27 - Picking Bishops and Familial Fissures

When Philip the good went to the Imperial Diet in Regensburg in 1454 it gave his son and heir, Charles, the count of Charolais, a chance to get some practice at ruling in his stead, giving subjects in the Burgundian Low Countries a glimpse into what the future of the dynasty might hold. When Philip returned he was obsessed with the idea of crusade, meaning both Charles and Isabella of Portugal remained involved in major political actions. However, as always, events in the Low Countries soon demanded Philip’s attention again, as he would execute plans to expand the Burgundian influence over the spiritual as well as temporal realms in his domains. He would force one of his many illegitimate children, David, onto the bishopric throne in Utrecht in 1455 and the year after that another Burgundian puppet into the same role in the ever-troublesome bishopric of Liege. As Philip was busy dealing with these various issues, however, a power struggle broke out within his inner circle that would see the Croy family begin making plans to take down Philip’s longtime right hand man, his chancellor Nicolas Rolin. To further complicate matters, in 1455 a bombshell would drop when the heir to the French throne, the dauphin Louis, would flee the issues he had with his own father, the King of France, and sensationally seek and receive exile at the Burgundian court. A generational shift was taking place and, faced with all these new contenders for his father’s honour and affection, Charles would feel threatened and the relationship between the Burgundian father and son would sour. By the time he was just 23 years old, the two men would no longer be on speaking terms and Charles would be removed from the political process altogether. The Burgundian dynasty, as strong as it looked from the outside, was looking very frail from within.

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