A tournament, or tourney, was a chivalrous competition or mock fight in the Middle Ages and Renaissance and is one type of hastilude. Tournaments included mêlée and hand-to-hand combat, contests of strength or accuracy, and sometimes jousts. Some thought that the tournaments were a threat to public order. The shows were often held to celebrate coronations, marriages of notable figures, births, recent conquests, peace treatises, etc. They were held to welcome of people of perceived high worth, ambassadors, lords, and such. Finally some tournaments were held simply for pure entertainment. Certain tournaments are depicted throughout the Codex Manesse.
Philip III was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. 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.
Jean de Waurin or Wavrin was a medieval French chronicler and compiler, also a soldier and politician. He belonged to a noble family of Artois, and witnessed the Battle of Agincourt from the French side, but later fought on the Anglo-Burgundian side in the later stages of the Hundred Years' War. As a historian, he put together the first chronicle intended as a complete history of England, very extensive but largely undigested and uncritical. Written in French, in its second version it extends from 688 to 1471, though the added later period covering the Wars of the Roses shows a strong bias towards Burgundy's Yorkist allies. Strictly his subject is Great Britain, but essentially only England is covered, with a good deal on French and Burgundian events as well.
The Froissart of Louis of Gruuthuse is a heavily illustrated deluxe illuminated manuscript in four volumes, containing a French text of Froissart's Chronicles, written and illuminated in the first half of the 1470s in Bruges, Flanders, in modern Belgium. The text of Froissart's Chronicles is preserved in more than 150 manuscript copies. This is one of the most lavishly illuminated examples, commissioned by Louis of Gruuthuse, a Flemish nobleman and bibliophile. Several leading Flemish illuminators worked on the miniatures.
Jacques de Lalaing (1421–1453), perhaps the most renowned knight of Burgundy in the 15th century, was reportedly one of the best medieval tournament fighters of all time. A Walloon knight, he began his military career in the service of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves, but was quickly noticed by Philip III Duke of Burgundy by whom he was knighted and whom he went on to serve. Jacques, known as the "Bon Chevalier" due to his military prowess in tournaments and battles, became the most famous Burgundian knight of his time, and was well known throughout Europe as one of the best medieval tournament fighters. Jacques was inducted into the prestigious Burgundian chivalric order, the Order of the Golden Fleece, in 1451. Jacques' deeds in tournaments and battles were recorded in the Livre des Faits de Jacques Lalaing attributed mainly to the Burgundian chroniclers Jean Le Fevre de Saint-Remy, Georges Chastellain, and the herald Charolais. Throughout his life, Jacques was entrusted by the Duke of Burgundy to serve in delegations to the King of France and the Pope, as well as with the suppression of the Revolt of Ghent in 1453.
Louis de Bruges, Lord of Gruuthuse, Prince of Steenhuijs, Earl of Winchester, was a Flemish courtier, bibliophile, soldier and nobleman. He was awarded the title of Earl of Winchester by King Edward IV of England in 1472, and was Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland 1462–77.
Louis Delacenserie (1838–1909) was a Belgian architect from Bruges. The spelling of his name differs greatly; De la Censerie, Delasencerie, Dela Censerie or Dela Sencerie are the most common alternative forms. His father was a merchant and building contractor from Tournai.
Jácome de Bruges, 1st Captain-Donee of Terceira was the brother of Louis de Gruuthuse, 1st Earl of Winchester of the wealthy Gruuthuse noble family from Bruges, their grandfather Jean III d'Aa of Gruuthuse participated in the great tournament of Bruges on 11 March, 1393. Jácome became a servant of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, who initiated the so-called Portuguese Age of Discovery in the 15th century.
Colard Mansion was a 15th-century Flemish scribe and printer who worked together with William Caxton. He is known as the first printer of a book with copper engravings, and as the printer of the first books in English and French.
Jeanne de Béthune, Viscountess of Meaux, Countess of Ligny, was a French noblewoman, the suo jure Viscountess of Meaux, having inherited the title upon her father's death in 1408. Her father was Robert VIII de Béthune, Viscount of Meaux. Jeanne married twice; firstly to Robert of Bar, and secondly John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny who held Joan of Arc prisoner following her capture by the Burgundians in May 1430. Jeanne was one of the three women who cared for Joan during her imprisonment.
Wolfert VI of Borselen was stadtholder of Holland, Friesland, and Zeeland, Admiral of the Netherlands outside Flanders, and Lord of Veere.
Anselm Adornes, also known as Anselm Adorno, was a merchant, patron, politician and diplomat, who belonged to the fifth generation of the Adornes family to live in Bruges.
In the period 1482–1492, the cities of the County of Flanders revolted twice against Maximilian of Austria, who ruled the county as regent for his son, Philip the Handsome. Both revolts were ultimately unsuccessful.
The lords of Gruuthuse were one of the noble families of Bruges in the medieval period. It was one of several families bearing the title of "lords of Bruges" Their heraldic motto was Plus est en vous – Meer is in u.
Anselme de Peellaert was a nobleman from Bruges.
A presentation miniature or dedication miniature is a miniature painting often found in illuminated manuscripts, in which the patron or donor is presented with a book, normally to be interpreted as the book containing the miniature itself. The miniature is thus symbolic, and presumably represents an event in the future. Usually it is found at the start of the volume, as a frontispiece before the main text, but may also be placed at the end, as in the Vivian Bible, or at the start of a particular text in a collection.
List of Lords of Saint-Floris, former Flemish title, coupled to the Heerlijkheid of Sint-Floris, located in Artois. The title belonged to the Flemish House of Haveskercke.
The Bonin family was a patrician family of Bruges. Members of the Bonin family were active in Bruges from the 12th century until the end of the 15th century.
Karel Aeneas Jacobus de Croeser served as the Mayor of Bruges (Brugge) between 1803 and 1813, and then for a second ten-year term from 1817 to 1827.
Josse van Aertrycke was a Flemish nobleman from Bruges, who settled in Faial, Azores, in the end of the 15th century. He was probably invited by Joost De Hurtere, the first captain-major of the island, and was possibly an associate of his merchant company. His surname derives from the town of Aartrijke, one of his family lordships until 1396. According to Gaspar Frutuoso, Josse van Aertrycke received various favors and concessions from Joost De Hurtere for the establishment of his settlement in Faial.
