Margaret II, Countess of Hainaut


Margaret II of Avesnes was Countess of Hainaut and Countess of Holland from 1345 to 1356. She was Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Germany by marriage to Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian.

Life

Margaret was the daughter of William I, Count of Hainaut, and Joan of Valois. She spent her childhood in Henegouwen and also frequently visited France with her French mother.
On 26 February 1324 in Cologne she married Louis IV, thereby becoming queen of Germany. On 17 January 1328, she was crowned empress alongside her spouse in Rome.

First reign

She succeeded in 1345 her brother William II of Hainaut following his death in battle with later Louis IV the Bavarian designating that
Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland and Friesland were his wife's possessions. Louis gave his support to Margaret because he was reportedly worried that the domains of her late brother would otherwise be lost to the empire. Due to the dangerous hostility of the House of Luxemburg Louis increased his power base ruthlessly.
Margaret traveled to Hainault and was recognized there in her new position as ruler, and on 26 March, she left Hainault to visit her Northern domains of Holland and Zeeland. There were different difficulties in securing the position of Margaret in her three domains. In Holland and Zeeland, there were doubts as to whether female succession was legal, and while her gender was not a problem in Hainault, there where still the question of her sister's claims upon the domain. Margaret granted the cities and citizens in Holland and Zeeland several economic privileges to secure her position. The claims of her sisters were also addressed.
A parchment dated 7 September 1346 in Frankfurt, of which the seal is destroyed, announces that Louis IV of Bavaria, Emperor of the Holy Germanic Empire bestows for himself and his heirs, in the name of his spouse, the empress Margaret, to never cede, divide or bestow the counties of Hainault, Holland, Zeeland and the palatine of Frisia, which belong to his wife, Margaret II, Countess of Hainault and to her heirs, excepting the rights of her sisters and after her death, to William Duke of Bavaria, and after his decease to Albert and later these passed to their son William V. Margaret's sisters, including Philippa of Hainault who was Queen consort of Edward III of England disavowed their hereditary claims.
Margaret ruled her three domains directly for seven months, after which she was called back to Germany by her spouse, and appointed her second son William to rule in her absence.
When Louis IV died on 11 October 1347, he was succeeded by his six sons, and in connection to this, Margaret resigned her sovereignty in favor of her son William in exchange for an allowance. In 1349 the brothers decided to partition their possessions; Louis V, Duke of Bavaria kept Brandenburg and Tyrol, he and his younger brothers Louis VI the Roman and Otto V the Bavarian received Upper Bavaria. Stephen II, William and Albert received Lower Bavaria, Holland and Hainaut. Louis V and Stephen were not sons of Margaret, and her youngest sons Albert and Otto were still minors. Louis VI released Holland and Hainault for his brothers William and Albert in 1349 since he expected the Polish crown by his marriage with Cunigunde of Poland. In 1353 also Stephen released Holland and Hainault to his brother William.

The Hook and Cod wars

However, a conflict soon arose between Margaret and her son William, as he refused to honor the terms in her abdication document by withholding the allowance she had demanded in turn for abdicating in his favor. Willem's opposition among the nobles of Holland asked Margaret to return to run Holland again, and in March 1350, Margaret had returned to Henegouwen, where she retracted her abdication in 1 June. The Cod League was formed on 23 May 1350 by a number of supporters of William, and on 5 September of the same year, the Hook League was formed in support of Margaret. Soon afterward these factions clashed and a civil war began, known as the Hook and Cod wars.
Margaret and the war between mother and son was controversial, and her right to Holland was always considered to be of dubious legality, as this domain was at that time regarded as reserved for men, though the same thing was not raised when it came to her right to Hainaut.
After the destruction of several strongholds of Margaret and a defeat of her forces at two sea battles in 1351, Edward III of England, Margaret's brother-in-law through her sister Philippa of Hainault, came to her aid, winning a naval engagement off Veere in 1351; a few weeks later the Hooks and their English allies were defeated by William and the Cods at Vlaardingen, a defeat which ruined Margaret's cause. Edward III shortly afterwards changed sides and in 1354, Margaret saw herself compelled to come to an understanding with her son: he being recognized as count of Holland and Zeeland, and she being secured as ruling countess of Hainault in her lifetime.
Margaret ruled Hainault for two more years, and died at Le Quesnoy Castle of infectious tuberculosis 23 June 1356, leaving William in possession of the entire Holland-Hainault inheritance. She was buried in the Minderbroeders Abbey in Valenciennes.

Issue

In 1324 she married Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
Their children were:
  1. Margaret, married:
  2. # in 1351 in Buda Stephen, Duke of Slavonia, son of the King Charles I of Hungary, and had issue;
  3. # 1357/58 Gerlach von Hohenlohe.
  4. Anna married John I of Lower Bavaria
  5. Louis VI the Roman, duke of Upper Bavaria, elector of Brandenburg. No issue.
  6. Elisabeth, married:
  7. # Cangrande II della Scala, Lord of Verona in Verona on 22 November 1350. No issue
  8. # Count Ulrich of Württemberg in 1362. Parents of Eberhard III of Württemberg 1364-1417
  9. William V of Holland, as William I duke of Lower Bavaria, as Wiliam V count of Hainaut and Holland. He married Maud of Lancaster but their only daughter died young
  10. Agnes. She became a nun, due to ill health and died young
  11. Albert I of Holland, duke of Lower Bavaria, count of Hainaut and Holland
  12. Otto V the Bavarian, duke of Upper Bavaria, elector of Brandenburg
  13. Beatrice of Bavaria, married bef. 25 October 1356 Eric XII of Sweden
  14. Louis

    Ancestry