Charles the Bold

Duke of Burgundy

10 November 1433 Dijon, Burgundy

5 January 1477(1477-01-05) (43) Nancy, Lorraine

10 May 1932 – 11 July 1940

15th-century Duke of Burgundy Not to be confused with Charles the Bald. Duke of Burgundy Reliquary of Charles the Bold – Gérard Loyet (1467–1471). Double Briquet, struck under Charles the Bold in Bruges, 1475 Charles (Charles Martin; German: Karl Martin; Dutch: Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: der Kühne; Dutch: de Stoute; French: le Téméraire), was the Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. His main objective was to be crowned king by turning the growing Burgundian State into a territorially continuous kingdom. He declared himself and his lands independent, bought Upper Alsace and conquered Zutphen, Guelders and Lorraine, uniting at last Burgundian northern and southern possessions. This caused the enmity of several European powers and triggered the Burgundian Wars. His early death at the Battle of Nancy at the hands of Swiss mercenaries fighting for René II, Duke of Lorraine was of great consequence in European history. The Burgundian domains, long wedged between France and the Habsburg Empire, were divided, but the precise disposition of the vast and disparate territorial possessions involved was disputed among the European powers for centuries.