In using the later fruit of historical investigation, it is delightful for an American to find that scholars of all nations do justice to Mr. Kirk's accuracy and industry even when they may differ from his conclusions. It has been my privilege to be permitted free access to this scholar's collection of books, and I would here express my deep gratitude to the Kirk family for their generosity and courtesy towards me. After some preliminary reading at Brussels and Paris and in England, the work for this volume has been completed in America, where the opportunity of securing the latest results of research and criticism is constantly increasing, although these results are still lodged under many roofs. I have had many reasons to thank the librarians of New York, Boston, and Washington, and also those of Harvard, Columbia, and Cornell universities for courtesies and for serviceable aid; and just as many reasons to regret the meagreness of what can be put between two covers as the gleanings from so rich a harvest. One word further in explanation of the use of _Bold_. The adjective has been retained simply because it has been so long identified with Charles in English usage. I should have preferred the word _Rash_ as a better equivalent for the contemporary term, applied to the duke in his lifetime,--_le téméraire_. R.P. WASHINGTON, D.C., 1908. * * * * * CONTENTS * * * CHAPTER I CHILDHOOD CHAPTER II YOUTH CHAPTER III THE FEAST OF THE PHEASANT CHAPTER IV BURGUNDY AND FRANCE CHAPTER V THE COUNT AND THE DAUPHIN CHAPTER VI THE WAR OF PUBLIC WEAL CHAPTER VII LIEGE AND ITS FATE CHAPTER VIII THE NEW DUKE CHAPTER IX THE UNJOYOUS ENTRY CHAPTER X THE DUKE'S MARRIAGE CHAPTER XI THE MEETING AT PERONNE CHAPTER XII AN EASY VICTORY CHAPTER XIII A NEW ACQUISITION CHAPTER XIV ENGLISH AFFAIRS CHAPTER XV NEGOTIATIONS AND TREACHERY CHAPTER XVI GUELDERS CHAPTER XVII THE MEETING AT TRÈVES CHAPTER XVIII COLOGNE, LORRAINE, AND ALSACE CHAPTER XIX THE FIRST REVERSES CHAPTER XX THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1475 AND 1476 CHAPTER XXI THE BATTLE OF NANCY BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX [Illustration] ILLUSTRATIONS * * * CHARLES THE BOLD, DUKE OF BURGUNDY _Frontispiece_ From MS. statute book of the Order of the Golden Fleece at Vienna. The artist is unknown. Date of the codex is between 1518 and 1565. This portrait is possibly redrawn from that attributed to Roger van der Weyden. That, however, shows a much stronger face. PHILIP THE GOOD AS FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE From a reproduction of a miniature in MS. at Brussels. A DUKE OF BURGUNDY AND THE POPE AT AVIGNON From a contemporary miniature reproduced in Petit's _Hist. de Bourgogne_.