Philip the Good

Philip the Good
Philip the Good, wearing the collar of firesteels of the Order of the Golden Fleece he instituted, copy of a Rogier van der Weyden of c.1450
Duke of Burgundy
Reign	10 September 1419 – 15 June 1467
Predecessor	John the Fearless
Successor	Charles the Bold
Born	(1396-07-31)31 July 1396 Dijon, Duchy of Burgundy
Died	15 June 1467(1467-06-15) (aged 70) Bruges, Flanders, Burgundian Netherlands
Burial	Dijon, Burgundy
Spouse	Michelle of Valois Bonne of Artois Isabella of Portugal
Issue	Charles the Bold David of Burgundy Anthony, bastard of Burgundy Anne of Burgundy
House	Valois-Burgundy
Father	John the Fearless
Mother	Margaret of Bavaria

Philip the Good (French: Philippe le Bon, Dutch: Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy as Philip III from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all the 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reign, Burgundy reached the apex of its prosperity and prestige and became a leading center of the arts. Philip is known in history for his administrative reforms, his patronage of Flemish artists such as Jan van Eyck and Franco-Flemish composers such as Gilles Binchois, and the capture of Joan of Arc. In political affairs, he alternated between alliances with the English and the French in an attempt to improve his dynasty's position. As ruler of Flanders, Brabant, Limburg, Artois, Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, Friesland and Namur, he played an important role in the history of the Low Countries.

Born in 1396 in Dijon, Philip was the son of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria-Straubing. His father succeeded Philip's grandfather Philip the Bold as Duke of Burgundy in 1404. On 28 January 1405, Philip was named Count of Charolais in appanage of the duke and probably became engaged on the same day, at the age of 8, to Michele of Valois, a daughter of King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. They were married in June 1409.