© DVN, een project van Huygens ING en OGC (UU). Bronvermelding: Rik Hoekstra, en, in: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. URL: https://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/en [13/01/2014] Adopted by Sebastiaan Derks .
MARGARET, Duchess of PARMA and PIACENZA, also known as Margaret of Austria (born Oudenaarde, 5 July 1522 – died Ortona, Italy, 18 January 1586), regent of the Netherlands. Illegitimate daughter of Charles V (1500-1558) and Johanna van der Gheynst, maidservant. Margaret of Parma married (1) Alexander de’ Medici (died 1537) in 1536 in Naples; (2) Ottavio Farnese (1524-1587) on 4 November 1538 in Rome. By her second husband Margaret had 2 sons, 1 of whom lived to adulthood.
Youth
Margaret was conceived in 1521, when the then unmarried Charles spent six weeks as a guest at the governor of Oudenaarde’s castle. Her mother, the maidservant Johanna van de Gheynst, did not raise Margaret; instead, she was entrusted as a baby to the De Douvrin family, who lived in Brussels. Even though Margaret did not grow up at court, her early years were influenced by her great-aunt Margaret of Austria, after whom she was named, and her aunt Mary of Hungary, both of whom held court at Mechlin as regents of the Netherlands. In 1533 the ten-year-old Margaret moved to Italy, where she was raised mainly by Madame de Lannoy, the widow of Charles de Lannoy, the former viceroy of Naples. Her Italian upbringing explains why she became best known by her Italian title, ‘Madama’, even though she had been given the right to use the name Margaret of Austria when emperor Charles V recognised her as his daughter in 1529.
Italian years
In Italy, Margaret, a member of the Habsburg family, was primarily a pawn in her father’s political manoeuvres, which focused on acquiring the pope’s support in Italian political affairs aimed at undermining his rival, the king of France. Her status, prestige and wealth (including a considerable income from manorial rights) made her a good match and a means for Charles to secure the loyalty of the bridegroom’s family. Although Charles first entered into marriage negotiations with the duke of Ferrara in 1526, it was the pope who had the greatest influence on events. In Italy the pope’s position conferred upon him great worldly power, but at the same time he was an uncertain factor because his power lasted only as long as his lifetime. Papal policy was therefore subject to the infighting of the incumbent’s family. The death of a pope could change the balance of power overnight, and since popes tended to be of an advanced age, one had to be prepared for the consequences of the pontiff’s sudden demise.
In 1529 Charles arranged a marriage contract for Margaretha with Pope Clemens VII, a member of the Medici family, who hoped to secure through the emperor the position of the Medici in Florence. This marriage to Alexander de’ Medici, which was solemnised in 1536, made Margaret the Duchess of Florence. The emperor had demanded, however, that the marriage not be consummated until Margaret reached the age of sixteen, until which time the prevailing mores allowed the marriage to be annulled. The union was short-lived, for Alexander de’ Medici was murdered in Florence on Epiphany 1537. Margaret herself was not averse to marrying another member of the family, and in fact she had her eye on Cosimo de’ Medici. This attachment, however, was no longer politically opportune, because the new pope, Paul III, was a member of the Farnese family.
Margaret returned to Rome, where on 2 November 1538 she married Ottavio Farnese, grandson of Pope Paul III. She was extremely unhappy with the choice of husband, since as a sixteen-year-old widow she thought this fourteen-year-old beneath her dignity. Her aloofness in the early years of their marriage was due not only to her personal reservations but also to the instructions of her father, to whom she remained very loyal. Though Charles V had again hoped to win over the pope through this marriage, he was reluctant to tie himself down to someone whose influence could only be temporary. Margaret and her entourage dressed for the wedding in mourning, and apparently she never voiced her consent. However, Pope Paul III lived longer than expected, and the marriage likewise endured. In 1545 Margaret bore Ottavio twin boys – Carlo and Alexander – but Carlo died within the year. Her relationship with Ottavio was never close, and the couple spent most of their time apart. However, the respect they came to have for one another is apparent from the meetings at which they discussed family affairs.
Margaret worshipped her son, and accordingly endeavoured to promote the interests of the Farnese family, into which she had married. This greatly complicated her position, given that the interests of the Farnesi sometimes clashed with those of the House of Habsburg. This conflict of interests first arose with regard to the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, to which both the pope and the emperor had a claim. The Farnesi had acquired the duchy from the pope and were loath to relinquish their claim; the struggle to control Parma and Piacenza even caused Ottavio to side temporarily with the French king. Margaret was torn between the two, and although she was never disloyal to her father, she remained in Italy to protect her son’s interests. In 1556 the Farnesi finally consolidated their claim to Parma and Piacenza, but a Spanish garrison quartered in Piacenza Castle continued to occupy the city, and it was not until shortly before Margaret’s death that the city was finally handed over to the Farnesi. Philip II, who had succeeded his father in 1555, stipulated in the treaty of 1556 concerning Parma and Piacenza that Margaret’s son, Alexander, be sent to the Spanish court to be educated. This was an attempt on Philip’s part to secure the loyalty of the Farnese family, which was not an unusual step in those days.
Regent of the Netherlands
After 1555 Margaret spent a great deal of time in the Netherlands, some it together with Philip, her half-brother. She travelled there, for example, to place her son in Philip’s care, and again in 1558 to attend her father’s funeral. In 1559 Margaret was appointed regent of the Netherlands, owing largely to her standing as a Habsburg princess. At first her appointment was unpopular with the higher nobility in the Netherlands, who would have preferred one of their own candidates as viceroy. Margaret ruled from Brussels.
Her reign as regent began at a difficult time. Her predecessor, her aunt Mary of Hungary, had ruled with a firm hand, but Margaret was an inexperienced leader. The political climate in the Netherlands was characterised by a high degree of distrust between the various political factions: the States-General, the aristocracy, and the king and his direct representatives. When Philip II went to Spain in 1559, he left Margaret with instructions that greatly limited her powers. He ordered her not to make any major decisions without consulting him, and to follow the counsel of Antoon Perrenot, Lord of Granvelle. It was this man – Bishop of Arras, later Archbishop of Mechlin and therefore prelate of the Netherlands – who steered the course of policy in the first years of her reign. Granvelle was not on good terms with the aristocracy, whose most prominent members were Egmond and Orange. The nobles thought that Granvelle had too much influence and suspected him of political manipulation.
Margaret’s relations with Granvelle cooled in the 1560s, mainly because she suspected him of thwarting her plans to marry off Alexander to a descendant of the Austrian Habsburgs. The imbroglio resulted in Granvelle’s transfer to Italy in early 1564, his departure from the Netherlands being attributed to the need to assist his sick mother. Margaret had now lost her most important political advisor, and it would not be easy to replace him. Furthermore, Philip continued to insist on making all the important decisions himself, even though nothing was heard from him for months at a time.
The revolt
In the meantime there was great dissatisfaction in the Netherlands with the edicts regulating religious practice, which were designed to eradicate Protestantism. Rumours abounded that the Spanish Inquisition would be sent to implement these stringent measures. Earlier appeals to temper the policy on religious practice – personally advocated by Egmond in Spain – had all met with Philip’s disapproval. In 1565 Philip decreed in his famous ‘letters from the Forest of Segovia’ that religious persecution would not be curtailed, thereby dashing all hopes of more moderate policies.
It was also in 1565 that Margaret’s court in Brussels became the scene of the sumptuous ceremonies attendant upon the marriage of 21-year-old Alexander Farnese to Princess Maria of Portugal. A large number of the Netherlands’ nobles attended the wedding. A group of lesser nobles took the opportunity to forge an alliance that drew up the so-called ‘compromise of the nobles’, designed to bring about a relaxation of the edicts. Margaret panicked at this resistance to her rule, but on 5 April she received a delegation from the group, who handed her a petition. With no army to back her, her hands were tied, so she promised to suspend the repression of Protestants.
Later in the same year (1566), the Netherlands experienced a wave of violence that spread from south to north: the so-called Iconoclastic Fury. Churches and monasteries were destroyed and plundered. Margaret was desperate at first, but in the autumn of 1566 she rallied and took the lead in the efforts to restore order. Some semblance of order had returned by the spring of 1567, but Philip – who had meanwhile decided to use military force to quell the riots – sent the Duke of Alva with an army. Margaret maintained from the outset that the arrival of Alva and his army would be disastrous for the Netherlands. She felt that Alva’s broad mandate undermined her position, and she consequently resigned as regent. Although she had paved the way for the repression of Protestants, and had actually implemented repressive measures the previous year, she was shocked by Alva’s heavy-handed approach and particularly by his arrest of Egmond and Hoorne.
In 1567 Margaret left for Italy, where she settled on her vast estate in Aquila, in the Abruzzi, of which region Philip appointed her ‘governor in perpetuity’. Margaret’s departure for Italy did not signal the end of her involvement in politics. She remained in contact with Granvelle, now Philip II’s viceroy in Naples. Her son sought her advice in affairs of state, as did Don Juan of Austria (1547-1578), another illegitimate child of Charles V and therefore her half-brother. Don Juan was about the same age as her son Alexander and was his friend and comrade-in-arms; they had fought together, for instance, in the Battle of Lepanto (October 1571) against the Turks. In Aquila, Margaret took on the care of Don Juan’s daughter, and they remained in touch when he became governor of the Netherlands in 1567.
In 1577 Philip began to look for an alternative to Don Juan, whom he no longer trusted. He proposed that Margaret, with Granvelle as her adviser, should take over the governance of the Netherlands. Margaret was willing, but Granvelle refused, and the plan came to nothing. In 1580 Philip once again proposed a shared regency, reportedly at the instigation of Granvelle. Meanwhile the situation had changed, because in 1578 Don Juan – on his deathbed – had named Margaret’s son Alexander as his successor. Philip had agreed, but felt uncomfortable with the situation, and thought that if mother and son were appointed to rule jointly, they would keep each other in check. Margaret accepted the position, some later authors attributing her acceptance to her desire to play an important political role again, and others to her hopes of persuading Philip finally to pull the Spanish garrison out of Piacenza Castle. At any rate, the situation was the cause of great discord between Margaret and her son Alexander. Eventually Margaret withdrew and Alexander remained regent. Philip forced her to stay in the Low Countries, though, and she lived in Namur until 1583, when Philip granted her permission to return to Italy because of her health.
In 1585 Philip II agreed to honour Alexander Farnese’s request to hand over Piacenza, thereby fulfilling Margaret’s long-held wish before her death. Following a serious illness, she died in Ortona on 18 January 1586. Her body was taken to Piacenza for burial.
Image
Margaret is known principally as regent of the Netherlands from 1559 to 1567, in the period marked by the outbreak of the Dutch Revolt against Philip II. Most of her eventful life was however spent in Italy, where she was the Duchess of Parma and Piacenza. The illegitimate daughter of the emperor, she grew up at courts in the Netherlands and Italy. Margaret thought the world of her father, but she had little direct contact with him. In Italy she spoke to him in person on only a few occasions. The same is true of her half-brother Philip, whom she never saw after his departure from the Netherlands in 1559. Her son Alexander was raised at the Spanish court, and she communicated with him only through letters, so she naturally left us a huge amount of correspondence. In later life in particular she corresponded extensively with important members of state in Philip’s empire. Although the letters were written by her secretaries in several languages – including French, Spanish and Dutch, which she did not speak herself – she preferred to communicate in Italian.
Margaret of Parma’s life and work have had mixed reviews, as it were. She is usually described as stiff, very masculine in appearance, proud and conscious of her standing – but also indecisive. Historians from previous centuries have claimed she was sympathetic to the Dutch rebels, owing to her frequent opposition to Philip and his directives from Spain. More recently, however, historians have begun to think that she yielded to the pressures of society out of necessity rather than conviction, since she always obeyed the instructions Philip had given her. There was no doubting her loyalty to both the Habsburg ruler and the interests of her son. Although these interests were sometimes at variance, scant attention has been paid to the tension this must have caused. Nor is it clear what role Margaret played as a woman of state within the Habsburg empire, where she corresponded with many prominent figures. It is however evident that she was well informed about current political affairs and was an important adviser to Don Juan and Alexander Farnese. All things considered, it is no easy task to determine the significance of this leading female member of the House of Habsburg in the sixteenth century.
Reference work(s)
Van der Aa; Kobus/De Rivecourt; Kok; NBW; NNBW; Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation; Scheltema; Verwoert.
Archives
The main depository for the Margaretha van Parma letters is the Archivio Farnese in Naples, which was partly destroyed in 1943. Some of the burnt letters, however, were published previously. See the bibliography below.
Bibliography
- Correspondance de Marguerite d’Autriche, duchesse de Parme avec Philippe II, F.A.F.Th. de Reiffenberg ed. (Brussels 1842).
- Correspondance de Philippe II sur les affaires des Pays-Bas, L.P. Gachard ed., 5 volumes (Brussels 1848-1879).
- Correspondance de Marguerite de Parme avec Philippe II, L.P. Gachard ed. 3 volumes (Brussels 1867-1881).
- Felix Rachfahl, Margaretha von Parma, Statthalterin der Niederlande (1559-1567) (Munich/Leipzig 1898).
- Correspondance française de Marguerite d’Autriche, duchesse de Parme avec Philippe II, J.S. Theissen and H.A. Enno van Gelder ed. 3 volumes (Utrecht 1925-1942).
- Leon van der Essen, Alexandre Farnèse, prince de Parme, gouverneur géneral des Pays-Bas (1545-1592), 5 volumes (Brussels 1933-1936).
- S.A. van Lennep, Les années italiennes de Marguerite d’Autriche, duchesse de Parme (Geneva s.a. [1952]).
- Jane de Iongh, Madama. Margaretha van Oostenrijk, hertogin van Parma en Piacenza 1522-1586 (Amsterdam 1965).
- Anne Puaux, Madama, fille de Charles Quint. Régente des Pays Bas (Paris 1987).
- George Henri Dumont, Marguerite de Parme bâtarde de Charles Quint (1522-1586). Biographie (Brussels 1999).
Illustration
Stained glass window by Wouter Crabeth Sint-Janskerk, Gouda [www.st-janskerkgouda.nl].
Author: Rik Hoekstra
last updated: 13/01/2014