Margaret of Baux


Margaret of Baux was a Countess of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, and of Conversano. She was a member of the noble House of Baux of the Kingdom of Naples, which had its origins in Provence dating back to the 11th century. Her husband was Peter of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, and of Conversano. Margaret's descendants include English Queen Consort Elizabeth Woodville, King Henry IV of France, Mary, Queen of Scots, and all English monarchs after 1509.

Family

Margaret was born in 1394, the daughter of Francis of Baux by his third wife Sueva Orsini. She was a descendant of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Eleanor of England through their fourth son Guy de Montfort and his eldest daughter Anastasia de Montfort. Her paternal grandparents were Bertrand III of Baux, Count of Andria and Squillace, and Marguerite d'Aulnay, and her maternal grandparents were Nicolo Orsini, Count of Nola, Senator of Rome, and Jeanne de Sabran.

Marriage and issue

On 8 May 1405, Margaret married Peter of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, and of Conversano, the eldest son of John of Luxembourg, Lord of Beauvoir and Marguerite of Enghien, Countess of Brienne and of Conversano, Heiress of Enghien. Peter inherited his mother's fiefs, which included the counties of Brienne and Conversano. He succeeded his aunt Jeanne of Luxembourg, Countess of Saint-Pol and Ligny, as Count of Saint-Pol in 1430. His younger brother John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny, an ally of the English during the Hundred Years War, received Joan of Arc as his prisoner, and subsequently sold her to the English, for 10,000 livres.
Peter and Margaret had:
Margaret died on 15 November 1469 at the age of 75 and was buried in Cercamp Abbey, Frévent, Pas-de-Calais. Her husband Peter had died of plague in 1433.

Ancestry