Catherine of Austria, Lady of Coucy

Catherine of Austria (German: Katharina von Habsburg; French: Catherine d'Autriche; 9 February 1320 – 28 September 1349) was the oldest daughter of Leopold I, Duke of Austria and his wife Catherine of Savoy. She was a member of the House of Habsburg by birth and married the Lord of Coucy.

Catherine of Austria by Anton Boys

Early life and family

Catherine was the oldest of two daughters; her younger sister was Agnes of Austria, who married Bolko II the Small, Duke of Świdnica. The daughters' paternal grandparents were Albert I of Germany (son of Rudolph I of Germany) and Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol, a descendant of Henry II of England, and their maternal grandparents were Amadeus V, Count of Savoy and his second wife Maria of Brabant.

When Catherine was 6 years of age, her father died; Catherine and 4-year-old Agnes were placed under the guardianship of their paternal uncles, Frederick the Fair and Albert II, Duke of Austria.

Marriages

At the age of 18, Catherine married her first husband Enguerrand VI, Lord of Coucy, a French nobleman. The marriage contract was signed at Vincennes on 25 November 1338. The marriage produced one son, Enguerrand. The couple were married for eight years when in 1346, Enguerrand VI was killed in battle as part of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. Enguerrand was killed in one of a series of battles which ended with the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. Their son Enguerrand succeeded his father as Lord of Coucy, and he later married Isabella, eldest daughter of King Edward III of England.

Catherine remarried nearly two years after her first husband's death in February 1348 to Konrad, Burgrave of Magdeburg. The couple were married for just over a year when Konrad succumbed to the Black Death on 25 September 1349, Catherine herself dying three days later; she was buried at Königsfelden. She was outlived by her son Enguerrand.