Tyrol also was one of the possessions of this powerful duke.
Henry, having no son, had obtained from the emperor a decree that these
possessions should descend, in default of male issue, to his daughter.
But for this decision the sovereignty of these States would descend to
the male heirs, Albert and Otho of Austria, nephews of Henry. They of
course disputed the legality of the decree, and, aided by the Emperor
Louis of Bavaria, obtained Carinthia, relinquishing for a time their
claim to Tyrol. The emperor hoped to secure that golden prize for his
hereditary estates of Bavaria.
When John, the son of the King of Bohemia, was but seventeen years of
age, and a puny, weakly child, he was hurriedly married to Margaret,
then twenty-two. Margaret, a sanguine, energetic woman, despised her
baby husband, and he, very naturally, impotently hated her. She at
length fled from him, and escaping from Bohemia, threw herself under the
protection of Louis. The emperor joyfully welcomed her to his court, and
promised to grant her a divorce, by virtue of his imperial power, if she
would marry his son Louis. The compliant princess readily acceded to
this plan, and the divorce was announced and the nuptials solemnized in
February, 1342.
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