The Tournament and its Role in the Court Culture of Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519)

 
 
60 
promoting the ideals of chivalry were popular in many princely courts. However, these unique 
societies had, according to D’Arcy Boulton, largely fallen out of favour by 1390, with relatively 
few being maintained due to the commitment and expense required.
29
 Yet this would all 
change in 1430, as the Valois dukes made their own foray into the realm of knightly orders 
with the foundation of the Ordre de la Thoison d’Or, or the Order of the Golden Fleece.
30
 The 
Order was founded by the third Valois duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. This action was 
just another way to elevate Burgundy to the same level as England and France, who each had 
their own well-established knightly orders.
31
 The proclamation of Philip’s intention to form his 
own order was announced amidst a series of lavish festivities, including feasting and 
tournaments.
32
  
 
Burgundian dukes faced a difficulty which Maximilian himself would later face as 
emperor: ruling lands which were spread out over a wide geographical area and encompassed 
people of different cultures and languages. The Order of the Golden Fleece was used by the 
dukes as a tool in these circumstances. It could be used to promote loyalty to the Valois 
dynasty and serve as a symbol of their power. Not only were symbols of the Order 
incorporated into the heraldic arms of many of its members, but they were also often displayed 
                                                 
29
 D’Arcy Jonathan Dacre Boulton, The Knights of the Crown: The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in 
Later Medieval Europe, 1325-1520 (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1987), pp. 103, 356-58. 
30
 The fleece after which the Order was named could refer to two different tales. The most well-
known was the golden fleece of Colchis, taken by Jason and the Argonauts of classical Greek legend. 
This heroic story was an apt one for the chivalric principles promoted by the Order; however, Jason 
was a pagan hero and not infallible So, instead, a new ‘fleece’ was found, and the Order’s name was 
declared instead to refer to the fleece of the humble biblical hero Gideon. This connection was 
tenuous, as this fleece was not golden, nor was it a trophy for brave actions, but the story was deemed 
more suitable for the Order. Still later, other fleeces would be invoked to represent the Order. 
Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages, pp. 76-77, Boulton, The Knights of the Crown, pp. 367-69. 
31
 England’s the Order of the Garter and the France’s the Company of the Star, founded by 
Philip the Good’s own great-grandfather, King John the Good of France. Philip was, in fact, elected to 
membership in England’s Order of the Garter in 1422, an offer which he did not accept, possibly in 
order not to tie himself too closely to England. Boulton, The Knights of the Crown, p. 358. 
32
 Boulton, The Knights of the Crown, pp. 360-62. 

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61 
in public places and cities.
33
 In this way, even when not physically present, the dukes could 
remind citizens of their authority and continue to assert their dominance through the power of 
imagery. The creation of the Order was part of Valois efforts to create a sense of Burgundian 
nationality.
34
 
 
By endowing the Order with such prestige, Philip was at the same time making the 
position of sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece one of significant power. It conveyed 
prestige and status to its holder, elevating him above other ordinary dukes and giving them an 
aura of kingship.
35
 Philip maintained the Order until his death on 15 June 1467, at which time 
Charles the Bold took over as sovereign. Although Charles’ reign was often turbulent, he 
upheld to Order until his untimely death in 1477, after which Maximilian became the third 
sovereign of the Order upon his marriage to Mary, just as he assumed the title of duke of 
Burgundy. By assuming this role as sovereign, Maximilian was laying claim to the preeminent 
symbol of the Burgundian dukes. 
 
A question which has been much debated is whether the death of Charles the Bold at 
Nancy in 1477 and the marriage of his daughter Mary to Maximilian of Austria represents the 
collapse of Burgundy. How much continuity may be found between the Valois and the 
Habsburg ruled Burgundy? Charles had no sons, legitimate or otherwise, to carry on the Valois 
                                                 
33
 Vanderjagt, ‘The Princely Culture of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy’, p. 59.  
34
 The insignia of the Order was a representation of Burgundian unity in itself and was a 
combination of several Burgundian elements. The collar of the Order incorporated the cross of Saint 
Andrew with the secular badge of the dukes – the flaming flint and steel, or fusil – and the pelt of the 
much-debated golden fleece. The chain of the collar was formed of interlocking fusils in the shape of 
B’s. Maximilian can be seen wearing this collar in several of his own portraits. Boulton, ‘The Order of 
the Golden Fleece and the Creation of Burgundian National Identity’, pp. 27, 33-35. 
35
 Boulton, ‘The Order of the Golden Fleece and the Creation of Burgundian National Identity’, 
pp. 28. 

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62 
legacy, and his only daughter’s marriage to the son of the Holy Roman Empire meant that 
another dynasty was bringing Burgundy into their fold.  
 
Richard Vaughan has stated explicitly, ‘Burgundy fell with Charles the Bold on the 
battlefield of Nancy on 5 January 1477.’
36
 He further claims that there was political decline 
within the territories prior to and during Charles’ reign, leading to a slow degradation of 
Burgundy, with Charles’ death as the final straw. When Maximilian married Mary, he had no 
experience of Burgundian administration, and he was not welcomed with open arms by all 
Burgundian citizens, as the above quote from Vives shows. Within weeks of the Battle of 
Nancy, Louis XI had retaken the duchy of Burgundy, the original heart of the dukes’ power. 
The new Burgundy, over which Maximilian ruled, was structurally different and took on a new, 
distinctly Habsburg significance, soon to be, Vaughan argues, completely overwhelmed by the 
Renaissance and early modern era.
37
  
 
However, arguments have been made more recently that this is not the case, and that 
the death of Charles the Bold did not necessarily equate to the death of Burgundy. Graeme 
Small disagrees with the idea that the entity of Burgundy disappeared with Charles.
38
 The idea 
that a complex political entity, built up for over a century, would simply collapse in a moment 
following the Battle of Nancy does not seem logical. There is more continuity to be found 
between the two reigns than not. Many courtiers, such as the chronicler Olivier de la Marche, 
                                                 
36
 Vaughan, Valois Burgundy, p. 194. 
37
 Vaughan, Valois Burgundy, p. 194. 
38
 Small, ‘Of Burgundian Dukes, Counts, Saints and Kings (14 C.E. – c. 1500),’  p. 178. This idea 
is largely based on the assumption that, with Charles’ death, the Burgundian territories were divided 
between the Holy Roman Empire and the kingdom of France. And Maximilian’s ascendency to 
Burgundian power did also, admittedly, coincide with a period of strife for the territories, as they were 
facing dual threats from both France and the Flemish cities. The old duchy of Burgundy was also lost 
to the French crown later in 1477. 

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