Short Life with Large Impact

She died after a fall from a horse at age 25 on March 27, 1482, but in her short life, Mary of Burgundy became a ruler when she was twenty at her father's death, and was a factor in the spreading of the Hapsburg empire. Mary resisted an attempt to marry her to the Dauphin of France, gave the Netherlands considerable local rights, and by her marriage to the Hapsburg heir, extended the Hapsburg empire over her territories. Though she herself is little remembered in history, Mary's son, Philip, is remembered for his marriage, which also extended the Hapsburg empire, and Mary's daughter, Margaret of Austria, served as governor of the Netherlands for almost two decades.

_{Mary of Burgundy depiction: original from Illustrations of English and Foreign Costume from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Day, 1875. Image © Dover Publications. Used with permission.}