The Last Duchess

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"Are you quite sure you want to know this?"

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"You must understand, we are of an ancient house in an ancient city. We have centuries of precedent and tradition to guide us. It reminds us who we are, in these changed times since the Translation."

"We are Burgundians," the Last Duchess agrees. "We are Burgundy."[1]

The Last Duchess is the current Duchess of Burgundy and the last descendant of the House of Valois. She rules her domain from the Gravensteen in Fallen Ghent.

The Fight for Burgundy[edit | edit source]

"The young woman, who appears to be dressed as a medieval noblewoman, brandishes her unrolled parchment and bellows to the watching crowd. You can make out a few words: "Heiress to the thrones of York and Flanders... this adulteress heretrix lacks the papal dispensations for her pretentions ... rise up good people against this Lancastrian pretender for the House of Yo —" Her words are cut off as the constables close in."[2]

The Last Duchess traveled to London to free Ghent from the contract with the Masters that made it, at some point in history, one of the Fallen Cities. She does not remember when or why Ghent was sold to the Masters,[3] but she still sought out a contract called the Privilege of Burgundy, which finalized the city's sale.[4] In her absence from the Gravensteen, she temporarily transferred her ruling powers to her stepmother, the Other Duchess.[5]

With Ghent freed, Burgundy would once again rise to its true and absolute power, and the Last Duchess and her Duke could conquer all of the Neath if she wished.[6]

A Convergence of Timelines[edit | edit source]

"And this destiny, this ambition, is a sin for which the city was swallowed and all in it. My city is apocryphal. My people are apocryphal." Her voice goes small, she swallows. "I am an apocrypha."[7]

The Last Duchess is an Apocrypha who escaped the Stacks into the reality of the Neath. Since she herself is Burgundy, she brought with it her vision of Fallen Ghent - a city of splendor and peace, where she is universally adored and rules with a strong but benevolent hand. Anything she did not accept in her city was left behind in the Stacks.[8]

Historical References[edit | edit source]

The Last Duchess appears to be an alternate-historical version of Mary of Burgundy.

Born in 1457, Mary was the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. After her father's death in 1477, a twenty-year-old Mary assumed the throne; she ruled alone for a brief period of time before marrying Maximilian, heir to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. The real Last Duchess died in 1482 in a riding accident, leaving behind her husband and three children (of whom two survived to adulthood).[9]

Mary's rule was overshadowed by the efforts of the King of France to conquer Burgundy, as well as rising tensions with her duchy's lower nobility and emerging middle class. To win their support against the French, Mary ceded a large part of her governing power by signing a charter of rights known as the Great Privilege. However, many of its provisions were soon ignored, and were abolished by Maximilian (as regent for their son) after her death.[9]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Ask who really rules here, Fallen London
  2. ↑ Stop and watch, Fallen London
  3. ↑ Reveal what you've learned, Fallen London ""[..] My memory is foggy, but my recollection is that it was a bargain made in haste and regretted at leisure. And some time ago." How long? She shakes her head."
  4. ↑ Decipher the document, Fallen London "It is a declaration of Burgundy's independence from the powers of Europe, signed by the Last Duchess and the Masters of the Bazaar. Known as 'the Great Privilege', this contract itemises the freedoms suspended under the terms of the city of Ghent's sale. [...] This contract indicates that the Last Duchess sold Ghent to the Masters, in order to save it from enemies on the Surface. Only the proper invocation of a Tragedy Procedure would compel the Masters to revoke this Privilege and restore Burgundy its liberty."
  5. ↑ The Last Duchess, in Audience, Fallen London "Then I will formally resume my position. My mama – my stepmother – will return Burgundy to my care."
  6. ↑ Dream a dream of Burgundy, Fallen London "Burgundy sprawls across the Roof [...] Troops march on silver horses, stolen from Hell. Hell is a protectorate: the Catholic Church needs its counterpart operational, after all. The Mountain, far distant, mints mortality to be dispensed at the Duke's pleasure. The Bazaar is but a memory, already fading."
  7. ↑ The Doubts of a Duchess, Fallen London
  8. ↑ A Dream of Burgundy, Fallen London
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mary of Burgundy, Wikipedia
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