Anthony known to his contemporaries as "the bastard

Legitimacy (law)

At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...

 of Burgundy

Duchy of Burgundy

The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...

" or "the Grand Bastard - le grand bâtard" - was the natural son (and first child) of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy

Philip III, Duke of Burgundy

Philip the Good KG , also Philip III, Duke of Burgundy was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty . During his reign Burgundy reached the height of its prosperity and prestige and became a leading center of the arts...

, and one of his mistresses, Jeanne de Presle.

Life

Born in 1421, possibly at Lizy

Lizy

Lizy is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France....

 in Picardy

Picardy

This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...

, he was brought up in the Burgundian court with his younger half-brother, the Count of Charolais, later Charles the Bold, last of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy

Duchy of Burgundy

The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...

, to whom he grew very close.

In 1459, he married Marie de la Viesville by whom he had five children.

He fought for his father on several campaigns, from at least 1451 onwards, and in 1464 left for a crusade against the Turks when he helped raise the siege of Ceuta

Ceuta

Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...

. In 1456 he was awarded the prestigious Order of the Golden Fleece

Order of the Golden Fleece

The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...

, held by only 29 others at that time.

He took part in the Battle of Montlhéry

Montlhéry

Montlhéry is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located from Paris.Inhabitants of Montlhéry are known as Montlhériens.-History:...

 (1465), when he is said to have saved the life of the Count of Charolais after he was separated from his men and wounded in the neck. In 1466, he was present with Charles at the siege of Dinant

Dinant

Dinant is a Walloon city and municipality located on the River Meuse in the Belgian province of Namur, Belgium. The Dinant municipality includes the old communes of Anseremme, Bouvignes-sur-Meuse, Dréhance, Falmagne, Falmignoul, Foy-Notre-Dame, Furfooz, Lisogne, Sorinnes, and Thynes.-Origins to...

, and in the same year he was invited by King Edward IV

Edward IV of England

Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...

, for a lengthy stay in England, during which he was to joust against Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers

Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers

Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers was an English nobleman, courtier, and writer.He was the eldest son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. Like his father, he was originally a Lancastrian, fighting on that side at the Battle of Towton, but later became a Yorkist...

, the queen's brother. During this visit, which extended into the summer of 1467, Anthony's father, Philip the Good, died, and Anthony had to hurry back across the channel.

After the death of his father, Anthony participated in nearly every campaign led by the new duke, his half-brother Charles the Bold, starting with the Liège

Liège

Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....

 campaign of 1467, when he commanded the largest contingent of 1,353 men. In 1468, Charles appointed him first Chamberlain

Chamberlain (office)

A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....

, head of 99 other chamberlains and thirteen chaplains, all of whom served the duke.

In contrast to his rather ascetic younger half-brother Charles, it seems that Anthony inherited his father's sexual proclivities: at the chapter of the Golden Fleece

Order of the Golden Fleece

The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...

 held in 1468, he was castigated for his fornication

Fornication

Fornication typically refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. For many people, the term carries a moral or religious association, but the significance of sexual acts to which the term is applied varies between religions, societies and cultures. The...

 and adultery

Adultery

Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...

, in spite of his "valour, prowess and prudence and several other good habits and virtues". But Charles trusted Anthony implicitly, and Anthony served his half-brother militarily and diplomatically with considerable success right up to the time of Charles' dramatic death at the Battle of Nancy

Battle of Nancy

The Battle of Nancy was the final and decisive battle of the Burgundian Wars, fought outside the walls of Nancy on 5 January 1477 between Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and René II, Duke of Lorraine...

 in 1477. This loyalty was never called into question even when in 1473 he was accused by Charles of accepting a monetary gift of 20,000 gold écus

Écu (coin)

The term écu may refer to one of several French coins. The first écu was a gold coin minted during the reign of Louis IX of France, in 1266. Ecu means shield, and the coin was so called because its design included a shield bearing a coat of arms. The word is related to scudo and escudo...

 from Charles' sworn enemy, Louis XI of France

Louis XI of France

Louis XI , called the Prudent , was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois....

.

He also enjoyed sporting success; the arrow he holds in the Van der Weyden

Roger van der Weyden

Rogier van der Weyden or Rogier de le Pasture was an Early Flemish painter. His surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces and commissioned single and diptych portraits. Although his life was generally uneventful, he was highly successful and internationally famous in his...

 portrait is presumed to relate to his year as "archer king" in 1463, after winning the annual contest of the archer's guild of St Sebastian in Bruges

Bruges

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....

. Charles the Bold won the Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 contest every year between 1466 and 1471.

At the disastrous siege of Beauvais

Beauvais

Beauvais is a city approximately by highway north of central Paris, in the northern French region of Picardie. It currently has a population of over 60,000 inhabitants.- History :...

 in 1472, Antoine reportedly lost his best jewels. In 1475, he was again sent as a diplomat to the King of England, the Duke of Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

, the Kings of Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, Aragon

Aragon

Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...

 and Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, and to Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 and the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

, who received him with great honour. In the middle of these travels, he managed to find time to call in at the siege of Neuss

Siege of Neuss

The Siege of Neuss, from 1474–75, was part of the Burgundian Wars. The siege, led by Charles the Bold against the Holy Roman Empire city of Neuss, was unsuccessful...

, and later that year he participated in the conquest of the Duchy of Lorraine.

In 1476-1477, he fought alongside Charles the Bold at the three great battles of Grandson

Battle of Grandson

The Battle of Grandson, took place on 2 March 1476, was part of the Burgundian Wars, and resulted in a major defeat for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.- Siege of Grandson, February 1476 :...

, Murten and Nancy

Battle of Nancy

The Battle of Nancy was the final and decisive battle of the Burgundian Wars, fought outside the walls of Nancy on 5 January 1477 between Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and René II, Duke of Lorraine...

, and was taken hostage at the end of the latter by René II, Duke of Lorraine

René II, Duke of Lorraine

René II was Count of Vaudémont from 1470, Duke of Lorraine from 1473, and Duke of Bar from 1483 to 1508. He claimed the crown of the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Provence as the Duke of Calabria 1480–1493 and as King of Naples and Jerusalem 1493–1508...

, and delivered to the King of France, who was anxious that Burgundy should never again rebel. But Antoine had no interest in making trouble, and he offered Louis his services to help stabilize the precarious political situation. He was instrumental in arranging the marriage of Duchess Mary

Mary of Burgundy

Mary of Burgundy ruled the Burgundian territories in Low Countries and was suo jure Duchess of Burgundy from 1477 until her death...

, his niece and only child and successor of Charles the Bold, to Maximilian of Austria

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...

.

He was a significant collector of illuminated manuscript

Illuminated manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...

s, mostly newly commissioned from the best Flemish illuminators and scribes. He had at least forty-five volumes, of which it is estimated that about thirty were contemporary illuminated volumes. Many volumes with his inscription of ownership survive in various libraries, notably an illustrated Froissart in four volumes. Like many other major patrons, Anthony has had an unknown illuminator he commissioned named for him - the "Master of Anthony of Burgundy

Master of Anthony of Burgundy

The Master of Anthony of Burgundy was a Flemish miniature painter active in Bruges between about 1460 and 1490, apparently running a large workshop, and producing some of the most sophisticated work of the final flowering of Flemish illumination...

" was first named in 1921, and worked in Bruges in the 1460s and 1470s for many leading bibliophiles.

The young King Charles VIII of France

Charles VIII of France

Charles VIII, called the Affable, , was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. Charles was a member of the House of Valois...

 legitimized Anthony in 1485 and awarded him the Order of Saint Michael

Order of Saint Michael

The Order of Saint Michael was a French chivalric order, founded by Louis XI of France in 1469, in competitive response to the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece founded by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, Louis' chief competitor for the allegiance of the great houses of France, the Dukes of...

. He died at Tournehem near Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

in 1504.