Philip the Good | |
---|---|
Duke of Burgundy | |
Reign | 10 September 1419 – 15 June 1467 |
Predecessor | John the Fearless |
Successor | Charles the Bold |
Born | 31 July 1396 Dijon, Duchy of Burgundy |
Died | 15 June 1467 Bruges, Flanders, Burgundian Netherlands | (aged 70)
Burial | Dijon, Burgundy |
Spouse | |
Issue among others | |
House | Valois-Burgundy |
Father | John the Fearless |
Mother | Margaret of Bavaria |
Signature |
Philip III the Good (French: Philippe le Bon; Dutch: Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reign, the Burgundian State reached the apex of its prosperity and prestige, and became a leading centre of the arts.
Duke Philip has a reputation for his administrative reforms, for his patronage of Flemish artists (such as Jan van Eyck) and of Franco-Flemish composers (such as Gilles Binchois), and for the 1430 seizure of Joan of Arc, whom Philip ransomed to the English after his soldiers captured her, resulting in her trial and eventual execution. In political affairs, he alternated between alliances with the English and with the French in an attempt to improve his dynasty's powerbase. Additionally, as ruler of Flanders, Brabant, Limburg, Artois, Hainaut, Holland, Luxembourg, Zeeland, Friesland and Namur, he played an important role in the history of the Low Countries.
He married three times and had three legitimate sons, all from his third marriage; only one legitimate son reached adulthood. Philip had 24 documented mistresses and fathered at least 18 illegitimate children.