Diamond That Says I Love You

Maximilian giving a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy. Image: hemmahoshilde.wordpress.com

August 19, 1477 — This was the first full day of married life for Mary of Burgundy and Archduke Maximilian of Austria. It seemed likely to be a union of political convenience but turned into one of history’s great romances with a legacy that has prevailed for five and a half centuries.

At the time only kings wore diamonds but Maximilian was so smitten with Mary that he gave her a diamond ring that he had made for her, thus beginning the tradition of a bride-to-be being presented with a diamond engagement ring.

The Jewelry Industry Council in New York confirms it was Maximilian who set the style for engagements by giving Mary a diamond ring. Today, about 80 per cent of women marrying for the first time in the United States (where there are about 2.2 million marriages a year) receive a diamond engagement ring. In the UK, the figure is put at 78 per cent by the council; in Australia, at 77 per cent.

Maximilian was 18, Mary was 20. Pouring out his heart in a letter to a friend Maximilian wrote: “She has skin as white as snow, brown hair, a little nose, a small head and face, grey-brown eyes, beautiful and light. Her lips are a little strong, but pure and red. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

In 1457 Mary was born in Brussels, the only child of the Duke and Duchess of Burgundy – Charles the Bold* and Isabella. Fifteenth-century Burgundy was a great power and one of the richest countries in Europe.

(* In 1440, at the age of seven, Charles was married to 12-year-old Catherine, daughter of King Charles VII of France. She died six years later. They had no children.)

Maximilian was born in Austria in 1459, the son of Frederick III, the Holy Roman Emperor. As he grew up and became skilled at fencing, dancing and hunting, good-looking Maximilian enjoyed wine, women and song and became the centre of attraction wherever he went. He became Holy Roman Emperor on the death of his father in 1508.

Despite enjoying the good life he took his responsibilities seriously and successfully defended his young wife’s dominions when they were threatened by France.

Mary had inherited the large Burgundian territories – which included land along the present-day border between France and Germany – when her father was killed in battle only seven months before her wedding. The French vigorously asserted their claim to the land with military force, seeing young Mary as susceptible.

They had not taken into account Maximilian who, in his lifetime, went to war against four generations of French kings – Louis XI, Charles VIII, Louis XII and Francis I.

What could have been a long and happy marriage came to a tragic end when Mary died after a horse-riding accident only five years after her wedding. Her horse tripped, threw her and landed on top of her. Her back was broken, she sustained massive internal injures and died several days later on March 27, 1482, aged just 25.

In 1501, Maximilian, hailed by this time as one of history’s great generals, also fell from his horse and badly injured his leg, causing him pain for the rest of his life. In 1518 he suffered a stroke that left him bedridden and he died in January 1519, aged 60.

Published: November 14, 2023
Updated: June 19, 2024