page_title: Mary of Burgundy
section_title: Heiress presumptive
hierarchical_section_title: Mary of Burgundy / Heiress presumptive
caption_attribution_description: English: Flanders, double briquet, struck in 1478 under Mary of Burgundy. Two lions rampant combatant, fire-steel (briquet) above. Shield of Burgundy over floriated cross. Nederlands: Vlaanderen, dubbel vuurijzer, geslagen in 1478 onder Maria van Bourgondië. Twee naar elkaar toegewende zittende leeuwen onder een vonkend vuurijzer. Bloemenkruis met het Bourgondische wapen.
context_page_description: Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, reigned over the Burgundian State, now mainly in France and the Low Countries, from 1477 until her death in a riding accident at the age of 25.
  As the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon, she inherited the Burgundian lands upon the death of her father in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. She spent most of her reign defending her birthright; in order to counter Louis XI's appetite for her lands, she married Maximilian of Habsburg, who long after her death became Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. The marriage was a turning point in European politics, leading to a French–Habsburg rivalry that would endure for centuries. Owing to the great prosperity of many of her territories, Mary was often referred to as Mary the Rich.
context_section_description: Philip the Good died in 1467 and Mary's father assumed control of the Burgundian State. Since her father had no living sons at the time of his accession, Mary became his heir presumptive. Her father controlled a vast and wealthy domain made up of the Duchy of Burgundy, the Free County of Burgundy, and the majority of the Low Countries. As a result, her hand in marriage was eagerly sought by a number of princes. The first proposal was received by her father when she was only five years old, in this case to marry the future King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Later she was approached by Charles, Duke of Berry; his older brother, King Louis XI of France, was intensely annoyed by Charles's move and attempted to prevent the necessary papal dispensation for consanguinity.
  As soon as Louis succeeded in producing a male heir who survived infancy, the future King Charles VIII of France, Louis wanted him to be the one to marry Mary, even though he was thirteen years younger than Mary was. Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine, was a few years older than Mary and controlled a duchy that lay alongside Burgundian territory, but his plan to combine his domain with hers was ended by his death in battle in 1473.
caption: Flanders, double briquet, struck under Mary of Burgundy in 1478
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