Louis de Gruuthuse

Louis de Bruges, Lord of Gruuthuse, Prince of Steenhuijs, Earl of Winchester (Dutch: Lodewijk van Brugge; c. 1427 – 24 November 1492), was a Flemish courtier, bibliophile, soldier and nobleman.

Born in 1427 as the legitimate son of Lord Jean IV of Bruges of the Gruuthuse family, and Margriet of Steenhuyse, Lady of Avelghem, young Loys (Louis or Ludovicus) was trained in the arts of war and the court in the wealth and luxury of Flanders' Golden Age.

This caught the eye of the Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, Philip the Good (1396–1467), who made Louis his squire and official wine server, an honorary title bestowed on only a few selected men.

During the winter of 1452–1453 the Salt War laid Flanders' countryside to waste, so when spring came the duke gathered his army and moved on Ghent with Louis de Gruuthuse as one of its commanders.

He now bore the titles of "Siege (=lord) de Bruges", prince of Steenhuijse, lord of Avelghem, Haamstede, Oostkamp, Beveren, Thielt-ten-Hove and Spiere.

Between 1463 and 1477 he held the position of lieutenant-general (or stadtholder) in The Hague as the duke's highest official in the provinces of Holland, Zeeland and Frisia (though the latter was at that time not part of the Burgundian territories).

Maria died at the age of 25 in 1482 after a tragic fall from her horse and her husband, the ambitious Maximilian I of Habsburg (1459–1519), soon clashed with the nobility and cities in Flanders as he tried to increase his power at their cost.

[4] The Gruuthuse manuscript, containing vernacular poetry, was owned by the Belgian noble family van Caloen of Koolkerke near Bruges until it was sold to the Dutch Royal Library in The Hague in February 2007.

The collapse of the Burgundian state after the death of Charles the Bold further worsened this position, and there is documentation showing Louis allowed Edward IV of England to buy a Josephus commissioned by him from the workshop, and encouraged him to make other purchases of Flemish manuscripts, probably in an attempt to maintain an industry in crisis.

Louis de Gruuthuse, wearing the Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece . Portrait by the Master of the princely portraits , Groeningemuseum , Bruges
Miniature portrait inscribed Mesire Lois Sig(neu)r de la Gruuthuse et Comte de Wincestre , from a 1473 manuscript containing the statutes of the Order of the Golden Fleece
The Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346, from Louis's illuminated Froissart , Bruges , 1470s
The Bal des Ardents , a deadly fire depicted by the Master of Anthony of Burgundy , from the Froissart of Louis of Gruuthuse , his most lavishly decorated manuscript.