Valois-Burgundian State in the context of "Free County of Burgundy"

The Burgundian Netherlands were those parts of the Low Countries that were ruled by the House of Valois-Burgundy between 1384 and 1482. During the Burgundian Age, those lands were also parts of the wider Valois-Burgundian State, which itself belonged, in terms of suzerainty, partly to the Kingdom of France and partly to the Holy Roman Empire. The Valois Dukes of Burgundy gradually acquired and united those lowlands into a political union that went beyond a personal union establishing central institutions for the first time (such as the States General).

The period began with Duke Philip the Bold taking office as count and lord of Antwerp, Artois, Flanders, Mechelen, and Rethel in 1384, and lasted until the death of Duchess Mary of Burgundy in 1482, after which the Valois-Burgundian State was dissolved, as Mary's titles and lands were inherited by her son Philip the Handsome, from the House of Habsburg, thus initiating creation of the Habsburg Netherlands.

Mary of Burgundy (French: Marie de Bourgogne; Dutch: Maria van Bourgondië; 13 February 1457 – 27 March 1482), nicknamed the Rich, was a member of the House of Valois-Burgundy, and ruler in her own right (sui iuris) over much of the Valois-Burgundian lands, from 1477 to 1482. Her effective rule extended over major part of the Burgundian Netherlands, while she also claimed the rest of the Burgundian inheritance, including domains that were seized by her cousin, the French king Louis XI in 1477, such as the Duchy of Burgundy, the Free County of Burgundy and several other lands, both within the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire.

As the only child of Charles the Bold, ruler of the Valois-Burgundian State, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon, Mary became the heiress of Valois-Burgundian lands, and at the age of 19, upon the death of her father in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477, she claimed the entire inheritance, being accepted as the new ruler in several domains. Her claims were not recognized by the French king Louis XI, who quickly seized various Valois-Burgundian domains, not only those that belonged to the French realm (such as the Duchy of Burgundy), but also some that belonged to the Holy Roman Empire (such as the Free County of Burgundy). Those disputes led to the War of the Burgundian Succession.

Burgundy (/ˈbɜːrɡəndi/ BUR-gən-dee, French: Bourgogne [buʁɡɔɲ] ; Burgundian: Bregogne) is a historical region in France, encompassing the territory of the former administrative region of the same name, that existed from 1982 to 2015, and was merged since 1 January 2016 into the newly created administrative region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, encompassing its western half. In historical terms, that region was formed as the Duchy of Burgundy, which existed between the 10th and the 18th century. During the late medieval and early modern periods, the region was of great political importance, being the core of the Valois-Burgundian State, and also becoming a focal point of diplomacy and courtly culture that set the fashion for European royal houses and their courts. The regional capital, Dijon, was wealthy and powerful, being a major European centre of art and science, and of Western Monasticism.

The modern Burgundy encompasses only the north-western parts of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, that had much wider territorial scope. In 843, under the Treaty of Verdun, old Burgundian lands were divided, with all of north-western regions being assigned to the West Frankish Kingdom. Since the beginning of the 10th century, those regions were organized as the Duchy of Burgundy, remaining under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of France. Since 1004, the House of Burgundy, a cadet branch of the French royal House of Capet, ruled over the Duchy, that roughly conformed to the borders and territories of the later administrative region of Burgundy. Upon the extinction of the Burgundian male line the duchy reverted to the King of France and the House of Valois.