Mary of Burgundy

Duchess of Burgundy and wife of emperor Maximilian I (1457-1482)

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Lived 1457–1482, aged 25France

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Wikipedia
53 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1457–1482
Aged 25

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

She inherited an empire at nineteen and immediately lost half of it to a French king who refused to recognize her claim. What she did next — marrying into the Habsburgs — set France and Austria on a collision course that lasted three centuries.

Biography

About

Mary was the only child of Charles the Bold, ruler of the Valois-Burgundian State, and when he died at the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477, she claimed the entire inheritance: the Burgundian Netherlands and lands scattered across France and the Holy Roman Empire. Her cousin Louis XI of France seized the Duchy of Burgundy, the Free County of Burgundy, and more, refusing to recognize her as ruler and triggering the War of the Burgundian Succession. To counter him she married Maximilian of Austria, son of Emperor Frederick III, pulling the Habsburgs into the fight and securing much of the Nethe…

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