Mary of Burgundy
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Mary (February 13, 1457 – March 27, 1482), Duchess of Burgundy, was the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon. Her mother died in 1465, but Mary was on very good terms with her step-mother Margaret of York, who Charles married in 1468.
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[edit] Heiress of Burgundy
Mary of Burgundy was born in Brussels. Her godfather was Louis the Dauphin, who was in exile in Burgundy at that time; he named her for his mother, Marie of Anjou.
As the only child of Charles, the Valois heiress of the rich Burgundian domains, her hand had long been eagerly sought by a number of princes. The first proposal was received by her father when she was only five years old, to marry the future Ferdinand II of Aragon. Later the younger brother of Louis XI, Charles de Valois, Duc de Berry made an approach, to the intense annoyance of his brother the King, who attempted to prevent the necessary Papal dispensation for consanguinity.
As soon as Louis produced a male heir who survived infancy, the future Charles VIII of France, Louis wanted the marriage for him, despite his being thirteen years younger than Mary. Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine was a few years older than Mary, and his Duchy lay alongside Burgundian territory, but this plan was frustrated by his death in battle in 1473.
When her father fell upon the field at the siege of Nancy, on January 5, 1477, Mary was only nineteen years old. Louis XI of France seized the opportunity afforded by his rival's defeat and death to attempt take possession of the Duchy of Burgundy proper, and also of Franche Comté, Picardy and Artois.
Louis was anxious that Mary should marry the Dauphin Charles and thus secure the inheritance of the Low Countries for his descendants, by force of arms if necessary. Mary, advised by Margaret, distrusted Louis, declined the French alliance, and turned to her Netherland subjects for help. Sensing her weakness, she obtained their help only at the price of great concessions.
[edit] The Great Privilege
On February 10, 1477 at Ghent on the occasion of her formal recognition (known also as the Blijde Inkomst, or Joyous Entry) as Charles' heir, she was compelled to sign a charter of rights, called "the Great Privilege." Under this agreement, the provinces and towns of Flanders, Brabant, Hainaut, and Holland recovered all the local and communal rights which had been abolished by the decrees of the dukes of Burgundy in their efforts to create a centralized state on the French model out of their separate holdings in the Low Countries. In particular, the Parlement de Malines (established formally by Charles the Bold in 1470) was abolished and replaced with the pre-existing authority of the Parlement de Paris, which was considered an amenable counterweight to the encroaching, if informal, centralisation undertaken by both Charles and Philip the Good. Mary also had to undertake not to declare war, make peace, or raise taxes without the consent of the States, and to employ only native residents in official posts.
Such was the hatred of the people for the old regime that two of her father's influential councillors, the Chancellor Hugonet and the Sire d'Humbercourt, having been discovered in correspondence with the French king, were executed at Ghent despite the tears and entreaties of the youthful duchess.
[edit] Marriage
Mary now made her choice among the many suitors for her hand, and selected the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, afterwards the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and the marriage took place at Ghent on August 18, 1477. In this way the Low Countries came to the Habsburgs, initiating two centuries of contention between France and the Habsburgs, later of Spain, then of Austria, for their possession, which climaxed in the War of the Spanish Succession, 1701–1714.
In the Netherlands, affairs now went more smoothly, the French aggression was temporarily checked, and internal peace was in a large measure restored.
[edit] Death and legacy
Five years later, the 25-year-old Duchess met her death by a fall from her horse on March 27 1482. She loved riding, and was falconing with Maximilian when her horse tripped, threw her, and then landed on top of her, breaking her back. She died several days later, having made a detailed will. She is buried in Bruges, her favourite city.
Louis was swift to re-engage, and forced Maximilian to agree to the Treaty of Arras (1482) by which Franche Comté and Artois passed for a time to French rule, only to be exchanged for Burgundy and Picardy in the Treaty of Senlis (1493), which established peace in the Low Countries.
[edit] Children
Three children had been the issue of her marriage, and her eldest son, Philip, succeeded to her dominions under the guardianship of his father.
Her children were:
- Philip I of Castile (Philip IV of Burgundy), July 22, 1478 – September 25, 1506
- Margarete of Austria, January 10, 1480 – December 1, 1530, married to 1) Crown Prince John of Aragon, also known as Juan, Infante of Spain (1478-1497), the son and heir of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and 2) Philibert II of Savoy
- Franz, b. and d. 1481
[edit] Coats of arms
Mary of Burgundy was entitled to the following coats of arms of her fiefs in her own right. She ruled them together with her husband, Maximilian of Austria, Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor.
 Coat of arms of Charles the Bold |
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[edit] See also
- Dukes of Burgundy family tree
- Other politically important horse accidents
- Duchesse de Bourgogne beer (Wikipedia page in French)
| Preceded by Charles |
Duchess of Burgundy, Brabant, Guelders, Limburg, Lothier and Luxembourg, Countess of Artois, Burgundy, Flanders, Hainaut, Holland, Namur, Zeeland and Zutphen 1477–1482 |
Succeeded by Philip IV |
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
Categories: Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica | House of Valois | House of Habsburg | Dukes of Burgundy | Dukes of Brabant | Dukes of Guelders | Dukes of Luxembourg | Counts of Flanders | Counts of Hainaut | Counts of Holland | Medieval women | 1457 births | 1482 deaths
