A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Margaretta of Saxony
MARGARETTA OF SAXONY,
Was born in the year 1416, and was the daughter of Ernst, Archduke of Austria, and Cimburgia, his wife. In 1431, she married Frederick the Mild, of Saxony, and brought to her husband a dower of twenty-nine thousand ducats, which was then considered so great a sum, that the chroniclers mention it as something very extraordinary. She was the mother of eight children, two of whom, Ernst and Albert, are particularly mentioned, on account of an incident which nearly cost them their lives. Margaretta had prove herself so wise a counsellor in state affairs, that her husband not only accorded her the right which she also exercised) of coining legal money, but also, to assist in governing the state. She contributed much, by her wise counsels, to put an end to the bloody wars between the brothers. After these wars were over, she drew upon herself and her husband the hatred of Kuntz von Kaufunger, a brave but wicked knight, who, thinking himself aggrieved, resolved to avenge himself upon his patrons. During the temporary absence of Frederick, Kuntz penetrated, with two companions, Into the castle, and kidnapped the two princes. As soon as Margaretta discovered that her enemy had carried off her children, she ordered the alarm-bells to be rung throughout the country, and sent out armed men in pursuit of the robbers. They were discovered in a wood near Grunhair, and captured by a collier; who, when he was requested to name his reward, asked only permission to have the privilege to make as much charcoal, free of expense, as he and his family could attend to. When, in the year 1467, her husband died, she assumed the reins of government, and proved herself truly a mother to her subjects. She was the first sovereign who provided public rooms where the poor could have an opportunity to warm themselves, during the severe winter months. Margaretta died, February 12th., 1486, in her seventieth year, after she had lived a widow for more than twenty-two years.