Philip the Handsome

It was under Philip the Handsome (1478-1506) that the Netherlands came into the possession of the Habsburgs. Philip was the son of Maximilian I of Habsburg and Mary of Burgundy. When his mother died he inherited her title to Burgundy, and with it the provinces of the Low Countries. Philip married Joan of Castile ('the Mad'). Their eldest son was the famous Emperor Charles V. Philp is portrayed wearing the insignia of the Golden FleeceThe Golden FleeceThe Order of the Golden Fleece was instituted by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430. This chivalric order was devoted to the defence of the Church. The sign of the order is the golden fleece of a ram hanging from a golden chain. Following the extinction of the Burgundian line the grand mastership passed to the Habsburgs: it was they who subsequently conferred the order..