Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
Margaret, Maid of Norway
Margaret (, ; March or April 1283 – September 1290), known as the Maid of Norway, was the queen-designate of Scotland from 1286 until her death. As she was never crowned, her status as monarch is uncertain and has been debated by historia ...
, who succeeded to the throne of Scotland.
Early life
Margaret was born on 28 February 1261 at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...
. She was the firstborn child of King
Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III (; Modern Gaelic: ; 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) was King of Alba (Scotland) from 1249 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of Perth, by which Scotland acquired sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. ...
and
Margaret of England
Margaret of England (29 September 1240 – 26 February 1275) was Queen of Alba (Scotland) by marriage to King Alexander III.
Life
Margaret was the second child of King Henry III of England and his wife, Eleanor of Provence, and was born at Wi ...
, Alexander's first wife. A committee of five earls, four bishops, and four barons were tasked with ensuring that the King's firstborn child was brought safely to Scotland. She was followed by two brothers,
Alexander
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here ar ...
and David. Queen Margaret (of England) died in 1275, but letters written by the younger Margaret point to an affectionate relationship with her uncle King
Edward I of England
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...
.
Queen of Norway
Margaret stayed unmarried until the age of 20, which is remarkably long for a medieval princess. She was finally betrothed to Eric II,
King of Norway
The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty king ...
, in 1281. The intent was to ease the tensions that developed between Norway and Scotland in the previous decades. According to chroniclers, Margaret was against the match, but her father insisted. The Scottish crown gave her and Eric the estates of
Rothiemay
Milltown of Rothiemay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ràth a' Mhuigh'') is a small inland village, built mostly of granite, in the north-east of Scotland and is within the Moray council area bordering neighbouring Aberdeenshire across the river to the so ...
in
Banffshire
Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been spli ...
,
Belhelvie
Belhelvie () is a small village and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland.Belhelvie. in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
,
Bathgate
Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...
in
West Lothian
West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...
, and
Ratho
Ratho () is a village in the rural west part of the City of Edinburgh council area, Scotland. Its population at the 2011 census was 1,634 based on the 2010 definition of the locality. It was formerly in the old county of Midlothian (historic), ...
in
Midlothian
Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...
as her
dowry
A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage.
Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...
. The treaty arranging the marriage specified, that Margaret and her children would succeed to the throne of Scotland if King Alexander died leaving no legitimate sons and if no legitimate son of his left legitimate children.
Margaret sailed into the port of Bergen in the early morning of 15 August. Her marriage to the 13-year-old king of Norway was celebrated two or three weeks later, making her queen of Norway. She was crowned by Jon Raude,
Archbishop of Nidaros
The Archdiocese of Nidaros (or Niðaróss) was the metropolitan see covering Norway in the later Middle Ages. The see was the Nidaros Cathedral, in the city of Nidaros (now Trondheim). The archdiocese existed from the middle of the twelfth cent ...
,
Christ Church, Bergen
Christ Church on Holmen (''Kristkirken på Holmen i Bergen'') was the main medieval era cathedral of Bergen, Norway. Its site was near Haakon's hall (''Håkonshallen'') and Bergenhus Fortress (''Bergenhus festning'').
History
Christ Church ...
. A cultured woman, Margaret probably found it difficult to adapt to married life with an uncultured adolescent. Scots reported that she tried to "cultivate" Eric by teaching him French and English, table manners, and fashion. Her mother-in-law, Ingeborg of Denmark, undermined her position as queen and dominated the court.
Between March and 9 April 1283, Queen Margaret gave birth to her only child,
Margaret
Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...
, known as the Maid of Norway, in
Tønsberg
Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...
. She died during or shortly after childbirth, and was buried in Christ Church in Bergen. As Margaret's brothers both predeceased her father, her daughter succeeded to the Scottish throne in 1286.