Mary of Burgundy

Mary of Burgundy (French: Marie de Bourgogne; Dutch: Maria van Bourgondië; 13 February 1457 – 27 March 1482), nicknamed the Rich, was a member of the House of Valois-Burgundy, and ruler in her own right (suo jure) over much of the Valois-Burgundian lands, from 1477 to 1482. Her effective rule extended over major part of the Burgundian Netherlands, while she also claimed the rest of the Burgundian inheritance, including domains that were seized by her cousin, the French king Louis XI in 1477, such as the Duchy of Burgundy, the Free County of Burgundy and several other lands, both within the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire.

As the only child of Charles the Bold, ruler of the Valois-Burgundian State, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon, Mary became the heiress of Valois-Burgundian lands, and at the age of 19, upon the death of her father in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477, she claimed the entire inheritance, being accepted as the new ruler in several domains. Her claims were not recognized by the French king Louis XI, who quickly seized various Valois-Burgundian domains, not only those that belonged to the French realm (such as the Duchy of Burgundy), but also some that belonged to the Holy Roman Empire (such as the Free County of Burgundy). Those disputes led to the War of the Burgundian Succession.

In order to counter the appetites of the French king, she married Maximilian of Austria, son of the emperor Frederick III, thus securing the support of the Habsburgs in her struggle against the ambitions of Louis XI and his successors. This became a turning point in European politics, leading to a long French–Habsburg rivalry that would endure for centuries. Mary and Maximilian succeeded in securing much of the Burgundian Netherlands, but were not able to recapture domains already seized by the French king. After Mary's death in a riding accident in 1482, her domains, titles and claims were inherited by her young son Philip I the Handsome.