Editing Charles the Bold (section)

=== The third marriage ===
On 26 September 1465, Charles's wife, Isabella of Bourbon, died of [[tuberculosis]] at the age of 31. Court chronicles briefly recorded the long months of her illness.{{Sfn|Kiening|1994|p=17}} The most important part of her life for these chronicles was her marriage to Charles—during which she had only brought him one daughter and no male heirs—and the fact that she and Charles purportedly fell in love during what was initially merely a political marriage.{{Sfn|Kiening|1994|p=17}} Charles, busy with the political negotiations after the War of the Public Weal, could not attend her funeral.{{Sfn|Kiening|1994|p=17}}{{Efn|According to the German historian, Christian Kiening, the narrative of their love may be fictitious and created by the authors of the time.{{sfn|Kiening|1994|p=17}}}}

Within weeks of Isabella of Bourbon's death, Charles's mother sought an English marriage for her son. She sent Guillaume de Clugny, one of Charles's close advisors, to [[London]] to negotiate with [[Edward IV]] for a marriage between his sister, [[Margaret of York]], and Charles.{{Sfn|Taylor|2002|p=184}} To prevent an English-Burgundian alliance, Louis XI proposed the hand of his daughter, the four-year-old [[Anne of France|Anne]], to Charles in marriage. Charles refused this proposal.{{Sfn|Taylor|2002|p=184}} In the Spring of 1466, an embassy led by [[Edward Woodville, Lord Scales|Edward Woodville]], Edward IV's brother-in-law, arrived in Burgundy to propose two marriages between the English royal family and the Burgundians: one between Margaret of York and Charles, and the other between Mary, Charles's daughter, and [[George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence]], Edward IV's younger brother.{{Sfn|Taylor|2002|p=184}} Woodville's visit failed in its purpose, as Charles was not interested in marrying his young daughter to the Duke of Clarence.{{Sfn|Hicks|1992|p=42}}

In October 1467, Edward IV publicly ratified the marriage between Charles and his sister, and Margaret of York appeared before the ''[[Magnum Concilium]]'' of [[Kingston upon Thames]] and formally gave her consent to the marriage.{{Sfn|Weightman|2009|pp=40–41}} Charles welcomed the English delegation—led by Edward and [[Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers|Anthony Woodville]]—to Burgundy, and then had her mother accompany him to negotiate the final marriage treaty.{{Sfn|Taylor|2002|p=194}} The marriage treaty and the alliance was signed and ratified in February 1468, while the marriage ceremony was delayed to eight months later.{{Sfn|Weightman|2009|p=41}} Since Charles and Margaret were fourth-degree cousins, they needed a [[Dispensation (Catholic canon law)|Papal dispensation]] to legitimise their marriage.{{Sfn|Weightman|2009|p=42}} As the dispensation was the groom's duty, Charles sent a delegation to Rome. The delegation took until May 1469 to win the dispensation.{{Sfn|Weightman|2009|p=42}} Edward IV announced the marriage of his sister to Charles and dubbed him as "a mighty Prince who bears no crown".{{Sfn|Weightman|2009|p=42}}

Charles and Margaret were married on 3 July at [[Damme]], a town three miles from Bruges.{{Sfn|Brown|Small|2007|p=54}} For their wedding ceremony, Charles prepared nine receptions, each ending with a jousting match. He wished to outdo his father's famous Feast of the Pheasant.{{Sfn|Van Loo|2021|p=397}} The wedding displayed the power and wealth of the dukedom.{{Sfn|Brown|Small|2007|p=55}} At the end of the ceremonies, Charles left his wife alone to catch up on sleep; the two did not spend their wedding night together.{{Sfn|Van Loo|2021|p=398}}

Charles and Margaret never had children.{{Sfn|Weightman|2009|p=65}} They spent little time together: only three weeks during the first six months after their marriage, one-quarter of the time during the years 1469 and 1470, and only three weeks throughout 1473.{{Sfn|Vaughan|Paravicini|2002|p=159}} According to contemporary jurist, [[Filips Wielant]], Charles housed Margaret far away from him because he did not want women to hamper his court life.{{Sfn|Roelens|2024|p=267}}