A week after the arrival of the Imperial embassy in Bruges, Mary married Maximilian by proxy. There was some agitation when the marriage was made public six days later, because the Duchess had not, as she had promised, consulted the Estates or the Grand Council. However, the bloodletting at Ghent seems to have exhausted the opposition. When the Estates General reassembled on 7 May they accepted the statement by Jean de la Bouverie, the head of the Grand Council, that the marriage required no approval since it was merely the completion of arrangements made by the late Duke.43 Most of the delegates were by now much more sympathetic towards the Duchess and the Imperial marriage. The French destruction of farms and villages in Artois, Hainault and southern Flanders had rallied support to the Duchess. The Estates therefore approved the marriage on the condition that Maximilian would confirm the Great Privilege and they voted more money to help the Archduke to recover his wife’s lands.
By the end of April Louis must have realised that far from achieving the rapid disintegration of the Burgundian government, his policies had allowed the marriage of Mary and Maximilian to win wide support across the whole of the Low Countries and increased the opposition to the French invasion of Hainault and Flanders. Perhaps that first plaintive letter from Mary and Margaret had made him underestimate entirely the strength and resolve with which the two women intended to withstand a French takeover. Perhaps too, that is exactly what the letter was intended to do. Realising that his plans were now going awry, Louis sent a succession of embassies to the Duchess, urging her not to marry a ‘rude German’. But the devastation of the harvest by the French army was not likely to increase the number of francophiles in the Low Countries.44
Maximilian’s progress towards his beleaguered bride had been far from speedy. Indeed he made one of the slowest journeys down the Rhine on record, scarcely in keeping with his armorial device of ‘halt mass’ (keep pace). He left Vienna on 31 May and did not reach Maastricht until more than two months later on 5 August. In his own account of the journey, which was written many years later in the allegorical Weisskünig and Teuerdank45 Maximilian tried to explain the ten-week journey in terms of monsters and perils which beset the route of a young knight. However the more cynical Commynes saw the delay as caused by a shortage of funds, and reported that the Archduke’s long stay at Cologne was due to the fact that he had to wait for the Duchess to send him more money.
The time was also spent collecting troops and making careful diplomatic soundings. He checked out exactly how remunerative the Burgundian inheritance would be and both he and the Emperor were reported to be delighted when they learnt that the annual revenues had been estimated at over a million florins. Throughout these months, Margaret remained in direct correspondence with the Emperor, who promised to protect her dower lands with the Imperial armies. It was an empty assurance since the Emperor Frederick had no spare troops at his disposal, but the promise of Imperial protection must have pleased Margaret. Moreover the presence in the Low Countries of Georg Hessler, one of the most important Imperial councillors who had been working on this marriage for two years already, must have given her confidence that the arrival of Maximilian was imminent.
The young man on his slow journey to the Low Countries was certainly the most eligible of all the candidates proposed for Mary. Eighteen years old and two years younger than Mary, Maximilian was a blonde-haired elegant young man, well educated and with a talent for languages, being competent in seven, including Dutch and English which he learned after his arrival in the Low Countries. Like Mary, he enjoyed riding and hunting and their union does seem to have been a particularly happy one. After Mary’s early death, Maximilian remained a widower for many years and his second marriage was a purely diplomatic affair. His own account of his first marriage was written in the language of chivalry and romance, the story of a young knight setting off on a great adventure to rescue a princess who was under attack from all the forces of evil.46 Maximilian was certainly an amiable and pleasant young prince, and his relations with the Dowager were to be useful to them both. Margaret gave Maximilian her firm support throughout the rest of her life and there were never any signs of friction between them.
Maximilian arrived at the castle of Ghent on 18 August, escorted by 700 to 800 horsemen in a glittering cavalcade. He rode a mighty chestnut horse and was clad in silver armour. On his long golden hair was a diadem of pearls and precious stones. He was the ‘White King’ of his future autobiography. Margaret returned to Ghent with him and it was the Dowager and the Lady Hallewijn who arranged the first meeting between Mary and Maximilian. According to the delegate from Brandenburg who was in Maximilian’s retinue, the two ladies organised one of those little scenes so dear to the chroniclers of the fifteenth century. ‘At last you have everything that you desired so much’ said Margaret as she introduced Mary to her bridegroom.47 Maximilian was given to understand that the Duchess had a carnation hidden in her bosom and that it was his duty to find it. In a portrait of Maximilian painted shortly after his arrival in the Low Countries he is shown holding a carnation. This flower was the symbol of a betrothal and was often shown in marriage portraits.48 As soon as Maximilian arrived the wedding was celebrated. Compared to Margaret’s marriage, it was a low-key affair but the bride wore ‘the crown of Burgundy’ and the groom wore armour, indicating his resolve to drive out the French.
This marriage, achieved within nine months of the disaster at Nancy and in the face of internal revolts and a French invasion, was the result of the clear and skilful diplomacy of a very small number of people. Louis at least had no doubt at all that it was Margaret’s hands which had been ‘on the reins’.49 The events of 1477 ensured that France was prevented from gaining Hainault and Flanders. Margaret had encouraged Mary to make any concessions which would keep the French King at a distance and to preserve her freedom of action on the question of her marriage. Margaret’s part was also recognised by the Emperor, who thanked her personally for all her assistance.50 Throughout the difficult months of 1477 the Dowager had played a vital supportive role.
Moreover by steering Mary away from a French wedding and bringing a Habsburg into the Low Countries, she contributed to a major reorientation in European history. Her Belgian biographer, Luc Hommel, went so far as to claim that she was ‘greatly responsible for the existence of the present-day kingdom of Belgium’.51 The ‘most important political combination that ever involved the Low Countries’ had been achieved in spite of all the obstacles which had been put in its way.52
Apart from the major question of Mary’s marriage, Margaret had many other preoccupations during the first year of her widowhood. Her own position as Dowager was far from secure.53 Two types of dower settlements operated in Burgundy, the legal and customary arrangements made by most people who had properties to leave, and the contractual arrangement which was based on a treaty or contract made before marriage. Marriages involving great estates usually came within contract arrangements, as did the marriage of Margaret and Charles. This meant that Margaret’s whole position on the death of her husband was dependant on the marriage treaty of 1468. Margaret’s marriage contract had been modelled on earlier contracts drawn up for the marriage of previous Duchesses of Burgundy and particularly on the contract made for the marriage of Isabelle and Philip the Good. Isabelle had brought with her a dowry of only 154,000 crowns, but King Edward had promised Margaret a dowry of 200,000 crowns. Margaret’s dower was reckoned in terms of a fair return on this capital sum and in Margaret’s case this has been calculated as an eight to ten per cent. During the lifetime of Charles her dower had been administered as part of the ducal estates, but on his death it reverted to her. Her future income was to be derived from the revenues from Malines, Termonde, Oudenaarde, Cassel and Le Quesnoy
However, the reversion of the dower on the death of Charles was entirely dependant on the full payment of her dowry and this had not been achieved. Edward had made the first payment on the wedding day, but the second payment was still incomplete.
In May 1476 he had paid 16,000 crowns off the debt but in July of the same year the Burgundian treasury calculated that he still owed 115,000 crowns. When Margaret enquired in March 1477 as to the state of her dowry payments, she was told that Edward still owed more than half. This was bad news for Margaret because it meant that she was liable to lose half her dower. She was well aware of the problem and must have already discussed the situation with various officials. Immediately after Charles death she lost no time in trying to get the position clarified and corrected and she was astoundingly successful.
Although she inherited a most unsatisfactory settlement and in spite of a raging national crisis, Margaret still managed to secure a very rich dower. Her first letter to the central courts at Malines went off as early as 15 January, when she began collecting together all the relevant documentation. There was an initial delay in locating the documents, many of which were still being kept at Lille, and it took Mary and Margaret several months to find them all. Margaret had to send her own financial official Hippolyte de Berthoz to collect them. There was a further obstacle in that the officials both at Malines and Lille were alarmed at what they were being asked to do. They pointed out that there was a large debt on the dowry and registered the effect of this on the dower.
The officials were reluctant to make up the value of the dower as if the dowry had been paid in full. They tried to prevaricate and insisted that all the orders should be counter-signed by Mary, Margaret and Ravenstein. Considering the fate that had befallen the ducal officials in Ghent, their caution was perhaps understandable. However, Mary was determined that Margaret should have her dower in full and she ordered the officials to end their delaying tactics and make Margaret’s dower arrangements immediately ‘reserving only the rights of sovereignty to us and to our heirs’ (sans aultre chose réserver pour nous et nozdis hoirs que le ressort et souveraineté).54
In her letter of 28 January, Mary stated very clearly her reasons for her generosity towards her stepmother. Margaret, she said, had always held ‘our person and our lands and lordships in such complete and perfect love and goodwill that we can never sufficiently repay and recompense her’. Moreover since the death of the Duke, Margaret had ‘given freely and cordially of her help and shared in and supported all our affairs with all her might’. Two days later the Duchess added more reasons for her resolution that Margaret should receive her full dower, declaring:
And above all for the sake of the deep love and reverence that we have for our said lady and step-mother, and in consideration of all the great goodness help and assistance that she has given us, when we were in her care and we hope she will still give hereafter in all our affairs.55
Mary added another reason for the favoured treatment which she was demanding for her stepmother. She justified her grants to Margaret in these terms:
she [Margaret] is fully occupied in dealing with the very high and very mighty prince, our well beloved lord and cousin the King of England, to persuade him to come to our aid and to uphold the everlasting alliances and treaties which were signed between him and our late lord and father.56
By 10 March the officials had surrendered and Margaret had secured all the dower lands which had formerly belonged to Isabelle of Portugal. She was formally invested with them on 30 May, when her tuteur Josse de Lalaing, the Lord of Montigny, took the feudal oaths on her behalf at Louvain. Since the French had seized Chaussin and Le Perriere in Franche Comté, Cassel in southern Flanders and Le Quesnoy in Hainault, Margaret was given Brielle and Voorne in Zeeland in their place. A full valuation was made of all her lands, and when the revenues did not reach the promised income of 20,000 crowns, the customs dues of Rupelmonde were also added to Margaret’s possessions.57
When Maximilian arrived in August, Margaret acted swiftly to obtain his full agreement to all the arrangements which she had made with Mary. Indeed she seems to have been very impatient, trying to discuss the matter of her dower on the eve of the wedding, when Maximilian preferred to talk about the arrangements for the marriage.58
As the Duchess had explained to her officials, Margaret’s chief role in the affairs of Burgundy was to draw in the support of England. It was a role clearly recognised by Louis XI, who regarded her as one of the greatest obstacles to his ambitions vis-à-vis Burgundy. After Charles’ death, Edward IV came under a double obligation towards Burgundy, firstly to maintain his treaty obligations towards the duchy and secondly, as Margaret’s nearest male relative, to uphold his sister’s rights. The English King acknowledged his brotherly duties when he thanked the Duchess Mary for her great generosity towards his sister.59 But as the Paston letters and the ‘White Rose Chronicle’ show, there were many in England who expected Edward to do more than this, and were sure that he would send over an army in support of his widowed sister.60
No doubt Margaret also hoped that he would send military assistance and help to defend Burgundy against Louis XI, though by this time she must have been well aware of Edward’s hesitation in such matters. It was in an effort to remind Edward of his moral and military responsibilities towards her that she wrote to him shortly after the fall of Cassel. It was a very strong letter indeed. She reminded Edward that he had made her ‘one of the most important ladies in the world,’ that he was now her ‘only lord, father, husband and brother’ and that her situation was harsh and grim. She had become ‘one of the poorest widows deserted by everyone, especially by you,’ and she appealed to him not to ‘leave me in such a miserable estate, to rescue me from the King of France who does his best to reduce me to a state of beggary for the rest of my days’. She begged him to send over 1,000 or 1,500 archers, who would be used for her protection and to intercede personally on her behalf with Louis.61
If Margaret really expected military support from Edward to defend her dower lands against Louis XI, then she hoped in vain. Nevertheless, for honour’s sake he was obliged to show some diplomatic effort on behalf of his sister. Although he had no intention of going to war on her behalf, he did make very vigorous protests to Louis and he also used the threat of his intervention to keep up the pressure on Louis and to ensure the payment of his own annuity. He even tried to persuade the French King to make payments for the upkeep of his daughter Elizabeth of York as the future Dauphine, but in this he was not successful.
As early as February 1477, Edward warned Louis to respect Margaret’s property.62 Louis’ initial response was an attempt to discredit the Dowager, both in Flanders and with Edward, by spreading rumours of a plot by Margaret, Hastings and Clarence to kidnap Mary and marry her off to Clarence. The Dowager, Louis assured the Flemings and Edward, was behind the whole enterprise and was secretly in touch with great lords in England to conspire against the King. Edward was unimpressed by these tales and although Clarence was to be arrested and killed in 1478, it was not because of this alleged plot and both Margaret and Hastings remained in the King’s favour.63
Besides trying to alarm Edward with stories of conspiracy against him, Louis also instructed his ambassadors to assure the King that Margaret had no rights to these dower lands. Since all the Burgundian inheritance must devolve to him as the late Duke’s sovereign, it was not in Mary’s power to invest Margaret with any territory in France. This too was given little credence by King Edward. After the French had burned and plundered Cassel together with fifty-two villages and whole areas around Oudenaarde, Le Quesnoy and Binche in August 1477, Edward sent his almoner, Thomas Danet, to make indignant objections at the French ‘attacks upon the King’s sister without reason’ and to claim compensation of 40,000 crowns on her behalf.64 An English embassy was also despatched to Flanders to give some support to the Duchess. When Louis heard of John Coke’s arrival at Ghent he immediately sent Edward the annuity which was overdue. He instructed his ambassadors to woo Edward with soft words, assuring him of his love and care for Margaret, promising to extend towards her all his protection as soon as she would submit to him as her sovereign lord. He insisted that Margaret had no grounds
for complaint against him, either on the question of her dower lands or in any other matter.
Throughout 1477 to 1480 the ambassadors went to and fro between England, France and the Low Countries and Louis repeated his offers to protect Margaret if she would put herself and her lands into his care. He would then restore all her dower lands to her and make reparation for any damage caused by the war. In the meantime the French attacks on Burgundy continued, although there was a brief truce in July 1478. Margaret continued to appeal to Edward and he agreed to renew the Anglo-Burgundian treaties. During all this time Louis continued to regard Margaret as a major impediment to his plans. He warned his ambassadors that they would be stupid to expect any success from the Franco-Burgundian conference because Margaret was in control and she would do all in her power to prevent a settlement.65 Finally Louis was obliged to negotiate. The treaty of Arras saw all Margaret’s lands restored and she was promised satisfactory reparations. Edward did little to bring about this settlement but he made some slight economic gestures towards his sister. His concessions to Malines in November 1478, allowing the merchants of that city to trade in England on the same preferential terms as the members of the Hanseatic League, were presumably a sop to Margaret and he also renewed her trading licences.66
Immediately after the marriage of Maximilian and Mary, Margaret established herself at Malines in Brabant. Her choice of this city as her chief residence was governed by several factors, not least of which was the fact that it had become the home of the central court during the lifetime of her husband. His selection of the city as the judicial centre of the Low Countries may have weighed heavily with her since she was zealous in the preservation of his memory. The central courts of the Low Countries remained at Malines right up to the French revolution and earned for the city its soubriquet of ‘Malines La Prudente’.67 Brabant was also much more accommodating to the will of their ducal rulers than was Flanders and Malines was a very loyal city compared with Ghent or Bruges. It was also the richest and most centrally situated of all her dower towns. She owned seventeen villages in the area as well as the nearby castle of Arkel, which she had repaired and where she installed Engelbert de Falleton as her constable.68
Margaret of York: The Diabolical Duchess Page 17