Margaret of Scotland (1193 – 25 November 1259) was a daughter of
William the Lion
William the Lion, sometimes styled William I and also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough"''Uilleam Garbh''; e.g. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1214.6; Annals of Loch Cé, s.a. 1213.10. ( 1142 – 4 December 1214), reigned as King of Scots from 11 ...
,
King of Scotland
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...
and his wife
Ermengarde de Beaumont
Ermengarde de Beaumont (c. 1170 – 11 February 1233/1234) was Queen of Scotland as the wife of King William I. She is reported to have exerted influence over the affairs of state as queen, though the information of her is lacking in detail. Her ...
. She was a member of the
House of Dunkeld
The House of Dunkeld (in or "of the Caledonians") is a historiographical and genealogical construct to illustrate the clear succession of Scottish kings from 1034 to 1040 and from 1058 to 1286. The line is also variously referred to by historians ...
and by marriage, she was Countess of Kent.
Early life
Margaret was born at
Haddington, East Lothian
The Royal Burgh of Haddington ( sco, Haidintoun, gd, Baile Adainn) is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian. It lies about east of Edinburgh. The name Haddington ...
, the first child of
William I of Scotland
William the Lion, sometimes styled William I and also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough"''Uilleam Garbh''; e.g. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1214.6; Annals of Loch Cé, s.a. 1213.10. ( 1142 – 4 December 1214), reigned as King of Scots from 11 ...
and his wife
Ermengarde de Beaumont
Ermengarde de Beaumont (c. 1170 – 11 February 1233/1234) was Queen of Scotland as the wife of King William I. She is reported to have exerted influence over the affairs of state as queen, though the information of her is lacking in detail. Her ...
. She was an older sister of
Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II ( Medieval Gaelic: '; Modern Gaelic: '; 24 August 1198 – 6 July 1249) was King of Scotland from 1214 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of York (1237) which defined the boundary between England and Scotland, virtually un ...
.
Her father had fought
Henry II of England
Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin kin ...
as well as his younger son
John of England
John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin ...
. As a result, in 1209, William was forced to send Margaret and her younger sister
Isabella as hostages; they were imprisoned at
Corfe Castle along with
Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany, who had been under house arrest to prevent her claim on
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. In June 1213, John sent green robes, lambskin-trimmed cloaks, and summer slippers to the three noble ladies.
[Eleanor of Brittany in captivity]
/ref> The ladies were sometimes allowed to ride out under the strictest guard.
Marriage
On 19 June 1221, Margaret married Hubert de Burgh
Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent (; ; ; c.1170 – before 5 May 1243) was an English nobleman who served as Chief Justiciar of England and Ireland during the reigns of King John and of his son and successor King Henry III and, as a consequenc ...
. At the time of their marriage, Hubert was effectively the Regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
of the Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
On ...
since Henry III was too young to carry out the duties of King. Henry III finally came of age in 1227 and Hubert retired from his duties as Regent. He was awarded the title of Earl of Kent
The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In fiction, the Earl of Kent is also known as a prominent supporting character in William Shakespeare's tragedy K ...
and remained one of the most influential people at court.
They had only one known daughter:
*Margaret de Burgh (c. 1222–1237). She married Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, but left no issue. Margaret of Scotland's line thus became extinct in 1237.
She survived her husband by sixteen years and died on 25 November 1259. She was buried at the Church of the Black Friars of London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
From her birth to her death Margaret was arguably either first or second heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a l ...
as one of the few living, legitimate descendants of William I. However, cognatic primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
was not yet the norm in Scotland and more distant relatives could well claim the throne, as they in fact did in the Succession Crisis A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a king dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession.
Examples include (see List of wars of succession):
*Multiple periods ...
of 1290 to 1292.
Ancestry
References
External links
*
Her profile at Genealogy 4U
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Margaret of Scotland, Countess of
1193 births
1259 deaths
Margaret of Scotland, Countess of Kent
Margaret of Scotland, Countess of Kent
English countesses
Margaret of Scotland, Countess of Kent
People from Haddington, East Lothian
Burials at the Church of the Black Friars, London
Daughters of kings