Philip the Good

Duke of Burgundy (r.1419-67). He became duke on the assassination of his father, John the Fearless, by the future Charles VII of France. Seeking vengeance, Philip allied with England (1420). His reconciliation with France in 1435 was a decisive blow to English ambitions. Inheritance more than doubled his dominions, leaving his realm the most prosperous in Europe, reflected by its magnificent Renaissance court at Bruges, which boasted Jan van Eyck as its official artist.