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French
army under King John the Good, of the House of Valois, near Poitiers.
Battle was joined on the 19th with the Black Prince gaining another great
victory in the face of unfavourable odds. Towards the close of the battle
the French king, heedless of his duty to avoid capture at all costs, dismounted
and rushed into the fight and, ultimately, into the hands of the enemy;
his 14-year-old son Philip fought valiantly by his side until the bitter
end, and as soon as King John had secured his own release by the payment
of heavy ransom to his captors he rewarded his younger son's
courage
and devotion by creating him the first Valois Duke of Burgundy. Philip,
known as Philip the Bold, reigned over the Duchy from 1364 to 1404. He
was succeeded by his son John the Fearless who continued to enlarge the
Duchy's power by shrewd alliances and by territorial conquest, so that
when his son, Philip the Good, succeeded in 1419 he was not only the third
Valois Duke of Burgundy but also Duke of Brabant, Duke of Limburg, Duke
of Luxemburg and of Guelders, Count of Flanders and of Artois, Marquis
of the Holy Roman Empire, and of Holland, Zeeland, and Namur. Philip the
Good with his capital at Dijon ruled for nearly fifty years and for much
of that time his highly organised armies held the balance of power in
north west Europe.Noted as a wise and able ruler, Philip took care to
surround himself with the astutest of statesmen, and under his reign the
Duchy reached the zenith of its glory. Phillip founded the Order of the
Golden Fleece in 1429, the year of his marriage of to Isabel of Portugal.
Their court of Burgundy was at the forefront of European fashion, and
under Philip's reign tournaments and jousts reached the apex of ritual
and ceremony, being organised by heralds under extremely complex codes
of behaviour. Whilst the joust had been rendered somewhat safer by Philip's
time with the use of blunted swords and lances, severe injury and death
could still result. Philip died in 1467 and was succeeded by his son Charles
the Bold, the fourth and last Valois Duke.
            n
17 September 1356 the Black Prince, having raided along the Loire,
was withdrawing to Bordeaux when he collided with a French reconnaissance
party at Chabotrie. Two French nobles were taken prisoner, and the
English continued their march until the next day, When they encountered
the main
Philip
The Good, Third Valois Duke of Burgundy |
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