Mary of Burgundy was born in Brussels at the ducal castle of Coudenberg, to Charles the Bold, then known as the Count of Charolais, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon. This was a turning point in European politics, leading to a French–Habsburg rivalry that would endure for centuries. The marriage kept large parts of the Burgundian lands from disintegration, but also a change of dynasty from the Valois to the Habsburg (the Duchy of Burgundy itself became a French possession). In order to counter the appetite of the French king Louis XI for her lands, she married Maximilian of Habsburg, who became Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I long after her death. Īs the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon, she inherited the Burgundian lands at the age of 19 upon the death of her father in the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477. Mary of Burgundy ( French: Marie de Bourgogne Dutch: Maria van Bourgondië 13 February 1457 – 27 March 1482), nicknamed the Rich, was the ruler of a collection of states (also known collectively as Burgundian territories, Burgundian State or the States of Burgundy) that included the duchies of Burgundy (which was reconquered by the Kingdom of France shortly after Charles the Bold's death), Limburg, Brabant, Luxembourg, the counties of Namur, Holland, Hainaut and other territories, from 1477 until her death in a riding accident at the age of 25.