Son of Philip the Good, he inherited Burgundy and the Low Countries from him in 1465. It was his ambition to create a kingdom stretching from the mouth of the Rhine to the mouth of the Rhône. He formed the League of the Public Weal against Louis XI of France, invaded France in 1471, and conquered the country as far as Rouen.

The emperor, Lorraine and the Swiss united against him; he captured Nancy, but was defeated at Granson, and again at Morat 1476. Nancy was lost and he was killed in battle while attempting to recapture it. His possessions in the Nederlands passed to the Hapsburgs by the marriage of his daughter Mary to Maximilian of Hapsburg.