Illuminated Crusader Histories for Philip the Good of Burgundy

Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy from 1419 to 1467, distinguished himself as a patron of illuminated histories and historical romances, and as host of the most lavish entertainment of the middle ages. The Banquet of the Pheasant was a response to the Fall of Constantinople, and it was staged to enlist support for the coming crusade. Two splendid tributes to heroic crusaders from the dukes family tree, commissioned in the 1450s, provide an opportunity to bring these elements of his reputation…