Siblings Philip of Artois | Name Mahaut, of Mother Amicie de Courtenay | |
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Children Joan II, Countess of Burgundy, Blanche of Burgundy, Robert, Count of Burgundy Parents Amicie de Courtenay, Robert II, Count of Artois Similar People Robert III of Artois, Philip V of France, Blanche of Burgundy, Charles IV of France, Otto IV - Count of Burgundy | ||
Mahaut (1268 – 27 October 1329, Paris), also known as Mathilda, ruled as Countess of Artois from 1302 to 1329. She was furthermore regent of the County of Burgundy from 1303 during the minority of her son, Robert.
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Life
She was the eldest child (and only daughter) of Robert II, Count of Artois, and Amicie de Courtenay. Her paternal grandparents were Robert I, Count of Artois, and Matilda of Brabant. Her maternal grandparents were Pierre de Courtenay, Seigneur de Conches, and Perronelle de Joigny. She was the sister of Philip of Artois (1269–1298) and Robert of Artois (born 1271).
In 1291, Mahaut married Otho IV, Count of Burgundy,. She became the mother of three children, including two girls who married kings of France.
Countess of Artois
Because of the premature death of her brother Philip in 1298, she inherited the County of Artois at her father's death in 1302, rather than her nephew Robert III (her inheritance being based upon proximity of blood). Although he repeatedly challenged the decision, her rights to the county were consistently upheld by the Parlement of Paris and the royal court. She was an able administrator and managed to defeat the many rebellions perpetrated by members of the nobility. Her senior administrator was the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras, Thierry de Hérisson. Upon her death in 1329, the county was inherited by her daughter Joan II, Countess of Burgundy (d. 1330), the widow of Philip V of France.
In fiction
Mahaut is a major character in Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings), a series of historical novels by Maurice Druon. Druon describes her as the poisoner of Louis X and his infant son Jean I, who is later poisoned herself the same way by her lady-in-waiting Béatrice d'Hirson, who originally helped with the King's poisoning. Allan Massie wrote in The Wall Street Journal, "Few figures in literature are as terrible as the Countess Mahaut, murderer and maker of kings." She was portrayed by Hélène Duc in the 1972 French miniseries adaptation of the novels, and by Jeanne Moreau in the 2005 remake.
Issue
Mahaut's daughters Joan II and Blanche, along with their cousin Margaret of Burgundy, were implicated in the Tour de Nesle Affair.