LADY MARGARET PLANTAGENET
(b. May 3, 1446 –d. November 23, 1503)
BIOGRAPHY:
Born
at Fotheringhay, Margaret, the third daughter of Richard, Duke of York,
and Cicely Neville, was an intelligent, charming, accomplished woman and
a patron of the arts. Prior to the announcement of Edward’s marriage
to Elizabeth Woodville, she had acted as the first lady of the court.
There is a wealth of information about Lady Margaret. She was married
(unusually late at the age of 22) to Charles the Bold at Bruges, on July
9, 1468. The marriage was planned to aid the alliance between the Kingdoms
of England and Burgundy. Theirs was an extravagant wedding even by Burgundian
standards. Margaret wore a magnificent crown adorned with pearls and with
enamelled white roses for the House of York set between red, green and
white enamelled letters of her name, with gold C's and M's, entwined with
lovers' knots; it can still be seen in the treasury at Aachen Cathedral.
There were parades, tapestry lined streets, hung 
from
houses, feasts, masques, not to mention the jewels that were on display.
This wedding is annually re-enacted at Bruges and is a popular tourist
attraction.
Margaret and Charles had no children together, but she became a devoted stepmother to Marie de Bourgogne (1457-1482), his daughter by Isabelle de Bourbon, and the heiress to his dominions in Burgundy and the Netherlands. After Marie's death following a riding accident, Margaret took care of Marie's two small children, Philip and Margaret, whose father was Maximilian von Habsburg, the future Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.
After the deaths of her brothers, King Edward IV and King Richard III of England, Margaret, by then Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, became a staunch supporter of anyone who challenged Henry VII's hold on the throne of England, including Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. Although Warbeck was undoubtedly an impostor, Margaret acknowledged him as her nephew, Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York.
She died at the age of 57 at Malines and is buried in
the church of Cordéliers.