Margaret's mother,
Johanna Maria van der Gheynst, a servant of
Count Charles de Lalaing, Seigneur de Montigny, was a
Fleming. Margaret was brought up in
Mechelen, Her early life followed a strict routine set forth by her father, Charles V, who used his daughter as part of his plans to secure his empire. In 1527, the year she turned five, she became engaged to the nephew of
Pope Clement VII,
Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence, to assist her father's ambition in gaining influence in Italy. The marriage negotiations had been initiated in 1526, and in 1529, the agreement was officially signed by her father and the Pope. In 1529, Margaret was acknowledged by her father and allowed to assume the name Margaret of Austria, and in 1533, the 11-year-old girl was brought to live in Italy and educated in the courts of Florence, Rome, and Parma. There, she was taught skills that helped her grow as an independent woman. As Margaret did not spend much time with her husband, she used this time to become exposed to the surrounding
Italian culture. Though she was multi-lingual, she preferred the Italian language for the rest of her life. On 13 June 1536 in Florence, she married Alessandro, who was assassinated on 6 January 1537. On 4 November 1538 in Rome, the 15-year-old widow married
Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma, the 14-year-old grandson of
Pope Paul III. At first she refused to marry him. She was in a somewhat difficult position, as the Pope and the Emperor argued about authority over
Parma. In 1555, the
Farnese family were acknowledged as rulers of Parma by
Spain in exchange for the custody of her son. In 1555, she left Italy for the
Habsburg Netherlands, where she left her son in the care of her half-brother
Philip II. Philip appointed her Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands when he left in 1559 for Spain. As governor, Margaret faced the rising storm of discontent against the
Inquisition and Spanish despotism, and Philip had left her but nominal authority. He was determined to pursue his own arbitrary course, and the result was the
revolt of the Netherlands. Margaret was forced to adjust herself to the advice of
Cardinal Granvelle, Philip's choice for her chief councilor, who would grow to be greatly disliked in the Habsburg Netherlands. After Granvelle's exile from the Habsburg Netherlands in 1564, Margaret was forced to rely on the grandees in her Council. In 1565, an opposition party was formed from the Dutch nobility. Margaret received its complaints and, having no army to put down the dissenters, promised to stop religious repression. In 1566,
Iconoclastic riots took place all over the Habsburg Netherlands but she managed to quell them, with the help of her
stadtholders
Philip of Noircarmes (who subjugated the cities of
Tournai and
Valenciennes) in
Hainaut and
William of Orange in
Holland. The next year, Philip sent her military help led by the
Duke of Alba. Margaret warned Philip that actions by Alba would lead to catastrophe, but instead of trying to stop Alba, she resigned when she learned that Alba's power of attorney, granted by Philip, superseded her own. In 1567, Margaret retired to
L'Aquila in Italy. She was appointed Governor of
Abruzzo and
Viceroy of Naples, == Issue ==