Ermengarde de Beaumont

The ruins of the Balmerino Abbey founded by Ermengarde

Ermengarde de Beaumont († February 11, 1233 ) was a Scottish Queen consort .

Origin and marriage to the Scottish king

Ermengarde de Beaumont was a daughter of the Norman Baron Richard I, Viscount de Beaumont-sur-Sarthe , whose mother Constance was an illegitimate daughter of King Henry I of England . It was probably this descent that prompted King Henry II in May 1186 to propose her as the bride for the Scottish King William I , although as the daughter of a little baron she was not a woman of the Scottish king's status. In addition, she was still described as a girl at that time, so that she may have only just reached the age of twelve years required for a wedding under canon law . The counselors of the Scottish king also reluctantly consented to the marriage, which took place on September 5, 1186 in Woodstock . The English king paid for the four-day wedding ceremony and gave the Scots as part of the dowry Edinburgh Castle, which had been in English hands since the Treaty of Falaise in 1174 . In return, the Scottish King gave her an annual income of £ 100 as well as property in Scotland so that Ermengarde could later maintain a household of her own. Her possessions included Crail and Haddington . After the marriage, Bishop Jocelin of Glasgow escorted the bride to Scotland, while the two kings traveled to Marlborough , where they presumably went hunting together.

Queen Consort of Scotland

Ermengarde had several daughters from her marriage to Wilhelm, and finally she gave birth to the heir to the throne Alexander on August 24th in Haddington . After a diplomatic crisis between England and Scotland in July 1209, the Treaty of Norham agreed in August that two of her daughters should marry relatives of the King of England. A few days later, the two daughters and other hostages were brought to Carlisle and handed over to Justiciar Geoffrey Fitz Peter . Ermengarde was probably not involved in the negotiations, but in further negotiations with England in Durham in early 1212, according to the chronicler John Fordun, she successfully mediated between the English and Scottish ambassadors. Her husband was not involved in these negotiations, but Ermengarde succeeded in persuading King Johann Ohneland to renounce any further hostages. To this end, the king agreed to knight her son. Through these successful negotiations, independence from Scotland was preserved. Several years later, Alexander married a daughter of Johann Ohneland.

Queen widow and advisor to her son Alexander II.

After the death of her husband in early December 1214, Ermengarde remained in mourning in Stirling and did not attend the coronation of her son in Scone . After that she often accompanied her young son and probably served him as an adviser, especially in relation to relations with England, where Johann Ohneland had to assert himself against an opposition to the nobility. In 1215 Johann Ohneland had to recognize the Magna Carta , but from autumn 1215 there was the first war of the barons against the king. The Scots supported the rebellious English barons from October 1215, which is why Ermengarde was excommunicated along with other Scottish barons in 1215 . She received absolution only in 1217 . From 1225 she and her son planned to found a Cistercian abbey in Balmerino , which took place in 1229. The abbey was dedicated to St. Edward the Confessor . He had been an English king, so that the patronage was unusual for Scotland. It probably went back to the request of Ermengarde, who particularly venerated this saint. She also founded a hospital dedicated to St. Edward in Berwick .

After her death, she was buried in her Balmerino Foundation.

progeny

Ermengarde had several children from their marriage, including:

• Margarete (before 1195–1259)
• Isabella († after 1263)
• Alexander II , King of Scotland (1198-1249)
• Marjorie († 1244)

Web links

• WW Scott: Ermengarde (d. 1233). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
• Ermengarde de Beaumont on thepeerage.com , accessed September 15, 2016.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Archibald AM Duncan: Scotland. The Making of the Kingdom (The Edinburgh History of Scotland; Vol. I ). Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1975. ISBN 0-05-00203-7-4 , p. 231.
2. ^ Archibald AM Duncan: Scotland. The Making of the Kingdom (The Edinburgh History of Scotland; Vol. I ). Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1975. ISBN 0-05-00203-7-4 , p. 251.
3. ^ Archibald AM Duncan: Scotland. The Making of the Kingdom (The Edinburgh History of Scotland; Vol. I ). Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1975. ISBN 0-05-00203-7-4 , p. 413.

predecessor	Office	Successor
Mathilde	Queen Consort of Scotland 1186–1214	Joan of England