Philip The Bold - Marriage and Issue

Marriage and Issue

Philip the Bold married Margaret III, Countess of Flanders (1350–1405) on 19 June 1369, a marriage which would eventually not only reunite the Duchy of Burgundy with the Free County of Burgundy and the County of Artois, but also unite it to the rich county of Flanders. Philip and Margaret had the following children:

  • John the Fearless (1371–1419, murdered at Montereau), his eldest son and successor as Duke of Burgundy
  • Charles (1372–1373)
  • Marguerite of Burgundy (October 1374 – 8 March 1441, Le Quesnoy), Countess of Mortain married William VI, Count of Holland and Duke of Bavaria-Straubing
  • Louis (1377–1378)
  • Catherine of Burgundy (April 1378, Montbard – 24 January 1425, Gray, Haute-Saône), married Leopold IV, Duke of Austria
  • Bonne (1379–1399, Arras) betrothed to John I, Duke of Bourbon
  • Antoine, Duke of Brabant (August 1384 – 25 October 1415, at Agincourt)
  • Mary of Burgundy (September 1386, Dijon – 2 October 1422, Thonon-les-Bains), married Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy
  • Philip II, Count of Nevers and Rethel (1389–1415, at Agincourt)

In arranging the marriages of his children, Philip followed an intelligent diplomatic and strategic design, which would be followed by his successors in Burgundy as far as Emperor Maximilian I. For example, the double marriage in 1385 at Cambrai of his son, John the Fearless, and his daughter, Marguerite, to Margaret of Bavaria and William of Bavaria, son and daughter of Albert, Count of the neighbouring Hainault and Holland, prepared the later union of Hainault and Holland with Burgundy and Flanders, as carried out by Philip's grandson, Philip the Good; the marriages also inserted the new Valois Burgundy dynasty into the Wittelsbach network of alliances: the other daughters of Count Albert had married William I, Duke of Guelders and Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia; their cousin, Isabeau of Bavaria, had married Charles VI of France, and become Queen of France.

In addition to his alliance with the low county Bavarians, Philip also made links with the Dukes of Austria and of Savoy, by marrying his daughter Catherine to Leopold IV of Austria, and his daughter Mary to Amadeus VIII Savoy.

See also: Dukes of Burgundy family tree

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