A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Margaret, Countess of the Tyrol and Duchess of Carinthia
MARGARET,
Countess of the Tyrol and Duchess of Carinthia. Her father Henry succeeded to the throne of Bohemia, at the death of Winzeslaus the Third, but was expelled from it by John of Luxemburg. Henry preserved the title of king and retired to the castle of the Tyrol, where, in 1318, was born the Princess Margaret. This sole heiress of the Tyrol and of Carinthia soon became the aim of the houses of Austria, Bavaria, and Luxemburg. King John of Bohemia, with finesse superior to the others, ingratiated himself with the Count of Tyrol, who agreed to betroth the Countess Margaret, then seven years old, to his son John, yet an infant. The union did not take place till the year 1338, when Margaret had reached the age of twenty.
This princess, who was of a light and frivolous disposition, open to flattery, and easily swayed by the designing, had an invincible repugnance to her husband, who, to the petulence of a beardless boy, joined the haughtiness of a sovereign. The ambition of the house of Bavaria took advantage of these circumstances, and secret negotiations were opened with Margaret. Her marriage with John was cancelled, and the emperor proposed one of his sons as his successor. Some suspicions entering the mind of John, he proceeded to harsh measures with his wife, causing her to be guarded in a tower of the castle of the Tyrol. This was a very imprudent step; for it excited her subjects to such indignation, that the emissaries of Bavaria found it an easy matter to excite a revolt. John was himself driven from the country, and Margaret fell into the hands of the emperor.
Ludovic, Margrave of Brandenburg, was selected to become the new spouse of Margaret. His handsome person, pleasing manners, and military reputation, easily reconciled her to the decree. But he manifested extreme repugnance to wed a princess who was without intrinsic merit, who was lawfully married to another, and who was related to him within the permitted degrees of consanguinity. His father silenced all these scruples; the dower of Margaret, in his eyes, neutralized every objection. He used his imperial power to annul her first marriage, and proceeded to unite her with Ludovic.
In the year 1361, Ludovic died suddenly, and many attributed his death to poison; some even hinted that Margaret was implicated; but there exist no proofs of such an atrocity. The death of their only son, Mainard, in the flower of his age, has also been ascribed by some to his mother's malice. But the most authentic historians are far from attributing to her such revolting wickedness. What can really be proved is her want of capacity, which was shown in the mistakes she made when, for a short time, the powers of government were concentrated in her hands. Rodolph, who, by many manoeuvres and intrigues, had captivated the favours of Margaret, had, in the lifetime of Ludovic, obtained from her a settlement investing him with the inheritance of the Tyrol in case of her husband and son dying without heirs. He, taking advantage of her weakness, induced her to abdicate her sovereignty in his favour; painting the troubles that invest a throne, and the life of pleasure and ease she would lead in a court that was then the first in Europe. She had an appointed revenue of six thousand gold marks, and four princely residences. When all was concluded, she proceeded with the widow of Mainard to the court of Vienna, where she was received with most distinguished attention. She passed six years of tranquility, if insignificant pleasures deserve that term, and died in 1369. She was buried in the convent of St. Croce, near Baden.