urgundian alliance, this time
face to face with the duke. On to Flanders he journeyed and found
Charles in the midst of the ostentatious magnificence already
described. Ordinary affairs of life were conducted with a splendour
hardly attained by the emperor in the most pompous functions of his
court. Sigismund was absolutely dazzled by the evidence of easy
prosperity. The fact that a maiden was the duke's sole heiress led
the Austrian to conceive the not unnatural idea that this attractive
Burgundian wealth might be turned into the impoverished imperial
coffers by a marriage between Mary of Burgundy and Maximilian, the
emperor's son.

[Illustration: MARY OF BURGUNDY FROM CONTEMPORANEOUS MINIATURE
REPRODUCED IN BARANTE, "LES DUCS DE BOURGOGNE"]

The visitor not only thought of this possibility, but he immediately
broached it to Charles. The bait was swallowed. As to the main
proposition which Sigismund had come expressly to make, that, too,
was not rejected. The duke perceived that the transfer of the Rhenish
lands to his jurisdiction might militate to his advantage. A passage
would be opened towards the south for his troops without the need of
demanding permission from any reluctant neighbour. The risk of trouble
with the Swiss did not affect him when weighing the advantages of
Sigismund's proffer, a proffer which he finally decided to accept.
Probably he found his guest a pleasant party to a bargain, for not
only did he broach the tempting alliance between Mary and Maximilian,
but he, too, seems to have hinted that the title of "King of the
Romans" might be added to the long list of appellations already signed
by Charles.[6] As Sigismund was richer in kin, if not in coin, than
the feeble Podiebrad, Charles gave serious heed to the suggestion
which fell incidentally from his guest's lips, in the course of the
long conversations held at Bruges.

Certain precautions were taken to protect Charles from being dragged
into Swiss complications against his will, and then in May, 1469,
the treaty of St. Omer was signed,[7] wherein the Duke of Burgundy
accorded his protection to Sigismund of Austria and received from him
all his seigniorial rights within certain specified territories.

The most important part of this cession comprised Upper Alsace and
the county of Ferrette, but there were also many other fragments of
territory and rights of seigniory involved, besides lordship over
various Rhenish cities, such as Rheinfelden