Burgundian History: a mirror of European venture? Review on De hertog en zijn Staten by Robert Stein

Authors

  • Élodie Lecuppre-Desjardin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18352/bmgn-lchr.10418

Keywords:

History, Low Countries, Netherlands, Belgium, Burgundian Union

Abstract

It is ironic that two European scholars decided, almost at the same time, to reconsider the classic question of the formation of ‘the Burgundian State’. Even if Robert Stein did not mention the ideological inspirations for his work, the impact of the European construction arises in a key sentence about composite monarchies, a concept that lies at the heart of this book: ‘It is impossible to understand its character [i.e. of the Burgundian Union] by looking only at the centre, or at one of the individual parts, like Flanders, for instance, just as it is impossible to grasp the character of the European Union by looking only at Brussels or Portugal or Denmark.’ (‘Het is onmogelijk de eigenheid van de Bourgondische unie te begrijpen door uitsluitend naar het centrum te kijken, of naar een van de individuele delen, zoals het onmogelijk is het karakter van de Europese unie te doorgronden door alleen naar Brussel, of naar bijvoorbeeld Portugal of Denemarken te kijken’) (p.19; p.13 in the English translation).

 

This article is part of the discussion forum 'Constructing and Deconstructing the ‘State’: the Case of the Low Countries'.

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Author Biography

Élodie Lecuppre-Desjardin

Élodie Lecuppre-Desjardin (1972) is Professor in Medieval History at the University of Lille (IRHiS). Her research focuses on urban history, The Low Countries and political and cultural history in the thirteenth to fifteenth century. Recent publications include Le royaume inachevé des ducs de Bourgogne (Paris, Belin 2016); De Bono Communi, The Discourse and Practice of the Common Good in European City (13th-16th c.) (Turnhout 2010) [with Anne-Laure Van Bruaene]; La ville des cérémonies. Essai sur la communication politique dans les anciens Pays-Bas Bourguignons (Turnhout 2004).

Published

2017-12-21

How to Cite

Lecuppre-Desjardin, Élodie. (2017). Burgundian History: a mirror of European venture? Review on De hertog en zijn Staten by Robert Stein. BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, 132(4), 80–84. https://doi.org/10.18352/bmgn-lchr.10418

Issue

Section

Discussion