... was the daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria, sister of Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was the wife of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Medici, and next of Ferdinand, who was destined to become emperor in following years. The celebrations given in honor of Margaret during her journey to Spain to marry Philip III of Spain are significant: they were held in Pavia, Ferrara, Mantua and Genoa. She was very influential at her husband’s court whose rigorously pro-Catholic politics she supported and she was recognized as an active promoter of religious and social institutions especially those that supported the needy. The ties with the Medici dynasty had been strengthened in the months preceding his death with the signing (which took place in Spain, with the active intervention of Cosimo II) of the engagement between his children Anna and Philip (future IV of Spain) with Louis XIII and Elisabeth of France.