26 - Beautiful Burgundian Bureaucracy and the Salty Citizens of Ghent

Philip the Good may have dreamed of wearing a single crown, but while that was not the case he was just a man wearing many different hats, and if you’ve ever seen someone wearing more than one hat at a time, you’d know how difficult and awkward that can be. Philip brought in administrative and economic changes to try and fuse the many different bureaucracies of his lands into one. This led to early meetings between representatives from all of Philip’s lowland domains which signify the emergence of an early parliamentary body, the Estates General, which will play a major role in the Low Countries in the years to come. However, although Philip was somewhat flexible when it came to handling his various provinces, it cost him a fortune to do so. This was most risky in his wealthiest territory, Flanders and the stability he had sought since the Bruges revolt was shattered when Ghent, his largest city, took its turn to go into open and violent revolt. Once more Philip would have to temporarily abandon his role as loving and fatherly prince, put on his hat of vengeful lord and once more crush thousands of his subjects. He would then make another Joyous Entry, exactly as he had fifteen year prior in Bruges and force the subdued people of Ghent to recognise his headpiece of haughty, honourable homage; the loving, benevolent prince, once more.  With thanks to Keith Brown and David Gould for their Patreon support. SHOW NOTES: www.republicofamsterdamradio.com/episodes/historyofthenetherlands/episode-26-beautiful-burgundian-bureaucracy PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/historyofthenetherlands TWITTER: https://www.twitter.com/historyofNL Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices