Margarita de Cardona

Margarida Folc de Cardona i Requesens (1535 – 23 February 1609) was a Spanish court official. She was a lady-in-waiting to the Holy Roman Empress Maria of Spain between 1548 and 1581. She had an influential position in the court of the Empress, and her correspondence with her spouse and daughter Anna von Dietrichstein gives valuable documentation about the politics of a royal household and its members. Life Margarida de Cardona was the daughter of the Catalan nobles Antonio Folc de Cardona y Enriquez and Maria de Requesens (d. 1577). Margarida de Cardona was appointed maid of honour to princess Maria prior to her marriage to Maximilian. She accompanied Maria to Austria in 1551. She married the German diplomat and court official Adam von Dietrichstein (17 October 1527- 15 January 1590) in 1553. Her mother served as chief-lady-in-waiting to Maria in 1554-77, and Margarita de Cardona herself was appointed lady-in-waiting after her marriage to the chamberlain of Maximilian. Margarita de Cardona and Adam von Dietrichstein, along with Maria de Lara and Wratislav von Pernstein, belonged to the intimate circle of strictly Catholic courtiers preferred by Maria in Austria.