ABSTRACT
THE EUROPEAN cultural and political group ruled over by the Dukes of Burgundy occupied the heart of Europe, covering an area larger than modern France. In the fifteenth century, the Dukes of Burgundy were among the wealthiest of European rulers, rich from the productivity of their lands and from trade. They could afford to spend magnificently on art patronage, on festival production, and on a luxurious yet refined way of life which made their court a main carrier of the late medieval and chivalric type of culture.
