'Madama' Margaret of Parma's Patronage of Music

Margaret of Parma [Margherita d'Austria, Marguerite de Parme, Margaretha von Parma] (1522­86) was a notable patron of music. This article examines her patronage of music based on archival documents. Since Margaret and her husband, Ottavio Farnese, lived separately throughout their married life, she maintained her own court and chapel. She served as Governor of the Spanish government in Brussels for her half-brother, Philip II, from 1559 to 1567, and her chapel perhaps inevitably consisted of Flemish musicians, most of whom had already been in Habsburg service and continued to work for Margaret during her governorship in the Low Countries. She returned to Italy in 1568 and settled in her own domain in Abruzzo, where she spent the remainder of her life. She continued to employ Flemish musicians, some of whom had accompanied her from Brussels, thus contributing to the creation of a Flemish world in Italy.