Narrative, ritual and history: Inventing the dynastic state in fifteenth-century Burgundy

Although amongst the most powerful of all European princes in the fifteenth century, the Dukes of Burgundy enjoyed no single title by which to claim authority over their diverse patrimony, and no constitutional mechanism through which they could claim transcendent titular right. Starting in the 1450s under Duke Philip the Bold, the Burgundian court embarked upon a program to realize their dynastic ambitions by other means, which included reshaping their history though the chronicle record and using innovative imagery and symbolism in the ritual life that accompanied moments of court celebration. Although the last Burgundian Valois duke, Charles the Bold, was killed in 1467 without male issue, the legacy of Valois efforts to establish a dynastic imperative over their disparate holdings can be seen in the successes of their Habsburg successors in reviving the Valois ritual and historiographical tradition in service to their own dynastic goals. Using chronicle and manuscript sources, this dissertation traces the substance of how a Burgundian dynastic state was shaped in the absence of kingship.