February 28, 1261: Birth of Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway.

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King Alexander III of Scotland, King Henry III of England, Margaret of England, Margaret of Scotland, Margaret the Maid of Norway, Queen of Norway

Margaret of Scotland (February 28, 1261 – April 9, 1283) was Queen of Norway as the wife of King Eric II. She is sometimes known as the Maid of Scotland to distinguish her from her daughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway, who succeeded to the throne of Scotland.

Royal Standard of Scotland

Early Life

Margaret was born on February 28, 1261 at Windsor Castle. She was the firstborn child of King Alexander III of Scotland and Margaret of England, Alexander’s first wife.

Margaret of England was the second child of King Henry III of England and his wife, Eleanor of Provence.

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 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.

Marriage

Margaret stayed unmarried until the age of 20, which is remarkably long for a medieval princess. She was finally betrothed to King Eric II of Norway, in 1281. The intent was to ease the tensions that developed between Norway and Scotland in the previous decades.

King Eric II of Norway (1268 – July 15, 1299) was the eldest surviving son of King Magnus VI “the Lawmender” of Norway, and his wife, Ingeborg of Denmark who in turn was a daughter of King Eric IV of Denmark and Jutta of Saxony.

According to chroniclers, Margaret was against the match, but her father insisted. The Scottish crown gave her and Eric the estates of Rothiemay in Banffshire, Belhelvie in Aberdeenshire, Bathgate in West Lothian, and Ratho in Midlothian as her dowry.

The treaty arranging the marriage specified that Margaret and her children would succeed to the throne of Scotland if King Alexander III 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 August 15. For the 20 year old Margaret of Scotland 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, Christ Church, Bergen.

Royal Standard of Norway

A cultured woman, Margaret probably found it difficult to adapt to married life with an 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 April 9, 1283, Queen Margaret gave birth to her only child, Margaret, known as the Maid of Norway, in Tønsberg. Queen Margaret 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. As she was never inaugurated, Margaret’s status as Queen of Scots is uncertain and has been debated by historians.

King Eric II of Norway went on to marry Isabel Bruce, sister of King Robert I of Scotland. Their marriage did not produce a surviving male heir, although it did produce a daughter, Ingebjørg Eiriksdatter of Norway, who married Valdemar Magnusson of Sweden, third son of King Magnus III of Sweden and Helvig of Holstein. He became Duke of Finland.

As King Eric II died July 15, 1299 without sons, he was succeeded by his brother, as Haakon V of Norway.

November 11, 1100 – Henry I of England marries Matilda of Scotland.

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Alfred the Great, Bishop Osmund of Salisbury, Dunfermline, King Henry I of England, Malcolm III of Scotland, Margaret of Scotland, Margaret of Wessex, Westminster Abbey

Matilda of Scotland (1080 – May 1, 1118), also known as Good Queen Maud, or Matilda of Blessed Memory, was Queen of the English and Duchess of Normandy as the first wife of King Henry I. She acted as regent of England on several occasions during Henry’s absences: in 1104, 1107, 1108, and 1111.

Henry I, King of the English

Born in 1080, in Dunfermline, Scotland, Matilda’s parents were King Malcolm III and Margaret of Wessex. Margaret of Wessex was the daughter of the English prince Edward the Exile and his wife Agatha, and also the granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, King of the English. Matilda had originally been named Edith, an Anglo-Saxon name, and was a member of the West Saxon royal family, being the niece of Edgar the Ætheling, the great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironside and a descendant of Alfred the Great.

Present at the baptismal font for the christening of Edith/Matilda were Robert Curthose standing as her godfather, and Queen Matilda of England as her godmother. The infant Edith pulled at Matilda’s headdress, which was seen as an omen that the child would one day be a queen.

Matilda had been educated in a sequence of convents, however, and may well have taken the vows to formally become a nun, which formed an obstacle to the marriage progressing. She did not wish to be a nun and appealed to Anselm for permission to marry Henry, and the Archbishop established a council at Lambeth Palace to judge the issue.

Despite some dissenting voices, the council concluded that although Matilda had lived in a convent, she had not actually become a nun and was therefore free to marry, a judgement that Anselm then affirmed, allowing the marriage to proceed.

The pair had probably first met earlier the previous decade, possibly being introduced through Bishop Osmund of Salisbury. Historian Warren Hollister argues that Henry and Matilda were emotionally close, but their union was also certainly politically motivated.

On November 11, 1100 King Henry I married Matilda, in Westminster Abbey. Henry was now around 31 years old, and Matilda was around 19 or 20 depending on the exact date of her birth. The union was late but late marriages for noblemen were not unusual in the 11th century.

Matilda of Scotland

For Henry, marrying Matilda gave his reign increased legitimacy, and for Matilda, an ambitious woman, it was an opportunity for high status and power in England.

Matilda proved an effective queen for Henry, acting as a regent in England on occasion, addressing and presiding over councils, and extensively supporting the arts.

The couple soon had two children, Matilda, born in 1102, and William Adelin, born in 1103; it is possible that they also had a second son, Richard, who died young. Following the birth of these children, Matilda preferred to remain based in Westminster while Henry travelled across England and Normandy, either for religious reasons or because she enjoyed being involved in the machinery of royal governance.

Henry had a considerable sexual appetite and enjoyed a substantial number of sexual partners, resulting in many illegitimate children, at least nine sons and 13 daughters, many of whom he appears to have recognised and supported. It was normal for unmarried Anglo-Norman noblemen to have sexual relations with prostitutes and local women, and kings were also expected to have mistresses.

Some of these relationships occurred before Henry was married, but many others took place after his marriage to Matilda. Henry had a wide range of mistresses from a range of backgrounds, and the relationships appear to have been conducted relatively openly. He may have chosen some of his noble mistresses for political purposes, but the evidence to support this theory is limited.