588 PEOTOTYPOGRAPHY. 



To commemorate the perfection to which woollen manufactures had 

 attained among his people, he instituted an order of knighthood — 

 that of the Golden Fleece. A great lover of learning and literature, 

 he maintained within the walls of his palace a staff of skilled copy- 

 ists and illuminators. 



William Caxton was brought into intimate relations with this 

 Philip the Good, being at Bruges after 1463 what we s.hould now 

 call British Consul — a piiblic agent stationed there, charged with the 

 care of English interests, chiefly commercial, in the dominions of the 

 Duke of Burgundy; technically, " Governor of the English Nation." 

 As a man of literary tastes, Caxton was held in especial esteem by the 

 duke. 



In 1467, Philip the Good died. His successor, Charles the Bold, 

 whose reign proved disastrous to himself and his dominions, was no 

 professed patron of letters. It happened, nevertheless, that Caxton's 

 relations with the Burgundian court became now even more intima be 

 than they had been under Duke Philip. The new duke, soon after his 

 accession, brought home as his bride the Princess Margaret, Edward 

 the Fourth's sister, who forthwith evinced a great regard for her 

 countryman Caxton, now a polished courtier as well as an experienced 

 man of business. She attached him to the court as one of the gentle- 

 men of her household. It would seem that about this time Caxton 

 resigned the post of " Governor of the English " at Bruges, wearied 

 perhaps with the anxieties of the post, growing more and more 

 serious during a troubled period, and glad to withdraw into a posi- 

 tion likely to afford him more leisure for the literary pursuits whicli 

 had become so fascinatihg to him. 



In 1470, reverses sustained by the Yorkist party in England 

 obliged the King, Edward IV., to fly the country, accompanied by 

 several of his adherents among the nobles; and the court at Bruges 

 was the temporary resort of the fugitives. After the lapse of five or 

 six months, Edward regained his throne. During this short sojourn 

 of Edward abroad, Caxton became personally known to him and liis 

 friends through the Princess Margaret; and it is believed that this 

 circumstance, together with public changes in progress at Bruges and 

 elsewhere, ultimately led to the removal from Flanders to England, 

 which took place a few years later. Caxton may have deemed the 

 time opportune for the introduction of Printing into England. As a 



