1433 - Burgundian Netherlands
Jacoba was granddaughter of Philip of Burgundy who behaved very ill towards her; her romantic and sad life has rendered her the most picturesque figure in all the history of Holland; she struggled long against her powerful kinsfolk, nor did she know happiness till near the end of her life, when she abandoned the unequal strife, and found repose with Francis of Borselen, ruwaard of Holland, her fourth husband.
Philip the Good of Burgundy craftily seized him, and thereby in 1433 Jacoba was compelled to cede her rights over the counties of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and Hainault Consequently, at her death in 1436, as she left no children, Philip seized on all her lands. He already held much of the Netherlands; he had inherited Flanders and Artois, had bought Namur, had seized Brabant, with Limburg, Antwerp, and Mechlin; lie now got Holland, Zealand, and Hainault, with a titular lordship over Friesland; a few years later he became lord also of Luxembourg.
By this incorporation with the possessions of the house of Burgundy, the commercial and artistic life of Holland was quickened, but political liberties suffered; for the rule of the "good Duke" was far from being good. It was a time of luxury and show, of pageants and display, of the new and brilliant Order of the Golden Fleece (1430), and of the later days of feudalism, with all its brilliancy, corruption, and decline in the presence of the new monarchical spirit of Europe.
Duke Philip on his accession declared that the privileges and constitutions, of Holland, to which he had taken oath as reward for Jacoba, should be null, unless he chose to confirm them as count. From that moment till the latter part of the next century the liberties of the Netherlands were treated with contempt. Holland, however, at first contented herself with growing material prosperity: her herring fishery, rendered more valuable than ever by the curing process discovered or introduced by Beukelzoon, brought her fresh wealth; and her fishermen were unconsciously laying the foundations of her maritime greatness.
It was in the days of Duke Philip that Lorenz Koster of Haarlem contributed his share to the discovery of printing; the arts and learning of the Renaissance began to flourish greatly. The Burgundian dukes rivaled their contemporaries the Medici; under them grew up the Flemish school of painters, headed by the Van Eycks and Memling; architecture advanced as stately churches and town-houses were built; the dukes collected priceless manuscripts, founded libraries, and encouraged authors. But this speedy growth in art and letters, belonged more to Flanders and Brabant than to Holland or Zealand.
In short, throughout the Burgundian time Holland played but an insignificant part; and it may merely be remarked that the friendship of the dukes for the nobility did that class more harm than their hostility to civic liberties hurt the towns; for the lavish waste of Philip's court impoverished the nobles, and the wars of Charles destroyed them. After their days the Netherlands nobility were never again powerful. The church also suffered: it was enriched and corrupted by Philip, and was consequently very loyal to him; but his favor instead of strengthening it made the Reformation necessary.
