Name Margaret Countess Children John the Fearless | ||
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Born 13 April 1350 ( 1350-04-13 ) Parents Louis II, Count of Flanders, Margaret of Brabant, Countess of Flanders Grandchildren Philip the Good, Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut Similar People | ||
Margaret iii countess of flanders
Margaret III (13 April 1350 – 16/21 March 1405) was the last Countess of Flanders of the House of Dampierre, as well as Countess of Artois and Countess Palatine of Burgundy (as Margaret II). She was the only surviving child and heir of Louis II (1346–1384); and his wife Margaret of Brabant.
Contents
Biography
In 1355, the young Margaret married Philip of Rouvres, grandson and heir of Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy. He was count of Burgundy and Artois (1347–1361), Duke of Burgundy (1350–1361), and became Count of Auvergne and Boulogne (1360–1361).
Following Philip's death from a riding accident in 1361, Margaret was widowed. King John II of France claimed the duchy for the kingdom of France. In 1364 Philip the Bold, John's youngest son, was granted the duchy, and subsequently married Margaret. Margaret's second marriage to Philip the Bold took place in 1369.
When Margaret's father died in 1384, she and Philip inherited the counties of Artois, Burgundy, Flanders, Nevers, and Rethel. Philip died in 1404, and Margaret died the next year. With her death, the House of Dampierre came to an end and the County of Flanders lost its (relative) independence to Burgundy. It came under the rule of her son, John the Fearless, and later of the House of Habsburg.
Family
Margaret and Philip had the following children:
Legacy
The main line of the House of Dampierre ended with Margaret III. The Dampierres, originally only counts of Flanders, had through a clever marriage policy managed to inherit the counties of Nevers (1280) and Rethel (1328). Through her grandmother, a daughter of King Philip V of France, the counties of Artois and Burgundy (the "Franche Comté") were added to this (1382). These lands were to provide the core of the dominions of the House of Valois-Burgundy, which were, together with the Duchy of Burgundy, to provide them with a power base to challenge the rule of their cousins, the Valois kings of France in the 15th century.
Her eldest son, John the Fearless, succeeded her husband in 1404 as Duke of Burgundy and her as Count of Burgundy, Count of Artois, and Count of Flanders. In 1406 her younger son Anthony inherited Brabant and Limburg. Nevers and Rethel were at first, in her lifetime, given to her eldest sons John (Nevers) and Anthony (Rethel), but after John's accession to the duchy, Nevers went to her youngest son Philip. Rethel was given to Philip in 1402 when it became clear that Anthony would inherit Brabant.
Residences
In Burgundy, the château de Germolles offered by Philip the Bold to Margaret of Flanders in 1381 was embellished by the princess. Largely preserved, it is today one of the best example of the princely residences in France at the end of the Middle Ages.