MARGUERITE OF FLANDERS
(ca. 1349–1405). Duchess of Burgundy. Daughter of Louis II de Male, count of Flanders
(r. 1346–84), and Marguerite, daughter of Duke Jean III of Brabant, Marguerite was
married first to Philippe de Rouvre, duke of Burgundy, who died in 1361, and thereafter
in 1369 to Philip the Bold (1342–1404), duke of Burgundy since 1363. Her dowry
included Artois and the county of Burgundy from her paternal grandmother, Marguerite
d’Artois, and Flanders and Rethel from her father. To get this attractive match, Philip’s
brother, King Charles V of France, had to return to Flanders the towns and castellanies of
Lille, Douai, and Orchies, which had been surrendered to the crown in 1305. Marguerite
succeeded her grandmother in 1382 and her father in early 1384, and her husband ruled
her lands through her. In 1390, her aunt, Countess Jeanne de Brabant, designated her with
Philip as her heirs. In 1391, Marguerite willed her lands to Philip on grounds of their
son’s immaturity and the skill with which Philip had governed her inheritance. In fact,
she survived him by a year, and Flanders passed to that same eldest son, John the
Fearless. She and her husband were patrons of the arts, and she frequently acted as regent
during his absences. Between 1371 and 1391, Philip and Marguerite had at least eleven
children, of whom seven survived into adulthood. Their diplomatic marriages would
establish the foundations of the Burgundian power of the 15th century.
David M.Nicholas
[See also: FLANDERS; JOHN THE FEARLESS; PHILIP THE BOLD]
Canat de Chizy, M. “Marguerite de Flandre, duchesse de Bourgogne, sa vie intime et l’état de sa
maison.” Mémoires de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres de Dijon, 2nd
ser. 7 (1958–59):65–332.
Hughes, Muriel J. “The Library of Philip the Bold and Margaret of Flanders, First Valois Duke and
Duchess of Burgundy.” Journal of Medieval History 4(1978):145–88.
Vaughan, Richard. Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1962.
MARGUERITE OF PROVENCE
(ca. 1221–1295). Marguerite was the eldest of four daughters of Count Raymond-
Berenguer V of Provence. In 1234, at the age of twelve or thirteen, she became queen of
France by her marriage to Louis IX. The wedding and her coronation as queen were
celebrated at the cathedral of Sens. Eleven children were eventually born to the couple.
The marriage was difficult in a number of respects. From the beginning, Marguerite
resented and was resented by her mother-in-law, Blanche of Castile; yet she admired
Blanche’s influence with Louis. She tried to achieve the same position with her son, the
future Philip III, but provoked her husband to intervene and have the young Philip’s ill-
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