Margaret I, Countess of Burgundy

Margaret I Countess Palatine of Burgundy Countess of Artois Reign 1361-1382 Predecessor Philip I Successor Louis II Spouse Louis I, Count of Flanders Issue Louis II, Count of Flanders House House of Capet Father Philip V of France Mother Joan II, Countess of Burgundy Born 1310 Died 9 May 1382

French Monarchy Direct Capetians Hugh Capet    Robert II Robert II    Henry I    Robert I, Duke of Burgundy Henry I    Philip I    Hugh, Count of Vermandois Philip I    Louis VI Louis VI    Louis VII    Robert I of Dreux Louis VII    Marie, Countess of Champagne    Alix, Countess of Blois    Marguerite, Queen of Hungary    Alys, Countess of the Vexin    Philip II    Agnes, Empress of Constantinople Philip II    Louis VIII Louis VIII    Louis IX    Robert I, Count of Artois    Alphonse, Count of Poitou and Toulouse    Saint Isabel of France    Charles I of Anjou and Sicily Louis IX    Philip III    Robert, Count of Clermont   Agnes, Duchess of Burgundy Philip III    Philip IV    Charles III, Count of Valois    Louis d'Evreux    Margaret, Queen of England Philip IV    Louis X    Philip V    Isabella, Queen of England    Charles IV Grandchildren     Joan II of Navarre     John I     Joan III, Countess and Duchess of Burgundy     Margaret I, Countess of Burgundy     Isabella, Dauphine of Viennois     Edward III of England     Mary of France     Blanche, Duchess of Orléans Louis X    Joan II of Navarre    John I John I Philip V Charles IV

Margaret of France (1310 – 9 May 1382) was a medieval noblewoman, reigning Countess Palatine of Burgundy (Franche-Comté) and Countess of Artois, ruling both as Margaret I, as well as countess-consort of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel. Her father was Philip V, king of France from 1316-22.

Biography

Early life

She was born in 1310, the second daughter of Joan II, Countess of Burgundy, and her husband Philip, Count of Poitiers, afterwards King Philip V of France. Margaret's mother was Countess Palatine of Burgundy (daughter and heiress of Otto IV, Count of Burgundy) and Queen consort of France; Margaret's father was the second son of king Philip IV of France and Queen regnant Joan I of Navarre.

Marriage

In 1316 her father became King Philip V of France, following the premature death of her infant first cousin John I of France. Margaret was married to Louis I, Count of Flanders (1304–1346), who was ruler of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel from 1322. Her husband was dependent on her father in suppressing the rebellion of Nicolaas Zannekin. Her father died in 1322, and by law the crown was inherited by her uncle, Charles, Count of La Marche.

Margaret's mother, Joan II, succeeded her own mother, Mahaut, Countess of Artois, as ruler of Artois in 1329. Margaret's elder sister Joan, Duchess of Burgundy (1308–49) inherited the county when their mother died in 1329, becoming Countess of Artois and Palatine Countess of Burgundy.

Later life

Her husband Louis was killed in the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. He and Margaret had one son, Louis II, Count of Flanders (1330–84), who in 1346 succeeded in Flanders, Nevers and Rethel and for whom she acted as a regent in the beginning of his reign. In 1355, the younger Louis claimed the duchy of Brabant in right of his wife, but Joanna, Duchess of Brabant, managed to keep her possessions.

In 1357, her granddaughter, Margaret III of Flanders (1350–1405), then seven years old, was married to Margaret's great-nephew Philip I, Duke of Burgundy (1346–1361), who, therefore, was the young bride's second cousin. The girl thus became duchess-consort of Burgundy, as well as countess-consort of Artois and the County Palatine of Burgundy (also called Franche-Comté); in 1360, the couple became Count and Countess-consort of Boulogne and Auvergne.

The coastal Low Countries was a restless region in the latter half of 14th century, due to civil strife. Margaret succeeded in 1361 her great-nephew Philip I, Duke of Burgundy as ruler of Artois and Franche-Comté (County Palatine of Burgundy), since her elder sister Joan's line became extinct upon his death. Thus Margaret, already Dowager Countess of Flanders, now became a ruler in her own right.

Her granddaughter, Margaret, was now a widow due to the premature death of Philip of Burgundy. The duchy of Burgundy, having since 1330 been united to the counties of Palatine Burgundy and Artois, now passed to one of its two senior heirs, John II of France (the other, Charles the Bad of Navarre, had been kept from inheriting due to his genealogical distance from the Dukes of Burgundy).

In 1369, Margaret III of Flanders, now 19 years old, and Margaret I of Burgundy's only grandchild, married Philip the Bold (1342–1404), King John's youngest son, who had become Duke of Burgundy in 1363 (having given up his previous duchy of Touraine in exchange); thus, Margaret again became Duchess consort of Burgundy.

According to Guizot, whilst Margaret I favoured the marriage of her granddaughter to Philip the Bold, the girl's father, Louis of Flanders, and the Flemish communes, preferring England to France, were unwilling to arrange the marriage. Reputedly, Margaret, vexed at the ill will of the count her son, had one day said to him, as she tore open her dress before his eyes, "Since you will not yield to your mother's wishes, I will cut off these breasts which gave suck to you, to you and to no other, and will throw them to the dogs to devour." Louis, persuaded, agreed to the marriage.[1]

The unrest in coastal Low Countries escalated to open rebellions in Margaret's last years. A revolt in Ghent was put down by joint operation of Margaret's son Louis II of Flanders and grandson-in-law Philip II of Burgundy. However, after the Battle of Beverhoutsveld Louis II was expelled from Flanders by the Flemings under Philip van Artevelde. A French army (and Duke Philip) came to help them to regain Flanders, and the revolting Flemings were decisively defeated at the Battle of Roosebeke the same year in which Margaret died. However, the citizens of Ghent continued to resist (with English aid) and it was left to her granddaughter and her consort to subdue the town.

Countess Margaret died in 1382. Her counties of Artois and Burgundy were inherited by her only son Louis, Count of Flanders, who survived her just for two years. In 1384, all her possessions, together with Louis' inheritance (Flanders, etc.), went to her only surviving grandchild, Margaret, the then duchess-consort of Burgundy, who thus became possessor of Palatine County of Burgundy and county of Artois, countess in her own right, where she had been countess-consort almost thirty years earlier, as they then were held by her first husband.

Ancestors

Margaret's ancestors in three generations'

Margaret I, Countess of Burgundy	Father: Philip V of France	Paternal Grandfather: Philip IV of France	Paternal Great-Grandfather: Philip III of France
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Isabella of Aragon
		Paternal Grandmother: Joan I of Navarre	Paternal Great-Grandfather: Henry I of Navarre
			Paternal Great-Grandmother: Blanche of Artois
	Mother: Joan II, Countess of Burgundy	Maternal Grandfather: Otto IV, Count of Burgundy	Maternal Great-Grandfather: Hugh III, Count of Burgundy
			Maternal Great-Grandmother: Adelaide I of Burgundy
		Maternal Grandmother: Mahaut of Artois	Maternal Great-grandfather: Robert II, Count of Artois
			Maternal Great-Grandmother: Amicie de Courtenay

Preceded by Philip of Rouvres	Countess of Artois 1361–1382	Succeeded by Louis of Male
	Palatine Countess of Burgundy 1361–1382

Persondata
Name	Margaret I, Countess Of Burgundy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1310
Place of birth
Date of death	9 May 1382
Place of death