Margaret I, Countess of Burgundy

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

French Monarchy
Direct Capetians
Hugh Capet
Gisèle, Countess of Ponthieu Hedwig, Countess of Mons Robert II
Robert II
Hedwig, Countess of Nevers Hugh Magnus, Rex Filius Henry I Adela, Countess of Flanders Robert I, Duke of Burgundy
Henry I
Philip I Hugh, Count of Vermandois
Philip I
Constance, Princess of Antioch Louis VI Cecile, Countess of Tripoli
Louis VI
Philip, Rex Filius Louis VII Henry, Archbishop of Reims Robert I, Count of Dreux Constance, Countess of Toulouse Philip, Archdeacon of Paris Peter I, Lord of Courtenay
Louis VII
Marie, Countess of Champagne Alix, Countess of Blois Marguerite, Queen of England and Hungary Alys, Countess of the Vexin Philip II Agnes, Byzantine Empress
Philip II
Louis VIII Marie, Duchess of Brabant Philip I, Count of Boulogne
Louis VIII
Louis IX Robert I, Count of Artois Alphonse, Count of Poitou and Toulouse Saint Isabelle Charles I of Naples and Sicily
Louis IX
Isabella, Queen of Navarre Louis of France Philip III John Tristan, Count of Valois Peter, Count of Perche and Alençon Blanche, Infanta of Castile Marguerite, Duchess of Brabant Robert, Count of Clermont Agnes, Duchess of Burgundy
Philip III
Louis of France Philip IV Charles, Count of Valois Louis, Count of Évreux Blanche, Duchess of Austria Margaret of France, Queen of England
Philip IV
Louis X Philip V Charles IV Isabella, Queen of England Grandchildren Edward III of England
Louis X
Joan II of Navarre John I
John I
Philip V
Joan III, Countess of Burgundy Margaret I, Countess of Burgundy Isabella, Dauphine of Viennois
Charles IV
Marie of France Blanche, Duchess of Orléans

Margaret I (1310 – 9 May 1382), Countess Palatine of Burgundy and Artois, reigned from 1361 and 1382. By marriage, she was also countess of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel.

Early life

Margaret was born in 1310, the second daughter of Countess Joan II of Burgundy and the future King Philip V of France. Her father ascended the throne in 1316, following the death of her infant first cousin King John I. Margaret was married to Louis I, Count of Flanders. Her husband was dependent on her father in suppressing the rebellion of Nicolaas Zannekin. King Philip died in 1322, and the crown was inherited by her uncle, King Charles IV.

Margaret's mother, Joan II, succeeded her own mother, Mahaut, as Countess of Artois in 1329. Margaret's elder sister Joan, inherited the counties of Artois and Burgundy when their mother died in 1330. Her husband was killed in the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. He and Margaret had one son, Louis II, Count of Flanders, who succeeded his father 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 Duchess Joanna, managed to keep her possessions.

Personal rule

In 1357, Margaret's granddaughter, Margaret , then seven years old, was married to Philip I, Duke of Burgundy, grandson and heir of Margaret's sister. They were childless and, upon his death in 1361, Margaret inherited Artois and Burgundy.

In 1369, the younger Margaret married Philip the Bold, youngest son of King John. 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.

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 and grandson-in-law. However, after the Battle of Beverhoutsveld, Louis II was expelled from Flanders by the Flemings under Philip van Artevelde. A French army (and Philip the Bold) came to help them regain Flanders, and the revolting Flemings were decisively defeated at the Battle of Roosebeke, the year in which Margaret died. However, the citizens of Ghent continued to resist with English aid, and it was left to her granddaughter and grandson-in-law to subdue the town.

Countess Margaret died in 1382. Her counties were inherited by her only son Louis, Count of Flanders, who died two years later. In 1384, all her possessions, together with Flanders and the rest of Louis' inheritance, went to her only surviving grandchild, Margaret III and II.

Ancestors