Margaret of Dampierre was the last Countess of Flanders of the House of Dampierre, Countess of Artois and Countess Palatine of Burgundy and twice Duchess consort of Burgundy.
Background
She was the only surviving child and heir of Louis de Mâle, Count of Flanders, Count of Nevers, and Count of Rethel (1346–1384). And his wife Margaret of Brabant, Countess of Flanders. In 1355, the young Margaret married Philip of Rouvres, grandson and heir of Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy.
Career
He was count of Burgundy and Artois (1347–1361), Duke of Burgundy (1350–1361), and became Count of Auvergne and Boulogne (1360–1361). Following Philip"s death from a riding accident in 1361, Margaret was widowed. King John II of France claimed the duchy for the kingdom of France.
Margaret"s second marriage to Philip the Bold took place in 1369.
When Margaret"s father died in 1384, she and Philip inherited the counties of Artois, Burgundy, Flanders, Nevers, and Rethel. Philip died in 1404, and Margaret died the next year.
With her death, the House of Dampierre became extinct and the County of Flanders lost its independence. lieutenant came under the rule of the House of Burgundy and later of the House of Habsburg.
Margaret and Philip had the following children:
Charles (1372–1373)
Margaret of Burgundy (October 1374 – March 8, 1441, Le Quesnoy), Countess of Mortain married William VI, Count of Holland and Duke of Bavaria-Straubing
Louis (1377–1378)
Catherine of Burgundy (April 1378, Montbard – January 24, 1425, Gray, Haute-Saône), married Leopold IV, Duke of Austria
Bonne (1379–1399, Arras)
Mary of Burgundy (September 1380, Dijon – October 2, 1422, Thonon-les-Bains), married Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy
Antoine, Duke of Brabant (August, 1384 – October 25, 1415, at Agincourt)
Philip, her successor in Nevers and Rethel (1389–1415, at Agincourt)
Legacy
The main line of the House of Dampierre ended with Margaret III. The Dampierres, originally only counts of Flanders, had through a clever marriage policy managed to inherit the counties of Nevers (1280) and Rethel (1328).
Rethel was given to Philip in 1402 when it became clear that Anthony would inherit Brabant. In Burgundy, the château de Germolles offered by Philip the Bold to Margaret of Flanders in 1381 was embellished by the princess. Largely preserved, it is today one of the best example of the princely residences in France at the end of the Middle Ages.