Valois Burgundy and the Crown of Castile: Northern and Mediterranean Culture in the 15th Century

This paper explores the many artistic, cultural, dynastic, and military ties forged between the Valois Dukes of Burgundy and the Crown of Castile, focusing on the fifteenth century. These deep interconnections between the two regions culminated in a dynastic alliance, causing the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Fair, to become Philip I of Castile, and his son Charles V to ultimately rule Burgundy, Castile, and Aragon, as well as the Holy Roman Empire and parts of Italy. Late medieval religious ties North and South would also show themselves in Erasmus’s popularity in Spain, and in Philip II’s eventual eighty years’ conflict with the Dutch over his attempt to maintain control over his father’s Burgundian inheritance.