:''See also Margaret Stewart.'' Margaret Stewart (; 25 December 1424 – 16 August 1445) was a

princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and the

dauphine of France The dauphine of France (, also , ) was the wife of the dauphin of France (the heir apparent to the French throne). The position was analogous to a crown princess (the wife of a crown prince and heir apparent to a throne). List of dauphines of F ...

. She was the firstborn child of King

James I of Scotland James I (late July 1394 – 21 February 1437) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III of Scotland, Robert III and ...

and Joan Beaufort. She married the eldest son of the king of France, Louis, Dauphin of France, at the age of eleven. Their marriage was unhappy, and she died childless at the age of 20, apparently of a fever.

Early life

Margaret was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, to

and Joan Beaufort, a cousin of

Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. Margaret was the first of six daughters and twin sons born to her parents. Her surviving brother James would become

James II of Scotland James II (16 October 1430 – 3 August 1460) was King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460. The eldest surviving son of James I of Scotland, he succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of six, following the assassination of his fathe ...

at the age of six.

Dauphine of France

Margaret was

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious () or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years' War and a ''de facto'' end of the English claims to ...

's diplomatic choice for daughter-in-law. The marriage was forced upon Charles's twelve-year-old son,

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

, which did not help their relationship. There are no direct accounts from Louis or Margaret of their first impressions of each other, and it is mere speculation to say whether or not they actually had negative feelings for each other. Several historians think that Louis had a predetermined attitude to hate his wife because she was his father's choice of bride. But it is universally agreed that Louis entered the ceremony and the marriage itself dutifully, as evidenced by his formal embrace of Margaret upon their first meeting on 24 June 1436, the day before their wedding. Margaretdauphine

Margaret and Louis' marriage shows both the nature of medieval royal diplomacy and the precarious position of the French monarchy. After a papal dispensation was granted due to the age of the bridge and groom, the marriage took place 25 June 1436 in the afternoon in the chapel of the castle of

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

. It was presided over by the Archbishop of Reims. By the standards of the time, it was a very plain wedding.Cleugh, James. (1970) Chant Royal The Life of King Louis XI of France (1423–1483). Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. Louis, nearly thirteen, looked clearly more mature than his bride. Margaret looked like a beautiful "doll", perhaps because she was treated as such by her in-laws. Charles wore "grey riding pants" and "did not even bother to remove his spurs". The Scottish guests were quickly hustled out after the wedding reception. This was seen as something of a scandal by the Scots. King Charles' attire and the speed with which the guests were hustled out was considered an insult to Scotland, which was an important ally in France's war with the English. However, this spoke to the impoverished nature of the French court at this time. They simply could not afford an extravagant ceremony or to host their Scottish guests for any longer than they did. Following the ceremony, "doctors advised against consummation" because of the relative immaturity of the bride and bridegroom. Margaret was considered lovely, gracious and very beautiful, with a certain ability to write poetry and rhymes, though no example of her compositions survived destruction at her husband's hands after her death. She was also very interested in the French

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

's social and gallant life. She was a

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

of her father-in-law

and popular among the courtiers. However, she felt herself alien amongst the French court and became depressed. She had a strained relationship with her husband, the future

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

of France, mainly because of Louis' hatred of his father. Charles VII ordered the marriage, and Margaret frequently supported the king against her husband. It is said that she wore a strongly-tied

corset A corset /ˈkɔːrsɪt/ is a support garment worn to constrict the torso into the desired shape and Posture correction, posture. They are traditionally constructed out of fabric with boning made of Baleen, whalebone or steel, a stiff panel in th ...

because of her fear of pregnancies, ate green apples and drank apple vinegar. Her unhappy marriage furthered her depression, as did the gossip regarding her by supporters of Louis.

Death

On 16 August 1445, between ten and eleven at night, she died in Châlons-sur-Marne, Marne,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at the age of 20. On Saturday, 7 August, she and her ladies had joined the court on a short pilgrimage. It was very hot, and when she returned, she undressed in her stone chamber. The next morning she was feverish, the doctor diagnosed the inflammation of the lungs. She died, raving against a Jamet de Tillay, a Breton soldier, in favour of her father-in-law, King Charles (Jamet surprised Margaret at her habitual poetry reading, when there were no candles, only a good fire in the mantelpiece; he stuck a candle into her face, sniggered and afterwards went around, talking about "wanton princesses". Louis was cold to Margaret, and she attributed his coldness to the gossip spread by Jamet. She died, protesting her faithfulness to her husband, and accused Jamet of killing her with his words). ¹ Melancholic and distressed by slander against her, she sank into a final languor before dying. Her last words, in response to others' urgings to rouse herself and live, were supposedly ''Fi de la vie! qu'on ne m'en parle plus'' ("Fie on life! Speak no more of it to me"). She was buried in the Saint-Laon ChurchPaul, James Balfour. (1904) ''The Scots Peerage: founded on Wood's edition of Sir Robert Douglas's The Peerage of Scotland.'' Edinburgh: David Douglas, volume I. p. 19. in

Thouars Thouars () is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France. On 1 January 2019, the former communes Mauzé-Thouarsais, Missé and Sainte-Radegonde were merged into Thouars. It is on the River Thouet. Its inhabitants are known ...

, in the

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...

department of France. Margaret is also famous for the legend that she was kissed or almost kissed by poet Alain Chartier while asleep in her own rooms (another variant of this legend has

Anne of Brittany Anne of Brittany (; 25/26 January 1477 – 9 January 1514) was reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She was the only woman to have been queen consort of Fran ...

as its protagonist), though her age and location at the time of Chartier's death would have made that impossible.

References

Sources

* * Ruth Putnam, ''Charles the Bold'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Margaret 1424 births 1445 deaths Margaret Stewart

Margaret Stewart, Dauphine of France :''See also Margaret Stewart (disambiguation), Margaret Stewart.'' Margaret Stewart (; 25 December 1424 – 16 August 1445) was a princess of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and the dauphine of France. She was the firstborn child of King James I of ...

Scottish emigrants to France French people of Scottish descent

People from Perth, Scotland

15th-century Scottish people 15th-century Scottish women 15th-century French people 15th-century French women 15th-century French women writers 15th-century French writers Daughters of kings