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Margaret II

Type Figure Region Flanders Time 1202–1280 Also known as Margaret of Flanders

Margaret II (1202–1280), Countess of Flanders and Hainaut, of Latin Empire royal descent, inherited the counties in 1244;…

Timeline

  1. 1241–1244Ghent · East FlandersDuring the reign of her sister Jeanne, Countess of Flanders, disputes over succession rights among the sons of her two marriages were already simmering; when Jeanne died childless in 1244, Margaret, as the nearest heir, prepared to take over Flanders and Hainaut.
  2. 1244–1250Lille · NordAfter her accession in 1244, armed conflict erupted between the Avesnes and Dampierre families over the succession; the 1246 Treaty of Lens awarded Hainaut to the Avesnes line and Flanders to the Dampierre line, yet after her second son John I nominally succeeded in 1247 she still directed affairs as queen mother, safeguarding the economic interests of the textile cities.

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