, signed the Treaty of Arras (1482). Maximilian recognised the annexation of the Duchy and County of Burgundy and several other territories. France thus retained most of its Burgundian fiefdoms except for the affluent County of Flanders, which passed to Maximilian and Mary's descendants (but soon rebelled). With the 1493 Treaty of Senlis, Maximilian regained for his and Mary's descendants the County of Burgundy, Artois and Charolais, but the Duchy of Burgundy and Picardy were lost definitively to France.
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