Para Bellum. Een blik op de Utrechtse krijgsonderneming van Jacob van Gistel aan de hand van een unieke oorlogsrekening (1456)

Abstract

A unique archival discovery of a ‘war account’ provides a rare glimpse into the personal preparations of the Flemish-Hainaut nobleman, Jacob van Gistel, lord of Dudzele, for the Utrecht war expedition of 1456. This underexplored military campaign installed the illegitimate son of Duke Philip the Good on the episcopal seat of Utrecht. An analysis of this richly detailed account not only reveals the material, financial, and logistical operations preceding the outfitting of a late medieval military retinue but also sheds light on the familial service networks and the complexity of feudal vassalage and manorial holdings that enabled the Lord of Dudzele to mobilize his own forces. Against the backdrop of the political events that subsequently unfolded in the County of Flanders between 1477 and 1488, it also becomes clear how the Lord of Dudzele, by recruiting forces from neighbouring regions such as Hainaut and Picardy, posed a latent threat to the rebellious Flemish cities. These foreign troops were perceived as an imminent danger to the precarious balance of power between the prince and the cities.