Margarete Maultasch

Margarete Maultasch was duchess of Carinthia and Tyrol. She was first married to John Henry of Bohemia, the brother of the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV of Luxemburg. In 1341 she expelled her husband with the help of the Tyrolean aristocracy. She then married Ludwig of Bavaria, the son of the Emperor Ludwig.

William of Ockham and Marsilius of Padua defended this first "civil marriage" in the Middle Ages. The Pope, however, excommunicated her and the scandal was known across Europe. In 1359 Margarete and Ludwig were absolved from the excommunication. After the death of her husband and her son Meinhard, she gave the county of Tyrol to duke Rudolf IV of Austria, who united it with the "dominion of Austria". In ecclesiastical propaganda she received the nickname "Maultasch" - this means "whore" or "ugly woman".

1816 Jacob Grimm collected the Legends of Margarete in his book "German sagas".

Reference

Wilhelm Baum: Margarete Maultasch. Erbin zwischen den Mächten, Graz-Wien-Köln 1994.