born Jan. 10, 1480, Brussels
died Dec. 1, 1530, Mechelen, Spanish Netherlands
Habsburg ruler who was regent of the Netherlands (1507–15, 1519–30) for her nephew, the future emperor Charles V .
In 1497 she married the infante John, heir to the Spanish kingdoms, who died a few months later. In 1501 she married Philibert II, duke of Savoy, who died in 1504. Appointed regent by her father, Emperor Maximilian I , she pursued a pro-English foreign policy. In the 1520s she extended the Habsburg dominion in the northeastern Netherlands and negotiated the Treaty of Francis I .