Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #382528 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 516 pages

English Historical Review
On series: "A major achievement in European historiography."

Maurice Keen, Literary Times Supplement
On series: "[Vaughan's] achievement remains monumental. There are no comparable, modern, in-depth studies... They are, besides, eminently readable."

Synopsis
Under Philip the Good, grandson of the founder of the duchy's power, Burgundy reached its apogee. Professor Vaughan portrays not only Philip the Good himself, perhaps the most attractive personality among the four great Dukes, but the workings of the court and of one of the most efficient - if not necessarily the most popular - administrations in fifteenth-century Europe. The complex diplomatic history of Philip the Good's long ducal reign (1419-1467) occupies much of the book, in particular Burgundy's relations with England and France. The central theme is Philip the Good's policy of territorial and personal aggrandisement, which culminated in his negotiations with the Holy Roman Emperor for a crown. And due attention is given to the great flowering of artistic life in Burgundy which made Philip's court at Dijon an important cultural centre in the period immediately preceding the Renaissance. All this is based on the close study of the considerable surviving archives of Philip's civil service, and on the chronicles and letters of the period.

"Philip the Good" provides a definitive study of the life and times of the ruler whose position and achievements made him the greatest magnate in Europe during what has been called 'the Burgundian century'.

Customer Reviews

Thorough yet very readable
Although this book is as much an in-depth study of this Philip's reign as the book in the same series on Philip the Bold, mr. Vaughan shows much more narrative talent than the author of that tome. The general reader will find himself burdened with a lot of "minor" detail, and as befits someone who writes for a professional readership, the author assumes that you will already be reasonably familiar with the history of the era that influenced Philip's policies and with a lot of its customs, titles and alliances, and that you will need no assistance in understanding any quotes in the original French.

At the same time mr Vaughan manages to push the story of Philip's life nicely along and gives you a clear understanding of the politics and of the day-to-day management of the government of Philips the Good. Not a book you will read in one go, but very good nevertheless.