38 - The First Cracks in the Reign of Max

History of the Netherlands

Upon marrying Mary of Burgundy in August 1477, the first thing Maximilian of Habsburg had to do was focus on stopping the French invasion of the Burgundian territories. This was, after all, the main reason why their union had been accepted by the various power bases of the Low Countries, most notably the States General. War requires money, of course, and Maximilian didn’t really have any. Due to the constraints of the Great Privilege, he was limited in what options he had to get some, so his first recourse was to do what Flemish counts and Burgundian dukes had done forever and demand cash from the Flemish estates, which he did almost immediately after getting hitched. At first they were happy to cooperate, but when he attempted to roll back the rights gained by the Great Privilege, discontent grew and Maximilian found himself exposed to the ire of, you’ll never guess where, Ghent. The conflict with France dragged on and Maximilian found himself embroiled in factional squabbling and uprisings closer to home in Guelders, Holland and Utrecht, as well as within the court. All of this meant that, when Mary of Burgundy unexpectedly died in March, 1482, conditions inside the pressure cooker which was the Low Countries were once again primed to blow the lid right off.

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