Louis's greatest rival was Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. Philip was head of the first union of the Low Countries since the days of Charlemagne, a curious approximation of the ancient Lotharingia that included: the duchy and county of Burgundy, Flanders, Artois, Brabant, Luxemburg, Holland, Zealand, Friesland, Hainault. The dukes lacked only Alsace and Lorraine and the royal title.
Defeat and death of Charles at Nancy (triumph of the Swiss pikemen over cavalry); end of the Burgundian menace. Louis united the duchy of Burgundy with the crown and occupied the county of Burgundy (Franche Comté). Flanders stood by the daughter of Charles, Mary of Burgundy, and was lost to France forever. Mary hurriedly married the Habsburg archduke Maximilian, the “heir” to the empire.
On the extinction of the house of Anjou, Anjou, Bar, Maine, and Provence fell to the French crown. Bar completed Louis's mastery on the eastern frontier.
The most significant internal fact of the reign was the development of a clear basis for royal power. Only one meeting of the Estates General was held (1469), and on that occasion the Estates asked the king to rule without them in future. Legislation was thenceforth by royal decree, a situation that facilitated Louis's thoroughgoing reform of the government and administration.
Cultural Developments. Jean Froissart (1337–1410) wrote his Chroniques, a colorful history of his times. Philippe de Commines (1447–1511), a Fleming who left the service of Charles the Bold for that of Louis, produced in his Mémoires a fine piece of critical history. François Villon (1430–70) was a lyric poet of the first rank. Christine de Pisan (1363?–1434?), whose writings include Livre de la mutacion de fortune, a major historical work; a biography of King Charles V; The City of Ladies, which lists the great women of history and their contributions; the Book of Three Virtues, which gives prudent advice on household management for women of all classes; and many letters and an autobiography.
Jan (d. 1441) and Hubert van Eyck (d. 1426), Flemish painters in the service of the court of Burgundy, perfected oil technique, religious painting, and portraiture, raising the painter's art to the highest stage of proficiency and perfection.
The only professional engineering document of the Middle Ages is the notebook of Villard de Honnecourt (fl. late 14th century), a French architect who worked in Cambrai, Laon, Reims, Meaux, and Chartres, as well as in Hungary. His notebook contains architectural plans, practical geometry, descriptions of machines. Jean Buridan (d. 1358) used the concept of impetus as an explanation for motion and acceleration. Nicole Oresme, College of Navarre, used geometrical diagrams to display the variation of physical quantities under various conditions. (See France)
