Margarete Maultasch
| Margaret | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Tyrol | |
Margaret with Tyrolean, Bavarian and Carinthian coat of arms, 16th century depiction
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| Countess | 1335–1363 |
| Predecessor | Henry II |
| Successor | Rudolf IV of Austria |
| Spouse(s) |
John Henry of Luxembourg Louis of Wittelsbach |
| Noble family | House of Gorizia |
| Father | Henry of Carinthia |
| Mother | Adelaide of Brunswick |
| Born | 1318 |
| Died | 3 October 1369 Vienna, Austria |
| Buried | Minoritenkirche, Vienna |
Margaret, nicknamed Margarete Maultasch (1318 – 3 October 1369), was the last Countess of Tyrol from the House of Gorizia (Meinhardiner). Upon her death, Tyrol became united with the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburg dynasty.
Margaret was the only surviving daughter of Duke Henry of Carinthia, also Count of Tyrol and former King of Bohemia, with his second wife Adelaide, a daughter of the Welf duke Henry I of Brunswick. As her father's three marriages had produced no male heirs, he reached an agreement with the Wittelsbach emperor Louis IV in 1330 that enabled Margaret to succeed him in his Carinthian and Tyrolean estates.
In the ongoing struggle between the rivalling Habsburg, Wittelsbach and Luxembourg dynasties, Emperor Louis had assured his position by defeating his Habsburg rival Frederick the Fair at the 1322 Battle of Mühldorf – a fact that prompted his former Luxembourg ally King John of Bohemia to explore possibilities to increase his own power base. He approached to Henry of Carinthia, whom he had driven from the Prague throne in 1310, and arranged the engagement of his younger son John Henry, brother of the future Emperor Charles IV, with Henry's heiress Margaret in 1327.
John Henry was sent to Tyrol and in 1330, upon approval by Emperor Louis, he and Margaret celebrated their wedding in Innsbruck at the age of eight and twelve. According to contemporary sources, the children disliked each other from the beginning.
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