Margaret, Duchess of Austria

Margaret of Austria (born c. 1204, died 29 October 1266) was Queen Consort of the Romans 1225-35, titular Duchess of Austria in 1252-60, and Queen consort of Bohemia 1253-60. She was the eldest daughter of Leopold VI, Duke of Austria and Theodora Angelina, the latter from the Byzantine imperial family. Margaret was the eldest sister of Frederick II, Duke of Austria, last Duke from the Babenberg dynasty, who died childless in 1246, leaving a succession crisis. Margaret was first married to Henry, the son of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife Constance of Aragon. Henry was elected King of the Romans, but later rebelled against his father. Ten years after Henry's death, Margaret married the new Duke of Austria, the Bohemian crown prince, who ascended his country's throne the following year (1253) as Ottokar II of Bohemia. She was about twenty-six years his senior. On the basis of the Privilegium Minus, this marriage allowed Ottokar to claim the duchies of Austria and Styria, since Margaret was the heiress of the last duke by proximity of blood. Austrian supporters proclaimed her Duchess of Austria as successor to her late brother Duke Frederick, whose inheritance had been under quarrel and most recently (1248-50) held by Herman VI, Margrave of Baden as duke in right of Margaret's niece Gertrude, Duchess of Austria. Ottokar's administrators ruled the duchies in the name of Margaret and Ottokar. Margaret was already barren and Ottokar divorced her in 1260; he then married a younger woman, Kunigunde of Galizia. Margaret was kept in Bohemia. The rival heir was Gertrude's son, the young Frederick I, Margrave of Baden (1249-68), in whose name a number of Austrians asserted the rights of the genuine heirs of the Babenbergs against Ottokar. Margaret died in 1266 and left no children (so her heiress would be Gertrude again). Ottokar kept Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, claiming to be the heir designated by Margaret in their divorce settlement. He held the duchies until deposed by king Rudolf I of Germany in 1276.