Walking on the Silver Line: A Valois-Bourgogne TL
- Thread starter Liminia1
- Start date
Chapter 6: Wielding but never unsheathing a sword 1469-1473
Charles the Absolute's greatest territorial expansion would not be in France but in the Holy Roman Empire, even his expansion efforts in Nevers, Champagne and Eu were due to dynastic diplomacy with a slight flavour of power politics while his expansion efforts in the imperial crown would be pure power politics. The seizure of Nevers and Saint-Pol in 1472 due to the treaty of Beaune would be the first taste of Charles' territorial expansion. This would anger John II and Louis of Luxembourg but their weakness and servitude to the French king would not save their realms as they were absorbed by Charles, but his first expansion effort would be peaceful, forceful and Austrian. His expansion efforts were slow and calculated with one goal in mind, an imperial crown.
The Burgundian dynasty has always dreamed of seizing the rich lands of Alsace, during Philip the Bold he married his daughter Catherine to the late Leopold IV of Austria in the hopes of gaining the county of Ferrente which was a prize to be won. Unfortunately these efforts would fail due to Philip the Good (Chivalric) lack of action in Ferrente causing Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor to take back the lands quite quickly. Charles would not make the same mistakes that his father made. In 1469, Sigismund of Austria was desperate for aid and assistance in defending his lands. He was the ruler of Tyrol and the ancestral Habsburg homelands, and the decisive defeats he incurred over the past decade have cost him dearly in the treaty of Waldshut. He began to pawn for a protector and an ally, his cousin the emperor was of no help. King Louis rebuffed him and refused to aid him whether or not it was out of fear of Burgundian might or he was planning on taking England itself would be uncertain. Charles however would seize the opportunity by driving a hard bargain in the treaty of St. Omer. Sigismund would mortgage his lands for a bargain to Charles in exchange for an alliance and protection but Charles would not even try to honour the terms instead, he began to rapidly push for the integrations of these lands into Burgundy as a whole, more specifically the two Burgundies in the south. Charles would play a stern role in strengthening his control over these lands. Peter von Hagenbach a long time Burgundian servant would be sent there to pacify and strengthen the control of the region and would utterly fail in this task nearly dooming Burgundy as a whole.
The region of Alsace at this time was divided between Upper Alsace under the control of the legendary Frederick the Victorious of the Palatine, while the south was lead by the inept, and tyrannical Peter von Hagenbach. The inadequate governance and mess of its laws and estates caused the entire region to erupt in revolt which was backed by both Sigismund, the Swiss under Bern, the French who began to finance this war and the emperor Frederick III. This popular revolt lead to a joint attack on the Vaud, ruled by Savoy and the invasion of the Free County of Burgundy only Charles' arrival at the scene with his forces at the peace of 1472 against King Louis allowed him to return in force crushing the rebellions. The battle at Grandson would nearly cost Charles his life and he would barely win because of his artillery finally being used in the battle. Charles would dismiss Peter soon afterwards, and would assign a cadre of officers and bailiffs to handle Alsace. Charles would place Alsace as a top priority and begin to redeem every mortgage and continuously expanded his territory not through war but through money and cash.
Lorraine would be Charles' greatest territorial expansion achievement and his greatest blunder. King Louis would do his very best in stopping Lorraine falling into Burgundy and nearly succeeded with John II, who broke from Charles' grand alliance and pursued his claims in Aragon. Louis would give him a couple of important towns. Nicholas of Lorraine would succeed his father in 1470 and the shadow war between Nicholas and Henry for control of Lorraine, neither would be a pro-Burgundian partisan unlike their fathers John and Thibaud. Nicholas would try his best to reassert Lorrainian independence and try his best to play Louis and Charles off. Charles would gain various concessions with Nicholas' sudden death including importantly legalizing the rights to passage. Charles would further increase his influence by allying with his long standing rival the house of Valois-Anjou and secured Rene II to the throne of Lorraine. Charles would not take greater action until 1475 and would nearly lose all of Burgundy. Burgundian diplomacy would gain only minor concessions, with Rene II's ascension who continuously increased and asserted his independence. Charles' relationship with Lorraine would remain the same even with the change of dukes and arguably his position weakened significantly with the loss of a pro-Burgundian faction.
Friesland would be the missed opportunity for Charles' reign. Philip in the later stages of his reign began preparations to invade Friesland but Charles who continuously used diplomats and money to force the Frisians to swear fealty to Charles, these delays would only last until 1470 and Charles was about to invade and conquer Friesland but Louis' subsequent invasion of Burgundy would halt all of these attempts for invasion and would keep Friesland away from Burgundy until another scheme hatched in 1474 with Oldenburg but would fail. The key player stopping this expansion efforts would be Frederick III, who would ally with the count of East Frisia stopping any invasion in its tracks. The golden opportunity to invade would be in 1473 and yet Charles would not even react as he would be in Lorraine dealing with the succession and the great conference at Trier. Friesland would not fall to Burgundy until 1481, under Philip the Rich's reign, ironically this missed opportunity would kill Charles the Absolute.
Guelders would be the only reason why Charles would be referred as the bold. Already in the later years of Philip the Good's reign the civil war between father and son for Guelders would continue under Charles who acted as a mediator. Burgundy's position would slowly strengthen over Guelders over the years under Charles but Charles would not act to conquer the lands until 1472. Adolf, a claimant for the duchy attacked Burgundian positions in Brabant in the middle of Louis' great invasion of Burgundy. The subsequent peace brought in Beaune would leave Adolf abandoned. Arnold would sell his succession rights to Charles who crushed Guelders and invaded the land. The capture and imprisonment of Adolf would shatter any resistance to Burgundy. The emperor would agree to Charles' ascension in Trier later on but what was crucially important Scotland would be lost as a Burgundian ally and return to France's alliance. A counterbalance would be a strengthening alliance with Cleves, and Julich-Berg. These new alliances would be nowhere near as valuable as Scotland for Burgundy but it would be a foretelling for Philip the Rich's diplomacy and Imperial foreign policy.
It would not be the conquest but instead the subsequent administration as to why Charles was referred to as the absolute, his consolidation and centralization of power was done with blinding efficiency. Immediately, appointing a popular local ruler as stadholder and immediately united the judicial into the parlement of Mechelen. The ineffective administration was streamlined and the territory would be in effect just like any of his older possessions in the lowlands. Charles despise some historians calling him the bold was in every sense of the way incredibly slow, careful and absolute throughout his control. In Alsace he gained territories through purchase but neglected to place funds and resources to properly incorporate them until 1473 after the near destruction of Burgundy, he placed immense pressure on Lorraine but stopped short of annexing it directly, he let opportunity and opportunity slip by for Friesland and yet when his slow and careful plans succeed as they did in Guelders, it would be absolute and complete. His conquests in the early 1470s were limited in scope but detailed in plan, most importantly they were placed as low priority compared to the imperial crown which Charles sought to achieve. Ironically it would be this legacy of slow, gradual conquest Charles would readopt after the near complete destruction of Burgundian power in 1475.
The Burgundian dynasty has always dreamed of seizing the rich lands of Alsace, during Philip the Bold he married his daughter Catherine to the late Leopold IV of Austria in the hopes of gaining the county of Ferrente which was a prize to be won. Unfortunately these efforts would fail due to Philip the Good (Chivalric) lack of action in Ferrente causing Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor to take back the lands quite quickly. Charles would not make the same mistakes that his father made. In 1469, Sigismund of Austria was desperate for aid and assistance in defending his lands. He was the ruler of Tyrol and the ancestral Habsburg homelands, and the decisive defeats he incurred over the past decade have cost him dearly in the treaty of Waldshut. He began to pawn for a protector and an ally, his cousin the emperor was of no help. King Louis rebuffed him and refused to aid him whether or not it was out of fear of Burgundian might or he was planning on taking England itself would be uncertain. Charles however would seize the opportunity by driving a hard bargain in the treaty of St. Omer. Sigismund would mortgage his lands for a bargain to Charles in exchange for an alliance and protection but Charles would not even try to honour the terms instead, he began to rapidly push for the integrations of these lands into Burgundy as a whole, more specifically the two Burgundies in the south. Charles would play a stern role in strengthening his control over these lands. Peter von Hagenbach a long time Burgundian servant would be sent there to pacify and strengthen the control of the region and would utterly fail in this task nearly dooming Burgundy as a whole.
The region of Alsace at this time was divided between Upper Alsace under the control of the legendary Frederick the Victorious of the Palatine, while the south was lead by the inept, and tyrannical Peter von Hagenbach. The inadequate governance and mess of its laws and estates caused the entire region to erupt in revolt which was backed by both Sigismund, the Swiss under Bern, the French who began to finance this war and the emperor Frederick III. This popular revolt lead to a joint attack on the Vaud, ruled by Savoy and the invasion of the Free County of Burgundy only Charles' arrival at the scene with his forces at the peace of 1472 against King Louis allowed him to return in force crushing the rebellions. The battle at Grandson would nearly cost Charles his life and he would barely win because of his artillery finally being used in the battle. Charles would dismiss Peter soon afterwards, and would assign a cadre of officers and bailiffs to handle Alsace. Charles would place Alsace as a top priority and begin to redeem every mortgage and continuously expanded his territory not through war but through money and cash.
Lorraine would be Charles' greatest territorial expansion achievement and his greatest blunder. King Louis would do his very best in stopping Lorraine falling into Burgundy and nearly succeeded with John II, who broke from Charles' grand alliance and pursued his claims in Aragon. Louis would give him a couple of important towns. Nicholas of Lorraine would succeed his father in 1470 and the shadow war between Nicholas and Henry for control of Lorraine, neither would be a pro-Burgundian partisan unlike their fathers John and Thibaud. Nicholas would try his best to reassert Lorrainian independence and try his best to play Louis and Charles off. Charles would gain various concessions with Nicholas' sudden death including importantly legalizing the rights to passage. Charles would further increase his influence by allying with his long standing rival the house of Valois-Anjou and secured Rene II to the throne of Lorraine. Charles would not take greater action until 1475 and would nearly lose all of Burgundy. Burgundian diplomacy would gain only minor concessions, with Rene II's ascension who continuously increased and asserted his independence. Charles' relationship with Lorraine would remain the same even with the change of dukes and arguably his position weakened significantly with the loss of a pro-Burgundian faction.
Friesland would be the missed opportunity for Charles' reign. Philip in the later stages of his reign began preparations to invade Friesland but Charles who continuously used diplomats and money to force the Frisians to swear fealty to Charles, these delays would only last until 1470 and Charles was about to invade and conquer Friesland but Louis' subsequent invasion of Burgundy would halt all of these attempts for invasion and would keep Friesland away from Burgundy until another scheme hatched in 1474 with Oldenburg but would fail. The key player stopping this expansion efforts would be Frederick III, who would ally with the count of East Frisia stopping any invasion in its tracks. The golden opportunity to invade would be in 1473 and yet Charles would not even react as he would be in Lorraine dealing with the succession and the great conference at Trier. Friesland would not fall to Burgundy until 1481, under Philip the Rich's reign, ironically this missed opportunity would kill Charles the Absolute.
Guelders would be the only reason why Charles would be referred as the bold. Already in the later years of Philip the Good's reign the civil war between father and son for Guelders would continue under Charles who acted as a mediator. Burgundy's position would slowly strengthen over Guelders over the years under Charles but Charles would not act to conquer the lands until 1472. Adolf, a claimant for the duchy attacked Burgundian positions in Brabant in the middle of Louis' great invasion of Burgundy. The subsequent peace brought in Beaune would leave Adolf abandoned. Arnold would sell his succession rights to Charles who crushed Guelders and invaded the land. The capture and imprisonment of Adolf would shatter any resistance to Burgundy. The emperor would agree to Charles' ascension in Trier later on but what was crucially important Scotland would be lost as a Burgundian ally and return to France's alliance. A counterbalance would be a strengthening alliance with Cleves, and Julich-Berg. These new alliances would be nowhere near as valuable as Scotland for Burgundy but it would be a foretelling for Philip the Rich's diplomacy and Imperial foreign policy.
It would not be the conquest but instead the subsequent administration as to why Charles was referred to as the absolute, his consolidation and centralization of power was done with blinding efficiency. Immediately, appointing a popular local ruler as stadholder and immediately united the judicial into the parlement of Mechelen. The ineffective administration was streamlined and the territory would be in effect just like any of his older possessions in the lowlands. Charles despise some historians calling him the bold was in every sense of the way incredibly slow, careful and absolute throughout his control. In Alsace he gained territories through purchase but neglected to place funds and resources to properly incorporate them until 1473 after the near destruction of Burgundy, he placed immense pressure on Lorraine but stopped short of annexing it directly, he let opportunity and opportunity slip by for Friesland and yet when his slow and careful plans succeed as they did in Guelders, it would be absolute and complete. His conquests in the early 1470s were limited in scope but detailed in plan, most importantly they were placed as low priority compared to the imperial crown which Charles sought to achieve. Ironically it would be this legacy of slow, gradual conquest Charles would readopt after the near complete destruction of Burgundian power in 1475.
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Charles is going through one disaster after another. My guy can't catch a break, I plan on fully breaking Burgundy in 1475 LOL
so which is it mister, don´t let me be confused, the number of Charless is already confusing me
Yet his will to keep getting back up is admirable! Nothing can break Charles the Absolute.
LOL his conquest and subsequent administration would be the reason why he's called the absolute I'll change it slightly thoso which is it mister, don´t let me be confused, the number of Charless is already confusing me
He will have an impact but not a huge one and importantly not one that changes Burgundy's fortunes.
Chapter 7: The fruitless pursuit of a crown 1467-1473
To describe Burgundy's imperial policy as limited would be an understatement. Unlike Philip the Good, Charles the Absolute was overly cautious over imperial affairs much like his slow expansion efforts into the empire. Under his father and his predecessors, Burgundy entered the scene of imperial politics as mediator and a friend to all, shoring up alliances within the Reichstag, and establishing connections throughout the empire. The most notable of these connections was Charles' long standing alliance with Frederick the Victorious who was a rival of the emperor. The relationship with the emperor was increasingly complicated with a mixture of outright hostility and yet eager willingness to ally. Charles was the most powerful ruler in the empire only rivalling the emperor himself, which would not do well with imperial matters and yet Frederick realized that an alliance to pull Burgundy away from French orbit would ensure a secure western border for decades to come. Burgundy on the other hand didn't wish to needlessly provoke the emperor but still slowly expand eastward in order to build a strong enough base to drive out the French once and for all.
The third element of this Imperial-Burgundian would be the imperial cities and the Burgundian money-power politics played here. Mulhouse the great city within the ancestral Habsburg lands was bought out much like Bescanon by Charles the Absolute. This Burgundian soft power would be resisted by the urban elites but embraced by the masses and the ones out of power in imperial cities such as Cologne, Basel, and Strasbourg. While not as pushed by Burgundy, a reinforcement of relations with the house of Wittelsbach was pushed by Charles to act as a counterbalance to the emperor, this would be completed by Philip the Rich but the Burgundian presence began to slowly reverberate most particularly in Hesse, the chaotic lands of Swabia and the fractured lands of Bavaria. This soft power throughout the Rhine and the former Kingdom of Lotharingia would be most opposed by the Swiss confederation.
Economic policy would be Charles' rise to prominence in imperial politics of particular importance was the wine trade along the Rhine. Charles would continuously fight against the economic policy of mercantilism at the time along the Rhine. Placing particular pressure on lowering tolls and tariffs for wine trading along the Rhine. He would find success in Burgundian vassals such as Cleves, and Guelders. He would struggle against Cologne, Julich and the Electoral Palatine. This political-economic policy would be a slow grind as Charles waged economic war against the opposing cities while bribing city magnates and placing Burgundian partisans onto various positions within the empire. The epitome of this policy would be the restoration of Ruprecht of Cologne to the archbishopric in 1475.
The key piece of this imperial policy was the elevation of Burgundy into an imperial crown. Burgundy was hoping for one of two things, the restoration of the long forgotten and ruined Kingdom of Lotharingia which the Holy Roman Empire annexed in the 10th century fighting a war against the Merovingians over succession rights to the kingdom or the transfer of the de jure Kingdom of Burgundy which was rendered defunct as Savoy was transferred into the Kingdom of Italy and the remain princes fell under French influence. Philip the Good seeing the near impossibility of the task limited his scope to an imperial vicarate preferably over the defunct Kingdom of Burgundy. These discussions were delayed with the birth of Philip the Rich as Frederick only wanted Maximilian, his son to inherit the vast and wealthy lands of Burgundy but with Philip's birth the succession of the lands were secured for another generation. Frederick and Philip would continue to negotiate over the vicarate throughout the 1460s with no serious progress being made as Philip tried to use money and promises of an alliance to secure the imperial vicarship, Frederick would still steadfastly refuse. Charles' ascension lead nowhere but expanded the ambition of the Burgundians wishing to be crowned King of the Romans, or the restoration of the Kingdom of Lotharingia to Charles. Some modern historians argued that these were extremist demands made in order to settle on the compromise which was what Charles wanted: the imperial vicarate of Burgundy. Charles would fully use his wealth and influence to gain electoral votes and force Frederick to the negotiating table.
Charles would spend the majority of his energies in 1469 to gather further support for his imperial ambitions, a mediation settled between Bohemia and Hungary would secure him their vote in the future election, while the archbishop of Mainz would be convinced by a Burgundian relative to support Charles' bid for the crown. Most importantly was the support from the Milanese and the papacy. The Papacy hoped to bring Burgundy into Italian affairs to further strengthen their own interests in the region most likely as a counterbalance to the Aragonese who had their relatives on the throne of Naples. The Milanese who abandoned their traditional allies of the French long ago due to Burgundian influence and pressure wished to use Burgundy against their greatest rival the Venetians. Ironically the Venetians would also support this bid along the same lines of against the Milanese. Charles in theory had a majority of the electors on his side by 1469 and would begin negotiations with Frederick to gain the crown or other concessions instead of the imperial crown with Sigismund as an intermediary throughout 1470.
Certain events would doom Charles' imperial bid but the first one that occurred was the resumption of war between Bohemia and Hungary which Frederick got involved in siding with the Bohemians, even with this war in the background Charles continued to press his negotiations with Frederick but his alliance with the elector palatine would further doom his bid as various wars were fought indirectly between the emperor and the elector. Charles would continue to stand by his elector even though Frederick offered an agreement for the crown for his betrayal. His steadfast alliance would pay off as Frederick defeated Ludwig his rival and would in gratiuty for his support and allegiance give Charles a free hand over Alsace further consolidating and strengthening his control in 1473.
The birth of Isabella of Burgundy, third child of Charles the Absolute would reignite negotiations between the emperor and Burgundy, once again it would be Charles taking the initiative trying to marry Isabella to Frederick's heir of Maximilian, with promises of his electors supporting Maximilian's bid along with an agreement to split up the Swiss confederation between them. Even with the near war of 1472 between the emperor and Burgundy, Charles would continue to pursue this crown vigorously. By 1473, Charles' position only further strengthened with negotiations in which Philip arrived at the imperial court with various other members of the Burgundian court to negotiate for both the imperial crown and the crown of Burgundy. Charles throughout the early months of 1473 took on the opposition leader against the Habsburgs with Bohemia's king dead, Charles mediated between Hungary and Poland for the throne while his alliance with the Palatine paid off, he was once again with the majority of electors by his side although the emperor would dispute Frederick's right to vote in the election.
A conference would be held in Trier to negotiate over the crown Charles would receive or the imperial vicarate which was more likely his goal. Frederick however, would still delay constantly even as Charles would arrive at Trier, even he would argue it should take place in Metz as it was bigger but Charles would keep it at Trier to further his chances and to shore up support in the archbishopric. The emperor and the duke would arrive on the 30th of September and Burgundian wealth and splendour would be shown throughout Trier, while Trier would be quite cautious towards the duke it would be his son Philip who would win them over with his generosity and charm constantly speaking to the city's magnates, church and merchants. As Philip continued to shore up support and charm his way through Trier with his multilingual rhetoric, Charles would be beside Frederick with every minor altercation lowering his chances over minor things such as how exactly do they arrive in Trier, how to leave meetings and when do they separate and return to their respective lodgings. Charles would promise a crusade against the Turks with a guarantee that King Louis XI would not seize his Burgundian holdings in his absence.
In line with modern historian's thinking Charles would present his final demands for the marriage between Isabella of Burgundy and Maximilian of Austria. A raising of the imperial ban on Holland and Zeeland, the recognition of his annexation and succession of Guelders, a recognition of Frederick as regent elector and finally the imperial vicarate of the Kingdom of Burgundy would be given to Charles as it has been vacant since the death of Charles VI of France. Frederick would continue to delay throughout the conference but by the end of this Frederick would flee Trier, not granting Charles his imperial vicarate, but he would still gain the imperial ban on Holland, and Zeeland, and the recognition of his annexation of Guelders. The failure at gaining a Burgundian crown would confuse both contemporary and modern historians. The flight of Frederick III would be most intriguing as the electors mostly were neutral or supported this development as the vicarate was not hereditary for Burgundy meaning when Charles died it would return to the empire and reaffirming a status quo of Frederick claiming the electoral seat of the palatine as regent. Modern historians would eventually come to a consensus into why Frederick fled and refused to affirm the remaining two demands. The first thing was that Frederick did not trust Charles to secure the succession for his son Maximilian, and Charles arguably was going to take the imperial crown as soon as Frederick died or an imperial election was called, the second one was a bit more personal: Frederick III despised Frederick I of the Palatine and would not allow him to take that electoral seat as that would practically guarantee Charles' imperial bid, a couple of other reasons were the sale/seizure of Alsace and Burgundian attitudes towards Venice who Charles was friendly with while Frederick wanted to crush Venice completely.
The entire event would be a case study on Burgundian and imperial diplomacy under Charles and Frederick. Charles would never fully commit his cards until he had a completely dominant position and would play diplomacy like extortion and threats. The usage of imperial electors in order to secure himself a crown as a first attempt and then compromising to his desired position. This slow and prepared diplomacy would be directly opposed by Frederick who used a similar torturous, slow, evasive and uncertain diplomacy. Frederick would also throughout the conference personally deny Charles a crown, in 1474 he would state that there are only for 4 crowns in the Empire, Aachen, Arles, Milan and Rome. All of these crowns he claimed were on his head. Charles and Philip would leave Trier, Charles gained minor concessions while Philip would leave with the popular support of the people there. They would travel south to Luxembourg and would reunite with their family as Margaret continued to govern and strength her husband's lands domestically.
Burgundy's conference at Trier would allow Charles to take the spotlight showing off Burgundian wealth and splendour, even though it was a complete failure by all accounts for Burgundian negotiations. His reforms into a standing army by 1473, and the introduction of Philip the Rich into the scene of Europe would keep the spotlight on Burgundy. The following year or two would be primed with opportunities as opportunity in Lorraine sprung up, the truce of France was nearing to an end, if Charles wished he could crush the French crown once and for all, the Swiss who nearly killed Charles in 1469 were now preparing and gathering allies in to drive out the Burgundian influence. Contemporaries at the time would look towards Burgundy to see their next moves. Importantly however, Philip would consider the conference as a success as his father gained minor concessions with nothing more than money and their presence, while Europe would marvel at the new prince, who won over the people, the merchants, magnates and nobility spending time with them all and speaking any language that was spoken in Trier: Latin, Dutch, French, English and German.
The third element of this Imperial-Burgundian would be the imperial cities and the Burgundian money-power politics played here. Mulhouse the great city within the ancestral Habsburg lands was bought out much like Bescanon by Charles the Absolute. This Burgundian soft power would be resisted by the urban elites but embraced by the masses and the ones out of power in imperial cities such as Cologne, Basel, and Strasbourg. While not as pushed by Burgundy, a reinforcement of relations with the house of Wittelsbach was pushed by Charles to act as a counterbalance to the emperor, this would be completed by Philip the Rich but the Burgundian presence began to slowly reverberate most particularly in Hesse, the chaotic lands of Swabia and the fractured lands of Bavaria. This soft power throughout the Rhine and the former Kingdom of Lotharingia would be most opposed by the Swiss confederation.
Economic policy would be Charles' rise to prominence in imperial politics of particular importance was the wine trade along the Rhine. Charles would continuously fight against the economic policy of mercantilism at the time along the Rhine. Placing particular pressure on lowering tolls and tariffs for wine trading along the Rhine. He would find success in Burgundian vassals such as Cleves, and Guelders. He would struggle against Cologne, Julich and the Electoral Palatine. This political-economic policy would be a slow grind as Charles waged economic war against the opposing cities while bribing city magnates and placing Burgundian partisans onto various positions within the empire. The epitome of this policy would be the restoration of Ruprecht of Cologne to the archbishopric in 1475.
The key piece of this imperial policy was the elevation of Burgundy into an imperial crown. Burgundy was hoping for one of two things, the restoration of the long forgotten and ruined Kingdom of Lotharingia which the Holy Roman Empire annexed in the 10th century fighting a war against the Merovingians over succession rights to the kingdom or the transfer of the de jure Kingdom of Burgundy which was rendered defunct as Savoy was transferred into the Kingdom of Italy and the remain princes fell under French influence. Philip the Good seeing the near impossibility of the task limited his scope to an imperial vicarate preferably over the defunct Kingdom of Burgundy. These discussions were delayed with the birth of Philip the Rich as Frederick only wanted Maximilian, his son to inherit the vast and wealthy lands of Burgundy but with Philip's birth the succession of the lands were secured for another generation. Frederick and Philip would continue to negotiate over the vicarate throughout the 1460s with no serious progress being made as Philip tried to use money and promises of an alliance to secure the imperial vicarship, Frederick would still steadfastly refuse. Charles' ascension lead nowhere but expanded the ambition of the Burgundians wishing to be crowned King of the Romans, or the restoration of the Kingdom of Lotharingia to Charles. Some modern historians argued that these were extremist demands made in order to settle on the compromise which was what Charles wanted: the imperial vicarate of Burgundy. Charles would fully use his wealth and influence to gain electoral votes and force Frederick to the negotiating table.
Charles would spend the majority of his energies in 1469 to gather further support for his imperial ambitions, a mediation settled between Bohemia and Hungary would secure him their vote in the future election, while the archbishop of Mainz would be convinced by a Burgundian relative to support Charles' bid for the crown. Most importantly was the support from the Milanese and the papacy. The Papacy hoped to bring Burgundy into Italian affairs to further strengthen their own interests in the region most likely as a counterbalance to the Aragonese who had their relatives on the throne of Naples. The Milanese who abandoned their traditional allies of the French long ago due to Burgundian influence and pressure wished to use Burgundy against their greatest rival the Venetians. Ironically the Venetians would also support this bid along the same lines of against the Milanese. Charles in theory had a majority of the electors on his side by 1469 and would begin negotiations with Frederick to gain the crown or other concessions instead of the imperial crown with Sigismund as an intermediary throughout 1470.
Certain events would doom Charles' imperial bid but the first one that occurred was the resumption of war between Bohemia and Hungary which Frederick got involved in siding with the Bohemians, even with this war in the background Charles continued to press his negotiations with Frederick but his alliance with the elector palatine would further doom his bid as various wars were fought indirectly between the emperor and the elector. Charles would continue to stand by his elector even though Frederick offered an agreement for the crown for his betrayal. His steadfast alliance would pay off as Frederick defeated Ludwig his rival and would in gratiuty for his support and allegiance give Charles a free hand over Alsace further consolidating and strengthening his control in 1473.
The birth of Isabella of Burgundy, third child of Charles the Absolute would reignite negotiations between the emperor and Burgundy, once again it would be Charles taking the initiative trying to marry Isabella to Frederick's heir of Maximilian, with promises of his electors supporting Maximilian's bid along with an agreement to split up the Swiss confederation between them. Even with the near war of 1472 between the emperor and Burgundy, Charles would continue to pursue this crown vigorously. By 1473, Charles' position only further strengthened with negotiations in which Philip arrived at the imperial court with various other members of the Burgundian court to negotiate for both the imperial crown and the crown of Burgundy. Charles throughout the early months of 1473 took on the opposition leader against the Habsburgs with Bohemia's king dead, Charles mediated between Hungary and Poland for the throne while his alliance with the Palatine paid off, he was once again with the majority of electors by his side although the emperor would dispute Frederick's right to vote in the election.
A conference would be held in Trier to negotiate over the crown Charles would receive or the imperial vicarate which was more likely his goal. Frederick however, would still delay constantly even as Charles would arrive at Trier, even he would argue it should take place in Metz as it was bigger but Charles would keep it at Trier to further his chances and to shore up support in the archbishopric. The emperor and the duke would arrive on the 30th of September and Burgundian wealth and splendour would be shown throughout Trier, while Trier would be quite cautious towards the duke it would be his son Philip who would win them over with his generosity and charm constantly speaking to the city's magnates, church and merchants. As Philip continued to shore up support and charm his way through Trier with his multilingual rhetoric, Charles would be beside Frederick with every minor altercation lowering his chances over minor things such as how exactly do they arrive in Trier, how to leave meetings and when do they separate and return to their respective lodgings. Charles would promise a crusade against the Turks with a guarantee that King Louis XI would not seize his Burgundian holdings in his absence.
In line with modern historian's thinking Charles would present his final demands for the marriage between Isabella of Burgundy and Maximilian of Austria. A raising of the imperial ban on Holland and Zeeland, the recognition of his annexation and succession of Guelders, a recognition of Frederick as regent elector and finally the imperial vicarate of the Kingdom of Burgundy would be given to Charles as it has been vacant since the death of Charles VI of France. Frederick would continue to delay throughout the conference but by the end of this Frederick would flee Trier, not granting Charles his imperial vicarate, but he would still gain the imperial ban on Holland, and Zeeland, and the recognition of his annexation of Guelders. The failure at gaining a Burgundian crown would confuse both contemporary and modern historians. The flight of Frederick III would be most intriguing as the electors mostly were neutral or supported this development as the vicarate was not hereditary for Burgundy meaning when Charles died it would return to the empire and reaffirming a status quo of Frederick claiming the electoral seat of the palatine as regent. Modern historians would eventually come to a consensus into why Frederick fled and refused to affirm the remaining two demands. The first thing was that Frederick did not trust Charles to secure the succession for his son Maximilian, and Charles arguably was going to take the imperial crown as soon as Frederick died or an imperial election was called, the second one was a bit more personal: Frederick III despised Frederick I of the Palatine and would not allow him to take that electoral seat as that would practically guarantee Charles' imperial bid, a couple of other reasons were the sale/seizure of Alsace and Burgundian attitudes towards Venice who Charles was friendly with while Frederick wanted to crush Venice completely.
The entire event would be a case study on Burgundian and imperial diplomacy under Charles and Frederick. Charles would never fully commit his cards until he had a completely dominant position and would play diplomacy like extortion and threats. The usage of imperial electors in order to secure himself a crown as a first attempt and then compromising to his desired position. This slow and prepared diplomacy would be directly opposed by Frederick who used a similar torturous, slow, evasive and uncertain diplomacy. Frederick would also throughout the conference personally deny Charles a crown, in 1474 he would state that there are only for 4 crowns in the Empire, Aachen, Arles, Milan and Rome. All of these crowns he claimed were on his head. Charles and Philip would leave Trier, Charles gained minor concessions while Philip would leave with the popular support of the people there. They would travel south to Luxembourg and would reunite with their family as Margaret continued to govern and strength her husband's lands domestically.
Burgundy's conference at Trier would allow Charles to take the spotlight showing off Burgundian wealth and splendour, even though it was a complete failure by all accounts for Burgundian negotiations. His reforms into a standing army by 1473, and the introduction of Philip the Rich into the scene of Europe would keep the spotlight on Burgundy. The following year or two would be primed with opportunities as opportunity in Lorraine sprung up, the truce of France was nearing to an end, if Charles wished he could crush the French crown once and for all, the Swiss who nearly killed Charles in 1469 were now preparing and gathering allies in to drive out the Burgundian influence. Contemporaries at the time would look towards Burgundy to see their next moves. Importantly however, Philip would consider the conference as a success as his father gained minor concessions with nothing more than money and their presence, while Europe would marvel at the new prince, who won over the people, the merchants, magnates and nobility spending time with them all and speaking any language that was spoken in Trier: Latin, Dutch, French, English and German.