Margaret (Scotland)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Margarete. Modern stained glass in Lerwick Church in the Shetland Islands

Margaret (also Virgin of Norway ; English Margaret, Maid of Norway ; * 1282 or 1283, † around September 26, 1290 in Kirkwall ) was a Norwegian king's daughter and designated Queen of Scotland . She died as a young girl on a trip to Scotland and was therefore never enthroned. Whether she is therefore considered a queen or just the heir to the throne is controversial.

origin

Margaret was the only child from the marriage of the Norwegian King Erik Magnusson with his first wife Margrete , a daughter of the Scottish King Alexander III. Her parents' wedding took place in August 1281, their mother died on April 9, 1283 in Tønsberg , possibly in childbirth . According to these dates, Margarete must have been born in 1282 or 1283. She was named after her mother or after her grandmother Margarete , so her name had a strong Scottish reference.

Scottish heir to the throne

After the death of her uncle, the Scottish heir to the throne Alexander in January 1284, the young Margaret of Norway was the only surviving descendant of her grandfather Alexander III. Already in the marriage contract of her parents concluded on July 25, 1281 in Roxburgh , it had been agreed that in the event that her grandfather Alexander III. and whose sons die without legitimate heirs, their mother or one of her eventual children would succeed to the Scottish throne. The Scottish king therefore had Margaret recognized as heir to the throne by a council meeting in Scone on February 5, 1284 , in which 13 earls and 25 barons attended almost all important magnates, if he did not have any further children.

Alexander III had a fatal accident in March 1286. Since he had no surviving descendants apart from little Margaret, a college of six magnates and prelates took over the reign as Guardians of Scotland . On April 28, 1286, the magnates swore allegiance to Margaret as heir to the throne in a parliament . However, there were rumors that Yolande , the late king's second, young wife, was pregnant. Perhaps she had a miscarriage , a pseudo pregnancy, or - according to a dubious English claim - she even pretended to be pregnant, in any case it was not clear until November 1286 that she would not have a child. The Anglo-Scottish Baron Robert de Brus also claimed the throne as the grandson of a Scottish prince, but his revolt was unsupported by the majority of the Scottish nobility and failed. The Guardians thus kept the government.

Planned marriage to the English heir to the throne

First negotiations between Scotland and Norway

The Guardians pursued Alexander III's wish to marry Margaret to a son of the English King Edward I. This should not only strengthen the good relations between England and Scotland, but above all the king wanted to prevent a power struggle among the Scottish magnates. First, the Guardians had to negotiate with Erik II so that he could let his daughter move to Scotland. The Norwegian king did not want his daughter to move into an uncertain future in a foreign country that was also threatened by civil war. In the winter of 1286 to 1287 the Norwegian Bjarne Erlingsson was ambassador to Scotland. The exact purpose of his mission is not known, but it is likely that Margarete's marriage was discussed. Erlingsson has probably already pointed out the poor health of the heir to the throne.

The Salisbury Treaty

On November 6, 1289, the Treaty of Salisbury was signed by English, Scottish and Norwegian negotiators , in which a marriage of Margaret with the English heir to the throne Edward , the only surviving son of the English king was agreed. Probably under British pressure, the Scottish negotiators assured the Norwegians that they would recognize Margaret as their true mistress, queen and heiress. The young queen was to be brought to either England or Scotland before November 1, 1290, but she was not to be married off without the consent of the English or Norwegian king. In the treaty, the English king promised the Norwegian king financial support. Several months earlier, on May 10, 1289, Edward I had sent an embassy led by his confidante Otton de Grandson to the Roman Curia to apply for a papal dispensation for marriage. This dispensation was given in November 1289 by Pope Nicholas IV .

The Birgham Treaty

The Salisbury treaty was only a preliminary contract on the way to the planned marriage alliance. The actual negotiations between England and Scotland began in March 1290. The Guardians feared that marriage would cause Scotland to lose its independence. The English king then assured the Scots the independence of their empire and the preservation of their privileges and rights. However, the Scots continued to conduct the negotiations cautiously, as the English king demanded control of a number of important castles in Scotland. Only after the king had waived this demand was the marriage of Margaret to Prince Edward agreed on July 18, 1290 in the Treaty of Birgham . The English king had the contract confirmed by the Pope at his own expense. When the crossing from Margaret to Scotland was being prepared in August 1290, the English king reaffirmed the Treaty of Birgham on August 28 in Northampton .

Perhaps at this time Edward I was already trying to claim suzerainty over Scotland, contrary to his assurances. He had already achieved in the Treaty of Salisbury that Margaret was titled Queen. According to the Scottish understanding, Margaret was only considered the Lady of Scotland . Only after a traditional appointment in Scone would she have become queen. Bishop Antony Bek of Durham, who was negotiating for the English king in Scotland, had already tried to negotiate on Margaret's behalf, although she was neither married nor installed as queen and had not yet arrived in Scotland. In addition, he tried to ensure that Margaret came into English and not Scottish care, because the two bride and groom were still too young for a marriage that was valid according to canon law . The English king had sent a ship to Norway in May 1290 to bring Margaret to England. However, since the Norwegian king was at war with Denmark, he was not in Bergen , so that the ship returned to England in June without Margaret.

Crossing to Scotland and death

At the end of August or beginning of September 1290 Margaret must have left Bergen for Scotland. Her companions included two Norwegian bishops, including Narve von Bergen and the nobleman and former chancellor Tore Haakonsson , who negotiated with the Salisbury Treaty in 1289. Tore Haakonsson's sister Ingeborg , the wife of Count Alv Erlingsson , traveled with Margarete as lady-in-waiting. The destination of the crossing was initially the Orkney Islands , which were under Norwegian rule . According to the will of the Norwegian king, the final marriage negotiations with England and Scotland were to take place there. Margaret, however, likely died in late September in the Bishops Palace at Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. The exact date and circumstances of Margaret's death are unknown. The only report of her death comes from Bishop Audfinn Sigurdsson von Bergen, which the latter submitted at a trial more than 20 years after Margaret's death. Afterwards Margaret died in the arms of Bishop Narve. Her body was brought back to Norway and buried next to her mother in the choir room of the Kristkirken im Holmen in Bergen.

Follow in Scotland

In Scotland the magnates had gathered at Scone to await the arrival of Margaret. Immediately after her arrival Margarete was supposed to be enthroned as queen in a solemn ceremony. Only then would she have received a new large seal that would replace the previous seal of the Guardians. In early October, Scottish envoys in Skelbo learned of Margarete's death, and by October 7th the news had reached Scone. Due to Margaret's death, the Scottish succession to the throne was completely unclear, as there were now numerous aspirants to the throne . In order to avoid a civil war, the Guardians turned to the English king with a request to rule on the claims of the heir to the throne. One month after Margaret's death, Edward I had it announced at a joint Anglo-Scottish parliament in Norham that he was now claiming sovereignty over Scotland. Margaret's father Erik II himself claimed the Scottish throne in 1292 because his daughter was queen. This claim was unsuccessful, but he succeeded in having the payment of the remaining installments of the dowry of his deceased wife resumed.

Aftermath

In 1300 a woman who had traveled from Lübeck to Norway, the so-called " false Margaret ", claimed to be Erik II's daughter; she did not die during the crossing, but was sold to the German Reich . Håkon V , who had succeeded his brother Erik II as King of Norway in 1299, had this woman convicted of fraud in 1301 and burned alive near Bergen.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Margaret the Maid of Norway  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 172.
  2. ^ GWS Barrow: A Kingdom in Crisis. Scotland and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 121.
  3. ^ AAM Duncan, The Kingship of the Scots 842-1292: Succession and Independence (2002), ISBN 0-7486-1626-8 , p. 166.
  4. ↑ Knut Helle: Norwegian Foreign Policy and the Maid of Norwa y. In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 148.
  5. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 3.
  6. ^ Alan Young: Noble Families and Political Factions in the Reign of Alexander III . In: Norman H. Reid (ed.): Scotland in the Reign of Alexander III, 1249-1286 . Edinburgh, John Donald 1990, ISBN 0-85976-218-1 , p. 16.
  7. ^ AAM Duncan, The Kingship of the Scots 842-1292: Succession and Independence (2002), pp. 169ff.
  8. ↑ Norman H. Reid: Alexander III: The Historiography of a Myth . In: Norman H. Reid (ed.): Scotland in the Reign of Alexander III, 1249-1286 . Edinburgh, John Donald 1990, ISBN 0-85976-218-1 , p. 198.
  9. ^ Knut Helle: Norwegian Foreign Policy and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 149.
  10. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, pp. 21-22.
  11. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 26.
  12. ↑ Michael Prestwich: Edward I . University of California Press, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 360
  13. ^ GWS Barrow: A Kingdom in Crisis: Scotland and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 69 (1990), p. 127.
  14. ^ GWS Barrow: A Kingdom in Crisis. Scotland and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 131.
  15. ^ GWS Barrow: A Kingdom in Crisis. Scotland and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 130.
  16. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I and the Maid of Norway . In: Scottish Historical Review , 69 (1990), p. 165.
  17. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 39.
  18. ^ 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. 614.
  19. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I and the Maid of Norway . In: Scottish Historical Review , 69 (1990), p. 173.
  20. ↑ Michael Prestwich: Edward I . University of California Press, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 361.
  21. ^ Knut Helle: Norwegian Foreign Policy and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 151.
  22. ^ GWS Barrow: A Kingdom in Crisis. Scotland and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 136.
  23. ^ Barbara E. Crawford: North Sea Kingdoms, North Sea Bureaucrat. A Royal Official Who Transcended National Boundaries . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 175.
  24. ^ GWS Barrow: A Kingdom in Crisis. Scotland and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 135.
  25. ^ GWS Barrow: A Kingdom in Crisis. Scotland and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 134.
  26. ^ Knut Helle: Norwegian Foreign Policy and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 152.
  27. ^ Knut Helle: Norwegian Foreign Policy and the Maid of Norway . In: The Scottish Historical Review (69), 1990, p. 155.
predecessor Office successor
Alexander III Queen of Scotland
1286–1290 		John Balliol
(from 1292)
personal data
SURNAME Margarete
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maid of Norway
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish heir to the throne or queen
DATE OF BIRTH 1282 or 1283
DATE OF DEATH on September 26, 1290
Place of death Kirkwall