Grotheuse, Lodewick van

He came from the Flemish clan van Grouthus , and was the most famous representative of this family of warriors.

The son of John IV van Grouthus, and Margarita, Madame Stenhus, Avelgem, and so on.

Senor van Grouthus, Stenhus, Ostkamp, ​​Tilt ten Hove, Avelgem, Esper, and more.

For the first time with weapons in his hands he distinguished himself on several dzhostrov, and in 1449 became the butler of the Duke of Burgundy . He, knowing the popularity of the Grutehus family in Bruges , entrusted Lodewick with command in this city during the struggle against the Ghent uprising , with a maintenance of one livre per day. He participated in the Battle of Le Havre , where he was knighted. A year earlier, he protested against the terrible devastations caused by the Marshal of Burgundy in the vicinity of Ghent .

He accompanied the duke on a trip to Utrecht , where Philip the Good appointed bishop his illegitimate son David . In the description of this ceremony, Lodewick, together with another nobleman, are mentioned as the richest participants, after their princes. According to Georges Châtelet , they were dressed in red cloth embroidered with gold, the most beautiful that can be found or desired.

In 1461, Lodewick was with the Duke of Burgundy at the ceremonial entrance of Louis XI to Paris, and with several Burgundian lords he arranged a dzhostra, fighting against everyone.

On May 2 of the same year, he was admitted to the Knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece at the chapter in Saint-Omer , and on May 14, 1463 he was appointed as the statuder of Holland , Zealand and Friesland , with a maintenance of 300 livres per year.

In 1466 he participated in the siege of Dinan. He was next to Karl Smely at the entry of the new duke to Ghent, and tried to moderate the anger of the prince, dissatisfied with the reception that the townspeople had shown him.

In 1467 he traveled to England to negotiate the marriage of the duke with Margarita of York . In 1470, after the coup made by Count Warwick , Lodewick of Bruges provided significant assistance to the ousted Edward IV . He commanded detachments loaded on ships that the lord de La Verre had brought to the mouth of the Seine in order to recapture the ships captured by Warwick. At this time, senor van Grouthus was suspected of treason: one spy captured in Middelburg testified that he had received the task of delivering a letter in which Lodewick proposed to the French admiral to meet in Abbe on June 15 to discuss joint action (France supported Warwick) . Lodewick responded to this insult with a public challenge.

After the arrival of Edward IV to Holland, Lodewick of Bruges showed him hospitality, escorted him to the duke and honored the king in his mansion in Bruges and in the castle of Ostkamp.

After the reinstatement of Edward on the throne, Lodewick was sent to him as an ambassador, and as a reward for help at the request of Parliament on October 15, 1472 he was elevated to the rank of Earl of Winchester, with an annual income of £ 200, for his male offspring. Edward granted him the coat of arms of the former Earls of Winchester, allowing him to connect with the coat of arms of England.

In 1471, after the outbreak of the Franco-Burgundian war , Karl the Bold ordered Lodewick of Bruges to command part of his army in order to stop the advance of Saint Paul 's invasion, invading Artois . The French commander hastily retreated to Saint-Quentin . Then Lodewick participated in the siege of Neuss .

By the time Mary of Burgundy came to power, Lodewick of Bruges was more influential and popular than ever, nevertheless, he had to give up governorship in Holland, as the inhabitants of the country no longer wanted to be under his control. He was sent as part of the embassy to Louis XI in Peronn , and the king of France unsuccessfully offered him a more significant county than that which he had in England.

Always ready to mediate between the government and the people, Lodewick petitioned the duchess to annul some of the obligations of the Bruges community, which he succeeded, as evidenced by the magistrates and the dean of the city at the assembly held on March 3, 1477.

Appointed again as captain of Bruges, the count prepared everything necessary for defense against the French and organized a corps of cooleriners to serve in artillery. Together with Philip van Horn, Senor de Bosigny, on April 16 he received and led to the palace the embassy of Emperor Frederick III , who came to discuss the marriage of Mary and Maximilian of Habsburg , and on August 19 was one of the few witnesses at the wedding ceremony. Then he was the keeper of the seal of the princess, her adviser and chamberlain, and one of the executors.

In 1482, a confrontation between the Ghents and Maximilian began. Lodewick was appointed to Ghent in order to calm the bourgeoisie, then went to France to negotiate with Louis XI and approve the Arras Treaty .

With the consent of the lord Beverin and the burgomaster of Bruges, he obtained from Maximilian a refusal in favor of the delegates of the States of Flanders from the right of custody of his son, Duke Philip , in exchange for an annual rent of 80 thousand ecu. Soon, the Archduke demonstrated his intention to refuse to fulfill the agreements, and summoned Lodewick and his colleagues to Brussels to hold the chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece. They appealed to the arbitration of the king of France, and declared their readiness to appear before the brethren of the order, if they were provided with a letter of protection. The war that soon began ended with the restoration of Maximilian's power, and Lodewick became one of the victims of his reaction.

On June 1, 1485, he was arrested and taken to Stan. The anger of Habsburg was so strong that Lodewick could have been seriously punished if not for the intervention of the other Golden Fleece knights. They stated that the arrested person can only be brought before an equal court, and should be released under an oath of obligation to appear before the order of the order on demand. Despite his desire to take revenge on one of the most popular people in Flanders, Maximilian was forced to release him.

The despotic methods of Maximilian led to a new outrage, as a result of which the Archduke, who became the King of Rome, was arrested by the Bruges. Lodewick took an active part in the negotiations between the various provinces with a view to concluding a general agreement. As soon as he was set free, Maximilian broke his promises under the pretext that he had been forced to force them, and Grutehus was suddenly captured and placed in Rupelmond. Friends found him there and managed to tear him out of custody.

On April 3, 1489, Lodewick of Bruges, instead of Philip of Cleves , the leader of the insurgent Flemings, sealed the agreement on commerce and navigation, signed between King Henry VII and the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Iprom , representing the province.

However, Flanders, abandoned by the French, was forced to submit to Maximilian. Tired of a long struggle, the count survived the end of the civil war for a short while. He died on November 24, 1492, and was buried in the church of Notre Dame , where his tomb existed until 1797.

In addition to military and political activities, Lodewick of Bruges was known as a philanthropist and patron of the arts. In 1474, so that he and his wife could pass from his mansion directly to the Notre Dame church, a chapel was built, which also served as a platform for official ceremonies. This architectural monument is decorated with the family crests and the motto Plus est en vous (“You have more”), with the initials of the customers: L and M. In a small niche there is an equestrian statue of Lodewick.

The construction was erected as a result of the agreement concluded on January 7, 1471/1472. The magistrates agreed to make the chapel the property of Lodewick and his descendants, and the lord van Grutehus refused the chapel of St. Agnes, which his family owned in the same church, and which was decorated with magnificent ornaments, tapestries depicting scenes from the life of the heavenly patron of Lodewick, St. Boniface , and cost a considerable amount.

The bull of Pope Pius II of June 5, 1464, the spouses were instructed to found in their possessions a monastery of the Clarissins , with a charter shortly before that introduced by Saint Colette. They continued this project, having built in 1469 a new church called Mont Sinai and consecrated by Bishop Tourne Ferry de Cluny on August 31, 1477 in the presence of Maximilian of Habsburg, Duchess Maria and Margarita of York.

Lodewick of Bruges was one of the most famous bibliophiles of his time, his collection of illuminated manuscripts was second only to the ducal. Some of these manuscripts, including the famous Froissart Grouthus , decorated with miniatures of the best artists of Bruges, are now stored in the National Library of France .

When Kolar Mansion introduced the Bruggeans to the technique of printing, his main patron was also Lodewick of Bruges, who became the godfather of his children.

Wife (c. 1455): Margarita van Borselen (d. 08/29/1510), daughter of Hendrick II van Borselin , Senor de La Vera and Vlissingen, and Jeanne de Alven

Children:

• Lodewick van Groothus (d. 1461)
• Jean V de Brugge (d. 1512), Earl of Winchester, Prince van Stenhus. Wife 1): (c. 1478): Marie d'Osi, daughter of Jean IV d'Osi and Jeanne de Flavy; 2) (1479): Rene de Beuil (d. C. 1479), daughter of Antoine de Beuil, Count de Sanser, and the bastards of Joan of France; 3) (1505): Marie de Melon (d. 1536), Dame de Monmirail, daughter of Jean VI de Melon, Senor d'Antoine and Epinua, and Isabella de Luxembourg
• Jean de Brugge (d. 1509), Senor Avelgem, Seneschal of Anjou. Wife: Louise de Nelle, daughter of Jean IV d'Offemon
• Margarita van Grouthouse
• Jan van Grouthus (d. 1502). Husband: Jacob II van Horne (d. 1530)
• Maria van Grouthus . Husband: Adrian II van Krueningen, Burggraph of Zealand
• Philippines van gruteuse

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• CHEVALIERS DE LA TOISON D'OR - MAISON DE BOURGOGNE (HOUSE OF BURGUNDY) (French) . Date of appeal April 13, 2017.
• Gruuthuse (nid.) . Date of appeal April 13, 2017.
• L'énigme de la généalogie Gruuthuse: des questions et quelques réponses (French) . Date of appeal April 13, 2017.