Saint Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045-1093)

Birth in Hungary

Margaret was born around 1045 in Hungary, where her father, Edward the Exile (son of King Edmund Ironside of England), lived in exile. Her mother was Agatha, whose exact ancestry is disputed (daughter of an emperor of the Holy Roman Empire or of a Slavic prince, according to the sources).^[3]

The family returned to England in 1057, at the invitation of King Edward the Confessor, who was seeking an heir. Edward the Exile died shortly after his arrival, and his daughter Margaret grew up at the English court.

The Norman Conquest (1066)

After the Battle of Hastings (1066) and the Norman conquest of England, Margaret's family fled north. In 1068, she embarked with her mother and brothers to leave England; a storm cast them onto the shores of Scotland.^[4]

It was a chance of the sea that brought Margaret into Scottish history. King Malcolm III (Malcolm Canmore) welcomed the exiled English royal family, and grew fond of the young princess.

Marriage to Malcolm III (around 1070)

Margaret married Malcolm III around 1070. The marriage was both political (it gave weight to the claims of the House of Wessex to the throne of England) and spiritual (Malcolm, a warrior, let himself be influenced by the piety of his wife).^[5]

The couple had eight children:

Margaret's descendants reigned over Scotland for more than a century, and her daughter Edith-Matilda became Queen of England.^[6]

The liturgical reforms

Margaret set out to reform the religious practices of Scotland, which she judged too distant from Roman usages. Two reforms are particularly recorded:

• Lent now began on Ash Wednesday, and not on the following Monday, as had been the local custom.
• The abolition of the Saturday rest (Saturday abstinence), a practice of Celtic origin which Margaret had replaced with Roman usages.^[7]

These reforms were inspired by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, with whom Margaret corresponded. They marked the alignment of Scotland with the Gregorian reform and with the practices of the Latin Church.

Charity and foundations

Margaret was renowned for her charity toward the poor. Tradition credits her with daily distributions of alms, the ransoming of captives, and particular care for the sick and for pilgrims.^[8]

In 1072, she brought Benedictines to Dunfermline, where she founded a monastery which became the royal necropolis of Scotland. She also encouraged the building of roads and ferries, notably at Queensferry ("the queen's ferry"), to ease pilgrimages to the north.^[9]

Malcolm III and the children

King Malcolm III was killed on 13 November 1093 at the Battle of Alnwick, together with his eldest son Edward. Margaret, already ill, outlived her husband by barely a few days.^[10]

Alone among her children, David I is venerated as a saint (feast on 24 May), without having been formally canonized. His reign (1124-1153) is regarded as the golden age of medieval Scotland. With his canonized mother, he makes this lineage one of the royal families most marked by holiness of the Middle Ages.

Death (16 November 1093)

Margaret died on 16 November 1093 at Edinburgh Castle, three days after the death of her husband and her son. She was buried at Dunfermline, in the monastery she had founded.^[11]

Tradition reports that she asked for the Te Deum to be sung on hearing of Malcolm's death, seeing in this trial a divine will. This detail belongs to the hagiographical account of Turgot of Durham.

Canonization (1250)

Margaret was canonized in 1250 by Pope Innocent IV. The translation of the relics took place on 19 June 1250, in the presence of King Alexander III of Scotland.^[12]

The main source for her life is the Vita S. Margaritae (Scotorum) Reginae, written by Turgot of Durham, Prior of Durham and confessor to the queen, between 1100 and 1107. This Vita, commissioned by her daughter Matilda (Queen of England), is the founding document of Margaret's memory.^[13]

The scattering of the relics

At the Protestant Reformation (16th century), Margaret's relics were scattered or destroyed. A few fragments have been preserved or recovered, but no intact tomb remains at Dunfermline.^[14]

Feast and patronage

Saint Margaret is celebrated on 16 November, the anniversary of her death. The feast was moved to 10 June in 1693, then restored to 16 November in 1969 by the liturgical reform.^[15]

She is patroness of Scotland, of queens and of widows.

Iconography and memory

Margaret's iconography shows her as a queen (crown, sceptre, book), sometimes distributing alms or accompanied by her children. A portrait appears in the Genealogical Chronicle of English Kings.^[16]

The figure of Margaret is that of a queen of charity, whose piety transformed a kingdom of warriors into a kingdom of foundations and prayer.

What tradition has not established

These reservations do not alter the heart of the account: an English princess who became Queen of Scots, a reformer full of charity, who died in 1093 and was canonized in 1250.

The main source for Margaret's life is the Vita S. Margaritae (Scotorum) Reginae by Turgot of Durham (1100-1107), written for Queen Matilda of England. This Vita was not read in full for this article; elements drawn from it are flagged as belonging to the hagiographical tradition.

The secondary sources consulted are the English Wikipedia entry "Saint Margaret of Scotland" and the Wikimedia Commons files (portrait, genealogical chronology). The date of birth (around 1045) and the year of marriage (around 1070) remain approximate.

• Saint Edward the Confessor (c. 1003-1066): the English king who called Margaret's family back from exile.
• Saint Alfred the Great (849-899): another great king of the House of Wessex, Margaret's ancestor.
• Saint Stephen of Hungary (c. 975-1038): the king who Christianized Hungary, where Margaret was born.
• Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109): a contemporary archbishop, in the same world of the Gregorian reform.