Margaret of Habsburg (1480-1530)
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The Archduchess Margaret (Margaretha) of Austria (10 January 1480 – 1 December 1530) was a Habsburg princess, the daughter of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Mary of Burgundy.
In 1483, she was betrothed to the Dauphin of France, later King Charles VIII of France, bringing with her a dowry of Franche-Comté and Artois, and was transferred to the guardianship of King Louis XI of France (see Treaty of Arras (1482)). After Charles renounced the treaty and married Anne of Brittany, Margaret was returned to her father in 1493.
In 1497, she was married to Juan, Prince of Asturias, Infante of Spain (1478–1497), the son and heir of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, but he died after only six months. Juan left her pregnant, but she later gave birth to a stillborn child.
In 1501, she married Philibert II, Duke of Savoy (1480–1504), who died three years later. This marriage had been childless as well. She was appointed for the first time as governor of the Habsburg Netherlands(1507–1515) and guardian of her young nephew Charles (the future Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor).
Margaret acted as intermediary between her father and his subjects in the Netherlands, negotiated a treaty of commerce with England favorable to the Flemish cloth interests, and played a role in the formation of the League of Cambrai (1508).
After his majority in 1515, Charles rebelled against her influence, but he soon recognized her as one of his wisest advisers, and she was again governor of the Netherlands (1519–30) intermittently until her death. In 1529, together with Louise of Savoy, she negotiated the Treaty of Cambrai, the so-called Ladies' Peace.
She died at Mechelen (French: Malines), between Antwerp and Brussels, her main place of residence in the Netherlands, after appointing her nephew, Charles V, as her universal and sole heir. She is buried at Bourg-en-Bresse, Franche-Comté.
There is a statue of her next to the cathedral of Mechelen. Her reign was a period of relative peace and prosperity for the Netherlands, although the protestant Reformation started to take root, especially in the northern Netherlands. The first protestant martyrs were burnt at the stake in 1524 and 1525. She had some difficulty in keeping duke Charles of Guelders under control. She could make him sign the Treaty of Gorinchem in 1528, but the problem was not finally dealt with during her reign.
| Preceded by Guillaume de Croÿ |
Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands 1507-1530 |
Succeeded by Mary of Habsburg |
