The Promised Lands: The Low Countries under Burgundian Rule, 1369-1530

by Wim Blockmans

They were, in the words of one contemporary observer, "the Promised Lands." In all of Europe, only Northern Italy could rival the economic power and cultural wealth of the Low Countries in the later Middle Ages.In "The Promised Lands," Wim Blockmans and Walter Prevenier trace the relations between the cultural and economic developments of the Low Countries and the political evolution of the region under the rule of the dukes of Burgundy. Combining political, diplomatic, administrative, economic, social, artistic, and cultural history, Blockmans and Prevenier have synthesized the most recent research on the subject--much of it their own--to produce the most accessible and authoritative book in English on the subject.This is an updated and revised translation of a classic work first published in 1988, now expanded and reoriented toward a broader international readership.

Genres: History, Medieval, Nonfiction, Medieval History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1999

About the author

Willem Pieter Blockmans was Professor of Medieval History at Leiden University between 1987 and 2010. He earned a PhD from the University of Ghent. He has been Rector of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study since September 2002. He has published extensively on late medieval and early modern state power.

Reviews

[Susan Abernethy]

This book is interesting and the translation to English is adequate. The authors present the history from the point of view of the Low Countries. However, I found I did not learn anything new as an historian after reading Richard Vaughan's four volume series on the Valois Dukes of Burgundy. This book would be a short overview if the reader is not interested in reading those four books.