Margaret of Burgundy, Queen of France

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Margaret of Burgundy, Queen of France bigraphy, stories - Dynasty

Margaret of Burgundy, Queen of France : biography

1290 – 14 August 1315

Margaret of Burgundy () (1290 – 14 August 1315) was the first queen consort of King Louis X of France (also King Louis I of Navarre).

Life

Margaret was a princess of the ducal House of Burgundy, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. She was the eldest daughter of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy (1248–1306) and Agnes of France (1260–1327), the youngest daughter of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence.Anne Echols and Marty Williams, An Annotated Index of Medieval Women, (Markus Weiner Publishing Inc., 1992), 300.

In 1305, Margaret married her cousin once removed, Louis X of France, King of Navarre, who in 1314 acceded to the French throne as Louis X.Anne Echols, 300. They had one daughter, Joan (born 1312, died 1349).

Early in 1314, Margaret was allegedly caught in an act of adultery in the Tour de Nesle Affair. Her sister-in-law Isabella of France was a witness against her, and Margaret was imprisoned for the last two years of her life, along with her sister-in-law Blanche of Burgundy. Margaret was confined at Chateau Gaillard and after poor treatment caught a cold and died.Jim Bradbury, The Capetians: Kings of France, 987-1328, (Continuum Books, 2007), 277.

Legacy

Margaret’s daughter, Joan, later became queen regnant of Navarre as Joan II (1311–1349). Her paternity was under doubt because of her mother’s alleged adultery.

In 1361, Margaret’s succession rights became important in the premature death of Philip I, Duke of Burgundy (her grandnephew), since the closest Burgundian heirs were descendants of Margaret and of her sister, Joan the Lame. Margaret’s grandson and heir Charles II of Navarre claimed the duchy on the basis of primogeniture, but Joan the Lame’s son John II of France on the basis of proximity, being one generation closer to the Burgundian dukes. The case was ruled in favour of John, who became Duke of Burgundy, later bestowing the Duchy upon his son, Philip the Bold.

Ancestry

Cultural references

Margaret is portrayed in La Reine Étranglée, a novel in Les Rois Maudits ("The Accursed Kings") series of historical novels by Maurice Druon.