Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, kicked off a dynasty that would forever change the Low Countries. After his marriage to Margaret of Flanders in 1369, Philip would prove himself to be a formidable opponent to anyone playing the game of politics and power in western Europe. He generally did this by using diplomacy instead of the sword. Despite his adventurous and super trendy epithet suggesting otherwise, he was more willing to boldly give lavish gifts of wine and expensive ornaments, in order to charm the pants off anyone he was trying to manipulate, than to raise an army and go marching boldly forth. By showing magnanimity in victory after quelling an uprising in Ghent in the 1380s, by the end of the 14th century Philip the Bold was able to bring a modicum of stability to rebellious Flanders and begin the process of centralising power in the low countries under a single ruler: himself and his successors, the Dukes of Burgundy. Philip would create what would go down in history as the Burgundian Netherlands.

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