Margarete von Österreich, * 1480

Margaret of Austria, b. Jan. 10, 1480 Brussels, Belgium, d. Dec. 1, 1530 Mechelen, Belgium, daughter of Archduke, later Emperor, (see)Maximilian I and (see)Mary of Burgundy. At the age of three years married to the French dauphin, educated to become Queen of France for eight years; the marriage was dissolved for political reasons. Her second husband, Juan of Castile-Aragon, with whom she lived in Spain from 1496, died only a few months after the wedding. Finally, she married Philibert II, Duke of Savoy, in 1501, whose partiality for the pleasures of court life she counteracted by her great political skills. Her third husband also died early, in 1504; from 1507 to her death (with the exception of the period 1515-18) she was regent of the Netherlands, where she gained great respect as a patron of the arts.

Literature: E. Winker, Margarete von Österreich, 1977; U. Tamussino, Margarete von Österreich 1995.