Margaret of Scotland

Margaret of Scotland in St. Margaret's Chapel

Margaret of Scotland (* around 1046/1047 in Reska near Nádasd , Hungary ; † November 16, 1093 in Edinburgh , Scotland ) was the wife of Malcolm III. Scottish Queen and Patroness of Scotland. Together with her husband she founded the previous monastery of Dunfermline Abbey .

Life

Margareta was the eldest daughter of Prince Eduard Ætheling of England (1016-1057), a son of King Edmund II of England ( 989-1016), and his wife Princess Agathe of Hungary , a niece of Emperor Henry III. She grew up in Hungary with her two siblings, Edgar Ætheling and Christina .

After the Battle of Hastings Margaret fled to Scotland in 1066 , where she married the Scottish King Malcolm III. - a son of the king whom MacBeth had murdered and whose family Malcolm III attached himself to. then retaliated so cruelly that he was nicknamed " the bloody one ". Most of all Margaret's influence soothed the king. Margareta and Malcolm had eight children.

She worked for a better education of the people, got rid of old Celtic customs, was a benevolent, pious and popular queen and founded the later famous Dunfermline Abbey . In Dunfermline, Margaret was buried at her husband's side. During the Reformation both bones were brought to Madrid , Margaret's head is in the Jesuit church in Douai in France .

canonization

In 1251 Margaret was canonized by Pope Innocent IV (around 1195–1254). Her Anglican and Catholic (non-mandatory) Memorial Day is November 16.

At the time of the Reformation, the bones of Margareta and her husband were transferred to the El Escorial Chapel near Madrid . Margareta's head was temporarily in the possession of the Scottish Queen Maria Stuart (1542–1587), later it came to Antwerp and from there to Douai .

progeny

Eduard (died 1093)
Edmund , King of Scotland
Edgar (1074--1107), King of Scotland
Æthelred († 1097) Abbot of Dunkeld
Edith (Mathilde) († 1118) × King Henry I of England
Marie († 1116) × Count Eustach III. from Boulogne
Alexander I (* 1078; † 1124) King of Scotland
David I (* 1080; † 1153) King of Scotland

literature

Ekkart Sauser : Margareta. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 17, Bautz, Herzberg 2000, ISBN 3-88309-080-8 , Sp. 898-899. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )

Web links

Commons : Margaret of Scotland - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Margaret of Scotland in the catalog of the German National Library
http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienM/Margareta_von_Schottland.html

predecessor	Office	Successor
Ingibiorg Finnsdottir	Queen Consort of Scotland 1070-1093	Ethelreda / Octreda

personal data
SURNAME	Margaret of Scotland
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Anglican and Catholic saints; scottish queen
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1046
PLACE OF BIRTH	Reska , Hungary
DATE OF DEATH	November 16, 1093
Place of death	Edinburgh