CHARLES THE BOLD
LAST DUKE OF BURGUNDY
1433-1477
BY
RUTH PUTNAM
AUTHOR OF "WILLIAM THE SILENT," "A MEDIÆVAL PRINCESS," ETC.
G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press
1908
COPYRIGHT 1908,
BY
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
PREFACE
The admission of Charles, Duke of Burgundyinto the series of Heroes of the Nations, isjustified by his relation to events rather than byhis national or his heroic qualities. "Il n'avaitpas assez de sens ni de malice pour conduire sesentreprises," is one phrase of Philip de Comminesin regard to the master he had once served. Rendersens by genius and malice by diplomacy and thewords are not far wrong. Yet in spite of thefailure to obtain either a kingly or an imperialcrown, the story of those same unaccomplishedenterprises contains the germs of much that hashappened later in the borderlands of France andGermany where the projected "middle kingdom"might have been erected. A sketch of the duke'scharacter with its traits of ambition and shortcomingsmay therefore be placed, not unfitly,among the pen portraits of individuals who haveattempted to change the map of Europe.
The materials for an exhaustive study of thetimes, and of the participants in the scenes thereof,are almost overwhelming in quantity. Into thisnarrative, I have woven the words of contemporarieswhen these related what they saw andthought, or at least what they said they saw orthought, about events passing within their sightor their ken. The veracity attained is only thatof a mosaic of bits, each with its morsel of truth.[page iv]And the rim in which these bits are set is tooslender to contain all the illumination necessary.The narrative is, of necessity, partial and fragmentary,for a complete story would require aseries of biographies presented in parallel columns.My own preliminary chapter to this book—amere explanation of the presence of the dukesof Burgundy in the Netherlands—grew into anaccount of a sovereign whom they deposed andwas published under the title of A MediævalPrincess.
John Foster Kirk gave 1713 pages to his recordof Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Fortyyears have elapsed since that publication appearedand a mass of interesting material pertinent to thesubject has been given out to the public, whileseparate phases of it have been minutely discussedby competent critics, so that at every pointthere is new temptation for the biographer toexpand the theme where the scope of his workdemands brevity.
In using the later fruit of historical investigation,it is delightful for an American to findthat scholars of all nations do justice to Mr.Kirk's accuracy and industry even when theymay differ from his conclusions. It has beenmy privilege to be permitted free access to thisscholar's collection of books, and I would hereexpress my deep gratitude to the Kirk family fortheir generosity and courtesy towards me.
After some preliminary reading at Brussels and[page v]...