Mary of Hungary

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Mary as Queen of Hungary; Portrait painting by Hans Maler zu Schwaz

Mary of Hungary (born September 17, 1505 in Brussels , † October 17, 1558 in Cigales ) was by birth Princess of Castile , Austria and Burgundy and was married to Queen of Bohemia and Hungary . After the death of her husband in January 1531 she became governor of the Spanish Netherlands, her homeland.

Dynastically correct, but not unambiguously, she is also called Maria von Habsburg , due to formal titles also Maria of Castile or misleadingly referred to as Maria of Austria .

Life

Origin and youth

The children of Philip the Fair and Joanna of Castile
Václav Brožík : Tu felix Austria nube , 1896, Belvedere , Vienna - double wedding of Emperor Maximilian I (kneeling) with Anna of Hungary (with bridal veil) and Maria von Habsburg with Ludwig II of Hungary

She was born the fifth child of Philip the Beautiful and Joan the Mad . Together with her siblings Karl, the later Emperor Karl V (as Karl I King of Spain), Eleonore and Isabella (later wife of Christian II of Denmark), she was taken over by her aunt Margarethe of Austria in Mechelen after the death of her father Philipp brought up while her brother, who was two years older than him, later Emperor Ferdinand I , was brought up in Spain.

Her grandfather, the Roman-German King and later Emperor Maximilian I of the House of Habsburg , got in touch with King Vladislav II of Bohemia and Hungary about marriage plans. On March 20, 1506, it was decided that Maria's brother, the future Emperor Ferdinand I, would marry Vladislav's daughter Anna , but that Maria would marry the unborn child of Anna's pregnant mother in the absence of an already born son in the event that a son would be born, got engaged. In fact, on July 1, 1506, Maria's future husband, Ludwig Jagiello, was born.

On July 22, 1515, the memorable marriage (or engagement) took place in St. Stephen's Cathedral , known as the Viennese double wedding . Maria and Anna initially stayed in Vienna.

Queen of Hungary

Mary of Hungary (oil painting by Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen )

Maria's father-in-law Vladislav II died in 1516; her then ten-year-old husband Ludwig became King of Bohemia and Hungary as Ludwig II . In 1517 the young princesses Maria and Anna moved to Innsbruck , where they received further education together. It was there that Maria discovered her passion for hunting and music. In 1521 the sixteen-year-old Maria moved to Pressburg to live with her fifteen-year-old husband, for whom she soon felt strong affection.

Even as a child, Queen Maria received an excellent philosophical and religious education. Under the influence of Margrave Georg von Brandenburg who from 1506 at the court of King Ladislaus II Jagiello [ung. Ulászló] in oven educators and later co-guardian was his son Ludwig II., Maria probably came with Lutheranism and representatives of the Reformation in contact, they patronized even then.

Maria is described as a not exactly attractive personality, she had inherited her chin and lower lip from the Habsburgs and appeared like "a man-woman". Meanwhile, she was said to have excellent speech, political talent, intelligence and diligence. On December 11, 1521, she was crowned Queen of Hungary by Ludwig and on June 1, 1522 Queen of Bohemia .

Under the given circumstances, a political outreach by the still very young king was absolutely unthinkable. The affairs of state in the Kingdom of Hungary were conducted by a Regency Council under the direction of the Reich Administrator Johann Zápolya . The Hungarian magnates ruled the empire politically . These had split into a nationalist and a pro-Habsburg party. Only in the course of time was Ludwig able to distinguish himself to some extent. In his decisions, he largely relied on Maria, who supported him, but certainly also familiarized him with political ideas, but not with the political plans of the Habsburgs. In 1526 the situation came to a head. Domestically, an overthrow threatened. Although Ludwig had been assured of help against the Turks by his two brothers-in-law Karl V and Ferdinand I, they had abandoned the twenty-year-old king. When the battle against the invading Turks under Suleyman I the Magnificent broke out near Mohács in southern Hungary on August 29, 1526 , it was catastrophically lost. Almost all of Hungary's political and ecclesiastical leadership were killed in the battle. Ludwig was initially able to save himself from the battlefield, but died during his escape.

A stream of refugees set in from the areas occupied by the Turks in the direction of the excellently fortified Pressburg. As early as September 3, 1526, the Queen's widow arrived here together with the Palatine of Hungary, Stephan Báthory , and Thomas Nádasdy . They were followed by the Prince Archbishop of Gran and part of the Hungarian nobility and high nobility.

That the Reformation is followed by Mary with a certain "positive interest" was noticed even in distant Wittenberg by D. Martin Luther . Luther certainly knew about the dramatic defeat of the Christian Hungarian army at Mohács, as well as the death of the king and the resulting widowhood of Mary. Therefore the reformer sends her a little book with four consolation psalms translated by him personally, to which a very personal cover letter was attached. In response to this gift from Martin Luther, a rather unpleasant correspondence developed between her brother, Ferdinand I, and her. Mary had to justify herself again and again and assure herself to remain in the Catholic faith. Ultimately, it was only her loyalty to the "Casa d 'Austria" that kept her from converting to the Lutheran faith. In any case, she kept her promise, which she made to Ferdinand I, to be faithful to the teachings of the “old” faith until her death. We also never see them publicly promoting or supporting the Reformation.

After the country had become leaderless with Ludwig's death, Zápolya was chosen as the new ruler at a meeting of the estates in Tokaj on October 14th. After this election was confirmed at a further meeting of the estates in Székesfehérvár , the coronation city of the Hungarian kings, on November 10th, Zápolya was crowned King of Hungary the next day. However, this did not mean that he became king of all of Hungary: while he administered Transylvania in the name of the Turkish sultan, the Habsburgs , who were also considered legitimate heirs, were able to settle in the western border areas and in Upper Hungary , i.e. today's Slovakia with the Capital Pressburg , claim; Ferdinand I , brother-in-law of Ludwig II and later emperor, was also elected King of Hungary by the West Hungarian nobility in the Franciscan Church in Pressburg on December 17, 1526. The queen widow Maria was appointed governor of Hungary at the same time. After the Turks were able to take Ofen across from Pest in 1541 and thus ruled the most fertile part of Hungary, the Great Plain, the country was practically divided into three parts.

Mary of Hungary as governor of the Netherlands

With Turkish help, Zápolya was able to assert himself against his Habsburg opponent. In the Peace of Greater Oradein (Hungarian Nagyvárad, Romanian Oradea) Ferdinand recognized Zápolya as King of Hungary, but secured the right of succession in the event of his death. Nevertheless, Zápolya broke the agreement by bequeathing the kingdom to his son Johann Sigismund. In the end, however, only the Principality of Transylvania remained for his heirs, which was under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire.

Governor of the Netherlands

More marriage plans of her brother Ferdinand I. James V of Scotland and Count Palatine Frederick declined Maria and took over because of the prayers of her brother Charles V on January 3, 1531 the office of governor in the Netherlands . In terms of political foresight and intelligence, Karl's sister, the widowed Queen of Hungary, is no less. "In any case, Karl had made the best possible choice by choosing his sister. She made full use of her outstanding talents in the fields of politics, finance and warfare, but never forgot to stand up for the countries she ruled."

It managed to combine the 17 Dutch provinces of the time into a centrally governed, independent state without harming the interests of the House of Habsburg. They successfully organized an effective national defense, especially against French troops. She built the forts Mariembourg , Charlemont and Philippeville .

In 1542 she beat her brother-in-law Franz I in the battle of Luxembourg because he did not expect a woman to act. As Charles' confidante, she mediated several times between her brothers, including in the succession of the emperor to the throne.

The Netherlands flourished economically and culturally under her government. In Antwerp , 50% of world trade was transhipped to Europe , where the largest exchange in Europe was also located. Maria promoted craft and art, a. a. she had a picture gallery added to her Brussels palace and brought the Italian painter Titian to her court.

When Charles abdicated in 1556, she followed suit and withdrew to Spain with him and her favorite sister, Eleonore. It is characteristic of the mutual sympathy that at the same time as Charles abdicated, she ended her Dutch governorship and went to Spain with her brother.

On October 17, 1558, she died shortly after her siblings. She was buried in Chapel 9 of the Pantheon of the Infants in the Real Sitio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial .

ancestors

Only when she retired did Maria move from Hungary to Castile, here her grave in the Escorial :
MARIA - VNGARIAE REGINA
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Friedrich III. (HRR) (1415-1493)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maximilian I (HRR) (1459-1519)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Eleonore Helena of Portugal (1436–1467)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Philip I (Castile) (1478–1506)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Charles the Bold (1433–1477)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mary of Burgundy (1457–1482)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Isabelle de Bourbon (1437-1465)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mary of Hungary (1505–1558)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 John II (Aragón) (1397–1479)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ferdinand II (Aragón) (1452-1516)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Juana Enríquez (1425–1468)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Joan of Castile (1479–1555)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 John II (Castile) (1405-1454)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Isabella I (Castile) (1451–1504)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Isabella of Portugal (1428–1496)
 
 
 
 
 
 

literature

Web links

Commons : Mary of Hungary  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Anton Klipp: The Habsburgs and the beginnings of the Reformation ..., p. 76ff
  2. ^ Anton Klipp: Preßburg ..., p. 57
  3. ↑ Quoted from D. Martin Luthers Briefe , Volume 3, Pages 132-134; (Weimar edition 1883 - 1929)
  4. ↑ Published in Magyar Sion, 1864, Volume II., P. 100 ff .; Original text of the letter in French. German translations by Anton Klipp: The Habsburgs and the beginnings of the Reformation ... pp. 75-86
  5. ^ Christiane Thomas, Maria. In: The Habsburgs. A biographical lexicon, ed. by Brigitte Hamann , Vienna 1988, p. 284
predecessor Office successor
Margaret of Austria Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
1531–1555 		Emanuel Philibert of Savoy
Beatrix of Aragon Queen of Bohemia
1516–1526 		Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
Anne de Foix-Candale Queen of Hungary
1516–1526 		Anna of Bohemia and Hungary
personal data
SURNAME Mary of Hungary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maria of Habsburg; Mary of Castile
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Castile, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary
DATE OF BIRTH September 17, 1505
PLACE OF BIRTH Brussels
DATE OF DEATH October 17, 1558
Place of death Cigales