Johanna Van der Gheynst Mother of Margaret of Parma. Country: Netherlands

1. Early Life
2. Birth of Margaret
3. Margaret's Upbringing

Early Life

Margherita of Parma's mother, Johanna van der Gheynst, was a servant to Charles Lalaing, governor of Oudenaarde. During Emperor Charles V's six-week stay in the city during the siege of Tournai in 1521, she became pregnant with Marghareta. Shortly after this, Johanna left the castle of the Burgundian Lalaings and moved in with her maternal uncle near Oudenaarde.

Birth of Margaret

In July 1522, Johanna gave birth to a daughter who was named Margaret, after Charles' aunt, Margaret of Austria. Two years after her daughter's birth, Johanna married Jan van den Deycke, with whom she had nine children.

Margaret's Upbringing

From 1531, Margaret was raised in Brussels at the court of her aunt, Mary of Austria, who was the governor of the Spanish Netherlands.