Margarete Maultasch was the last Countess of Tyrol

County of Tyrol

The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...

 from the Meinhardiner dynasty of Görz (Gorizia). Upon her death, Tyrol became united with the hereditary lands of the House of Habsburg.

Biography

Margaret was the only surviving daughter of Henry of Gorizia-Tyrol, then Duke of Carinthia

Duchy of Carinthia

The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....

 and Count of Tyrol, with his second wife Adelaide, daughter of the Welf duke Henry I of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Henry , Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, called the Admirable , was the first ruler of the Principality of Grubenhagen....

. As her father's three marriages had produced no male heirs, he reached an agreement with Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV

Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....

 in 1330 that enabled Margaret to succeed him in his Carinthian and Tyrolean estates

Imperial State

An Imperial State or Imperial Estate was an entity in the Holy Roman Empire with a vote in the Imperial Diet assemblies. Several territories of the Empire were not represented, while some officials were non-voting members; neither qualified as Imperial States.Rulers of Imperial States were...

. In the same year, she was married at the age of twelve to eight-year-old John Henry

John Henry, Margrave of Moravia

John Henry of Luxembourg, Czech: Jan Jindřich, German: Johann Heinrich , was Count of Tyrol from 1335 to 1341 and Margrave of Moravia from 1349 until his death....

 of Luxembourg

House of Luxembourg

The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...

, a younger son of King John of Bohemia and brother of the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....

. King John was himself responsible for deposing Margaret's father from the Bohemian

Kingdom of Bohemia

The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...

 throne in 1310.

Reign

Despite his agreement with Margaret's father, Emperor Louis IV in 1335 gave Carinthia to the Habsburg Duke Albert II of Austria

Albert II, Duke of Austria

Albert II of Austria , known as the Wise or the Lame, was Duke of Austria.-Life:Albert II was born at Habsburg, the son of Albert I of Germany, Rex Romanorum, and Elisabeth of Tirol...

, who raised inheritance claims as the eldest son of King Albert I of Germany

Albert I of Germany

Albert I of Habsburg was King of the Romans and Duke of Austria, the eldest son of German King Rudolph I of Habsburg and his first wife Gertrude of Hohenburg.-Life:...

 and Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol, Margaret's paternal aunt. When the Tyrolean lands were claime by the Bavarian

History of Bavaria

The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empires to its status as an independent kingdom and, finally, as a large and significant Bundesland of the modern Federal Republic of...

 Wittelsbachs, young Margaret made use of her affiliation with the mighty Luxembourg dybasty and at least was able to succeed her father as Countess of Tyrol.

The situation worsened when young John Henry turned out to be a haughty and incompetent co-ruler disrespected by the Tyrolean aristocracy. The Luxembourgs sent his capable brother Charles IV to Tyrol, but his mediation efforts were rejected. On 1 November 1341, Margaret finally refused John Henry admittance to her residence Castle Tyrol

Castle Tyrol

Tirol Castle or Castle Tyrol is a castle near Meran, Italy. It was the ancestral seat of the counts of Tyrol and gave the region of Tyrol its name.- History :...

 with the support of the several local nobles and had him expelled from her lands. She escaped the revenge of the deprived Luxembourgs by turning to their Wittelsbach rivals and on 10 February 1342 married Margrave Louis I of Brandenburg

Louis V, Duke of Bavaria

Louis V, Duke of Bavaria, called the Brandenburger was Duke of Bavaria and as Louis I also Margrave of Brandenburg and Count of Tyrol. Louis V was the eldest son of Emperor Louis IV and his first wife Beatrix of Świdnica...

, the eldest son of Emperor Louis IV, without being granted a divorce from John Henry.

Louis V, also Duke of Bavaria from 1347, took it upon himself to declare Margaret's marriage to John Henry null and void. The scholars William of Ockham

William of Ockham

William of Ockham was an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey. He is considered to be one of the major figures of medieval thought and was at the centre of the major intellectual and political controversies of...

 and Marsilius of Padua

Marsilius of Padua

Marsilius of Padua Marsilius of Padua Marsilius of Padua (Italian Marsilio or Marsiglio da Padova; (circa 1275 – circa 1342) was an Italian scholar, trained in medicine who practiced a variety of professions. He was also an important 14th century political figure...

 defended this "first civil marriage

Civil marriage

Civil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...

" of the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, claiming that John Henry had never consummated his matrimony. However both Margaret and her new husband were immediately excommunicated

Excommunication

Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...

 by the new Pope Clement VI

Pope Clement VI

Pope Clement VI , bornPierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352...

 in 1342. The scandal spread across Europe. Charles IV, King of the Romans

King of the Romans

King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...

 since 1346, campaigned in Tyrol the next year, laid siege to Castle Tyrol, but had to pull out without having achieved anything. A new alliance was provided by the marriage of Margaret's son by Louis, Meinhard III, to Margaret of Habsburg, the youngest daughter of Duke Albert II of Austria. With the assistance of the Habsburg duke, the countess and her second husband were finally absolved

Absolution

Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This concept is found in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Anglican churches, and most Lutheran churches....

 from excommunication by the new Pope Innocent VI

Pope Innocent VI

Pope Innocent VI , born Étienne Aubert; his father was Adhemar Aubert seigneur de Montel-De-Gelas in Limousin province. His niece was Catherine Aubert, Dame de Boutheon, also the wife of Randon II baron de Joyeuse; she is La Fayette's ancestor...

 in 1359. In ecclesiastical propaganda of the day she received the nickname "Maultasch" (literally "bag mouth", cf. Maultasche

Maultasche

Maultaschen are a Swabian specialty food, consisting of an outer layer of pasta dough with a filling traditionally made of minced meat, smoked meat, spinach, bread crumbs and onions and flavored with various herbs and spices...

), which means "whore" or "ugly woman".

After the sudden death of her husband Louis in 1361, her son Meinhard III succeeded his father as Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count of Tyrol. However, Meinhard died less than two years later without heirs and just under a month away from the age of twenty-one. His death precipitated an invasion by his Wittelsbach uncle Duke Stephen II of Bavaria-Landshut

Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria

Duke Stephen II of Bavaria , after 1347 Duke of Bavaria. He was the second son of Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian by his first wife Beatrix of Świdnica and a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty.-Biography:During the reign of Emperor Louis IV his son Stephen served as vogt of Swabia and Alsace...

. Stephen, allied with Bernabò Visconti

Bernabo Visconti

Bernabò Visconti was an Italian soldier and statesman, who was Lord of Milan.-Life:He was born in Milan, the son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria. From 1346 to 1349 he lived in exile, until he was called back by his uncle Giovanni Visconti...

, re-united Landshut with Meinhard's Upper Bavarian lands and also claimed Tyrol. Again facing the threat of losing her patrimony, Margaret was finally induced to contract the County of Tyrol over to her late son's brother-in-law, the Habsburg duke (and self-proclaimed

Privilegium Maius

The Privilegium Maius was a medieval document dated 1358/59, forged at the behest of Duke Rudolf IV of Austria , a scion of the House of Habsburg. It was essentially a modified version of the Privilegium Minus issued by Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in 1156, which had elevated the former March of...

 "Archduke

Archduke

The title of Archduke denotes a noble rank above Duke and below King, used only by princes of the Houses of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine....

") Rudolf IV of Austria

Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria

Rudolf IV der Stifter was a scion of the House of Habsburg and Duke of Austria and Duke of Styria and Carinthia from 1358, as well as Count of Tyrol from 1363 and first Duke of Carniola from 1364 until his death...

, who eventually united it with the Austrian dominion

Dominion

A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...

s. The conflict over Tyrol was settled by the 1369 Peace of Schärding

Schärding

Schärding is a town in northern Upper Austria, Austria, capital of the district of the same name, and a major port on the Inn River. As of 2001, it has a population of 5,052. Historically it was owned by the Wittelsbach family, which reflects on the town's architecture...

 between Rudolf's brother and successor Duke Albert III of Austria

Albert III, Duke of Austria

Albert III of Austria , known as Albert with the Pigtail , was a duke of Austria and a member of the House of Habsburg.-Life:...

 and Duke Stephen II of Bavaria, the financial compensation for which was exigent upon Margaret's death.

Margaret died in exile in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 in 1369 and is buried at the Minoritenkirche

Minoritenkirche, Vienna

The Minoritenkirche, formal name: Italienische Nationalkirche Maria Schnee is a church built in French Gothic style in the Altstadt or First District of Vienna, Austria.The site on which the church is built was given to followers of Francis of Assisi in 1224...

.

Posterity

Margaret's feudal

Feudalism

Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...

 heir would have been her elder cousin's

Elisabeth of Carinthia

Elisabeth or Elizabeth was the daughter of Otto III of Carinthia by his wife Euphemia of Silesia-Liegnitz. She was born in Gorizia.-Family:...

 son, Frederick III of Aragon, ruler of the island of Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

. After his line

Patrilineality

Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well....

, the succession would have gone in 1401 to Joanna of Aragon, Countess of Foix

Joanna of Aragon, Countess of Foix

Infanta Joanna of Aragon was the only surviving child of John I of Aragon and his first wife Martha of Armagnac. She was a member of the House of Aragon and was Countess consort of Foix by her marriage to Matthew of Foix....

, and in 1407 to Yolande of Aragon

Yolande of Aragon

Yolande of Aragon, , was a throne claimant and titular queen regnant of Aragon, titular queen consort of Naples, Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Provence, and regent of Provence during the minority of her son...

, Queen of Naples (both daughters of John I

John I of Aragon

John I , called by posterity the Hunter or the Lover of Elegance , but the Abandoned in his lifetime, was the King of...

, King of Aragon). Only in 1740 would that descent converge with the actual holders of the Tyrol, when Maria Theresa

Maria Theresa of Austria

Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...

, wife of the Aragonian heir Francis III, Duke of Lorraine

Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor

Francis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...

, succeeded in Tyrol as well.

Though contemporaries such as the chronicler John of Winterthur

John of Winterthur

John of Winterthur was a Swiss historian who wrote a chronicle of history up to 1348.He was born in Winterthur, in what is now Canton Zurich, Switzerland. He attended school in his native village from 1309 to 1315 and then joined the Franciscans...

 called her beautiful, the nickname Maultasch led to the widespread notion of a woman with deformed features. Quentin Matsys

Quentin Matsys

Quentin Matsys was a painter in the Flemish tradition and a founder of the Antwerp school. He was born at Leuven, where legend states he was trained as an ironsmith before becoming a painter...

's 1513 portrait The Ugly Duchess

The Ugly Duchess

The Ugly Duchess is a satirical portrait painted by the Flemish artist Quentin Matsys around 1513. It shows a grotesque old woman with wrinkled skin and withered breasts...

, after a sanguine by Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

, may refer to Margaret, and it was Sir John Tenniel

John Tenniel

Sir John Tenniel was a British illustrator, graphic humorist and political cartoonist whose work was prominent during the second half of England’s 19th century. Tenniel is considered important to the study of that period’s social, literary, and art histories...

's model for the "Duchess" in his illustrations of Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...

's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...

. Lion Feuchtwanger

Lion Feuchtwanger

Lion Feuchtwanger was a German-Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht....

 utilized her story in his novel The Ugly Duchess and in 1816 Jacob Grimm

Jacob Grimm

Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy...

 collected the "Legends of Margarete" in his book German sagas. The tale of Margaret's unsuccessful siege of the Carinthian Hochosterwitz Castle

Hochosterwitz Castle

Hochosterwitz Castle is considered to be one of Austria's most impressive medieval castles. It is situated on a Dolomite rock near Sankt Georgen am Längsee, east of the town of Sankt Veit an der Glan in the state of Carinthia...

 and its shrewd garrison was popularized by the psychologist Paul Watzlawick

Paul Watzlawick

Paul Watzlawick was an Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher. A theoretician in communication theory and radical constructivism, he has commented in the fields of family therapy and general psychotherapy...

.