Mary of Hungary (governor of the Netherlands)

Mary travelled to Hungary in June 1521, two and a half years after Emperor Maximilian's death. She was anointed and crowned queen of Hungary by Simon Erdődy, Bishop of Zagreb, in Székesfehérvár on 11 December 1521. The queen's coronation was followed by brilliant festivities. The royal marriage was blessed on 13 January 1522 in Buda. Mary's anointment and coronation as queen of Bohemia took place on 1 June 1522.[5][8]

Mary and Louis fell in love when they were reunited.[3] At first, Queen Mary had no influence over politics of Hungary and Bohemia because of her youth. Her court was replete with Germans and Dutch, who formed a base for the interests of the House of Habsburg. By 1524 Mary negotiated significant authority and influence for herself. In 1525, she took control over one powerful political faction and neutralised another.[9] Austria's ambassador, Andrea de Borgo, was appointed by the Queen herself.[5]

During her tenure as queen of Hungary, Mary attracted the interest of Martin Luther, who dedicated four psalms to her in 1526. Despite her brother Ferdinand's strong disapproval, Luther's teachings held great appeal for Mary during her marriage and even more for her sister Isabella and her brother-in-law King Christian II of Denmark. Mary turned away from his teachings mostly because of pressure from Ferdinand. Her trusted court preacher, Johann Henckel, is also considered responsible for Mary's return to orthodox Catholicism. The return was lukewarm,[10] but historian Helmut Georg Koenigsberger considers Mary's reputation for sympathy with Lutheranism to be "much-exaggerated".[4]

Louis and Mary spent their free time riding and hunting in the open country near the palace. They tried unsuccessfully to mobilize the Hungarian nobility against the imminent Ottoman invasion. Mary tried to cooperate with her brother Ferdinand in organizing a Hungarian defence against the Ottoman Empire, while at the same time consolidating Habsburg influence. She was much more vigorous and spiritually stronger than Louis – the Hungarians realized this themselves and criticized their king – but the fact she relied on non-Hungarian advisors costed her sympathy. Alfred Kohler opines that their defence project failed because of Louis's lack of competence.[11][12]

Louis had inherited the crown of a country whose noblemen were fighting among themselves and against the peasantry. Hungary was deeply divided when, by the end of 1525, it became clear that the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I was planning to invade.[3]

On 29 August 1526, Suleiman and his army broke through Hungary's southern defences. Louis and his entire government marched out with a small army of 20,000 men. The Battle of Mohács was over in less than two hours, with the entire Hungarian army virtually annihilated. Louis tried to flee the site of the battle but slipped from his frightened horse and drowned. Mary would mourn him for the rest of her life.[10]

Hungary was divided into three parts: Ottoman Hungary – a part of the Ottoman Empire, Royal Hungary – ruled by Mary's brother Ferdinand, and Eastern Hungarian Kingdom – ruled by John Zápolya. Ferdinand was elected King of Bohemia. Mary took a vow to never remarry and always wore the heart-shaped medallion worn by her husband in the fatal Battle of Mohács.[10][13][14]

Assuming the regency in the Netherlands meant assuming the guardianship of her nieces, Dorothea and Christina of Denmark, the daughters of her older sister, Queen Isabella of Denmark, who had died in 1526. Upon Isabella's death, the princesses had been cared for by Archduchess Margaret. Charles now relied upon Mary to arrange marriages for them, especially for Dorothea, whom he wanted to place on the Danish throne.[19]

In 1532, Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan, proposed a marriage with Christina, who was then 11 years old. Charles agreed to the marriage and allowed its immediate consummation. Mary determinedly opposed this decision, explaining to Charles that Christina was too young for consummation of the marriage. Charles ignored her, but she nevertheless managed to delay the marriage. She first told the Milanese envoy that her niece was ill and then took her to another part of the Netherlands for "serious affairs". Christina was finally married on 28 September 1532, but Mary managed to postpone her departure until 11 March 1533.[19]

Queen Mary receiving Emperor Charles V at her palace in Binche. The palace was the Emperor's gift to his sister, who had it rebuilt under the direction of an architect-sculptor Jacques du Broeucq. It was destroyed by the army of King Henry II of France.

Immediately after Christina's departure, Mary fell ill and requested that she be allowed to resign as governor, but Charles did not allow it. A year later, Dorothea too was married. A few months after Dorothea's departure, the now widowed Christina returned to her aunt's court. King Henry VIII of England immediately proposed marriage to Christina, and Charles urged Mary to negotiate the marriage. She was not in favour of the union, and delayed. Henry VIII was excommunicated in 1539, at which point Charles had to end the negotiations.[19]

The Emperor assured Mary that he had no doubts about her loyalty to the Catholic Church. He had learned that the Queen could not easily be bullied, especially not in matters which affected her personally.[4] Yet, upon leaving the States General in October 1531, Charles gave her a warning, saying that if his parent, wife, child or sibling became a follower of Luther, he would consider them his greatest enemy.[4] Mary was thus forced to suppress Protestantism in the Netherlands, regardless of her own religious tolerance. However, she always strived to enforce her brother's laws on religion as little as possible. She was accused of protecting Protestants on several occasions.[20]

Her determination sometimes caused clashes of wills with Charles. In most matters of patronage, Mary had to defer to Charles, which is why his relations in this area were not much better with Mary than with their aunt Margaret.[4] He often criticized her decisions, which negatively affected their otherwise affectionate relationship.[21]

Mary became worried about losing authority and was having trouble with the finances in February 1534. She complained that the budget could not be balanced even during the times of peace. Charles assured her that she was doing her best.[23]

The Queen complained to Charles in August 1537 that the Low Countries were no longer governable and said he should come himself. In fact, Mary handled the crisis quite well and kept a cool head in public.[24] In October, she travelled to the north of France to meet her brother-in-law, King Francis I of France, the second husband of her sister Eleanor. On October 23, they signed a treaty. Francis thereby promised Mary that he would not help those who rebelled against her, while the Queen promised to compensate certain French noblemen who lost their land in the Low Countries during the Italian Wars.[25]

In 1534, Mary prepared a proposal for a defensive union of all the provinces in her councils. She made the proposal at the States General in Mechelen in July, citing her brother, who had requested the provinces assist each other.[26] The plan had to be given up and, after Mary and Eleanor's failure to negotiate peace between the Empire and France, Mary's letters to Charles began to resemble the theatrical outbursts of their aunt Margaret.[23]

Mary strived for peace in the Netherlands. Charles paid no attention to the problems she was facing as governor and often ignored her warnings.[1] One such incident led to Charles's loss of the city of Metz to France.[27] Mary was forced to wage war against France in 1537 and to deal with the Revolt of Ghent between 1538 and 1540. Mary's appointment as Governor of the Netherlands was renewed on 14 October 1540, after the revolt in Ghent had been subdued.[1]

During the last decade of her regency, Scottish privateers became a serious problem in the North Sea. A 1551 petition by Antwerp merchants to the Habsburg government claimed that Scottish pirates and others, over the course of eight to ten years, had taken ships and goods that were worth about 1,600,000 Holland pounds. In 1547, Mary summoned deputies from the three fishing provinces to debate the matter. Many were in favor of safe-conducts, supposedly cheaper and more effective than building up naval armaments, but the Queen refused to negotiate with a weak Scottish government. Despite a firm sentiment against money for warships, Mary acted resolutely and issued orders forbidding all herring buses or merchantmen from sailing until the three fishing provinces could formulate an acceptable plan for naval defense. Under her pressure, the provinces agreed to create a common Netherlands war fleet, but differences were only completely worked out in the very last years of her government. Cornelis de Scepper, her chief naval strategist created a plan, according to which, a large naval squadron would patrol on station off the Estuary of Maas, while swift yachts would be responsible for communication with the herring fleet. Holland consented to provide eight warships for a fleet of twenty-five sail, intended to provide security for all branches of trade in the North Sea. James D.Tracy comments that "The development of this new strategy for naval defense was no small accomplishment, but most of the credit should go to the leadership provided by Mary of Hungary and her officials".[28]

Mary, the Admiral Maximilian of Burgundy and the Councillor Cornelis de Schepper were the team behind the professionalization process that characterized the Low Countries' maritime policy in the 1550–1555 period. The central government led by Mary tried to make provinces recognize the authority of the Admiralty. Mary favoured de Schepper over Maximilian but there were no distrust between the two men and the three formed an excellent team. Maximilian had too much responsibilities in various provinces, so perhaps this was why he appreciated help from others. De Schepper played the role of the mastermind, who formulated every memorandum and document regarding naval policies. From 1550 to 1555 (the year he died), he was the equal of the Admiral in equipping warships and organizing convoys. During this period, Schepper's activities focused on Flanders while Maximilian focused on Holland and Zeeland (initially, his authority was only recognized in Zeeland and Flanders but as he also the Stadtholder of Holland, he was able to exercise this authority in this province too). Their efforts resulted in the creation of a permanent navy. Mary proved herself a pragmatic and energetic leader in the process.[29]

Mary (seated) attending the abdication of her brother Charles

The Queen had to mediate between her brothers in 1555, when Charles decided to abdicate as emperor and leave the government of the Netherlands to his son Philip, despite Ferdinand's objections. When Mary learned of Charles's decision, she informed him that she too would resign. Both Charles and Philip urged her to remain in the post, but she refused. She chronicled the difficulties she had faced due to her gender, the fact that she could not act as she thought she should have because of disagreements with Charles, and her age. Furthermore, she did not wish to accommodate to the ways of her nephew after years of getting used to Charles's demands.[30] The actual reason for Mary's resignation was her numerous disagreements with her nephew.[31] She asked for Charles's permission to leave the Netherlands upon her resignation, fearing that she would be drawn into politics again if she remained.[30]

Charles finally allowed his sister to resign. She formally announced her decision on 24 September 1555 and dismissed her household on 1 October. On 25 October, her authority was transferred to Philip,[30] who, despite his personal dislike of his aunt, tried to convince her to resume the post. After another quarrel with Philip, Mary retired to Turnhout.[32] She remained in the Netherlands one more year.[30]

Mary's coat of arms as queen dowager

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