Around the same time that Friesland succumbed to the rule of a foreign prince in 1498, the Duchy of Guelders was also engulfed by a struggle against Habsburg domination. Charles of Egmont and Emperor Maximilian both continued to lay claim to the title of Duke of Guelders and over the next half a century, the conflicts in both Friesland and Guelders would become inextricably linked in a series of on-again, off-again wars. To begin this episode, we will take an unexpected but delightful detour to a part of Europe that doesn’t naturally come to mind when you think of Guelders… Italy! There we will see Maximilian fail to impose his authority on a conflict between Pisa and Florence. Bentornati al podcast sulla storia dei Paesi Bassi. After that we will see Maximilian enlist the help of two German princes, the Dukes of Julich and Cleves, to try and bring Guelder to heel and carve it up between them. In this, Maximilian will also fail to impose his will, this time facing resistance not only from Charles of Egmont, but also his own son, Philip the Handsome. Finally, we will see how Charles of Egmont benefited from a bit of French mediation in the war between Guelders, Julich and Cleves, before he almost met an untimely end at the siege of Huissen in 1502. There’s a lot to get through! So let’s get cracking.

Many thanks to ⁠friesekerken.nl⁠ for supporting this episode. Check out the website and sign up to become a donor to their foundation which helps preserve monumental churches in Friesland.

And thanks for our Patreon supporters Curtis Nieboer, Laura Lindquist, Bryce Williams, Stèf Murison and Connor Bailey.

SHOW NOTES: ⁠https://www.republicofamsterdamradio.com/episodes/historyofthenetherlands/episode-56-trying-to-geld-guelders

PATREON: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/historyofthenetherlands⁠

BLUESKY: ⁠https://historyofnl.bsky.social/

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