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Yorkist-Burgundian alliance

Type Event Region England Time 1461–1470

In the 1460s, England's Yorkist regime formed a close alliance with the Duchy of Burgundy, to which Edward IV's sister Margaret of York was married;…

Timeline

  1. 1461–1467London · LondonAfter Edward IV's coronation, England and Burgundy drew closer through their shared opposition to Louis XI. In the early-to-mid 1460s the two renewed commercial treaties; English wool flowed to the Burgundian Low Countries via Calais and Bruges, while Burgundy diplomatically favored the Yorkist regime, opposing the Lancaster-French connection.
  2. 1467–1468Bruges · BrugesAfter Charles the Bold succeeded as Duke of Burgundy in 1467, he married Edward IV's sister Margaret of York at Bruges in July 1468; the lavish wedding displayed the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. Margaret became Duchess of Burgundy, laying the kinship bond for sheltering the exiled Edward in 1470.
  3. 1465–1470Calais · CalaisIn the 1460s Anglo-Burgundian wool trade was the economic lifeline of both, with the Burgundian Low Countries' textile industry dependent on English raw materials. Diplomatically Burgundy opposed Louis XI's unification of France, while England used Burgundy to check French support for the Lancastrians. By Edward IV's exile in 1470, Burgundy provided funds and refuge, bringing the alliance to its practical peak.

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