Burgundian Sword Ritual: Charismatic and Regnal Authority at the Funeral of Philip the Good in Bruges, 1467

Abstract

Charles the Bold claimed sovereignty resided in his personal body and was legitimised by his virtues, especially that of justice. It has been debated whether these ideas were influenced by Humanism and if he can be described as a ‘Renaissance prince’. This problem can be addressed through an analysis of Burgundian funerary ceremonies. During Charles’s rule, such events were inspired by the French example of sacral monarchy. This article takes as a case study Philip the Good’s funeral in Bruges in 1467, at which Charles was presented with a sword lifted from his father’s coffin. This ritual allowed Charles to compare his authority to that of a king’s by stating that, despite the reality of his ducal status, he inherited his father’s lands as a unity and at the same moment. However, borrowing the term from Susan Reynolds, this ritual communicated a general ‘regnal’ status rather than a specifically ‘regal’ one because, unlike royal funerary ceremonies, it conflated Charles’s official and individual persona, claiming legitimacy more through personal charisma than accepted laws and traditions. The importance Charles gave to his virtues and persona was therefore primarily due to his status as a regnal prince aspiring to monarchy.