September 29, 1240: Birth of Margaret of England, Queen of Scots

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Alexander II of Scotland, Edinburgh., Eleanor of Provence, Henry III of England, Joan of England, Louis VI of France, Margaret of England, Regency Council, Windsor Castle

Margaret of England (September 29, 1240 – February 26, 1275) was Queen of Scots by marriage to King Alexander III.

Life

Margaret was the second child of King Henry III of England, Lord of Ireland and his wife, Eleanor of Provence, the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1198–1267), the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and his wife Margaret of Geneva.

Margaret was born at Windsor Castle. Margaret’s first appearance in historical record comes when she was three years old, when she and her brother, the future Edward I, took part in an event in London.

King Alexander II of Scotland had previously been married to Margaret’s paternal aunt, Joan of England, the third child of John, King of England, Lord of Ireland and Isabella of Angoulême.

In 1244, her father and Alexander II met in Newcastle to resume peaceful relations between the two nations, and it was decided that the future Alexander III of Scotland should marry Margaret. She was betrothed the same year.

She was married on December 25, 1251, when she was 11 years old, at York Minster, to King Alexander III of Scotland, who was 10 years of age. The couple remained in York until January the following year, when they continued to their residence in Edinburgh.

Margaret is said to have been unhappy in Scotland, and created some tensions between England and Scotland by writing to her family in England that she was poorly treated in Scotland. Because of their age, it was not considered suitable for the royal couple to have sexual intercourse. Margaret was therefore not allowed to see Alexander very often, and because she had evidently been given a good impression of him and came to be fond of him, this made her displeased.

Further more, she did not like the royal castle and hated Edinburgh, or the climate in Scotland, and she missed England and her family there. She wrote of her homesickness and complaints to her parents, who asked for her to visit them. The Scots, however, refused permission, because of the risk that she would never return.

In 1255, Queen Eleanor sent her physician to Edinburgh to investigate Margaret’s well-being. He reported that she was pale and depressed, and complained about loneliness and neglect. Her father sent a new delegation, wrote to some of the Scottish earls and demanded that she be better treated. Queen Margaret complained to her father’s envoys that she was kept as a prisoner without the permission to travel, and that she was not allowed to see her spouse nor be intimate with him.

After this, the king of England and the regency council of Scotland came to an agreement. It was agreed that as the royal couple were now fourteen, they should be allowed to consummate their marriage, and the regency council would be obliged to turn the power over to Alexander in seven years time: Alexander would be obliged to give Margaret physical affection, and allow her freedom to travel to visit her parents. The same year, September 7, 1255, Margaret and Alexander III visited her parents and Margaret’s sister Beatrice at Wark. Margaret stayed a bit longer in England after her spouse’s departure, but soon followed him when the agreement was secured.

In 1257, Margaret and Alexander were captured and held prisoner by the Comyn family, who demanded the expulsion of all foreigners from Scotland. They were eventually released after the intervention of her father and the Scottish regency council. She visited England in 1260–61, to give birth to her daughter Margaret, and 1269, to attend the translation of Edward the Confessor’s relics to Westminster Abbey, both times in the company of Alexander. She was not able to attend her father’s funeral in 1272 because of her pregnancy.

It was said that Margaret was responsible for the death of a young courtier, who reputedly had killed her uncle Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. She had been given this esquire as a gift from her brother Edward, who visited her in 1257. This incident took place at Kinclaven Castle near Perth in the summer of 1273, where she recuperated after the birth of her son David.

While walking along the River Tay accompanied by her confessor, some maidens and several esquires one evening after supper, an English esquire went down to the river to wash his hand clean from some clay. She jokingly pushed him into the river, but he was swept to his death by a powerful current before anyone could help. This was done as a joke, and according to her confessor, she had told her maidens to push him, and everyone had laughed at first, thinking there was no danger for the esquire’s life. He was, however, seized by a heavy current, and both he, as well as his servant boy who jumped in to save him, drowned. Margaret was reportedly very upset by the incident.

Margaret and Alexander were present at the coronation of Edward I in Westminster in August 1274. Margaret died on February 26, 1275 at Cupar Castle, and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey, Fife.

Issue

The couple had three children:

Margaret (February 28, 1261 – April 9, 1283), who married King Eric II of Norway.

Alexander (January 21, 1264 – January 28, 1284).

David (March 20, 1272 – June 1281); buried in Dunfermline Abbey.

King Alexander III of Scotland remarried on October 15, 1285 and his bride was Yolande of Dreux, the daughter of Robert IV, Count of Dreux, and Beatrice, Countess of Montfort. Her father was a patrilineal descendant of King Louis VI of France, making her a member of a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty with powerful connections. They didn’t have any children.

August 24, 1198: Birth of King Alexander II of Scotland.

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Alexander II of Scotland, Henry III of England, Joan of England, John of England, King of Scots, Kingdom of Scotland, William I of Scotland, William the Lion

Alexander II (August 24, 1198 – July 6, 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 unchanged today.

He was born at Haddington, East Lothian, the only son of the Scottish king William I the Lion and Ermengarde of Beaumont. He spent time in England (John of England knighted him at Clerkenwell Priory in 1213) before succeeding to the kingdom on the death of his father on December 4, 1214, being crowned at Scone on 6 December the same year.


King of Scots

In 1215, the year after his accession, the clans Meic Uilleim and MacHeths, inveterate enemies of the Scottish crown, broke into revolt; but loyalist forces speedily quelled the insurrection. In the same year Alexander joined the English barons in their struggle against John of England, and led an army into the Kingdom of England in support of their cause. This action led to the sacking of Berwick-upon-Tweed as John’s forces ravaged the north.

The Scottish forces reached the south coast of England at the port of Dover where in September 1216, Alexander paid homage to the pretender Prince Louis of France for his lands in England, chosen by the barons to replace King John. But King John having died, the Pope and the English aristocracy changed their allegiance to his nine-year-old son, Henry, forcing the French and the Scots armies to return home.

Peace between Henry III, Louis of France, and Alexander II followed on September 12, 1217 with the Treaty of Kingston. Diplomacy further strengthened the reconciliation by the marriage of Alexander to Henry’s sister Joan of England on 18 June 18, or June 25, 1221.

Royal forces crushed a revolt in Galloway in 1235 without difficulty; nor did an invasion attempted soon afterwards by its exiled leaders meet with success. Soon afterwards a claim for homage from Henry of England drew forth from Alexander a counter-claim to the northern English counties. The two kingdoms, however, settled this dispute by a compromise in 1237. This was the Treaty of York, which defined the boundary between the two kingdoms as running between the Solway Firth (in the west) and the mouth of the River Tweed (in the east).

Alexander’s first wife Joan of England died in March 1238 in Essex, and was buried in Dorset. Alexander married his second wife, Marie de Coucy, the following year on May 15, 1239. Together they had one son, the future Alexander III, born in 1241.

A threat of invasion by Henry III in 1243 for a time interrupted the friendly relations between the two countries; but the prompt action of Alexander in anticipating his attack, and the disinclination of the English barons for war, compelled him to make peace next year at Newcastle.

Alexander now turned his attention to securing the Western Isles, which were still part of the Norwegian domain of Suðreyjar. He repeatedly attempted negotiations and purchase, but without success. Alexander set out to conquer these islands but died on the way in 1249. This dispute over the Western Isles, also known as the Hebrides, was not resolved until 1266 when Magnus VI of Norway ceded them to Scotland along with the Isle of Man.

Alexander attempted to persuade Ewen, the son of Duncan, Lord of Argyll, to sever his allegiance to Haakon IV of Norway. When Ewen rejected these attempts, Alexander sailed forth to compel him, but on the way he suffered a fever at the Isle of Kerrera in the Inner Hebrides. He died there in 1249 and was buried at Melrose Abbey.

He was succeeded by his son, the seven-year-old Alexander III of Scotland.

March 5, 1324: Birth of David II, King of Scots

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Hiuse of Stewart, House of Bruce, Joan of England, King David II of Scotland, King Edward III of England, King of Scots, King Robert II of Scotland, King Robert the Bruce of Scotland

David II (March 5, 1324 – February 22, 1371) was King of Scots for nearly 42 years, from 1329 until his death in 1371. He was the last male of the House of Bruce. Although David spent long periods in exile or captivity, he managed to resist English attempts to annex his kingdom, and left the monarchy in a strong position.

David II was the eldest and only surviving son of Robert I of Scotland and his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh. He was born on March 5, 1324 at Dunfermline Abbey, Fife. His mother died in 1327, when he was 3 years old. In accordance with the Treaty of Northampton’s terms, on July 17, 1328, when he was 4, David was married to 7 year old Joan of the Tower, at Berwick-upon-Tweed. She was the daughter of Edward II of England and Isabella of France. They had no issue.

David II, King of Scots.

David became King of Scots upon the death of his father on June 7, 1329, aged 5 years, 3 months, and 3 days. David and his wife were crowned at Scone on November 24, 1331. During David’s minority, Sir Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray was appointed Guardian of Scotland by the Act of Settlement of 1318. After Moray’s death, on July 20, 1332, he was replaced by Donald, Earl of Mar, elected by an assembly of the magnates of Scotland at Perth, August 2, 1332. Only ten days later Mar fell at the Battle of Dupplin Moor. Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell, who was married to Christina, the sister of King Robert I, was chosen as the new Guardian. He was taken prisoner by the English at Roxburgh in April 1333 and was thence replaced as Guardian by Archibald Douglas (the Tyneman), who fell at Halidon Hill that July.

Following the English victory at the Battle of Halidon Hill in July 1333, David and his wife were sent for safety into France, reaching Boulogne on May 14, 1334. They were received very graciously by King Philippe VI. Little is known about the life of the Scottish king in France, except that Château Gaillard was given to him for a residence, and that he was present at the bloodless meeting of the English and French armies in October 1339 at Vironfosse.

In 1346, under the terms of the Auld Alliance, David invaded England in the interests of the French, who were at war with the English in Normandy. After initial success at Hexham, David was wounded, and his army soundly defeated at the Battle of Neville’s Cross on October 17, 1346. David was captured and taken prisoner by Sir John de Coupland, who imprisoned him in the Tower of London. David was transferred to Windsor Castle in Berkshire upon the return of Edward III from France.

King David II of Scotland and King Edward III of England

On October 3, 1357, after several protracted negotiations with the Scots’ regency council, a treaty was signed at Berwick-upon-Tweed under which Scotland’s nobility agreed to pay 100,000 marks, at the rate of 10,000 marks per year, as a ransom for their king. This was ratified by the Scottish Parliament at Scone on November 6, 1357. His imprisonment had not been a rigorous one, although he remained captive in England for eleven years.

David returned at once to Scotland, bringing with him a mistress, Katherine Mortimer, of whom little is known. This was an unpopular move, and Katherine was murdered in 1360. After six years, owing to the poverty of the kingdom, it was found impossible to raise the ransom instalment of 1363. David then made for London and sought to get rid of the liability by offering to bequeath Scotland to Edward III, or one of his sons, in return for a cancellation of the ransom. David did this with the full awareness that the Scots would never accept such an arrangement. In 1364, the Scottish parliament indignantly rejected a proposal to make Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the next king. Over the next few years, David strung out secret negotiations with Edward III, which apparently appeased the matter.

David II, King of Scots by Robert Gibb (Scottish, 1801–1837)

His wife, Queen Joan, died on September 7, 1362 (aged 41) at Hertford Castle, Hertfordshire, possibly a victim of the Black Death. He remarried, on about 20 February 20, 1364, Margaret Drummond, widow of Sir John Logie, and daughter of Sir Malcolm Drummond. He divorced her on about March 20, 1370. They had no children. Margaret, however, travelled to Avignon, and made a successful appeal to the Pope Urban V to reverse the sentence of divorce which had been pronounced against her in Scotland. She was still alive in January 1375, four years after David died.

From 1364, David governed actively, dealing firmly with recalcitrant nobles, and a wider baronial revolt, led by his prospective successor, the future Robert II. David continued to pursue the goal of a final peace with England. At the time of his death, the Scottish monarchy was stronger, and the kingdom and the royal finances more prosperous than might have seemed possible.

Death

David II died unexpectedly, and at the height of his power, in Edinburgh Castle on 22 February 22, 1371. He was buried in Holyrood Abbey. At the time of his death, he was planning to marry his mistress, Agnes Dunbar, the niece of Agnes Randolph, who was known as “Black Agnes of Dunbar”. He left no children and was succeeded by his nephew, Robert II, (of the House of Stewart) the son of David’s half-sister Marjorie Bruce. David II was the last male of the House of Bruce.

James I of Scotland: Death of the King

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Earl of Atholl, James I of Scotland, Joan of England, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, Louis XI of France, Philippe III of Burgundy, Regicide, Robert II of Scotland, Walter Stewart

As we have seen so far in the life of James I of Scotland many of his troubles were the result of internal family squabbles within the House of Stewart. These family dynamics would also lead to his downfall. We’ll begin by examining Walter Stewart, the youngest son of Robert II. Walter was the only one not to have been provided with an earldom during his father’s lifetime. Walter became ward of his niece Euphemia, daughter of his deceased brother, David, earl of Strathearn and Caithness. After the death of David, Earl of Strathearn in March of 1389, Euphemia became countess of Strathearn in her own right and Walter, administered Strathearn for her for the next decade and a half.

Assisting Walter in the administration of Strathearn was his brother Robert, Earl of Fife and Guardian of Scotland. Walter again supported Robert (now Duke of Albany) against their nephew, David, Duke of Rothesay in 1402.

The Duke Albany most likely arranged the marriage of Euphemia to one of his friends , Patrick Graham and by doing this removed Walter’s involvement in the administration of Strathearn. Duke Robert, possibly to make up for the loss of the rewards of Strathearn, created Walter earl of Atholl and Lord of Methven. In 1413, Graham was killed in a quarrel with his own principal servant in the earldom, John Drummond.

Methven Castle. The original castle was the seat of Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl.

The Drummond relations were close to the Earl of Atholl and the with the death of Graham it renewed the Earl’s involvement in Strathearn as ward to Graham’s son. The renewal of the Earl’s involvement in Strathearn produced a strong opposition from the Duke Albany and much of this hinted at the Earl of Atholl’s possible involvement in the murder of Graham. There was bad blood now existing between Duke of Albany and the Earl of Atholl. The animosity between the two Scottish Nobles led King James to ally himself with Earl Walter, his uncle, on his return to Scotland in 1424. The Earl of Atholl participated at the assize that sat over the May 24/25 1425 that tried and found the prominent members of the Albany Stewarts guilty of rebellion—their executions followed swiftly.

With the Albany Stewarts out of the way, King James granted the Earl of Atholl the positions of Sheriff of Perth and Justicier and also returned to him the Earldom of Strathearn, confirming Earl Walter’s policing remit given by Albany and his already effective grip on Strathearn. Atholl’s elder son, David, had been one of the hostages sent to England as a condition of James’s release and had died there in 1434—his younger son, Alan died in the king’s service at the Battle of Inverlochy in 1431.

David’s son Robert was now the Earl of Atholl’s heir and both were now in line to the Scottish throne after the young Prince James. James continued to show favour to the Earlmof Atholl and appointed his grandson Robert as his personal chamberlain but by 1437, after a series of setbacks at the hands of James, the Earl and Robert probably viewed the king’s actions as a prelude to further acquisitions at Atholl’s expense.

This weakened Atholl’s hold on the rich earldom of Strathearn and both he and Robert realized that after the Earl’s death Strathearn would revert to the crown. This meant that Robert’s holdings would have been the relatively impoverished earldoms of Caithness and Atholl and amounted to no more than what was in the Earl Walter’s possession in the years between 1406 and 1416.

The alliance with France had virtually ceased after 1428 and after that James adopted a much more non-aligned position with England, France and Burgandy while at the same time opening up diplomatic contacts with Aragon, Austria, Castile, Denmark, Milan, Naples and the Vatican. Generally, Scotto–English relations were relatively amiable for a time and an extension of the truce until 1436 helped the English cause in France and the promises made in 1428 of a Scottish army to help Charles VII. James had to balance his European responses carefully, because England’s key ally, Philippe III, Duke of Burgundy was also in possession of the Low Countries, a major trading partner of Scotland’s at the time, and therefore James’s support for France was muted.

The truce with England expired in May 1436 but James’s perception of the Anglo-French conflict changed following a realignment of the combatants. The breakdown of the talks between England and France in 1435 precipitated an alliance between Burgundy and France and a request from France for Scottish involvement in the war and for the fulfilment of the promised marriage of Princess Margaret, the eldest daughter of King James to the Dauphin (future Louis XI of France). In the spring of 1436 Princess Margaret sailed to France and in August Scotland entered the war against England with James leading a large army to lay siege to the English enclave of Roxburgh Castle.

James appointed his young and inexperienced cousin Robert Stewart of Atholl as the constable of the host ahead of the experienced march wardens, the earls of Douglas and Angus. Both earls possessed considerable local interests and that the effects of such a large army living off the land may have created considerable resentment and hostility in the area. When the militant prelates of York and Durham together with the Earl of Northumberland took their forces into the marches to relieve the fortress, the Scots swiftly retreated – a chronicle written a year later said that the Scots ‘had fled wretchedly and ignominiously’ – but what is certain is that the effects and the manner of the defeat and the loss of their expensive artillery was a major reversal for James both in terms of foreign policy and internal authority.

The retreat from Roxburgh exposed the king to questions regarding his control over his subjects, his military competence and his diplomatic abilities yet he remained determined to continue with the war against England. Just two months after the failure at Roxburgh, James called a general council in October 1436 to finance further hostilities through more taxation. The estates firmly resisted this and their opposition was articulated by their speaker Sir Robert Graham, a former Albany attendant but now a servant of Atholl. The council then witnessed an unsuccessful attempt by Graham to arrest the king resulting in the knight’s imprisonment followed by banishment but James did not see Graham’s actions as part of any extended threa. In January 1437, Atholl received yet another rebuff in his own heartlands when James overturned the chapter of Dunkeld Cathedral whose nominee was replaced by the king’s nephew and firm supporter, James Kennedy.

Conspiracy and regicide

The reaction against the king at the general council had shown Atholl that not only was James on the back-foot but his political standing had received a huge setback, and may have convinced the earl that James’s killing was now a viable course of action Atholl had seen how assertive action by two of his brothers at different times had allowed them to take control of the kingdom and that as James’s nearest adult relative, the earl must have considered that decisive intervention on his part at this time could prove to be equally successful.

The destruction of the Albany Stewarts in 1425 appears to have played a large part in the conspiracy against the king. Their judicial killing and forfeiture of their lands influenced the servants who administered and depended on these estates for their living. The vacuum left by this was filled by Atholl in whose employment many of these disaffected Albany men appear. These included Sir Robert Graham, who only three months earlier had attempted to arrest the king at the Perth council, and the brothers Christopher and Robert Chambers. Even although Robert Chambers was a member of the Royal household, the old Albany ties were stronger.

A general council was held in Atholl’s heartland in Perth on 4 February 1437 and crucially for the conspirators, the king and queen had remained in the town at their lodgings in the Blackfriars monastery. In the evening of 20 February 1437 the king and queen were in their rooms and separated from most of their servants. Atholl’s grandson and heir Robert Stewart, the king’s chamberlain, allowed his co-conspirators—thought to number about thirty—led by Robert Graham and the Chambers brothers access to the building. James was alerted to the men’s presence, giving the king time to hide in a sewer tunnel but with its exit recently blocked off to prevent tennis balls getting lost, and James was trapped and murdered.

Aftermath

The assassins had achieved their priority in killing the king but the queen, although wounded, had escaped. Importantly, the six-year-old king, now James II, had been safeguarded from Atholl’s control by the removal of the earl’s associate, John Spens, from his role as James’s custodian. Spens vanished from the records following the regicide but the re-allocation of his positions and lands immediately following the murder indicate his part in the plot. Yet, in the chaos following the murder, it appeared that the queen’s attempt to position herself as regent was not guaranteed.

No surviving documentation exists that suggest that there was any general feeling of horror or condemnation aimed at the murderers. It was possible that had the botched attempt at killing the queen succeeded and had Atholl taken control of the young king then his attempted coup might have succeeded. The queen’s small group of loyal supporters that included the Earl of Angus and William Crichton ensured her continued hold of James. This in itself greatly reinforced her situation but Atholl still had followers. By the first week of March neither side seemed to have ascendancy and the Bishop of Urbino, the pope’s envoy, called for the council to pursue a peaceful outcome.
 
Despite this by the middle of March it is probable that both Angus and Crichton had mobilised to move against Atholl. It is equally likely that Atholl had gathered his forces to resist incursions into his heartlands—on 7 March the queen and the council entreated the burgess’ of Perth to resist the forces of the ‘feloune traitors’.

The position of Atholl and his circle of close supporters only collapsed after Earl Walter’s heir Robert Stewart had been captured and who, in Shirley’s account, confessed to his part in the crime. Walter was taken prisoner by Angus and held at the Edinburgh Tolbooth where he was tried and beheaded on 26 March 1437, the day after the coronation of the young James II. Sir Robert Graham, the leader of the band of assassins was captured by former Atholl allies and was tried at a session of the council sitting at Stirling castle and subsequently executed sometime shortly after 9 April.

Queen Joan’s pursuit of the regency ended probably at the council of June 1437 when Archibald, 5th Earl of Douglas, was appointed to act as lieutenant-general of the kingdom.

King James I’s embalmed heart may have been taken on pilgrimage to the Holy Land following his interment at Perth Charterhouse, as the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland for 1443 note the payment of £90 to cover the costs of a knight of the Order of St John who had returned it to the Charterhouse from the Island of Rhodes.

On This Day…July 5,

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Albert VI Duke of Bavaria-Leuchtenberg, Auld Alliance, Charles IX of France, David II of Scotland, Elisabeth of Austria, England, France, Joan of England, Pedro III of Portugal, Scotland

1295 – Scotland and France form an alliance, the so-called “Auld Alliance”, against England.

Births

1321 – Joan of England, Queen consort of King David II of Scotland (d. 1362)
1554 – Elisabeth of Austria, queen consort of Charles IX of France (d. 1592)
1717 – Pedro III of Portugal, consort of Queen Maria I of Portugal (d. 1786)

Deaths

1375 – Charles III of Alençon, French archbishop (b. 1337)
1666 – Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria-Leuchtenberg (b. 1584)