Marie of Brabant, Queen of France

Marie of Brabant
Queen consort of France
Tenure	21 August 1274 – 5 October 1285
Born	(1254-05-13)13 May 1254 Leuven
Died	12 January 1321(1321-01-12) (aged 66) Les Mureaux, France
Burial	Cordeliers Convent, Paris
Spouse	Philip III of France
Issue	Louis d'Évreux Blanche, Duchess of Austria Margaret, Queen of England
House	House of Reginar
Father	Henry III, Duke of Brabant
Mother	Adelaide of Burgundy
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Marie, at her coronation

Marie of Brabant (13 May 1254 – 12 January 1321) was Queen consort of France.

Marie was born in Leuven, Brabant. She was a daughter of Henry III, Duke of Brabant, and Adelaide of Burgundy.

Marriage

Marie married on 21 August 1274, to Philip III of France. This was Philip's second marriage, after the death of his first wife, Isabella of Aragon. Isabella had already given birth to three surviving sons: Louis, Philip and Charles.

Philip was under the strong influence of his mother, the dowager Queen of France, Margaret of Provence and his minion, surgeon and chamberlain (Chambellan) Pierre de La Broce (or Pierre de Brosse). Not being French, Marie stood out at the French court.

In 1276, Philip's son and heir, Louis died, under suspicious circumstances. Marie was suspected of ordering him to be poisoned. La Brosse, who was also suspected, was imprisoned and later executed for the murder. Margaret suspected Marie of ordering the death of Louis and Philip did seem to agree more with his mother than his wife.

Widow

After the death of Philip III in 1285, Marie lost some of her political influence, and dedicated her life to her three children. Her stepson, Philip IV was crowned king of France on 6 January 1286 in Reims.

Together with Joan I of Navarre and Blanche of Artois, she negotiated peace in 1294 between England and France with Edmund Crouchback, the younger brother of Edward I of England.

Marie lived through Philip IV's reign and she outlived her children.

Issue

Marie and Philip had three children:

1. Louis (May 1276 – 19 May 1319), Count of Évreux, married Margaret of Artois.
2. Blanche (1278 – 19 March 1305, Vienna), married Rudolf III of Austria on 25 May 1300
3. Margaret, married Edward I of England

Death

Marie died in 1321, aged 66, in the monastery at Les Mureaux, near Meulan, where she had withdrawn to in 1316. Marie was not buried in the royal necropolis of Basilica of Saint-Denis, but in the Cordeliers Convent, in Paris. Destroyed in a fire in 1580, the church was rebuilt in the following years.

Ancestry

Family of Marie of Brabant, Queen of France

16. Godfrey III, Count of Leuven 8. Henry I, Duke of Brabant 17. Margaret of Limburg 4. Henry II, Duke of Brabant 18. Matthew, Count of Boulogne 9. Matilda of Flanders 19. Marie I, Countess of Boulogne 2. Henry III, Duke of Brabant 20. Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor 10. Philip of Swabia 21. Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy 5. Marie of Swabia 22. Isaac II Angelos 11. Irene Angelina 23. Unknown Palaiologina?, afterwards Irene 1. Marie of Brabant 24. Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy 12. Odo III, Duke of Burgundy 25. Alice of Lorraine 6. Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy 26. Hugues, Seigneur de Vergy 13. Alice of Vergy 27. Gillette de Trainel 3. Adelaide of Burgundy 28. Robert II, Count of Dreux 14. Robert III, Count of Dreux 29. Yolanda of Coucy 7. Yolande of Dreux 30. Thomas de Saint-Valéry 15. Aenor of Saint-Valéry 31. Adela de Ponthieu, Dame de Saint-Aubin

Sources

• Marc Morris (2008). Edward I and the Forging of Britain. Windmill Books 2009.
• Translation from German wikipedia

See also

• Marie of Brabant (disambiguation)