Margaret of Austria

Timeline

1. 1480–1501Brussels · BrabantDrawn into dynastic marriage politics from childhood, she was briefly dauphine of France before marrying Philibert II of Savoy. Widowed in 1501 after her husband's death, she began acting with greater political independence, accumulating experience for her later regency.
2. 1507–1530Mechelen · BrabantAppointed regent of the Netherlands by her father Maximilian in 1507, she presided over the administration of the Low Countries until her nephew Charles V came of age. She reformed finances and local governance, gathered humanists and artists at her court in Mechelen, and coordinated English, French, and imperial interests diplomatically.