Court and Civic Society in the Burgundian Low Countries c. 1420-1520

by Brown, Andrew; Small, Graeme

• ISBN13: 9780719056192
• ISBN10: 0719056195
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-15
• Publisher: Manchester University Press

Summary

This book is the first ever attempt to unite and translate some of the key texts which informed Johan Huizinga's famous study of the Burgundian court in The Waning of the Middle Ages, a work which has never gone out of print. It combines these texts with sources that Huizinga did not consider, those that illuminate the wider civic world that the Burgundian court inhabited, and the dynamic interaction between court and city. Through these sources, and an introduction offering new perspectives on recent historiography, the book tests whether Huizinga's controversial vision of the period still stands. Covering subjects including ceremonial events, such as the spectacles and gargantuan banquets that made the Burgundian dukes the talk of Europe, the workings of the court, and jousting, archery and rhetoric competitions, the book will appeal to students of late medieval and early modern Europe and to those with wider interests in court culture, ritual and ceremony.

Author Biography

Andrew Brown is Senior Lecturer in the School of History and Classics at the University of Edinburgh.Graeme Small is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Glasgow.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. ix
Note on coinage and monies of account	p. x
Abbreviations	p. xi
Map of the Burgundian dominions, 1476	p. xii
Introduction
Court and civic society	p. 1
The Burgundian lands	p. 3
Urban society	p. 7
City and state	p. 11
Service at court: nobles and townsmen	p. 13
Ceremony and ritual	p. 21
'Urban' and 'courtly' ceremonies	p. 23
Ritual and power	p. 28
Symbolic communication and ritual performance	p. 32
Burgundian spectacles
The Feast of the Pheasant at Lille, 17 February, 1454	p. 36
Introduction	p. 36
Text	p. 39
The marriage feast of Charles the Bold and Margaret of York in Bruges, 3-14 July, 1468	p. 54
Introduction	p. 54
Text	p. 58
The court
Introduction	p. 86
Perceptions of the court: Pero Tafur	p. 91
A description of the household of Charles the Bold, 1474	p. 94
Etiquette at court: Eleanor of Poitiers	p. 104
A household Ordonnance for Charles, Prince of Spain, 1515	p. 110
The court as marriage broker	p. 115
Jacques du Clercq on court weddings	p. 115
George Chastelain on court weddings	p. 116
The marriage of Jehan Gros and Guye de Messey, February 1472	p. 117
Jean Coustain: peasant's son, courtier, poisoner, 1462	p. 119
The Order of the Golden Fleece
Introduction	p. 130
The founding of the Order	p. 135
The statutes of the Order	p. 137
Organisation of a chapter, c.1500	p. 146
The Mons chapter, 1451	p. 156
A town council prepares	p. 156
A church prepares	p. 157
The business of the chapter	p. 158
After the chapter	p. 163
Entry ceremonies
Introduction	p. 165
Preparing for the prince, Ghent, 1458	p. 167
Welcoming the prince, Ghent, 1458	p. 176
An Entry ceremony goes awry, Ghent, 1467	p. 186
Paying for an Entry ceremony, Bruges, 1515	p. 197
Civic society and the Court: jousts, shooting fraternities and Chambers of rhetoric
Introduction	p. 210
Crossbow and archery guilds	p. 210
Constitution, Bethune, 1413	p. 216
Competition, Tournai, 1455	p. 216
Jousts	p. 219
The jousts of the White Bear, Bruges, 1457	p. 225
The joust of the Epinette, Lille, 1486	p. 228
Chambers of rhetoric	p. 231
Competition, Antwerp, 1496	p. 231
Le Puy Notre-Dame, Lille, 1479	p. 235
Organisation, Antwerp, 1522	p. 236
Civic religion and the court
Introduction	p. 239
The Brussels ommegang	p. 242
The Brussels ommegang: the civic ordinance of 1448	p. 242
The Brussels ommegang and The Seven Joys of the Virgin Mary, 1448	p. 244
Scheut: The miraculous image of the Virgin Mary, 1450-1457	p. 245
The procession of Our Lady at Tournai, 1461	p. 250
The procession of Our Lady at Lille, 1463	p. 251
Valenciennes: fraternity of St Barbara, 1459	p. 252
Ghent: windows in the parish church of St John the Baptist, 1462	p. 253
Maximilian in Bruges: 1488: oaths and general processions	p. 254
Ducal offerings and alms, 1468	p. 257
Select Bibliography	p. 268
Index	p. 271
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.