The formation of the Burgundian Empire by the four Valois Dukes of Burgundy would not have happened without the formidable royal and aristocratic women in their lives.
These women, the wives, daughters, nieces, granddaughters and great-granddaughters, were vigorously engaged in the administration of the Burgundian empire, acting as governors and regents, making appointments, securing and making strategic marriages, raising taxes, negotiating treaties, engaging in cultural, religious and political patronage, giving birth to heirs and aiding in the military endeavours of their husbands.
The history of these women involves numerous countries in Europe, including England, Scotland, France, Brittany, the Low Countries, Italy, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and many others.
Some of these women lived in luxurious comfort, and others were bullied and badgered into turning over some or all of their patrimony, allowing these all-powerful men to build an influential and powerful new state comprised of a numerous and varied collection of territories in Western Europe that existed from the late 14th century until the early 16th century.
They include women who were the daughters of kings, emperors, dukes and counts and even a queen regnant and a saint.
The Valois dukes fully entrusted their wives with ruling in their stead while away fighting military and political wars. They used a deliberate policy of making marriages for their daughters and other female relatives into the many houses of Europe for political and territorial gains.
In the end, the last Valois duke, Charles the Bold, put in motion a marriage for his daughter Mary, which would eventually bring about the end of the mighty Burgundian state, allowing it to be ruled by the House of Habsburg and absorbed into the Holy Roman Empire.
The Formidable Women Who Shaped Medieval Europe: Power and Patronage at the Burgundian Court by Susan Abernethy is published on 30 October, 2025.
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