In 1477, at the death of the duke her father, Mary of Burgundy was twenty years old, and Charles, the _dauphin_, was barely eight.

There was another question, a point of feudal law, as to whether Burgundy, properly so called, was a fief which women could inherit, or a fief which, in default of a male heir, must lapse to the suzerain.

Several of the Flemish towns which belonged to the Duke of Burgundy were weary of his wars and his violence, and showed an inclination to pass over to the sway of the King of France.

All these facts offered pretexts, opportunities, and chances of success for that course of egotistical pretension and cunning intrigue in which Louis delighted and felt confident of his ability; and into it he plunged after the death of Charles the Rash.

Though he still spoke of his desire of marrying his son, the _dauphin_, to Mary of Burgundy, it was no longer his dominant and ever-present idea.