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 of Burgundy (as Margaret II). She was the only surviving child and heir of Louis II, Count of Flanders (1346–1384) and Margaret of Brabant.[1]

Margaret III, Countess of Flanders
Margaret of Dampierre, Countess of Flanders
Born(1350-04-13)13 April 1350
Male Castle, West Flanders, Belgium.
Died16 March 1405(1405-03-16) (aged 54)
Arras, Artois, France.
Noble familyHouse of Dampierre
Spouse(s)Philip I, Duke of Burgundy
Philip the Bold
Issue
John I, Duke of Burgundy;
Margaret, Duchess of Bavaria
Catherine, Duchess of Austria
Bonne of Burgundy
Mary, Duchess of Savoy
Antoine, Duke of Brabant
Philip II, Count of Nevers
FatherLouis II, Count of Flanders
MotherMargaret of Brabant
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Biography

In 1355,[2] Margaret of Flanders married Philip of Rouvres,[3] grandson and heir of Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy. Philip 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,[4] Margaret was widowed and had no issue by him. King John II of France then claimed the Duchy of Burgundy for the kingdom of France.[4] In 1364, Philip the Bold, King John's youngest son, was granted the duchy,[5] and subsequently married Margaret.[6] Margaret's second marriage to Philip the Bold took place in 1369.[7]

Margaret and her second husband shown with the arms of Flanders

When Margaret's father, the Count of Flanders, died in 1384, she and Philip inherited the counties of Artois, Burgundy, Flanders, Nevers, and Rethel.[8] Philip died in 1404, and Margaret died the following 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 to the House of Habsburg.

Issue

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
The Château de Germolles

In Burgundy, the Château de Germolles, offered to Margaret of Flanders by Philip the Bold in 1381, was transformed by the Duchess of Burgundy into a sumptuous country estate. It was a large rectangular building, surrounded by a moat, that enclosed a courtyard. The south and east wings contained the living apartments, while the west wing held the reception rooms. Margaret, being energetic and a country lover, decided to develop at the estate some rustic activities that would create a pleasant environment around this favourite residence of hers, as well as developing local agriculture and providing some income for the maintenance of the domain. Thus, she planted a large rose garden, and the petals were sent to Flanders to be used to make rose water. Largely preserved, the Château is today one of the best examples of the princely residences in France at the end of the Middle Ages.

Ancestry

References
  1. Sergio Boffa, Warfare in Medieval Brabant, 1356-1406, (Boydell & Brewer, 2004), xvii.
  2. Wim Blockmans and Walter Prevenier, The Promised Lands: The Low Countries Under Burgundian Rule, 1369-1530, transl. Elizabeth Fackelman, ed. Edward Peters, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999), 13.
  3. David M Nicholas, Medieval Flanders, (Routledge, 1992), 225-226, 442.
  4. W. Mark Ormrod, Edward III, (Yale University Press, 2011), 417
  5. Richard Vaughan, Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State, Vol. 1, (The Boydell Press, 2005), 152
  6. Mapping Family Lines: A Late Fifteenth Century Example of Genealogical Display, Charlotte Bauer-Smith, Reputation and Representation in Fifteenth Century Europe, ed. Douglas L. Biggs, Sharon D. Michalove, Albert Compton Reeves, (Brill, 2004), 130.
  7. Wim Blockmans, Walter Prevenier, The Promised Lands: The Low Countries Under Burgundian Rule, 1369-1530, ed. Edward Peters, transl. Elizabeth Fackelman, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988), 1.
  8. Duchy of Burgundy, Cathal J. Nolan, The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization, Vol. 1, (Greenwood Publishing, 2006), 100.
Margaret III, Countess of Flanders
Born: 13 April 1350 Died: 21 March 1405
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Louis of Mâle		 Countess of Flanders, Artois and Nevers
Countess Palatine of Burgundy
1384–1405		 Succeeded by
John the Fearless
Countess of Rethel
1384–1402		 Succeeded by
Anthony
French nobility
Preceded by
Joan III of Burgundy		 Duchess consort of Burgundy
1357–1404		 Succeeded by
Margaret of Bavaria
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