1404–19), Philip the Good (r. 1419–67), and Charles the Bold (r. 1467–77), made
Burgundy the capital of a powerful principality that stretched across northeastern France.
It included, as well as the duchy and the county of Burgundy, much of Lorraine,
Luxembourg, Hainaut and Brabant, and Flanders. The dukes of Burgundy supported the
English during the Hundred Years’ War.
The Valois dukes of Burgundy were important patrons of music, supporting
trumpeters and minstrels as well as the singers and composers of the chapel. During
much of the 15th century, the musical institutions of the court of Burgundy were the
richest in Europe, surpassing those of war-torn France. Numerous composers were
employed at Burgundy, including Binchois, the Englishman Robert Morton, Dufay (an
honorary appointment), Hayne van Ghizeghem, and Busnoys. The last Burgundian duke,
Charles the Bold (r. 1467–77) was himself a harpist and composed chansons.
When Charles the Bold died without sons in 1477, the entire principality of Burgundy
was claimed by Maximilian, the imperial heir, who married Charles’s daughter Marie.
However, prolonged wars between Maximilian and France led to a division of the
principality, including a reseparation of the duchy of Burgundy, which remained under
the authority of the French king, from the Franche-Comté, which remained in the empire.
While Burgundy was politically one of the most important parts of France during the
Middle Ages, it was even more significant as a religious center. At the beginning of the
Middle Ages, some of the earliest and most influential monasteries, such as Saint-
Maurice-d’Agaune or Saint-Germain-d’Auxerre, were located in the Merovingian
kingdom of Burgundy. The Cluniac and Cistercian monastic orders, two of the most
influential of the high Middle Ages, were both founded in Burgundy; Cluny was founded
not far from Mâcon in 909, and Cîteaux was founded a short distance south of Dijon, in
the diocese of Chalon, in 1098. Molesme, the house from which Cîteaux’s first monks
had come, was also Burgundian, having been founded in the diocese of Langres in 1075.
The most important of Cluny’s priories and of Cîteaux’s daughter houses, including her
“four eldest daughters,” La Ferté, Pontigny, Clairvaux, and Morimond, were all located
in Burgundy. The reform of the religious life had probably the greatest impact in
Burgundy of any region of France; by the end of the 12th century, there were essentially
no colleges of secular canons left in the duchy, other than the cathedral chapters; the rest
had all been reformed as monasteries or houses of canons regular. Dukes and counts from
the 10th century on, castellans beginning in the 11th century, and knights in the 12th
century were all generous donors to Burgundian monks and canons.
Burgundian churches were also influential architecturally, especially in the 12th
century. Abbey churches like Vézelay, La Charité, and Cluny (the last of which was
destroyed under Napoléon, although a few portions remain), all built in the first decades
of the 12th century, represent the fullest development of the Romanesque style. The
sculpture that decorated these and other churches, such as the 12th-century cathedral of
Autun, is marked by elongated figures, full, detailed drapery, and an impression of
dignity. The first Gothic cathedral is normally considered to be that of Sens, built on the
northern edge of Burgundy in the middle of the 12th century.
Constance B.Bouchard
[See also: AUTUN; BINCHOIS, GILLES; BRUGES; BUSNOYS, ANTOINE;
CHARLES THE BOLD; CISTERCIAN ORDER; CLUNIAC ORDER; CORDIER,
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 296