Margaret OF SCOTLAND
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Saint Margaret OF SCOTLAND (1046-1093)

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      Margaret of Scotland     Image of Saint Margaret in a window at St Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh     Máel Coluim and Margaret as depicted in a 16th century armorial. Note the coats of arms both bear on their clothing — Malcolm wears the Lion of Scotland, which historically was not used until the time of his great-grandson William the Lion; Margaret wears the supposed arms of Edward the Confessor, her grand-uncle, although the arms were in fact concocted in the later Middle Ages.     St Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh Castle
 
Name: Margaret OF SCOTLAND 1,2
Sex: Female
Name Prefix: Saint
Father: Edward the Ætheling (1016-1057)
Mother: Agatha OF KIEV (1020-1068?)

Individual Events and Attributes

Birth 1045/46 Hungary
Occupation frm 1070 to 1093 (age 23-47) Queen Consort of Scotland
Group/Caste Membership House of Wessex
Child Count 8
Marriage Count 1
Death 16 Nov 1093 (age 46-47) Edinburgh Castle
canonised as a saint 1250 (age 203-204)
Burial Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, Scotland

Additional Information

canonised as a saint by Pope Innocent IV in recognition of her personal holiness, fidelity to the Church, work for religious reform, and charity
Burial Her remains were later moved to Escorial in Madrid, Spain and her head was burried at Jesuit College in Douai, France.

Marriage

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      Malcolm III Canmore of Scotland     Malcolm III Canmore of Scotland     Máel Coluim and Margaret as depicted in a 16th century armorial. Note the coats of arms both bear on their clothing — Malcolm wears the Lion of Scotland, which historically was not used until the time of his great-grandson William the Lion; Margaret wears the supposed arms of Edward the Confessor, her grand-uncle, although the arms were in fact concocted in the later Middle Ages.     Matilda of Scotland, wife of Henry I
 
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      David I of Scotland     David and his designated successor, Máel Coluim mac Eanric. Máel Coluim IV would reign for twelve years, in a reign marked for the young king's chastity and religious fervour.     The Ruins of Holyrood Abbey founded by David I in 1128 on the grounds of Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh.     The modern ruins of Melrose Abbey. Founded in 1137, this Cistercian monastery became one of David's greatest legacies.
 
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      Steel engraving and enhancement of the obverse side of the Great Seal of David I, portraying David in the "Continental" fashion the other-worldly maintainer of peace and defender of justice.    
 
Spouse Malcolm III Canmore OF SCOTLAND (1031?-1093)
Children Matilda OF SCOTLAND (1080-1118)
Mary OF SCOTLAND (1082-1118)
David I OF SCOTLAND (aft1083-1153)
Marriage 1069 (app) (age 22-23) Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, Scotland

Individual Note 1

Saint Margaret (c. 1045 – 16 November 1093), also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England. Margaret and her family returned to England in 1057, but fled to Scotland following the Norman conquest of England of 1066. Around 1070 Margaret married Malcolm III, King of Scots, becoming his Queen consort. She was a pious woman, and among many charitable works she established a ferry across the Firth of Forth for pilgrims travelling to Dunfermline Abbey, which gave the towns of Queensferry and North Queensferry their names. Margaret was the mother of three Kings of Scotland and a Queen consort of England. According to the Life of Saint Margaret, attributed to Turgot, she died at Edinburgh Castle in 1093, just days after receiving the news of her husband's death in battle. In 1250 she was canonised by Pope Innocent IV, and her remains were reinterred in a shrine at Dunfermline Abbey. Her relics were dispersed after the Scottish Reformation and subsequently lost.

 

Early life

Margaret was the daughter of the English prince, Edward the Exile and granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, king of England. After the Danish conquest of England in 1016, Canute had the infant Edward exiled to the continent. He was taken first to the court of the Swedish king, Olof Skötkonung, and then to Kiev. As an adult, he travelled to Hungary, where in 1046 he supported Andrew I's successful bid for the throne. The provenance of Margaret's mother, Agatha, is disputed, but Margaret was born in Hungary around 1045. Her brother Edgar the Ætheling and her sister Cristina were also born in Hungary around this time. Margaret grew up in a very religious environment in the Hungarian court. Andrew I of Hungary was known as "Andrew the Catholic" for his extreme aversion to pagans, and great loyalty to Rome, which probably could have induced Margaret to follow a pious life.

 

Return to England

Still a child, she came to England with the rest of her family when her father, Edward, was recalled in 1057 as a possible successor to her great-uncle, the childless Edward the Confessor. Her father died soon after the family's arrival in England, but Margaret continued to reside at the English court where her brother, Edgar Ætheling, was considered a possible successor to the English throne. When the Confessor died in January 1066, Harold Godwinson was selected as king, Edgar perhaps being considered still too young. After Harold's defeat at the battle of Hastings later that year, Edgar was proclaimed King of England, but when the Normans advanced on London, the Witenagemot presented Edgar to William the Conqueror who took him to Normandy before returning him to England in 1068, when Edgar, Margaret, Cristina and their mother Agatha fled north to Northumbria.

 

Journey to Scotland

According to tradition, the widowed Agatha decided to leave Northumbria with her children and return to the continent. However, a storm drove their ship north to Scotland, where they sought the protection of King Malcolm III. The spot where they are said to have landed is known today as St. Margaret's Hope, near the village of North Queensferry. Margaret's arrival in Scotland in 1068, after the failed revolt of the Northumbrian earls, has been heavily romanticized, though Symeon of Durham implied that her first meeting with Malcolm III of Scots may not have been until 1070, after William the Conqueror's harrying of the north.

 

Malcolm was probably a widower, and was no doubt attracted by the prospect of marrying one of the few remaining members of the Anglo-Saxon royal family. The marriage of Malcolm and Margaret took place some time before the end of 1070. Malcolm followed it with several invasions of Northumberland, probably in support of the claims of his brother-in-law Edgar. These, however, had little result beyond the devastation of the province.[1]

 

Family

Margaret and Malcolm had eight children, six sons and two daughters:

 

Edward, killed 1093.

Edmund of Scotland

Ethelred, abbot of Dunkeld

King Edgar of Scotland

King Alexander I of Scotland

King David I of Scotland

Edith of Scotland, also called Matilda, married King Henry I of England

Mary of Scotland, married Eustace III of Boulogne

 

Religious life

 

Margaret attended to charitable works, and personally served orphans and the poor every day before she ate. She rose at midnight to attend church services every night. She was known for her work for religious reform. She was considered to be an exemplar of the "just ruler", and also influenced her husband and children to be just and holy rulers. A cave on the banks of the Tower Burn in Dunfermline was used by the queen as a place of devotion and prayer. St Margaret's Cave, now covered beneath a municipal car park, is open to the public.[2]

 

Death

Her husband, Malcolm III, and their eldest son, Edward, were killed in a fight against the English at the Battle of Alnwick on 13 November 1093. Her son Edmund was left with the task of telling his mother of their deaths. Margaret was ill, and she died on 16 November 1093, three days after the deaths of her husband and eldest son.

 

Sainthood

Saint Margaret was canonised in the year 1250 by Pope Innocent IV in recognition of her personal holiness, fidelity to the Church, work for religious reform, and charity. On 19 June 1250, after her canonisation, her remains were moved to Dunfermline Abbey.[3] The Roman Catholic Church formerly marked the feast of Saint Margaret of Scotland on 10 June, because the feast of "Saint Gertrude, Virgin" was already celebrated on 16 November, but in Scotland, she was venerated on 16 November, the day of her death. In the revision of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints in 1969, 16 November became free and the Church transferred her feast day to 16 November.[4] However, some traditionalist Catholics continue to celebrate her feast day on 10 June. She is also venerated as a saint in the Anglican Church.

 

Churches

Several churches are dedicated to Saint Margaret. One of the oldest is St Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh Castle, which was founded by her son King David I. The chapel was long thought to have been the oratory of Margaret herself, but is now considered to be a 12th century establishment. The oldest building in Edinburgh, it was restored in the 19th century, and refurbished in the 1990s.

 

St. Margaret's Church (Margaretakirken) in Maridalen near Oslo, Norway, is dedicated to Saint Margaret of Scotland.[contradictory] The stone church dates from the middle of the 1200s. It is now a ruin, but after restoration in 1934 the church today is one of the best-preserved medieval buildings in Oslo after the Old Aker Church.[5]

 

Others include the 13th-century Church of St Margaret the Queen in Buxted, East Sussex,[6] and St Margaret of Scotland, Aberdeen.

 

Other establishments

 

A number of foundations, particularly in Scotland, are named after Saint Margaret:

 

Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, which adopted the name in 1972

Queen Margaret College, Glasgow

Queen Margaret Union, a student union at Glasgow University

Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline

The towns of South Queensferry and North Queensferry mark the location of the ferry established by Queen Margaret

Queen Margaret Academy, Ayr

St Margaret's Academy, Livingston

Queen Margaret College, Wellington, New Zealand

 

NOTES:

1 H.E Marshall (1906). "Malcolm Canmore — Saint Margaret came to Scotland". Scotland's Story. http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=marshall&book=scotland&story=margaret. Retrieved 2011-03-18.

2 "St Margaret's Cave". VisitScotland. http://guide.visitscotland.com/vs/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,SIG49370Svs,curr,GBP,season,at1,selectedEntry,home/home.html. Retrieved 2011-03-18.

3 Humphrys, Julian (June 2010). BBC History magazine. Bristol Magazines Ltd. ISSN 1469-8552.

4 "Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 126

5 Margaretakirken (Maridalens Venner)

6 Coppin, Paul (2001). 101 Medieval Churches of East Sussex. Seaford: S.B. Publications. p. 130. ISBN 1-85770-238-7.

 

SOURCES:

Chronicle of the Kings of Alba

Anderson, Marjorie O. (ed.). Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland. 2nd ed. Edinburgh, 1980. 249-53.

Hudson, B.T. (ed. and tr.). Scottish Historical Review 77 (1998): 129-61.

Anderson, Alan Orr (tr.). Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286. Vol. 1. Edinburgh, 1923. Reprinted in 1990 (with corrections).

Turgot, Vita S. Margaretae (Scotorum) Reginae

ed. J. Hodgson Hinde, Symeonis Dunelmensis opera et collectanea. Surtees Society 51. 1868. 234-54 (Appendix III).

tr. William Forbes-Leith, Life of St. Margaret Queen of Scotland by Turgot, Bishop of St Andrews. Edinburgh, 1884. PDF available from the Internet Archive. Third edition published in 1896.

tr. anon., The life and times of Saint Margaret, Queen and Patroness of Scotland. London, 1890. PDF available from the Internet Archive

William of Malmesbury, Gesta regum Anglorum

ed. and tr. R.A.B. Mynors, R.M. Thomson and M. Winterbottom, William of Malmesbury. Gesta Regum Anglorum. The History of the English Kings. OMT. 2 vols: vol 1. Oxford, 1998.

Orderic Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica

ed. and tr. Marjorie Chibnall, The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis. 6 vols. OMT. Oxford, 1968-1980.

John of Worcester, Chronicle (of Chronicles)

ed. B. Thorpe, Florentii Wigorniensis monachi chronicon ex chronicis. 2 vols. London, 1848-9

tr. J. Stevenson, Church Historians of England. 8 vols: vol. 2.1. London, 1855. 171-372.

John Capgrave, Nova Legenda Angliae

Acta SS. II, June, 320. London, 1515. 225

Secondary literature

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "St Margaret". Encyclopædia Britannica (eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press. http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/St_Margaret.

Baker, D. "A nursery of saints: St Margaret of Scotland reconsidered." In Medieval women, ed. D. Baker. SCH. Subsidia 1. 1978.

Bellesheim, Alphons. History of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Vol 3, tr. Blair. Edinburgh, 1890. 241-63.

Butler, Alban. Lives of the Saints. June 10.

Challoner, Richard. Britannia Sancta, I. London, 1745. 358.

Dunlop, Eileen, Queen Margaret of Scotland, 2005, NMS Enterprises Limited - Publishing, Edinburgh, 978 1 901663 92 1

Huneycutt, L.L. "The idea of a perfect princess: the Life of St Margaret in the reign of Matilda II (1100–1118)." Anglo-Norman Studies 12 (1989): 81–97.

Madan. The Evangelistarium of St. Margaret in Academy. 1887.

Parsons, John Carmi. Medieval Mothering. 1996.

Olsen, Ted Kristendommen og kelterne forlaget (2008) Oslo: forlaget Luther (p. 170) ISBN 978-82-531-4564-8 Norwegian

Skene, W.F. Celtic Scotland. Edinburgh.

Stanton, Richard. Menology of England and Wales. London, 1887. 544.

Wilson, A.J. St Margaret, queen of Scotland. 1993.3

Individual Note 2

She is considered the ancestress of the royal line of England.4

Individual Note 3

From Catholic.org Margaret was an English princess. She and her mother sailed to Scotland to escape from the king who had conquered their land. King Malcolm of Scotland welcomed them and fell in love with the beautiful princess. Margaret and Malcolm were married before too long.

 

As Queen, Margaret changed her husband and the country for the better. Malcolm was good, but he and his court were very rough. When he saw how wise his beloved wife was, he listened to her good advice. She softened his temper and led him to practice great virtue. She made the court beautiful and civilized. Soon all the princes had better manners, and the ladies copied her purity and devotion. The king and queen gave wonderful example to everyone by the way they prayed together and fed crowds of poor people with their own hands. They seemed to have only one desire: to make everyone happy and good.

 

Margaret was a blessing for all the people of Scotland. Before she came, there was great ignorance and many bad habits among them. Margaret worked hard to obtain good teachers, to correct the evil practices, and to have new churches built. She loved to make these churches beautiful for God's glory, and she embroidered the priest's vestments herself.

 

God sent this holy Queen six sons and two daughters. She loved them dearly and raised them well. The youngest boy became St. David. But Margaret had sorrows, too. In her last illness, she learned that both her husband and her son, Edward, had been killed in battle. Yet she prayed: "I thank You, Almighty God, for sending me so great a sorrow to purify me from my sins."

 

Her feast day is November 16th. 10 June (pre-1970 General Roman Calendar)5

Sources

1Weir, Alison, "Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy" (Vintage, 2008). p 185 186.
2Weis, Frederick Lewis & Sheppard, Walter Lee, Jr, "Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700: Lineages from Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Malcolm of Scotland, Robert the Strong, and other Historical Individuals". p 2, 1-21; 152, 158-23; 162, 170-21.
3"Wikipedia". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Margaret_of_Scotland.
4Weis, Frederick Lewis & Sheppard, Walter Lee, Jr, "Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700: Lineages from Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Malcolm of Scotland, Robert the Strong, and other Historical Individuals". p 162, 170-21.
5"Catholic Online". http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=304.