Burgundy and the Netherlands (Renaissance and Reformation)

Introduction
The composite dynastic state ruled by a branch of the Valois dynasty, which is here referred to as “the Burgundian lands,” was one of the most significant and powerful political entities of later medieval Europe. Historians usually speak of the Burgundian state between 1384 and 1492 and of the Habsburg state for the period after that. At its zenith in the middle of the 15th century, the Burgundian state consisted of two geographically separated complexes of principalities in Burgundy proper (the duchy of Burgundy and the county of Burgundy also knows as the Franche Comté) and in the Low Countries (the duchies of Brabant, Limburg, and Luxembourg; the counties of Flanders, Artois, Hainaut, Namur, Holland, Zeeland, Nevers, and Réthel; the seigniories of Antwerp, Mechelen, Salins, and Frisia the cities of the Somme, Péronne, Montdidier, and Roye; and, between 1473 and 1477, the duchy of Guelders). Though the Burgundian state obviously derives its (contemporary) name from the ; Burgundian possessions, its economic and cultural center of gravity was situated in the densely urbanized northern territories and especially in Flanders, Brabant, Artois, and Holland. Of foremost importance were the industrial city of Ghent and the commercial metropolis of Bruges, both in the county of Flanders. Other major urban centers included Brussels and Louvain in Brabant and Dordrecht and Leiden in Holland. In the latter half of the 15th century Antwerp rose as the most important port of 16th-century Europe, while the city of Mechelen increasingly took on the role of capital of the northern Burgundian dominions. Several of the Burgundian territories had a very productive agricultural economy, including the cultivation of industrial crops. The dominant industries were textiles, brewing, metalwork, and the luxury trades. The language of the administration was French, but Dutch was spoken by most inhabitants of Flanders, Brabant, Zeeland, and Holland. Perhaps the most substantial sector in literary production in the Burgundian lands was produced by the rhetoricians (rhétoriciens in French or rederijkers in Dutch). The northern territories were also the home of important manuscript production, tapestry, goldsmith and silversmith work, and miniatures, which were also produced for an international market. The most significant cultural achievement of the Burgundian lands, however, was the Northern Renaissance in painting, with prominent individuals such as Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling.
General Overviews
The first overviews of the history of the Burgundian state were in fact mainly conceived as dynastic histories of the dukes of Burgundy. This biographical approach was to some degree continued in the magisterial and still indispensable four volumes of Vaughan 1962, though in this work emphasis clearly shifted toward the political history of the lands held by the subsequent dukes. The conceptions of “Burgundy” as a “state” and the “Burgundian Netherlands” as its real economic and political heartland have mostly been the result of works such as Bartier 1970, Prevenier and Blockmans 1986, Prevenier 1998, and more recently Schnerb 1999 and Schnerb 2005. Some classic 19th- and early-20th-century books shaped the idea of a separate “Burgundian history” with the emphasis gradually shifting from the role of Burgundy in the Hundred Years War toward the vibrant economies, societies, and cultures within its different regions. Pirenne 1902 linked the growth of the Burgundian state with the origins of modern Belgium, while Huizinga 1919 made Burgundian court culture the symbol of the final stages of medieval culture. From the 1960s on, a series of key texts promoted international interest in the Burgundian state and civilization. Though the number of scholars from the Anglophone world studying Burgundy is increasing, the historiography is still dominated by Belgian, French, and Dutch researchers.
Bartier, John. Charles le Téméraire. Brussels: Arcade, 1970.
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Bartier engages in the debate on the warlike and imprudent character of the most audacious of the Valois dukes and his ultimate political and military failure.
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Huizinga, J. Herfsttij der middeleeuwen: Studie over levens- en gedachtenvormen der veertiende en vijftiende eeuw in Frankrijk en de Nederlanden. Haarlem, The Netherlands: Tjeenk Willink, 1919.
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The importance of this classic word hardly needs to be emphasized. To a large degree, the writings of this great historian have colored and still shape our understanding of Burgundian court life. Different English translations exist, but none of them are really satisfactory, being either partial or—as in the case of The Autumn of the Middle Ages, translated by Rodney J. Payton and Ulrich Mammitzsch (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996)—very unreliable.
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Petit, Ernest. Histoire des ducs de Bourgogne de la race capétienne: Avec des documents inédits et des pièces justificatives. 9 vols. Dijon, France: Lamarche and Darantière, 1885–1905.
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This older work needs to be mentioned because it can still be useful for factual information on military and diplomatic matters, though the interpretative parts now fail to hold any general interest.
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Pirenne, Henri. Histoire de Belgique. Vol. 2, Du commencement du XIVe siècle à la mort de Charles le Téméraire. Brussels: Lamertin, 1902.
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The greatest Belgian historian and one of the most important social and economic historians of the Middle Ages has played a particular noteworthy role in the construction of the classic historiographic narrative of the “century of Burgundy.” Though he saw the Burgundian state through the lens of (Francophone) Belgian nationalism as a prefiguration of his fatherland, his study of the politics of the dukes cannot be reduced only to this element.
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Prevenier, Walter, ed. Le prince et le peuple: Images de la société du temps des Ducs de Bourgogne 1384–1530. Antwerp, Belgium: Fonds Mercator, 1998.
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Another luxuriously edited book in which some of the main specialists in Burgundian history (Walter Prevenier himself, Wim Blockmans, Marc Boone, Marie-Thérèse Caron, Thérèse de Hemptinne, and Robert Stein) focus on social groups, family structures, networks, and state power, including a number of marvelous illustrations, carefully selected by An Delva.
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Prevenier, Walter, and Wim Blockmans. The Burgundian Netherlands. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
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Walter Prevenier and Wim Blockmans have written these masterful overviews of the history of the Burgundian Netherlands. While The Burgundian Netherlands is a richly illustrated book that is also accessible for a wider intellectual audience, see also their book The Promised Lands: The Low Countries under Burgundian Rule, 1369–1530 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999), an excellent introduction to the main themes and problems of Burgundian history, which serves very well as a textbook for university students.
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Schnerb, Bertrand. L’état bourguignon, 1363–1477. Paris: Perrin, 1999.
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In the traditional centralist French historiographical vision of the success of the monarchy in unifying the country, it has long been unthinkable to write what Bertrand Schnerb, the leading French specialist in Burgundian history, has written in this thorough synthesis of Burgundian political structures: that “Burgundy” was in fact a “state” and in that sense a full-scale rival and alternative to France itself.
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Schnerb, Bertrand. Jean sans Peur: Le prince meurtrier. Paris: Payot, 2005.
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John the Fearless has traditionally been presented as a villain in French medieval history. Providing a wide range of evidence on the duke and his political career, Schnerb corrects this biased picture and shows that he was in fact one of the most talented and energetic politicians of his time.
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Vaughan, Richard. Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State. London: Longmans, 1962.
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Also see his John the Fearless: The Growth of Burgundian Power (1966), Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy (1970), and Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy (1973). Although seemingly biographical in content, Vaughan’s books were conceived in far broader terms; they are actually full-scale political histories of their reigns and also pay some attention, albeit limited, to socioeconomic and cultural questions. In 2002, with various reprints thereafter, new editions of the four biographies have appeared, including new introductions with updated bibliographies.
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Anthologies
Some of the most interesting work on Burgundian history has been scattered in articles and other smaller contributions, often in national and local journals. The titles mentioned in this section are anthologies of such studies by important specialists, such as Jongkees 1990, Armstrong 1983, Bonenfant 1996, and Boone 2009, and of the students of Walter Prevenier in Blockmans, et al. 1999.
Armstrong, C. A. J. England, France, and Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century. London: Hambledon, 1983.
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Armstrong posed problems of Burgundian history in an original manner, considering issues such as the language question in the Low Countries or ducal policy for the nobility.
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Blockmans, Wim, Marc Boone, and Thérèse de Hemptinne. Secretum scriptorum: Liber alumnorum Walter Prevenier. Louvain, Belgium: Garant, 1999.
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Walter Prevenier can be considered the godfather of today’s Burgundian historians, most of whom have either been his students or the students of his students. He has often introduced new ways of considering the Burgundian experience, applying social theory for the first time in this field, such as the concept of a Burgundian “theater state,” adapted from the work of the anthropologist Clifford Geertz.
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Bonenfant, Paul. Philippe le Bon: Sa politique, son action. Brussels: De Boeck Université, 1996.
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This collection of his most important essays, dealing with the reign of Philip the Good, shows his central idea: the third great Valois duke turned his attention away from French politics and started building his own state, combining clever politics of war, intimidation, diplomacy, and marriage alliances with a plan for institutional reform.
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Boone, Marc. À la recherche d’une modernité civique: La société urbaine des anciens Pays-Bas au bas Moyen  ge. Histoire. Brussels: Éditions de l’Université de Bruxelles, 2009.
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This book is the result of a series of lectures given by the foremost specialist of urban history of the Low Countries under Burgundian rule. Several of the themes Boone has treated in his coherent scholarly oeuvre since the 1980s are here presented in their most mature and synthetic form.
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Jongkees, Adriaan Gerard. Burgundica et varia. Edited by E. O. van der Werff, C. A. A. Linssen, and B. Evels-Hoving. Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 1990.
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This is a collection of essays by the Dutch medievalist who made fundamental contributions to our understanding of the political dynamics of the Burgundian dynastic state. In many ways, Jongkees is still the most important historian of the northern provinces of the Burgundian state, such as the county of Holland and the lordship of Frisia.
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Guides to Sources
These are works of general nature on medieval sources, but both R. C. van Caenegem (van Caenegem 1997) and Léopold Genicot (Genicot 1972– ) were specialists in the Burgundian epoch or regions, as were many of the other contributors to the Typologie des Sources du Moyen  ge Occidental Series.
Genicot, Léopold, ed. Typologie des Sources du Moyen  ge Occidental Series. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1972–.
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This is in fact a collection of loose fascicles in which specialists treat a specific kind of medieval source, providing methodological details and an extensive bibliography, including many titles of interest to Burgundian studies.
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van Caenegem, R. C. Introduction aux sources de l’histoire médiévale. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1997.
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This is a thorough overview of inventories, catalogues, dictionaries and other instruments, collections of printed charters, chronicles, and the like.
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Archival Sources
It would be an impossible and pointless endeavor to try and give an overview of all the rich collections of charters, accounts, and other legal, administrative, and fiscal documents that can be found in the many archive institutions in the regions of France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg once dominated by the Valois dukes of Burgundy. The most important French collections of unedited sources relevant to the study of Burgundian history are the regional archives in Lille (Archives Départementales du Nord) and Dijon (Archives Départementales de la Côte-d’Or), and the Archives Nationales and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. The State Archives of Belgium and the Nationaal Archief of The Netherlands also contain a wealth of material on the Burgundian principalities. Records of the vibrant urban cultures in The Netherlands can, for instance, be encountered in the Bruges City Archives and the Ghent City Archives. Indeed, some important documents lie scattered beyond these successor states of the Valois Burgundian lands, such as the Archive of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Vienna. Bautier and Sornay 1984 is the indispensable guide to most of these collections.
Archives Départementales de la Côte-d’Or.
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The Dijon archives are important for their documents of the central institutions under Philip the Bold and John the Fearless and for the regional institutions of both the duchy and the county of Burgundy proper.
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Archives Départementales du Nord.
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In France, the archives are mostly organized in a centralized manner on the level of the departments. This is by far the richest departmental archive because the bulk of financial documents of the Burgundian state are collected in its “série B” (the archives of the Chambre des Comptes).
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Archives Nationales.
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French and Burgundian history can never be completely separated, so consulting the French royal archives remains very important.
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Bautier, Robert-Henri, and Janine Sornay. Les sources de l’histoire économique et social du Moyen  ge. Tome 2, Les états de la maison de Bourgogne. Vol. 1, Archives centrales de l’état bourguignon, archives des principautés territoriales. Fasc. 2, Les principautés du Nord. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1984.
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This overview of archive sources is the indispensable instrument of all scholars trying to find their way in the extensive collections of documents scattered throughout all the other mentioned institutions. See also fascicle 1, ’Les principautés du Sud (Paris: CNRS-IRHT, 2001).
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Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
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Many documents related to Burgundian history, as it was tightly intertwined with the history of France, can be found in the different collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
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Bruges City Archives.
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The Bruges archives have an extremely rich collection of documents relating to urban life during the Burgundian epoch.
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Ghent City Archives.
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The Ghent municipal archives are of equal importance to the Bruges City Archives for the study of 15th-century urban culture in The Netherlands.
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Nationaal Archief.
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The former General State Archive in The Hague is now called the Nationaal Archief (National Archive) and it contains, among other documents relevant to Burgundian history, the collection of the Chamber of Accounts of The Hague, from which the northern provinces of the Burgundian state were ruled.
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State Archives of Belgium.
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Belgium has an archival system quite similar to that of France with a General State Archive (Algemeen Rijksarchief/Archives Générales du Royaume) in Brussels (which is also very important for its Burgundian financial archives) and state archives in the different provinces. The Brussels state archives are especially important for the many accounts and other documents produced by the Cambres des Comptes of Lille and Brussels during the Burgundian period.
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Narrative Sources
A great number of primary sources that can be described as “narrative” in the broad sense were produced in the courtly, legal, religious, and urban environments within the Burgundian lands, which it would be pointless to even try to provide a small sample of, so it is best to refer to the most useful instrument to find them, which is The Narrative Sources from the Medieval Low Countries.
Deploige, Jeroen, ed. The Narrative Sources from the Medieval Low Countries.
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This online database, originally set up by Ludo Millis, Jan Goossens, and Werner Verbeke and now directed by Jeroen Deploige, provides an overview of all the annals, chronicles, letters, journals, poems, saint lives, genealogies, and similar “narrative sources” dealing with the medieval history of The Netherlands until the first half of the 16th century. Thus, it includes all the territories of the dukes of Burgundy except for the duchy and county of Burgundy proper.
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Primary Sources
The Royal Academy of Belgium (Brussels) publishes the source edition series of the Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis/Commission Royale d’Histoire (Royal Committee for History), created in 1834 under the influence of German positivist methods of critical edition and carried out by the scholars of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica. The Royal Historical Commission also publishes a review, the Handelingen van de Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis, in which shorter texts are published. The Royal Commission for the Publication of Old Laws and Ordinances of Belgium has, for the Burgundian period, overseen the publication of the ordinances of the dukes of Burgundy. Of particular interest are the editions of the ordinances of the Burgundian dukes undertaken by the commission in the series Recueil des Ordonnances des Pays-Bas, Série 1: 1381–1506 1965–. The first volumes in this series include the legislative documents of the first two dukes for all the different principalities they possessed, but because of their expanding numbers for the later princes, Godding 2005 and Braekevelt 2007 provide editions for Brabant and Flanders, respectively (in the latter case provisionally). Stein 1999 is not an edition but a catalogue of all the ordinances of Charles the Bold.
Braekevelt, Jonas. “De verordeningen van Filips de Goede voor het graafschap Vlaanderen en de heerlijkheid Mechelen (1419–1438): Een voorlopige chronologische regestenlijst.” Handelingen van de Koninklijke Commissie voor de Uitgave der Oude Wetten en Verordeningen van België 48 (2007): 9–86.
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A preliminary list of Philip the Good’s ordinances, for an edition to be edited by Braekevelt.
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Godding, Philippe. Ordonnances de Philippe le Bon pour les duchés de Brabant et de Limbourg et les pays d’outre-Meuse, 1430–1467. Brussels: Service Public Fédéral Justice, 2005.
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Includes ordinances from the reign of Philip the Good. The ordinances of Philip the Good for the duchy of Brabant have now also been published in extenso.
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Handelingen van de Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis.
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A review published by the Royal Historical Commission. Between 1834 and 1902, the journal was called the Compte-Rendu des séances de la Commission royale d’histoire ou Recueil de ses bulletins.
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Recueil des Ordonnances des Pays-Bas, Série 1: 1381–1506. Brussels: Service Public Fédéral Justice, 1965–.
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One of the primary tasks of the Commission for the Publication of Old Laws is the complete edition of the ordinances of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy, since they can be considered the first “Belgian” princes. The edition is complete for the first two dukes.
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Royal Committee for History.
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The source publications of the committee are usually examples of the highest standards in paleography, diplomatics, and the auxiliary historical sciences in general.
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Royal Commission for the Publication of Old Laws and Ordinances of Belgium.
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Oversees the publication of the ordinances of the dukes of Burgundy. This commission also has its bilingual Handelingen/Bulletin, similar to that of the Royal Committee for History.
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Stein, Henri. Catalogue des actes de Charles le Téméraire (1467–1477): Mit einem Anhang, Urkunden und Mandate Karls von Burgund, Grafen von Charolais (1433–1467). Edited by Sonja Dünnebeil. Sigmaringen, Gemany: Jan Thorbecke, 1999.
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Until the Royal Commission for the Publication of Old Laws and Ordinances of Belgium starts editing the ordinances of Charles, this catalogue can serve as a useful instrument.
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Translated Collections
Primary sources relating to the Burgundian lands are normally written in Middle French, Middle Dutch, and Latin. The number of translations in modern languages more accessible to students and a more general audience is still limited. Brown and Small 2007 is the best textbook to present English-speaking students of Burgundian history for the first time with a representative sample of primary sources, while Régnier-Bohler 1995 is a translation into modern French of some the sources related to the Burgundian court.
Brown, Andrew, and Graeme Small, eds. Court and Civic Society in the Burgundian Low Countries c. 1420–1530. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2007.
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This is a collection of source fragments translated into English concerning the political, social, and cultural history of the Burgundian Netherlands.
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Régnier-Bohler, Danielle, ed. Splendeurs de la cour de Bourgogne: Récits et chroniques. Paris: Laffont, 1995.
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Not so much a translation as a modern French rendering, but potentially of value to the readers more comfortable with modern French than Middle French.
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Series
Brepols publishes the Burgundica series, under the general direction of Jean-Marie Cauchies. Brepols also publishes the Studies in European Urban History (1100–1800) series, under the general direction of Marc Boone, in which many titles are relevant to Netherlandish urban history in the period of Burgundian domination.
Burgundica. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1998–.
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This series deals with every aspect of Burgundian and early Habsburg history.
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Studies in European Urban History (1100–1800). Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2003–.
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This series deals with the rapidly expanding field of late medieval and early modern urban history, mostly in the Low Countries.
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Journals
The only journal that focuses solely on the Burgundian epoch is the Publications du Centre Européen d’Études Bourguignonnes, while other ones that are more regional in focus such as the Annales de Bourgogne and the Revue du Nord also deal with Burgundian studies on a very regular basis. Many aspects of the history of the Burgundian lands will also be treated in the context of “national” Belgian and Dutch (or joint Dutch-Flemish) historical journals such as the Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis/Revue Belge de Philologie et Histoire, the Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, the Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, the Jaarboek voor Middeleeuwse Geschiedenis, and the Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis. A journal for urban history such as Stadsgeschiedenis is of equal importance for the Burgundian historian.
Annales de Bourgogne.
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The most important historical journal for Burgundian history in the strict sense of the notion “Burgundy.”
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Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis/Revue Belge de Philologie et Histoire.
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This important and internationally appreciated Belgian journal offers space for longer and erudite articles on all aspects of history and philology, including those relevant to Burgundian studies.
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Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden/Low Countries Historical Journal.
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This journal focuses on The Netherlands as a whole including both the northern and southern regions, which is especially important for the medieval and Renaissance periods.
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Jaarboek voor Middeleeuwse Geschiedenis.
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This yearbook offers space to longer and more elaborate studies on medieval and Renaissance history in The Netherlands.
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Publications du Centre Européen d’Études Bourguignonnes.
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A specific journal, which is in fact a yearbook containing conference papers organized by the Centre Européen d’Études Bourguignonnes, under the direction of Jean-Marie Cauchies.
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Revue du Nord.
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A venerable high-quality regional journal, in which one will find a lot of material on Burgundian history.
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Stadsgeschiedenis.
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This journal was created in 2006 and focuses on the growing attention to urban history, which in Belgium is already a long-established tradition in Burgundian studies.
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Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis.
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This is a very important general journal for the history of The Netherlands, and it regularly contains articles of interest to Burgundian studies.
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Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis.
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This journal appeared previously as the Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis and focuses on the interdisciplinary history informed by social theory, a field in which recent generations of Burgundian historians are very present.
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Politics and Governance
The political structure of the Burgundian state was a complex one since it was a composite state in which every duchy, county, or lordship retained many of its own institutions, while the ducal government was gradually building a centralized fiscal, financial, and judicial apparatus, which often led to political conflicts between different levels of government.
The Court and the Central Government
The Burgundian court is a subject of primary importance because it is generally accepted that it was in many ways a model for the later early modern court structures and culture of the most important European states. A classic study is Cartellieri 1972. In later years, the subject has been dominated by Paravicini 2002. One must distinguish, however, between the court as a “household” and a ceremonial place and center of power and authority and the organized institutions of central government, justice, and finance, such as are treated in a number of important institutional and legal studies such as Bartier 1955–1957, van Rompaey 1973, van Nieuwenhuysen 1984, and the articles collected in Aerts, et al. 1994 and Cauchies 2004. Sommé 1998 provides the only study of the court of a duchess.
Aerts, E., M. Baelde, H. Coppens, H. de Schepper, H. Soly, A. K. L. Thijs, and K. van Honacker, eds. De centrale overheidsinstellingen van de Habsburgse Nederlanden, 1482–1795. Brussels: Algemeen Rijksarchief, 1994.
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This work gives a systematic overview of the functioning of the main institutions of the Habsburg government in The Netherlands but also provides the literature for their Burgundian predecessors (in many cases the institutional structure did not really change with the arrival of the Habsburg dynasty in the Burgundian state).
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Bartier, John. Légistes et gens de finances au XVe siècle: Les conseilliers des ducs de Bourgogne Philippe le Bon et Charles le Téméraire. Brussels: Palais des Académies, 1955–1957.
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The classical work on the rise of a powerful elite of Burgundian officials.
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Cartellieri, Otto. The Court of Burgundy: Studies in the History of Civilization. Translated by Malcolm Letts. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972.
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A classic, if somewhat outdated, study on the Burgundian court, with an emphasis on its cultural history. Translation of Am Hofe der Herzöge von Burgund: Kulturhistorische Bilder (Basel, Switzerland: Schwabe, 1926).
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Cauchies, Jean-Marie, ed. Finances et financiers des princes et des villes à l’époque bourguignonne. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2004.
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A collection of essays by the specialists in the field of Burgundian finances that adds to van Nieuwenhuysen 1984.
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Paravicini, Werner. Menschen am Hof der Herzöge von Burgund: Gesammelte Aufsätze. Edited by Klaus Krüger, Holger Kruse, and Andreas Ranft. Stuttgart: Thorbecke, 2002.
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This volume contains some of the most fundamental articles by this leading specialist of the Burgundian court and medieval and early modern court structures in general, written from a social and political point of view.
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Sommé, Monique. Isabelle de Portugal, duchesse de Bourgogne: Une femme au pouvoir au XVe siècle. Villeneuve d’Ascq, France: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 1998.
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The only major study on a Burgundian duchess, detailed and nuanced in judgment.
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van Nieuwenhuysen, A. Les finances du duc de Bourgogne, Philippe le Hardi (1384–1404): Le montant des ressources. Brussels: Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles, 1984.
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Still the most important study of Burgundian finances.
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van Rompaey, Jan. De Grote Raad van de hertogen van Boergondië en het parlement van Mechelen. Brussels: Paleis der Academiën, 1973.
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An institutional study of the central judicial institutions of the Burgundian state.
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The Principalities
The medieval principalities of The Netherlands each have their own specialists, and some of the titles mentioned here do not necessarily limit themselves to the Burgundian century alone. There are many important works on medieval Flanders that deal to a large degree with “Burgundian history,” for example, Nicholas 1992, Prevenier and Augustyn 1997, and Dumolyn 2003. The same goes for the works on the duchy and county of Burgundy proper, such as Rauzier 1996, or for Holland (Damen 2000), Brabant (Uyttebrouck 1975, Godding 1999, and van Uytven 2004), or Hainaut (Cauchies 1982). Nevertheless, it is generally accepted and emphasized that the ducal domination and the unification of these various regions into a new princely state caused significant institutional and political transformations.
Cauchies, Jean-Marie. La législation princière pour le comté de Hainaut: Ducs de Bourgogne et premiers Habsbourg, 1427–1506. Brussels: Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis, 1982.
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The county of Hainault was an important part of the Burgundian patrimony, and Cauchies shows how it interacted with princely power.
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Damen, Mario. De staat van dienst: De gewestelijke ambtenaren van Holland en Zeeland in de Bourgondische periode (1425–1482). Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 2000.
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The most recent important work on state and society in the county of Holland under Burgundian rule.
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Dumolyn, Jan. Staatsvorming en vorstelijke ambtenaren in het graafschap Vlaanderen (1419–1477). Antwerp, Belgium: Garant, 2003.
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The growth of Burgundian power in the county of Flanders and the accompanying rise of an elite of councillors, noblemen, and burghers cooperating with the prince.
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Godding, Philippe. Le conseil de Brabant sous le règne de Philippe le Bon (1430–1467). Brussels: Académie Royale de Belgique, 1999.
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A legal history of Burgundian justice in Brabant.
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Nicholas, David. Medieval Flanders. London: Longman, 1992.
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A concise but thorough overview of the history of the most important Burgundian principality, starting from the early Middle Ages.
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Prevenier, Walter, and Bea Augustyn, eds. De gewestelijke en lokale overheidsinstellingen in Vlaanderen tot 1795. Brussels: Algemeen Rijksarchief, 1997.
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An overview of Flemish medieval institutions including their changes under Burgundian rule.
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Rauzier, Jean. Finances et gestion d’une principauté: Le duché de Bourgogne de Philippe le Hardi, 1364–1384. Paris: Comité pour l’Histoire Économique et Financière de la France, 1996.
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A financial and administrative history of the duchy before the growth of the Burgundian state.
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Uyttebrouck, André. Le gouvernement du duché de Brabant au bas Moyen  ge (1355–1430). Brussels: Éditions de l Université de Bruxelles, 1975.
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The classic work on the duchy of Brabant and its still relatively autonomous position during the Burgundian period.
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van Uytven, R., ed. Geschiedenis van Brabant: Van het hertogdom tot heden. Louvain, Belgium: Davidsfonds, 2004.
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This extensive work contains contributions by all major specialists in Brabantine history, including a part on the medieval and Burgundian-Habsburg periods.
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War and Civil War
Burgundian-Habsburg history is a history of constant external and internal warfare, including the role of the Burgundian state as the third player in the perennial conflict between England and France, the clashes between its Habsburg successors with France again at the end of the 15th century, and the traditions of collective action in the cities—and to a lesser degree among the peasant population—of Flanders, Brabant, and Holland. Paviot 1995, Schnerb 2000, and Smith and DeVries 2005 are essential to understanding the structure of the ducal army. Dumolyn and Haemers 2005 discusses civil war and revolts as a typical element of Burgundian society, and Gunn, et al. 2007 considers wider relations between the military and society. Wiesflecker 1971–1986 and Haemers 2009 deal with the transition to Habsburg power, and Sicking 2004 considers the growth of Netherlandish naval power.
Dumolyn, Jan, and Jelle Haemers. “Patterns of Urban Rebellion in Medieval Flanders.” Journal of Medieval History 31 (2005): 369–393.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmedhist.2005.08.001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article synthesizes the extensive literature on the intense and frequent revolts in medieval Flanders and especially under Burgundian rule.
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Gunn, Steven, David Grummitt, and Hans Cools. War, State, and Society in England and the Netherlands 1477–1559. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207503.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A masterful history of warfare written from a social and economic perspective.
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Haemers, Jelle. For the Common Good? The Central State and Urban Revolts in the County of Flanders during the Reign of Mary of Burgundy, 1477–1482. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2009.
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A new study of the tumultuous periods of civil war at the end of the Burgundian period.
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Paviot, Jacques. La politique navale des ducs de Bourgogne 1384–1482. Lille, France: Presses Universitaires de Lille, 1995.
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Paviot shows that the force of the Burgundian navy has hitherto been underestimated.
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Schnerb, Bertand. L’honneur de la maréchaussée: Maréchalat et maréchaux en Bourgogne des origines à la fin du XVe siècle. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2000.
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One of the few modern studies of the ducal military officers, their rank, and their status.
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Sicking, Louis. Neptune and the Netherlands: State, Economy, and War at Sea in the Renaissance. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2004.
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The Netherlands have traditionally only been interested in the growth of their sea power since the end of the 16th century, but Sicking shows that its origins lay in the Burgundian epoch.
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Smith, Robert Douglas, and Kelly DeVries. The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy 1363–1477. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2005.
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New insights into the important technological innovations within the Burgundian army.
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Wiesflecker, Hermann. Kaiser Maximilian I: Das Reich, Österreich und Europa an der Wende zur Neuzeit. 5 vols. Munich: Oldenbourg, 1971–1986.
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A vast scholarly discussion of the political and military exploits of the first Habsburg to enter the power struggle in The Netherlands.
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Economy
As the Valois dukes extended their influence and power in the Low Countries, they were able to profit more and more from its productive and market-oriented agriculture and its thriving industries in the cities. Though economically weakened in comparison to the 14th century, Ghent remained one of the most notable industrial centers of medieval Europe, while Bruges retained its position as a world market until its role was taken over by Antwerp in the 16th century. In general, during the 15th century, the economies of Brabant and Holland became relatively stronger, while the position of Flanders somewhat weakened. The key insights of historians working on the Burgundian economy in Belgium, The Netherlands, and elsewhere are now readily accessible in van Bavel 2010.
van Bavel, Bas. Manors and Markets: Economy and Society in the Low Countries, 500–1600. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
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This recent synthesis on Netherlandish economic history, with a very large part devoted to the Burgundian and early Habsburg periods, is now the starting point for any researcher in this field.
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Population, Agriculture, and the Rural Economy
The situation of the rural elites and peasant masses was rather diverse in the different types of “social agro-systems” (Thoen 1988) that characterized the various regions. In general, many of the regions of Burgundy and The Netherlands had a productive agriculture able to supply the city dwellers, whose percentage of the overall population was exceptional for late medieval Europe. Verhulst 1990 and Soens 2009 show the fundamental importance of land and water to the development of the rural economy, while Dubois 1984, van Schaïk 1987, Thoen 1988, Hoppenbrouwers 1992, and Derville 1999 provide classic regional studies of the economic and demographic structures. The articles collected in Hoppenbrouwers and van Zanden 2001 consider the economic developments in the transition to modern capitalist society.
Derville, Alain. L’agriculture du Nord au Moyen Age: Artois, Cambrésis, Flandre wallonne. Villeneuve d’Ascq, France: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 1999.
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The regions under Burgundian rule in the north of France had some of the highest yield ratios in the medieval world, and they formed an export area that was essential to the survival of the urban population in the Burgundian Netherlands, which was too large to be fed by its own hinterland.
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Dubois, Henri. “Population et fiscalité en Bourgogne à la fin du Moyen  ge.” Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 4 (1984): 540–555.
DOI: 10.3406/crai.1984.14201Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Concise overview of the demographic and fiscal history of the Duchy of Burgundy.
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Hoppenbrouwers, P. C. M. Een middeleeuwse samenleving: Het Land van Heusden (ca. 1360–ca. 1515). Wageningen, The Netherlands: Afdeling Agrarische Geschiedenis, Landbouwuniversiteit Wageningen, 1992.
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This is an in-depth social and economic study of a small region on the borders of the county of Holland considered from both the macro and the micro perspectives.
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Hoppenbrouwers, Peter, and Jan Luiten van Zanden, eds. Peasants into Farmers? The Transformation of Rural Economy and Society in the Low Countries (Middle Ages–19th century) in Light of the Brenner Debate. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2001.
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This collection contains essays by the major contemporary specialists in the economic history of the Low Countries, who discuss their economic development, arguing with or against the concepts and theories of Robert Brenner.
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Soens, Tim. De spade in de dijk? Waterbeheer en rurale samenleving in de Vlaamse kustvlakte (1280–1580). Ghent, Belgium: Ginkgo Academia, 2009.
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Water management has been a fundamental feature of the economies and societies of the Burgundian Netherlands. The Flemish example is thoroughly discussed.
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Thoen, Erik. Landbouwekonomie en bevolking in Vlaanderen gedurende de late Middeleeuwen en het begin van de Moderne Tijden: Testregio; De kasselrijen van Oudenaarde en Aalst (eind 13de–eerste helft 16de eeuw). Ghent, Belgium: Belgisch Centrum voor Landelijke Geschiedenis, 1988.
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This is the classic work on the commercialized and highly productive rural economy in medieval Flanders.
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van Schaïk, Remi. Belasting, bevolking en bezit in Gelre en Zutphen (1350–1550). Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 1987.
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From an economic point of view, the regions of Guelders and Zutphen might be considered peripheral to the Burgundian economy, but this study shows the functioning of these more rural areas.
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Verhulst, Adriaan. Précis d’histoire rurale de la Belgique. Brussels: Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles, 1990.
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A concise overview of the rural and agricultural history of the southern Low Countries written by an international authority in the field, with special attention to the later Middle Ages and the early modern period.
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Industry, Commerce, Banking, and the Urban Economy
There is an extensive body of literature dealing with the late medieval urban economy of the Low Countries, so only a small selection can be given here. The leading role of the Burgundian lands in commerce and industry, second only to that of northern and central Italy, is of course uncontested in all general works on economic history. Sosson 1977, Stabel 1997, and Lambert 2006 are illustrative for the work of economic historians dealing with Netherlandish towns. Munro 1973, van Uytven 2001, Murray 2005, and Howell 2010 have important implications for general debates on late medieval and early modern economic growth, while de Roover 1968 and Spufford 1970 are classics in financial history.
de Roover, Raymond. The Bruges Money Market around 1400. Brussels: Paleis der Academiën, 1968.
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Classic study by a Belgian American medievalist on the financial market of medieval Bruges.
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Howell, Martha C. Commerce before Capitalism in Europe, 1300–1600. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
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A new and original approach to the late medieval and early modern economy using many examples from the Burgundian-Habsburg Low Countries.
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Lambert, Bart. The City, the Duke, and Their Banker: The Rapondi Family and the Formation of the Burgundian State (1384–1430). Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2006.
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This study considers the interaction between Italian bankers, the commercial and financial milieu in Bruges, and the Burgundian court.
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Munro John H. A. Wool, Cloth, and Gold: The Struggle for Bullion in Anglo-Burgundian Trade, 1340–1478. Brussels: Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles, 1973.
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Major work on Burgundian economic and financial history.
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Murray, James M. Bruges, Cradle of Capitalism, 1280–1390. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
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The latest synthesis of the Bruges world market and its importance in the progress of commercial capitalism.
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Sosson, Jean-Pierre. Les travaux publics de la ville de Bruges XIVe–XVe siècles: Les matériaux, les hommes. Brussels: Crédit Communal de Belgique, 1977.
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A structural approach to the building sector in late medieval Bruges.
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Spufford, Peter. Monetary Problems and Policies in the Burgundian Netherlands 1433–1496. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1970.
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Indispensable book for understanding the Burgundian monetary situation.
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Stabel, Peter. Dwarfs among Giants: The Flemish Urban Network in the Late Middle Ages. Louvain, Belgium: Garant, 1997.
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Stabel is the foremost specialist of the urban economy in the Burgundian Netherlands. In this book he sets out how the three major Flemish towns (Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres) interacted with the many smaller towns between them, forming a diversified urban network.
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van Uytven, Raymond. Production and Consumption in the Low Countries, 13th–16th Centuries. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2001.
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A collection of articles by an important specialist of the economic life of late medieval cities in the Low Countries.
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The Nobility
Surprisingly, there is in fact a scarcity of detailed studies of the Burgundian nobility and their important political, military, and cultural role. In recent decades this situation has started to improve, and scholars have been able to distinguish between regional variants of nobility and the social stratification of a wider “Burgundian elite.” Paravicini 1975, Caron 1987, and Janse 2001 are among the most important monographs dealing either with regional nobilities or nobles at the Burgundian court. Vanderjagt 1981 is a classic work on Burgundian court ideology. Buylaert 2010 provides new ways of considering the question of the “Burgundian nobility” in itself.
Buylaert, Frederik. “La noblesse et l’unification des Pays-Bas: Naissance d’une noblesse bourguignonne à la fin du Moyen  ge?” Revue Historique 653 (2010): 3–25.
DOI: 10.3917/rhis.101.0003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A revision of the older thesis on the unification of the nobilities of the different principalities within the Burgundian state.
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Caron, Marie-Thérèse. La noblesse dans le Duché de Bourgogne 1315–1477. Lille, France: Presses Universitaires de Lille, 1987.
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The reaction of the nobility of the duchy of Burgundy to growing ducal power.
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Janse, Antheun. Ridderschap in Holland: Portret van een adellijke elite in de late middeleeuwen. Hilversum, The Netherlands: Verloren, 2001.
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A sketch of the knightly order in the county of Holland and its somewhat peripheral position with respect to the broader Burgundian nobility.
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Paravicini, Werner. Guy de Brimeu: Der burgundische Staat und seine adlige Führungsschicht unter Karl dem Kühnen. Bonn, West Germany: Röhrscheid, 1975.
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An approach to the history of the upper levels of the Burgundian aristocracy through the biography of one nobleman in particular.
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Vanderjagt, Arie Johan. Qui sa vertu anoblist: The Concepts of Noblesse and Chose Publicque in Burgundian Political Thought. Groningen, The Netherlands: J. Miélot, 1981.
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An important study of the ideological discourses on the nobility produced at the ducal court.
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The Urban Population
Only a very small selection can be given of a field of research that has a long tradition. In fact, one might say that, along with “court history,” a very large part of “Burgundian history” is in fact urban history. Since the work of Henri Pirenne in the early 20th century, the urban history of the Burgundian Low Countries has been intensively studied by both “national” and foreign scholars. Van Werveke 1946, Boone 1990, Boone 2002, Brand 1996, and Stabel 2004 are written within an established tradition of urban social history known as the “Ghent school,” founded by Pirenne. A similar interest in questions of status, power, and money in the late medieval towns of the Burgundian dominions has been adopted by French scholars such as Thierry Dutour (Dutour 1998). Arnade 1996 and Lecuppre-Desjardin 2004 apply concepts of social anthropology to urban ritual.
Arnade, Peter. Realms of Ritual: Burgundian Ceremony and Civic Life in Late Medieval Ghent. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996.
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A study of the close interrelations between court culture and the civic world.
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Boone, Marc. Gent en de Bourgondische hertogen ca. 1384–ca. 1453: Een sociaal-politieke studie van een staatsvormingsproces. Brussels: Paleis der Academiën, 1990.
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This work sketches both the difficult relationship between the dukes and their most powerful and rebellious city and the struggles between patricians and artisans in Ghent.
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Boone, Marc. “Urban Space and Political Conflict in Late Medieval Flanders.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 32 (2002): 621–640.
DOI: 10.1162/002219502317345538Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Pioneering work using the “spatial turn” in the urban history of the Burgundian Low Countries.
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Brand, Hanno. Over macht en overwicht: Stedelijke elites in Leiden (1420–1510). Louvain, Belgium: Garant, 1996.
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This study of the Leiden ruling classes focuses on networks, patronage, and family relations.
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Dutour, Thierry. Une société de l’honneur: Les notables et leur monde à Dijon à la fin du Moyen  ge. Paris: Champion, 1998.
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A group portrait of the elites in a middle-sized town in the Burgundian lands, informed by sociological theory.
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Lecuppre-Desjardin, Élodie. La ville des cérémonies: Essai sur la communication politique dans les anciens Pays-Bas bourguignons. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2004.
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Burgundian ceremonial culture as a dialogue between the prince and the towns.
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Stabel, Peter. “Guilds in Late Medieval Flanders: Myths and Realities of Guild Life in an Export-Oriented Environment.” Journal of Medieval History 30 (2004): 187–212.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmedhist.2004.03.003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article gives an overview of all the recent research and debates on the guilds in the late medieval Low Countries.
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van Werveke, Hans. Gand: Esquisse d’histoire sociale. Brussels: La Renaissance du Livre, 1946.
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The classic formulation of the social history of Ghent.
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Gender and Sexuality
As with many other regions of medieval Europe, the interest in this topic has only been a recent one, and much still remains to be done in this field. Howell 1998 is the most significant in this respect. Dupont 1996 and Boone 1996 were the first to deal with aspects of “illicit” sexuality, and Bousmar 2004 considers questions of gender at the Burgundian court.
Boone, Marc. “State Power and Illicit Sexuality: The Persecution of Sodomy in Late Medieval Bruges.” Journal of Medieval History 22 (1996): 135–153.
DOI: 10.1016/S0304-4181(96)00001-2Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A study of the growing repression of homosexuality in Bruges under Burgundian rule.
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Bousmar, Eric. “Neither Equality nor Radical Oppression: The Elasticity of Women’s Roles in the Late Medieval Low Countries’ Gender Pattern.” In The Texture of Society: Medieval Women in the Southern Low Countries. Edited by Ellen E. Kittell and Mary A. Suydam, 109–127. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
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Not only this essay but the whole volume sheds new light on the still surprisingly neglected history of women in the Burgundian period.
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Dupont, Guy. Maagdenverleidsters, hoeren en speculanten: Prostitutie in Brugge tijdens de Bourgondische periode (1385–1515). Bruges, Belgium: Marc Van de Wiele, 1996.
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Interesting study of Bruges as a European capital of organized prostitution.
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Howell, Martha C. The Marriage Exchange: Property, Social Place, and Gender in Cities of the Low Countries, 1300–1550. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
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A study of social and economic relations in the Netherlandish towns from the point of view of gender history.
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Religion and the Church
Church history and the history of religious practice are not among the most popular fields in Burgundian history. A lot of research still remains to be done. Moreau 1949 is the best example of a solid but now somewhat outdated tradition of institutional ecclesiastic history, dealt with in a more social way by van den Hoven van Genderen 1997 and Prietzel 2001, among other works. The attempt of Toussaert 1963 to present a history of popular religion in Flanders was only partly successful, and the most recent work in this field is now Trio 1993. The important work Vleeschouwers-van Melkebeek 1995 deals with the church, marriage, and sexuality.
Moreau, É. de. Histoire de l’église en Belgique. Vol. 4, L’église aux Pays-Bas sous les ducs de Bourgogne et Charles-Quint, 1378–1559. Brussels: Édition Universelle, 1949.
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Reference work on the ecclesiastical structures in the Burgundian lands.
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Prietzel, Malte. Guillaume Fillastre der Jüngere (1400/07–1473): Kirchenfürst und herzoglich-burgundischer Rat. Stuttgart: J. Thorbecke, 2001.
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Prietzel provides a detailed study of the important prelate Fillastre, who was also a key adviser to the Burgundian state.
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Toussaert, Jacques. Le sentiment religieux en Flandre à la fin du Moyen- ge. Paris: Plon, 1963.
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This imaginative and highly original work was one of the first to emphasize the realities of religious practice in late medieval Flanders rather than norms and institutions.
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Trio, Paul. Volksreligie als spiegel van een stedelijke samenleving: De broederschappen te Gent in de late middeleeuwen. Louvain, Belgium: Universitaire Pers Leuven, 1993.
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An institutional and social overview of religious confraternities in late medieval Ghent.
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van den Hoven van Genderen, Bram. De Heren van de kerk: De kanunniken van Oudmunster te Utrecht in de late middeleeuwen. Zutphen, The Netherlands: Walburg Pers, 1997.
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A prosopographical study of the canons of Utrecht.
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Vleeschouwers-van Melkebeek, Monique. Compotus sigilliferi curie Tornacensis: Rekeningen van de officialiteit van Doornik; 1429–1481. 3 vols. Brussels: Paleis der Academiën, 1995.
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In this and many other source editions and articles, Vleeschouwers-van Melkebeek uses records of ecclesiastical courts to study Christian discourses and practices concerning marriage, sexuality, and deviance in the late medieval Burgundian lands.
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Literature and Intellectual Culture
In the historiography of Burgundian intellectual and literary life, a central opposition has always been drawn between “court culture” and “urban culture”— see, for example, Doutrepont 1909. This old dichotomy now seems to be transcended in recent books and articles. A fundamental aspect of Burgundian culture is the complimentary coexistence of both French and Dutch (both in their regional dialects) as cultural languages, though French was dominant at the court and Dutch in the major cities in Flanders, Brabant, and Holland. Of course, the court remains to be considered as a center for historiographical, literary, and ideological production, for instance, in the important books Stein 1994, Devaux 1996, Small 1997, Thiry 1997, and Boulton and Veenstra 2006. A lot of exciting new scholarly work also derives from the study of Middle Dutch literature, such as Oosterman, et al. 2001; Pleij 2007; and van Bruaene 2008.
Boulton, D’Arcy Jonathan Dacre, and Jan R. Veenstra, eds. The Ideology of Burgundy: The Promotion of a National Consciousness, 1364–1565. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2006.
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A collection of articles on different types of ideological discourse connected to the Burgundian court, state, and historiography.
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Devaux, Jean. Jean Molinet, indiciaire bourguignon. Paris: H. Champion, 1996.
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Another significant study on the Burgundian tradition of court historiography.
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Doutrepont, Georges. La littérature française à la cour des ducs de Bourgogne: Philippe le Hardi, Jean sans Peur, Philippe le Bon, Charles le Téméraire. Paris: Champion, 1909.
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The classic work on the literary tradition that can be linked to the Burgundian court.
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Oosterman, Johan, Bart Ramakers, Anne-Laure van Bruaene, Dirk Coigneau, and Nelleke Moser, eds. Kamers, kunst en competitie: Teksten en documenten uit de Rederijkerstijd. Amsterdam: Athenaeum-Polak en Van Gennep, 2001.
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This is a collection of source fragments highlighting the literary culture of the rederijkers (rhetoricians), edited by some of the principal specialists in the field.
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Pleij, Herman. Het gevleugelde woord: Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse literatuur 1400–1560. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 2007.
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Pleij is the foremost specialist of Dutch literature and its cultural context during the Burgundian period. This is an excellent synthesis of late medieval urban literary culture in The Netherlands.
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Small, Graeme. George Chastelain and the Shaping of Valois Burgundy: Political and Historical Culture at Court in the Fifteenth Century. Woodbridge, UK: Royal Historical Society, 1997.
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Through studying the life and works of the official court historiographer Chastellain, Small highlights many important aspects of Burgundian intellectual and political life.
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Stein, Robert. Politiek en historiografie: Het ontstaansmilieu van Brabantse kronieken in de eerste helft van de vijftiende eeuw. Louvain, Belgium: Peeters, 1994.
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The author studies the regional historiography of Brabant in its political context.
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Thiry, Claude, ed. “À l’heure encore de mon escrire”: Aspects de la littérature de Bourgogne sous Philippe le Bon et Charles le Téméraire. Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Lettres Romanes, 1997.
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This edited volume deals with recent insights into French literature within the Burgundian cultural sphere.
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van Bruaene, Anne-Laure. Om beters wille: Rederijkerskamers en de stedelijke cultuur in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden 1400–1650. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2008.
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An important new study on the rhetoricians and their organizations in the southern Low Countries.
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