Philip the Good

Philip the Good
Philip, wearing the collar of firesteels of the Order of the Golden Fleece which he instituted (copy of a Rogier van der Weyden work of c. 1450)
Duke of Burgundy
Reign	10 September 1419 – 15 June 1467
Predecessor	John the Fearless
Successor	Charles the Bold
Born	31 July 1396 Dijon, Duchy of Burgundy
Died	15 June 1467(1467-06-15) (aged 70) Bruges, Flanders, Burgundian Netherlands
Burial	Dijon, Burgundy
Spouse	Michelle of Valois ​ ​ (m. 1409; died 1422)​ Bonne of Artois ​ ​ (m. 1424; died 1425)​ Isabella of Portugal ​ ​ (m. 1430)​
Issue among others	Charles the Bold Illegitimate: Corneille, bastard of Burgundy Anthony, bastard of Burgundy David, Bishop of Therouanne and Utrecht Anne, Lady of Ravenstein Raphael de Mercatellis Philip, Bishop of Utrecht
House	Valois-Burgundy
Father	John the Fearless
Mother	Margaret of Bavaria
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Philip III the Good (French: Philippe le Bon; Dutch: Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 in Dijon – 15 June 1467 in Bruges) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reign, the Burgundian State reached the apex of its prosperity and prestige, and became a leading centre of the arts.

Duke Philip has a reputation for his administrative reforms, for his patronage of Flemish artists (such as Jan van Eyck) and of Franco-Flemish composers (such as Gilles Binchois), and for the 1430 seizure of Joan of Arc, whom Philip ransomed to the English after his soldiers captured her, resulting in her trial and eventual execution. In political affairs, he alternated between alliances with the English and with the French in an attempt to improve his dynasty's powerbase. Additionally, as ruler of Flanders, Brabant, Limburg, Artois, Hainaut, Holland, Luxembourg, Zeeland, Friesland and Namur, he played an important role in the history of the Low Countries.

He married three times and had three legitimate sons, all from his third marriage; only one legitimate son reached adulthood. Philip had 24 documented mistresses and fathered at least 18 illegitimate children.