Mary of Burgundy
Ruler of the Burgundian territories
Died when: 25 years 42 days (301 months)Star Sign: Aquarius
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Mary (French: Marie; Dutch: Maria; 13 February 1457 – 27 March 1482), nicknamed the Rich, was a member of the House of Valois-Burgundy who ruled a collection of states that included the duchies of Limburg, Brabant, Luxembourg, the counties of Namur, Holland, Hainaut and other territories, from 1477 until her death in 1482.
As the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon, she inherited the Burgundian lands at the age of 19 upon the death of her father in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477.
In order to counter the appetite of the French king Louis XI for her lands, she married Maximilian of Austria.
The marriage kept large parts of the Burgundian lands from disintegration, but also a change of dynasty from the Valois to the Habsburg (the Duchy of Burgundy itself became a French possession).
This was a turning point in European politics, leading to a French–Habsburg rivalry that would endure for centuries.