The Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good

Philip the Good was Duke of Burgundy from 1420-1430. He took his father's death with a heavy heart, but turned out to be an infinitely more effective ruler. Philip had a gift for picking out obscure threads of opportunity and weaving them into a web of advantage for his own interests. In 1420 he wrote that he was quote, as yet but slightly equipped with Marshall valor. His rule began with a key realization that his father had been drastically over committed to French affairs which got him killed.