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Mary of Habsburg

Mary of Habsburg, also named Mary, Maria, or Marie of Hungary, of Austria, of Castile, or of Burgundy (18 September 1505 – 18 October 1558) was the Queen consort of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia, and later governor of the Netherlands for her brother, Emperor Charles V.

She was born in Brussels to Philip I of Castile ("the Handsome") and Joanna "The Mad" of Castile. Her paternal grandparents were Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife Mary of Burgundy. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.

Maria was a younger sister of Eleanor of Habsburg, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Isabella of Habsburg and Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. She was an older sister of Catherine of Habsburg.

Before Maria closed her first year of life, she was promised as a wife to the first son to be born to Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his fourth wife Anne de Foix. This son was born in 1506 and was to become Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia.

They were married on 13 January 1522 in Buda. Their joint portrait still exists. Both his robes and her alleged wedding dress are on display at the National Museum of Hungary.

Maria served as Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia for four years and seven months. On 29 August 1526, Louis was killed in the Battle of Mohács while leading his forces against Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. They were childless. The joined crowns of Hungary and Bohemia passed to her brother Ferdinand.

It was an arranged marriage, but it became a happy one. After the death of Louis she continuously mourned him till her death. She rejected every marriage proposal and always wore the heart shaped medallion that was beared by her husband in the fatal battle of Mohács.

The Punishment of Tityus painted by Titian for Maria's château de Binche, 1548-49 (Prado)

Maria would not marry again. Her chance at personal rule came four years later. Her paternal aunt Margaret of Austria died on 1 December 1530, leaving the position of Governor of the Seventeen Provinces vacant. Her brother Charles established Maria as Margaret's successor in the Netherlands. She remained on the post until 1555. Charles gave her the castle of Binche south of Brussels, as a reward for her devoted service. She rebuilt it in conscious emulation of Fontainebleau; it was destroyed by Henri II's troops in 1554, but two of Titian's four paintings on the theme of punishments of rebels, commissioned in 1548 for Binche, are conserved at the Prado (illustration). She was succeeded as Governor by Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy.

She died in Cigalos. In her last will she requested that her heart-shaped gold medallion, once worn by her husband, be melted down and distributed among the poor.