The Burgundians by B. van Loo

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Here’s our take on Bart van Loo’s The Burgundians.

Quick facts

• Full title: The Burgundians. A Vanished Empire
• Authors: Bart van Loo, Flemish author
• First published: 2020 (in Dutch)
• Publisher: Apollo / Head of Zeus / De Bezige Bij
• Number of pages without notes: 517

Our review

Bart van Loo’s The Burgundians is a colorful masterpiece that shows that some historical eras are crazier than fantasy stories. The book is filled with examples of extravagant weddings, murder plots, and battles with unlikely winners. Fortunately, whilst narrating this exciting course of events, Van Loo doesn’t fall victim to the ‘Let me tell you one good story after the other’ style. The backstory gets a lot of attention from the author as well: the precarious position of the Burgundian dukes during the Western Schism, their double-dealing during the Hundred Years’ War (supporting both the French and the English), and their hustling of the Holy Roman Emperor to get that precious royal crown – which they never did receive.

The writing style in The Burgundians has received some criticism. At times, Bart van Loo is downright amicable to the reader. He also personally embellishes certain details, for example with phrases like “Duke Philip probably choked on his food when he received the news”. Because we don’t possess the source material to substantiate or refute such claims, some commentators have called for Van Loo to not include such subjective sentences. We here, at the Medieval Reporter, think these little storytelling nuggets contribute to the greater narrative and fit Bart van Loo’s overall style. In our opinion, they are innocent additions that – in all likelihood – were probably the case but note that these remarks may be off-putting for you.

Back to the story at hand, The Burgundians answers a lot of complex questions at once. If you’re wondering what happened in Western Europe between the Black Death and the Renaissance, this book offers one of the bigger answers for you. If you always asked yourself why the Hundred Years’ War took so long or where the Netherlands or Belgium even come from, The Burgundians explains a lot about that as well. This is all because, as much as Bart van Loo focuses the story on the Burgundian dukes and – mostly – their Flemish subjects, he doesn’t lose sight of the geopolitics that these rulers were purposefully trying to tilt in their favor. Hemmed in between France and the Holy Roman Empire, the late medieval Burgundians play cities against aristocracy, pope against antipope, and France against England – and vice versa.

That the rise of the Burgundian dukes and their ultimate incorporation into larger realms all happened within 150 years, makes the story as dramatic as intriguing. Bart van Loo appears to be one of the best-suited authors to present this rollercoaster of burgeoning bourgeoisie, feudal ambitions, artistic innovations, commercial expansion, and fledgling administration – coupled, alas, with a lot of strife, pestilence and war. We think The Burgundians is a work of art in itself.

PS If the names of all the dukes, kings and emperors (most of them confusingly called Philip, John or Charles) start to overwhelm you while reading, do consult the lists in the back of the book. Bart van Loo included overviews of the royal houses of England and France, a list of Burgundian dukes including their wives and children, and the succession of emperors and popes during the Late Medieval Era.

Our verdict

Where to buy

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