The Hanseatic League was a major player in Northern Europe for centuries, it dominated trade in the North and Baltic Seas, fought wars with rival powers, and dictated terms to princes. But the League was not a state, proto-state, or quasi-state, it was a collection of Merchants, Guilds, and Towns.

Time Period Covered: 1143-1441

Notable Events/Developments: Founding of Lubeck, Formation of the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic Boycotts of Bruges (1280-1282, 1358-1360, 1388-1391), Danish-Hanseatic War, The Confederation of Cologne, Dutch-Hanseatic War

Throughout the later 1430s, Charles I Duke of Bourbon found his influence at the court of Charles VII falling day after day. Bourbon was not content to take his sidelining laying down, and so he began to plot, and when that failed he plotted again, and when that failed...

Time Period Covered: 1435-1442

Notable People: Charles VII of France, Charles of Anjou Count of Maine, Charles I Duke of Bourbon, John Bastard of Orleans Count of Dunois, John II Duke of Alencon, Louis XI of France, Jean Louvet, Arthur de Richemont Constable of France

Notable Events/Developments: Bourbon's 1437 Plot, The Praguerie, Assembly of the Princes in Nevers (1442)

When Philip the Good signed the Treaty of Arras, he hoped that he would be able to put all the years of war and strife behind him. However, the ill will built up over the years of Anglo-Burgundian alliance would be hard to surmount and the Duke of Burgundy is now on the lookout for allies at the French Court.

Thank you to Emmanuel Dubois from the La Fayette, We Are Here! Podcast for reading one of Charles of Orleans poems.

I will be speaking at the Intelligent Speech conference on February 8. Check out intelligentspeechonline.com for details and tickets!

Time Period Covered: 1436-1440

Notable People: Philip the Good, Isabella of Portugal Duchess of Burgundy, Charles VII of France, Charles Duke of Orleans, John of Luxembourg Count of Ligny, Louis of Luxembourg Count of Saint-Pol, Hugh de Lannoy, Cardinal Henry Beaufort

Notable Events/Developments: Anglo-French Negotiations at Calais (1439), Rise of the Ecocheurs, Return of Charles of Orleans to France, Death of John of Luxembourg, Intercursus of 1439

As Philip the Good retreated from Calais, he found himself going out of the frying pan and into the fire. The militias of Flanders had mutineed and the county was on the brink of rebellion.

Time Period Covered: 1432-1438

Notable People: Philip the Good, Isabella of Portugal Duchess of Burgundy, Roland d'Uutkercke, Jan Van Hoorn, Simon de Lalaing, Colard de Commines, Raase Rouven

Notable Events/Developments: Revolt of Ghent (1432), Rebellion of Cassel (1430), Failure of the Siege of Calais (1436), Rebellion of Bruges (1436-1438), Terrible Wednesday of Pentecost

As soon as the ink was dry on the Treaty of Arras, the military situation in France was turned on it's head. The English position is now in free fall, and as they struggle to regain control, their former allies the Burgundians are only adding to their troubles.

Time Period Covered: 1435-1437

Notable People: Philip the Good, Jean de Villiers Lord of l'Isle-Adam, John of Luxembourg, Charles VII of France

Notable Events/Developments: Burgundian Volte-Face, Charles VII gains Paris (1436), Burgundian Siege of Calais (1436)

In mid-1435 delegates from England, France, and Burgundy converged on Arras to discuss ending the Hundred Years War.

Time Period Covered: 1435

Notable People: Philip the Good, Cardinal Niccolo Albergati, Charles I Duke of Bourbon, Cardinal Hugh de Lusignan, Cardinal Henry Beaufort

Notable Events/Developments: The Congress of Arras, The Treaty of Arras, Death of John Duke of Bedford

Philip the Good is tired of the Hundred Years War. He's tired of the destruction, he's tired of the death, and he's tired of his ally's inability to defend his lands. But the Duke of Burgundy finds himself trapped by an oath not to make a separate peace with the increasingly powerful French Court of Charles VII.

Time Period Covered: 1431-1435

Notable People: Philip the Good, Charles VII of France, Cardinal Niccolo Albergati, Arthur de Richemont, Yolande of Anjou, Charles of Anjou Count of Maine, Charles I Duke of Bourbon

Notable Events/Developments: Peace Conference of Auxerre (1433), Peace Conference of Siene-Port (1433), Fall of Georges de la Tremoille, Peace Conference of Nevers (1435)

In the years after the capture of Joan of Arc, the French continued their resurgence while the English struggled to hold on to what they had. As the tables began to turn, the Duke of Burgundy began to worry that he had chosen the wrong side in the Hundred Years War.

Time Period Covered: 1430-1434

Notable People: Philip the Good, Charles VII of France, Henry VI of England, John Duke of Bedford, Arnaud-Guilhem de Barbazan, Antoine de Toulongeon, Charles I Duke of Bourbon

Notable Events/Developments: French Coronation of Henry VI, Deterioration of Anglo-Burgundian relationship, Death of Anne of Burgundy Duchess of Bedford

As Philip the Good expanded his reach into the Holy Roman Empire, some Imperial Princes greeted him as a new ally, but others saw Burgundian expansion as a threat. Sigismund of Luxembourg, the Holy Roman Emperor, fell into the latter category, and throughout his long career he was a determined, if mostly ineffective opponent of Burgundy.

Time Period Covered: 1421-1437

Notable People: Philip the Good, Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg, Rene of Anjou, Antoine de Vaudemont, Louis de Chalon Prince of Orange, Jean de Neufchatel, Arnold of Egmond Duke of Guelders, Adolph I of Cleves, Frederick of the Empty Pockets

Notable Events/Developments: Battle of Anthon, Battle of Bulgneville, The Hussite Wars

Philip the Good was a prince of a European stature, and as such he interacted with the Church in a number of ways and on a number of levels. The Duke of Burgundy did his best to control the Church in his lands, influence the Bishoprics which neighbored his territories, and make his voice heard in Rome and in the emerging Council of Basel.

Time Period Covered: 1428-1440

Notable People: Philip the Good, Pope Martin V, Pope Eugenius IV, John of Heinsberg, Rudolf von Diepholz, Guillaume Fillastre

Notable Events/Developments: Utrecht Schism, Dinant-Bouvignes Conflict, Council of Basel