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.

May 23,1052: Birth of Philippe I, King of the Franks.

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Bernard II of Saxony, Bertha of Holland, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henri I of France, Louis VI of France, Louis VII of France, Philip I of France, William I of England, William the Conqueror

Philippe I (c.May 23, 1052 – July 29, 1108), called the Amorous, was King of the Franks from 1060 to 1108. His reign, like that of most of the early Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time. The monarchy began a modest recovery from the low it reached in the reign of his father and he added to the royal demesne the Vexin and Bourges.

Philippe I, King of the Franks

Philippe was the eldest son of Henri I, King of the Franks and his wife Anne of Kiev, daughter of Yaroslav I the Wise, Grand Prince of Kiev, Prince of Novgorod, and his second wife Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden, the daughter of Swedish King Olof Skötkonung and Estrid of the Obotrites .

Philippe was an unusual name for the time in Western Europe, his name was of Greek origin, being bestowed upon him by his mother. However, the name Philippe did become popular within the French Royal Family and France itself. Although he was crowned King of the Franks at the age of seven, until age fourteen (1066) his mother acted as regent, the first queen of the Franks (France) ever to do so. Count Baldwin V of Flanders also acted as co-regent.

Count Baldwin V of Flanders was the son of Baldwin IV of Flanders and Ogive of Luxembourg. Baldwin married Adela of the Franks daughter of King Robert II of the Franks, in 1028 in Amiens; at her instigation he rebelled against his father but in 1030 peace was sworn and the old count continued to rule until his death. The couple had three children: Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders (1030–1070) Matilda (c. 1031–1083), who was married to William the Conqueror, King of the English, and Robert I, Count of Flanders (c. 1033–1093).

Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders was married to Richilde, Countess of Hainaut (c.1018-1086) who is most likely a daughter of Reinier of Hasnon (died c.1049) and Adelheid of Egisheim.

On his deathbed in 1070, Baldwin VI left Flanders to his elder son, Arnulf III, and Hainaut to the younger son, Baldwin, with the provision that if either preceded the other in death, he would inherit the other’s county as well. Baldwin VI further entrusted Robert, his brother, with the safeguard of Arnulf III, who was still a minor, to which Robert gave his oath of homage and solemn promise to protect his nephew Arnulf. Richilde, Arnulf’s mother, was to be regent until Arnulf came of age.

Despite the oath, Robert disputed the succession of his nephew Arnulf III upon Baldwin VI’s death and entered Ghent with the intent of taking Flanders for himself. Richilde appealed to King Philippe I of the Franks who summoned Robert to appear before him.

Robert refused and continued his war with Richilde at which point Philippe I amassed an army which he brought to Flanders. Philippe’s army was accompanied by Norman troops, probably sent by Robert’s sister, Queen Matilda, and led by William FitzOsborn. William had an interest in marrying Richilde but he was killed in battle at Cassel on June 22, 1071.

In that engagement Robert’s forces were ultimately victorious but Robert himself was captured and his forces in turn captured Countess Richilde. Both were freed in exchange and the battle continued to its conclusion. Among the dead was Arnulf III, killed by Gerbod the Fleming, 1st Earl of Chester, who apparently fought for Robert. As a result of the battle Robert became the new Count of Flanders. Countess Richilde and her son Baldwin returned to Hainaut but continued to instigate hostilities against Robert.

Count Robert I of Flanders eventually gained the friendship of King Philippe I of the Franks by offering him the hand in marriage of his stepdaughter, Bertha of Holland. As a part of their negotiations Corbie, an important trade center on the border between Flanders and lesser France, was returned to royal control.

Philip first married Bertha of Holland in 1072. Bertha was the daughter of Count Floris I of Holland and Gertrude of Saxony, the daughter of Bernard II, Duke of Saxony and Eilika of Schweinfurt.

Although the marriage produced the necessary heir, Philippe fell in love with Bertrade de Montfort, the wife of Fulk IV, Count of Anjou. He repudiated Bertha (claiming she was too fat) and married Bertrade on May 15, 1092.

Bertrade de Montfort was the daughter of Simon I de Montfort and Agnes of Evreux. Her brother was Amaury de Montfort.

In 1094, he was excommunicated by Hugh of Die, for the first time; after a long silence, Pope Urban II repeated the excommunication at the Council of Clermont in November 1095. Several times the ban was lifted as Philippe promised to part with Bertrade, but he always returned to her, but in 1104 Philippe made a public penance and must have kept his involvement with Bertrade discreet.

Philippe appointed Alberic first Constable of France in 1060. A great part of his reign, like his father’s, was spent putting down revolts by his power-hungry vassals. In 1077, he made peace with William the Conqueror, who gave up attempting the conquest of Brittany. In 1082, Philippe I expanded his demesne with the annexation of the Vexin, in reprisal against Robert Curthose’s attack on William’s heir, William Rufus. Bother we’re sons of the Conqueror. Then in 1100, he took control of Bourges.

It was at the aforementioned Council of Clermont that the First Crusade was launched. Philippe at first did not personally support it because of his conflict with Urban II. Philippe’s brother Hugh of Vermandois, however, was a major participant.

Philippe died in the castle of Melun and was buried per his request at the monastery of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire and not in St Denis among his forefathers. He was succeeded by his son, as Louis VI, King of the Franks.

Philippe’s children with Bertha were:

1. Constance (1078-1126), married Hugh I of Champagne before 1097 and then, after her divorce, to Bohemund I of Antioch in 1106.
2. Louis VI of the Franks (1081-1137).
3. Henri (1083 – died young).

Philippe’s children with Bertrade were:

1. Philippe, Count of Mantes (1093 – fl. 1123), married Elizabeth, daughter of Guy III of Montlhéry.
2. Fleury, Seigneur of Nangis (1095-1119)
3. Cecile (1097-1145), married Tancred, Prince of Galilee and then, after his death, to Pons of Tripoli.

King Philippe I of the Franks was the grandfather of King Louis VII of the Franks, first husband of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

May 18, 1152 – The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. Part II.

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Anullment, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Empress Matilda, Geoffrey of Anjou, Henry I of England, Henry II of England, Louis VI of France, Louis VII of France, Pope Eugene III, The Second Crusade

The marriage between the Empress Matilda and Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou proved difficult, as the couple did not particularly like each other. There was a further dispute over Matilda’s dowry; she was granted various castles in Normandy by King Henry I, but it was not specified when the couple would actually take possession of them. It is also unknown whether King Henry intended Geoffrey to have any future claim on England or Normandy, and he was probably keeping Geoffrey’s status deliberately uncertain.

Soon after the marriage, Matilda and Geoffrey separated Matilda returned to Normandy. King Henry appears to have blamed Geoffrey for the separation, but the couple were finally reconciled in 1131. Henry summoned Matilda from Normandy, and she arrived in England that August. It was decided that Matilda would return to Geoffrey at a meeting of the King’s great council in September. The council also gave another collective oath of allegiance to recognize Matilda as Henry’s heir.

Matilda gave birth to her first son in March 1133 at Le Mans, the future Henry II. King Henry was delighted by the news and came to see her at Rouen. At Pentecost 1134, their second son Geoffrey was born in Rouen, but the childbirth was extremely difficult and Matilda appeared close to death. Matilda made arrangements for her will and argued with her father about where she should be buried. Matilda preferred Bec Abbey.

King Henry I died on December 1, 1135, and his corpse was taken to Rouen accompanied by the barons, where it was embalmed; his entrails were buried locally at the priory of Notre-Dame du Pré, and the preserved body was taken on to England, where it was interred at Reading Abbey.

Despite Henry’s efforts, to secure the succession to the throne for Matilda with the Barons, the succession was disputed. In July 1136 Matilda gave birth to her third son William at Argentan.

The news of Henry’s death had reached Stephen of Blois, conveniently placed in Boulogne, and he left for England, accompanied by his military household. Robert of Gloucester had garrisoned the ports of Dover and Canterbury and some accounts suggest that they refused Stephen access when he first arrived.

Henry I, King of the English

Nonetheless Stephen reached the edge of London by December 8, and over the next week he began to seize power in England. The crowds in London proclaimed Stephen the new King of the English, believing that he would grant the city new rights and privileges in return, and his brother, Henry of Blois, the Bishop of Winchester, delivered the support of the Church to Stephen.

Stephen had sworn to support Matilda in 1127, but Henry of Blois convincingly argued that the late King had been wrong to insist that his court take the oath, and suggested that the King had changed his mind on his deathbed. Stephen’s coronation was held a week later at Westminster Abbey on December 26.

A civil war between the factions of King Stephen and Empress Matilda dominated the majority of King Stephen’s reign.

Count Geoffrey of Anjou died in September 1151, and Geoffrey’s eldest son, Henry Curtmantle, postponed his plans to return to England, as he first needed to ensure that his succession, particularly in Anjou, was secure. At around this time he was also probably secretly planning his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, then still the wife of King Louis VII of the Franks.

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Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 – April 1, 1204) was queen consort of the Franks (1137–1152) and the English (1154–1189) and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right (1137–1204). As a member of the Ramnulfids (House of Poitiers) rulers in southwestern France, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages.

Eleanor’s year of birth is not known precisely: a late 13th-century genealogy of her family listing her as 13 years old in the spring of 1137 provides the best evidence that Eleanor was perhaps born as late as 1124. On the other hand, some chronicles mention a fidelity oath of some lords of Aquitaine on the occasion of Eleanor’s fourteenth birthday in 1136. This, and her known age of 82 at her death make 1122 more likely the year of birth.

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor (or Aliénor) was the oldest of three children of Guillém X, Duke of Aquitaine, whose glittering ducal court was renowned in early 12th-century Europe, and his wife, Aenor de Châtellerault, the daughter of Aimery I, Viscount of Châtellerault, and Dangereuse de l’Isle Bouchard, who was Guillém IX’s longtime mistress as well as Eleanor’s maternal grandmother. Her parents’ marriage had been arranged by Dangereuse with her paternal grandfather Guillém IX.

The King of the Franks, known as Louis VI the Fat, was also gravely ill at that time, suffering from a bout of dysentery from which he appeared unlikely to recover. Yet despite his impending death, Louis VI’s mind remained clear. His eldest surviving son, Louis the Younger,, had originally been destined for monastic life, but had become the heir apparent when the firstborn, Philippe, died in a riding accident in 1131.

The death of Guillém X of Aquitaine, one of the king’s most powerful vassals, made available the most desirable duchy in France. While presenting a solemn and dignified face to the grieving Aquitainian messengers, Louis VI exulted when they departed. Rather than act as guardian to the duchess and duchy, he decided to marry the duchess to his 17-year-old heir and bring Aquitaine under the control of the French crown, thereby greatly increasing the power and prominence of France and its ruling family, the House of Capet.

Within hours, the king had arranged for his son Louis the Younger to be married to Eleanor, with Abbot Suger in charge of the wedding arrangements. Louis was sent to Bordeaux with an escort of 500 knights, along with Abbot Suger, Theobald II, Count of Champagne, and Count Ralph.

On July 25, 1137, Eleanor and Louis VII were married in the Cathedral of Saint-André in Bordeaux by the archbishop of Bordeaux.nImmediately after the wedding, the couple were enthroned as reigning Duke and Duchess of Aquitaine. It was agreed that the land would remain independent of France until Eleanor’s oldest son became both King of the Franks and Duke of Aquitaine. Thus, her holdings would not be merged with France until the next generation.

The pairing of the monkish Louis VII and the high-spirited Eleanor was doomed to failure; she reportedly once declared that she had thought to marry a king, only to find she had married a monk. There was a marked difference between the frosty, reserved culture of the northern court in the Íle de France, where Louis had been raised, and the rich, free-wheeling court life of the Aquitaine with which Eleanor was familiar. Louis VII and Eleanor had two daughters, Marie and Alix.

In the autumn of 1145 Louis was still burned with guilt over the Massacre at Vitry and wished to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to atone for his sins. Massacre at Vitry was when 1,300 people burned alive in a church by forces of King Louis VII of the Franks. Also in the autumn 1145, Pope Eugene III r. 1145-1153) requested that Louis lead a Crusade to the Middle East to rescue the Frankish states there from disaster.

Louis VII, King of the Franks

Accordingly, Louis declared on Christmas Day 1145 at Bourges his intention of going on a crusade. The Second Crusade (1147–1150) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade (1096–1099) by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be founded, it was also the first to fall.

Eleanor also formally took up the cross symbolic of the Second Crusade during a sermon preached by Bernard of Clairvaux. In addition, she had been corresponding with her uncle Raymond, Prince of Antioch, who was seeking further protection from the French crown against the Saracens.

However, even before the Crusade, Eleanor and Louis were becoming estranged, and their differences were only exacerbated while they were abroad. They went to see Pope Eugene III in Tusculum, where he had been driven five months before by a revolt of the Commune of Rome.

Pope Eugene III did not, as Eleanor had hoped, grant an annulment. Instead, he attempted to reconcile Eleanor and Louis, confirming the legality of their marriage. He proclaimed that no word could be spoken against it, and that it might not be dissolved under any pretext. Eventually, he manipulated events so that Eleanor had no choice but to sleep with Louis in a bed specially prepared by the Pope. Thus was conceived their second child —not a son, but another daughter, Alix of France.

Without a male heir the marriage was now doomed. Facing substantial opposition to Eleanor from many of his barons and her own desire for annulment, Louis bowed to the inevitable. On March 11, 1152, they met at the royal castle of Beaugency to dissolve the marriage. Hugues de Toucy, archbishop of Sens, presided, and Louis and Eleanor were both present, as were the archbishop of Bordeaux and Rouen. Archbishop Samson of Reims acted for Eleanor.

On March 21, the four archbishops, with the approval of Pope Eugene, granted an annulment on grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree; Eleanor was Louis VII’s third cousin once removed, and shared common ancestry with King Robert II of the Franks. Despite the annulment their two daughters were, however, declared legitimate.

Eleanor remained the Duchess of Aquitaine and was considered beautiful, lively and controversial.