Saint Margaret of Scotland
An Anglo-Saxon princess who became queen of Scotland and mother of three kings
- Rank
- Saint
- Kind
- Royalty, Layperson
- Life
- 1045 – 1093
- Era
- 11th century
- Feast
- 16 November
- Countries
- United Kingdom, Hungary
Life story
Margaret was born around 1045, according to tradition in Hungary, where her father Edward the Exile, an Anglo-Saxon prince, lived in banishment. The family returned to England in 1057, but her father died soon afterwards. After the Norman Conquest of 1066 she left England with her mother, brother and sister, and reached Scotland around 1068 or 1070.
About 1070 she married King Malcolm III at Dunfermline. The couple had eight children. Three sons, Edgar, Alexander I and David I, became kings of Scotland in turn, and their daughter Matilda became queen of England as the wife of Henry I. Margaret attended to the children's education and had a positive influence at court.
According to Turgot, the monk and her confessor who wrote her biography, Margaret lived plainly, prayed much, fasted, and welcomed the poor, orphans and foreign prisoners to her table. She supported church councils meant to bring Scottish liturgical and disciplinary practice closer to that of the continent. She also had the church at Dunfermline rebuilt, and tradition says she arranged for pilgrims to be ferried across the Firth of Forth.
In 1093 Malcolm and their eldest son Edward were killed in a skirmish near Alnwick. Margaret, already ill at Edinburgh Castle, died on 16 November 1093, a few days after hearing the news. She was buried at Dunfermline. Pope Innocent IV canonised her in 1250, and her feast is now kept on 16 November.
Works and witness
- Married King Malcolm III around 1070 and bore eight children
- Three sons became kings of Scotland; daughter Matilda became queen of England
- Supported church councils to reform discipline and liturgy
- Backed the church at Dunfermline and cared for the poor and orphans
- Canonised in 1250
Saints from the same country
References
- Turgot of Durham, Vita Sanctae Margaretae Scotorum Reginae
- Martyrologium Romanum
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.