Margaret of Brabant, born in 1276, was the eldest daughter of John I, Duke of Brabant and Margaret of Flanders. On 9 June 1292, at the age of 16, she married Henry VII, Count of Luxembourg and future Holy Roman Emperor. This political marriage, which was originally concluded to put an end to hostilities between the House of Luxembourg and the House of Brabant, was to be harmonious and tender. The couple had three children, one boy and two girls. The eldest was none other than John I the Blind, heir count of Luxembourg and future king of Bohemia. Maria will later become Queen of France and Beatrix will marry the King of Hungary. During the first years of the marriage, Margaret of Brabant fulfils the traditional role of a queen: she distinguishes herself by her religious devotion and is involved in charitable works. Margaret of Brabant was the founder of the St. John's Hospice in the Stadtgrund. Even though the title of German-Roman Queen is only representative, her husband calls her "carissima consors regis... inclita Romanarum regina" in various documents.
But Margaret of Brabant was not limited to being Henry VII's companion and intimate adviser. She was also a mediator between the king and his opponents. Margaret of Brabant accompanies her husband to Italy to receive the imperial coronation in Rome. The expedition to Italy seals the young woman's fate. Some cities rebel against the imperial submission and during the siege of Brescia Margaret of Brabant falls ill. In December 1311, she died, probably pregnant, at the age of 35. Her tomb in Genoa is the last work of the Italian sculptor Giovanni Pisano. Crowned emperor on 29 June 1312, Henry VII died a year later of malaria on his way home.
Sources:
● Anne Hoffmann: Margarete von Brabant, die Frau an Heinrichs Seite, publication planned for the end of 2009 in the proceedings of the 2008 Lotharingian Days.
● Jean-Marie Moeglin: Henry VII and the honour of his imperial majesty. The surrender of Cremona and Brescia (1311), in: Pensées le pouvoir au Moyen Age - Etudes
● offered to Françoise Autrand, texts collected by D. Boutet and J. Verger, Paris, 2000.
● Le rêve italien de la maison de Luxembourg aux XIVe et XVe siècles, Luxembourg: Les amis de l'histoire; Esch/Alzette cop.1996 232, p.48