Margaret of Austria
History, as most of us know it and are taught it, is filled with the names of kings and emperors. Few women make the highlight reel of the past despite their accomplishments in the world of politics and diplomacy. One such woman is Margaret of Austria, a daughter of Habsburg royalty who lived in the late 15th and first decades of the 16th century.
The Renaissance period in Europe is marked by great change. The New World has been discovered, opening the door to great wealth and generating conflict between nations vying for that wealth. The Protestant Reformation threatens to tear the continent apart. Henry VIII wants a divorce. The Pope wants an emperor to defend the established Church. Into this tumultuous arena Margaret, a daughter of the Habsburg empire, is born.
Margaret has not received the modern press of her near contemporary, Elizabeth I of England, but she was just as preeminent a force in the diplomatic gamesmanship of the time. The only daughter of the emperor Maximillian and aunt of the future emperor Charles V, sister and sister-in-law to rulers from Spain to Hungary, she is placed in the role of governor of the Netherlands, a contentious land of seventeen separate divisions.
Author Gaston has brought Margaret to life as a daughter, wife, niece, aunt, friend, politician, ambassador, and diplomat. Margaret, sought after in marriage by the king of England, was a woman who loved with all her heart and governed with rare wisdom. While she never reached the status of queen or empress, she accomplished far more in her role as a Habsburg politician. In a world of ever-shifting alliances and borders, Margaret held the Habsburg empire together by force of charm and intellect. The reader of Margaret of Austria will be both enlightened and entertained.
