osperity had been nibbled off like green foliage before
a swarm of locusts, and the whole north-eastern portion of France
was in a sorry state of desolation by 1435. On the other hand, the
territories covered by Burgundy as an overlord had greatly increased
during the sixteen years that Philip had worn the title. An
aggregation of duchies, counties, and lordships formed his domain,
loosely hung together by reason of their several titles being vested
in one person--titles which the bearer had inherited or assumed under
various pretexts.

Flanders and Artois, together with the duchy and county of Burgundy,
came to him from his father, John the Fearless, in 1419. In 1421, he
bought Namur. In 1430, he declared himself heir to his cousins in
Brabant and Limbourg when Duke Anthony's second son followed his
equally childless brother into a premature grave, and the claims were
made good in spite of all opposition. Holland, Zealand, and Hainaut
became his through the unwilling abdication of his other cousin,
Jacqueline, in 1433. To save the life of her husband, Frank van
Borselen, the last representative of the Bavarian House then
formally resigned her titles, which she had already divested of all
significance five years previously, when Philip of Burgundy had become
her _ruward_, to relieve a "poor feminine person" of a weight of
responsibility too heavy for her shoulders.[21]

Divers items in the accounts show what Philip expended in having
the titles of Holland, Zealand, and Hainaut added to his other
designations. Also there were various places where his predecessor's
name had to be effaced to make room for his. (Laborde, i., 345).]

Antwerp and Mechlin were included in Brabant. Luxemburg was a later
acquisition obtained through Elizabeth of Goerlitz.

There were very shady bits in the chapters about Philip's entry into
many of his possessions, but it is interesting to note how cleverly
the best colour is given to his actions by Olivier de la Marche and
other writers who enjoyed Burgundian patronage. Very gentle are the
adjectives employed, and a nice cloak of legality is thrown over the
naked facts as they are ushered into history. Contemporary criticism
did occasionally make itself heard, especially from the emperor, who
declared that the Netherland provinces must come to him as a lapsed
imperial fief. For a time Philip denied that any links existed between
his domain and the empire, but in 1449 he finally found it con