[MR] Wikipedia: Death of Margaret III, Countess of Flanders

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1405, Margaret III, ruling Countess of Flanders, died.
Well, it may have been on the 21st, but who's . . . uh . . . counting?

Margaret was born in 1350, the daughter of Louis le Male, aka Louis II,
Count of Flanders, in the House of Dampierre. After Louis' only son died
young, Margaret became Louis' sole heir. Margaret also inherited the
counties of Artois, Nevers, Rethel, and the Free County of Burgundy (in the
Holy Roman Empire, across the border from the Duchy of Burgundy). So she
was a countess in her own right five times over.

Flanders was where the money was, thanks to the wool trade, and Margaret
was a very rich marriage prize. She was married as a child to the almost
equally young Philip of Rouvres, Duke of Burgundy, House of Burgundy.
Philip died at the age of 15 in 1461, either from a riding accident or
(more likely) the plague. Margaret was now a childless widow.

Margaret's second marriage was in 1369 to Philip the Bold, 4th son of
French King John II. This Philip was already Duke of Burgundy, the first in
the Valois line. Philip the Bold eventually became the most powerful man in
France, serving as regent during the minority, and later the madness, of
French King Charles VI.

Upon Margaret's death Flanders passed to her oldest son, John the Fearless,
Duke of Burgundy. Flanders became the cornerstone of the Burgundian empire
in the Low Countries.

Margaret had four daughters, three of whom were married into very
advantageous alliances with dukes. In addition to John the
Fearless, Margaret bore two sons who died in infancy, and two more who were
killed at Agincourt.

Margaret's bio is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_III,_Countess_of_Flanders .

Yours Aye,

Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Self-confessed Burgundy geek