Few texts offer as many insights into the history of Valois Burgundy as the work of George Chastelain (c.1414-1475), official chronicler to the dukes Philip the Good and Charles the Bold. Chastelain, a trusted courtier, closely observed his masters' authority in the many dominions they ruled in the Low Countries and France, and the role they played in the political life of neighbouring kingdoms and principalities and in Christendom as a whole. This is the first historical study of Chastelain in over half a century. An account of his life and career is followed by a study of the chronicle, Chastelain's interpretation within it of ducal actions and aspirations, and the role it played in the historical culture of the governing classes in the Netherlands after the death of the last duke in 1477. Overall, Dr Small offers a complete reappraisal of the political ambitions of the ducal elite, particularly with regard to the supposed evolution of the ducal dominions into a `Burgundian state' quite distinct from the Kingdom of France.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
A solid, thorough...scholarly work, firmly rooted in the manuscripts and in Chastellain's chosen genre... The last work, at least for a while, on Chastelain. --Speculum
Small shows himself as fine a master of codicology as of prosopography and the operation of patronage networks... dense, rewarding, and often fascinating reading. The importance of the book derives from the subtlety, novelty, and sustained vigour of its quest to site accurately Chastellain and his chronicle in their contemporary cultureal persoective, and from the light thus thrown on the issue of the evolution of a `Burgundian state'... Emphatically, an important and original study. --MEDIUM AEVUM (M H Keen)
This important book significantly revises our understanding of George Chastelain's career and achievement... A work of careful, exact research that must be read by all students of late medieval state formation and historical writing in the Burgundian domains and France. AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Unquestionably warrants inclusion in all serious libraries. EUROPEAN STUDIES JOURNAL --Various
Small shows himself as fine a master of codicology as of prosopography and the operation of patronage networks... dense, rewarding, and often fascinating reading. The importance of the book derives from the subtlety, novelty, and sustained vigour of its quest to site accurately Chastellain and his chronicle in their contemporary cultureal persoective, and from the light thus thrown on the issue of the evolution of a `Burgundian state'... Emphatically, an important and original study. --MEDIUM AEVUM (M H Keen)
This important book significantly revises our understanding of George Chastelain's career and achievement... A work of careful, exact research that must be read by all students of late medieval state formation and historical writing in the Burgundian domains and France. AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Unquestionably warrants inclusion in all serious libraries. EUROPEAN STUDIES JOURNAL --Various
About the Author
Dr GRAEME SMALLis lecturer in medieval history, University of Glasgow.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The shaping of Valois Burgundy! What a read!!!,
By Cecil Norris Nugent (France) - See all my reviews
This review is from: George Chastelain and the Shaping of Valois Burgundy: Political and Historical Culture at Court in the Fifteenth Century (Royal Historical Society Studies in History New Series) (Hardcover)
Graeme Small has shed light on the darkest corners of an important court chronicler's public and private affairs. Everything from Chastelain's family connections, to his ascent in ducal service is gracefully covered in a tightly argued piece of work, heavily (and usefully) footnoted, with archival and printed references aplenty for the keen Chastelain scholar. A lively style and an eye for the important details make this an important political biography. Setting the record straight, Small has corrected many of the errors of previous generations of Chastelain scholars: even the spelling of Georges Chastellain has changed! In summary, this is an important contribution to the history of Valois Burgundy, and a pleasant read.
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