Margaret Maid of Norway – History… the interesting bits!

Queen of Scots

03/05/202505/05/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly2 Comments

The Queens of Scots of the medieval era are a fascinating variety of women and I can only hope that I have done them justice in my latest book, Scotland’s Medieval Queens: From St Margaret to Margaret of Denmark.

Scottish history is fascinating! It is violent, politically charged and passionate. Being inconveniently situated on England’s northern border was never easy for Scotland, but it has made for some great stories over the centuries. Scotland’s story is often that of brother against brother, ambition and family rivalries causing feuds that threatened the stability of the crown itself. Such fissures, of course, grew and ruptured with the aid of English interference and encouragement. The King of England was always happy to play one side off against the other if it weakened Scotland’s position.

And Scotland’s medieval queens, be they Scottish, English, Danish or French, formed a big part of that story.

More often than not, these disputes north and south of the border were resolved in peace treaties, sealed by wedding bells. A number of English princesses and noblewomen found themselves married to Scotland’s kings as a consequence.

For over 400 years, Shakespeare’s version of Lady Macbeth has been the woman most people are familiar with. In the bard’s famous drama, also known as ‘The Scottish Play’, Lady Macbeth is not even given her name. Presented as a scheming, manipulative woman, Shakespeare did as good a hatchet job on Gruoch, a royal princess in her own right, as he had on Richard III. Unfortunately, there is no society established to repair Gruoch’s reputation.

The scheming, ambitious woman who will stop at nothing to put her husband on the Scottish throne – and commit murder to keep him there. But is that the real Lady Macbeth? The story of Queen Gruoch, Lady Macbeth, is one shrouded in mystery, tantalisingly obscure. If only we could know more. The lack of information on Gruoch makes it easy for Shakespeare’s interpretation to be accepted as fact, but it is more than likely an injustice to a woman who survived her first husband’s gruesome death, protected her son and came to an agreement with Macbeth to become his wife, securing her son’s future in the process, and later becoming queen as a consequence.

Queen Gruoch is the first queen of Scots for whom we have a name.

From the highly educated and pious Margaret of Wessex to the glamorous Margaret of Denmark, their lives and experiences tell the story of their nation. Some, such as Matilda de Senlis and Ermengarde de Beaumont, barely make an impression on history, though merely by producing a son, they each guaranteed that Scotland would persevere. And Isabella de Warenne, wife of John Balliol, who is a ghost on the pages of Scotland’s history. And it is not that these made no impression. Their influence was in the domestic sphere, raising children and supporting their husbands, rather than on the political or the international stage. Although Isabella’s story is even more obscure by the fact all mention of the Balliol dynasty was forbidden by the Bruce regime.

Marrying an English princess, for example, did not always guarantee the peace with England that was intended. As the wife of Alexander II, Joan of England did her best to maintain cordial relations with her brother Henry III, often using private letters to broker diplomatic solutions. And Henry III’s own daughter Margaret, in marrying Alexander III, brought Scotland more years of peace with England. As a consequence, Scotland and England enjoyed over 70 years of peaceful relations. These years were shattered dramatically by the deaths of Alexander III, his three children and his little granddaughter, Margaret, the Maid of Norway. Little Margaret’s death left the Scots throne vacant, with thirteen Competitors vying for the crown, staking their claims as Edward I of England acted as adjudicator.

Edward I took advantage of this to try to assert his overlordship of Scotland, but William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and countless others pushed back, ushering in decades of war with England, the Scottish Wars of Independence.

Edward III’s sister Joan of the Tower was to have no such legacy of peace as the earlier Joan and Queen Margaret could boast. Her brother’s ambition would blight her marriage for years. Edward leant his support to the rival claimant to the Scottish throne, Edward Balliol. If he had not been so keen to exploit Scotland’s dynastic divisions, maybe Joan and David II would have had a happier marriage. We will never know.

One cannot help but feel sympathy for Elizabeth de Burgh, seeing her fortunes rise and fall at the whim of England’s king, Edward I, held captive for eight years when she should have been sitting in splendour on Scotland’s throne.

Or poor Marjorie Bruce, whose childhood was torn from her by that same English king, held far away from everyone she loved, only to be married as she tasted freedom, and dead in childbirth by the age of 19. Passed over for the throne because she was a woman, she still managed to give birth to a dynasty, the Stewarts.

Scotland was the first nation in the British Isles to accept a queen regnant when Margaret, Maid of Norway, was recognised as its queen in 1290. How her queenship would have developed, we have no way of knowing. The poor girl died before she even landed in mainland Scotland. Her significance is in that she was proclaimed queen and the possibilities that heralded, even if it got no further. We can only speculate as to how a successful rule by a queen regnant in the thirteenth century may have changed the lives and experiences of women in subsequent centuries. Her death was a tragedy, not just to her family, but to women’s rights to rule.

But then again, as her father-in-law, it may well be that Edward I would have taken Scotland under his wing … and never let go.

Although we have charters and chronicles, and evidence of religious and charitable donations, most of these women remain elusive. They are enigmas.

We do not – and cannot – know them intimately as the one thing that is missing is their own voice. Their thoughts and personalities are lost to us. Even letters to family members are often formulaic and rarely speak of their true feelings, of their happiness – or not – and their cares and concerns for themselves. We know what they endured for the sake of Scotland, the risk of death in childbirth, the grief of lost children, or the grief of no children. Every woman in medieval Europe was exposed to similar experiences. Scottish queens, however, had to endure imprisonment, scheming noblemen and the early deaths of their husbands more times than they should have had to.

But, once in a while, we come across a marriage that is a true partnership. A love story, even. And we discover moments of affection, of amusement, of unity and mutual support. Little moments that remind us that these people are not just stories. They are lives that were lived to the full, however short or long a time they had.

Scotland’s story is often violent and suffered greatly from the machinations if its powerful southern neighbour. However, Scotland did emerge from the Middle Ages as, still, an independent, sovereign nation. And Scotland’s medieval queens had each made their own contribution to the country’s continuing survival and independence. From Saint Margaret – even from Gruoch – to Margaret of Denmark, each queen, to varying degrees of success, made their own indelible imprint on Scotland’s remarkable story.

Images:

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Selected Bibliography:

John of Fordun’s Chronicle of the Scottish Nation; Walter Bower, Scotichronicon; Andrew Wyntoun, The orygynale cronykil of Scotland; Calendar of documents relating to Scotland preserved in Her Majesty’s Public Record Office; Richard Oram, editor, The Kings and Queens of Scotland; Rosalind K. Marshall, Scottish Queens 1034–1714; Nigel Tranter, The Story of Scotland; David Ross Scotland, History of a Nation; Liber pluscardensis, edited by Felix James Henry Skene; Mediaeval chronicles of Scotland: the chronicles of Melrose and Holyrood, translated by Joseph Stephenson; The Chronicle of Lanercost, edited by Sir Herbert Maxwell; The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy by Ordericus Vitalis; The historie and cronicles of Scotland … by Robert Lindesay of Pitscottie, 3 volumes, A.J.G. Mackay, editor.

My books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online store.

Out now: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

Scotland’s history is dramatic, violent and bloody. Being England’s northern neighbour has never been easy. Scotland’s queens have had to deal with war, murder, imprisonment, political rivalries and open betrayal. They have loved and lost, raised kings and queens, ruled and died for Scotland. From St Margaret, who became one of the patron saints of Scotland, to Elizabeth de Burgh and the dramatic story of the Scottish Wars of Independence, to the love story and tragedy of Joan Beaufort, to Margaret of Denmark and the dawn of the Renaissance, Scotland’s Medieval Queens have seen it all. This is the story of Scotland through their eyes.

‘Scotland’s Medieval Queens gives a thorough grounding in the history of the women who ruled Scotland at the side of its kings, often in the shadows, but just as interesting in their lives beyond the spotlight. It’s not a subject that has been widely covered, and Sharon is a pioneer in bringing that information into accessible history.’ Elizabeth Chadwick (New York Times bestselling author)

Available now from Amazon and Pen and Sword Books

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Heroines of the Tudor World tells the stories of the most remarkable women from European history in the time of the Tudor dynasty, 1485-1603. These are the women who ruled, the women who founded dynasties, the women who fought for religious freedom, their families and love. Heroines of the Tudor World is now available for pre-order from Amberley Publishing and Amazon UK. Women of the Anarchy demonstrates how Empress Matilda and Matilda of Boulogne, unable to wield a sword themselves, were prime movers in this time of conflict and lawlessness. It shows how their strengths, weaknesses, and personal ambitions swung the fortunes of war one way – and then the other. Available from Bookshop.org, Amberley Publishing and Amazon UK. King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is the story of a truly remarkable lady, the hereditary constable of Lincoln Castle and the first woman in England to be appointed sheriff in her own right. Available from all good bookshops Pen & Sword Books, bookshop.org and Amazon.

Defenders of the Norman Crown: The Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey tells the fascinating story of the Warenne dynasty, from its origins in Normandy, through the Conquest, Magna Carta, the wars and marriages that led to its ultimate demise in the reign of Edward III. Available from Pen & Sword Books, Amazon in the UK and US, and Bookshop.org. Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England looks into the relationships of the various noble families of the 13th century, and how they were affected by the Barons’ Wars, Magna Carta and its aftermath; the bonds that were formed and those that were broken. It is now available in paperback and hardback from Pen & Sword, Amazon, and Bookshop.org. Heroines of the Medieval World tells the stories of some of the most remarkable women from Medieval history, from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Julian of Norwich. Available now from Amberley Publishing and Amazon, and Bookshop.org. Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest traces the fortunes of the women who had a significant role to play in the momentous events of 1066. Available now from Amazon, Amberley Publishing, and Bookshop.org.

Alternate Endings: An anthology of historical fiction short stories including Long Live the King… which is my take what might have happened had King John not died in October 1216. Available in paperback and kindle from Amazon.

Podcast:

Have a listen to the A Slice of Medieval podcast, which I co-host with Historical fiction novelist Derek Birks. Derek and I welcome guests, such as Bernard Cornwell and Michael Jecks, and discuss a wide range of topics in medieval history, from significant events to the personalities involved. Every episode is also now available on YouTube.

Don’t forget! Signed and dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online store.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

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Mother’s Day Treat

02/03/201807/03/2018Sharon Bennett Connolly30 Comments

Sunday 11th March 2018 is Mother’s Day in the UK this year

Mum is everyone’s favourite Heroine, in whatever era, and I could not think of a better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than with a giveaway of a hardback copy of Heroines of the Medieval World.

About Heroines of the Medieval World

Heroines come in many different forms, and it is no less true for medieval heroines. They can be found in all areas of medieval life; from the dutiful wife and daughter to religious devotees, warriors and rulers. What makes them different compared to those of today are the limitations placed on them by those who directed their lives – their fathers, husbands, priests and kings. Women have always been an integral part of history, although when reading through the chronicles of the medieval world, you would be forgiven if you did not know it. We find that the vast majority of written references are focussed on men. The chronicles were written by men and, more often than not, written for men. It was men who ruled countries, fought wars, made laws and treaties, dominated religion and guaranteed – or tried to guarantee – the continued survival of their world. It was usually the men, but not all of them, who could read, who were trained to rule and who were expected to fight, to defend their people and their country…

If you would like to win a signed copy of Heroines of the Medieval World to give to your mum on Mother’s Day, or someone else’s mum – or even as a gift to yourself, simply leave a comment below or on my Facebook page and I will include you in the prize draw.

The draw will be made on Wednesday 7th March, so you should get the book in time for the day.

*

The winner is ….. Janet Carter.

The draw is now closed and I would like to thank everyone for taking part.

Heroines of the Medieval World, is now available in hardback in the UK from both Amberley Publishing and Amazon UK and worldwide from Book Depository. It is also available on Kindle in both the UK and USA and will be available in Hardback from Amazon US from 1 May 2018.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter.

Yolande and the Hope for the Scottish Succession

30/10/201614/02/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly19 Comments

330px-sceau_de_yolande_decosse_-_duchesse_de_bretagne — Yolande de Dreux

Yolande de Dreux was Scotland’s Queen Consort for only 4 months and 14 days. In that short time, she carried the hope of a nation – and its king – to secure the Scottish succession.

Yolande was born into a cadet branch of the French royal family, probably sometime in the mid-1260s. Her father was Robert IV, Count of Dreux, who died in 1282 and her mother was Beatrice de Montfort, who died in 1311. Beatrice was the daughter of Count Jean I de Montfort l’Amoury and his wife Jeanne de Chateaudun, Beatrice was therefore a great-granddaughter of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, and heiress to the impressive de Montfort estates. One of 6 children, Yolande had 2 brothers and 3 sisters. Little is known of Yolande’s childhood but we can imagine that as a junior member of the Capetian dynasty, she grew up amidst some privilege and splendour.

Whilst Yolande was growing into adulthood Scotland was experiencing a “golden age”, a period of relative peace and prosperity. Her king, Alexander III was married to Margaret, daughter of Henry III of England and the couple had 3 children survive childhood. Their daughter, Margaret, born at Windsor on 28th February, 1261, was married to Erik II, king of Norway, in August 1281. Their eldest son, Alexander, was born on 21st January 1264, at Jedburgh. On 15th November 1282 Alexander married Margaret, the daughter of Guy de Dampierre, Count of Flanders. A younger son, David was born on 20th March 1273.

Queen Margaret died in 1275 and within 8 years all 3 of her children were dead; 8-year-old David died at Stirling Castle at the end of June 1281, Margaret died in childbirth on 9th April 1283 and Alexander died at Lindores Abbey in January 1284, sometime around his 20th birthday. Alexander’s heir was now his infant granddaughter by Margaret and Erik, little Margaret, the Maid of Norway, born shortly before her mother’s death.

With his entire dynasty resting on the life of his toddler granddaughter, Alexander started the search for a new wife. In February 1285 he sent a Scottish embassy to France for this sole purpose. Their successful search saw Yolande arrive in Scotland that same summer, accompanied by her brother John. Alexander and Yolande were married at Jedburgh Abbey, Roxburghshire, on 14th October 1285, the feast of St Calixtus, in front of a large congregation made up of Scottish and French nobles. Yolande was probably no more than 22 years of age, while Alexander was in his 44th year.

The marriage was one of the shortest in British royal history – and the shortest of any English or Scottish king, lasting less than 5 months. Tragedy struck on 19 March 1286.

Alexander had spent the day attending a council meeting in Edinburgh. When the meeting broke up he set off on horseback to join his wife at Kinghorn Castle in Fife. It was said he wanted to be there to celebrate her birthday and he may also have recently discovered that she was pregnant with the much-desired heir. For whatever the reason, he was eager to get to her and took only a small escort of 3 men and 2 local guides. It seems that, with bad weather closing in and daylight fading, several people counselled against continuing the journey, including the ferryman at the River Forth and the bailie at Inverkeithing, who argued that Alexander should stay the night and continue his journey in the morning as a heavy storm was brewing.

330px-alexander_iii_and_ollamh_righ — Alexander III

Only 8 miles from his destination, Alexander would hear none of it and insisted on continuing his journey. He somehow lost his escort in the dark and worsening weather, but continued alone. It was the next morning when his body was found on the foreshore of Pettycur, just a mile from his destination. The most likely explanation was that his horse had stumbled, throwing the king whose neck was broken in the fall, although at least one historical fiction writer has suggested foul play while others have suggested the king was drunk.

There followed months of uncertainty in Scotland. She had lost one of her most successful kings and the succession was in turmoil. Little Margaret, the Maid of Norway, had been recognised by the council as Alexander’s heir, but his queen was pregnant; and if she gave birth to a boy he would be king from his first breath. A regency council was established to rule until the queen gave birth.

In the event, Yolande either suffered a miscarriage, or the child was stillborn. Some sources, the Lanercost Chronicle in particular, have questioned whether Yolande was pregnant at all, suggesting that she was intending to pass off another woman’s baby as her own. The plan thwarted, the chronicle recorded that ‘women’s cunning always turns toward a wretched outcome‘.¹ However, there are major discrepancies in the chronicle’s apparently malicious account and tradition has the baby buried at Cambuskenneth.

The throne passed to little Margaret and arrangements began to have her brought to England, with marriage negotiations being opened with Edward I for the little queen to marry his son and heir; the future Edward II. Yolande continued to reside in Scotland for some time, possibly at Stirling Castle, and was confirmed in her dower properties, which included an annual income of £200 from Berwick; she also had estates in the sheriffdom of Stirling and a horse stud at Jedworth.

Margaret’s death at sea in 1290, while on her journey to her new kingdom, threw Scotland into years of turmoil, with 13 nobles advancing their competing claims to the crown and Edward I of England claiming the right to choose Alexander III’s successor, and recognition as Scotland’s overlord. The English king’s imperialist ambitions had thrown Scotland into crisis by 1296.

Luckily for Yolande, she was already far away from Scotland and the brewing wars. In May 1294 Yolande had married for a second time; Arthur of Brittany was a similar age to Yolande and was the son and heir of Jean II, duke of Brittany and earl of Richmond. Yolande was the second wife of Arthur, who already had 3 sons, Jean, Guy and Peter, by his first wife, Marie, Vicomtesse de Limoges.

It is possible that Arthur chose Yolande as a bride due to the impressive de Montfort territories that she stood to inherit from her mother, although there were legal wranglings between Yolande and her younger sister, Jeanne, who also claimed the lands.

120px-blason_comtes_dreux — Arms of the counts of Dreux

Yolande and Arthur had 6 children together. Their eldest daughter, Joan was born a year after their marriage and married Robert, Lord of Cassel; she died in 1363. Beatrice was born c.1295 and married Guy, Lord of Laval; she lived until 1384. Their only son, John, was probably born 1295/6 and married Joan of Flanders. Of the 3 youngest daughters: Alice was born in the late 1290s married Bouchard VI, Count of Vendôme and died in 1377; Blanche was born in 1300 and died young; Mary was born in 1302 and became a nun, she died in 1377.

Arthur succeeded his father as Duke of Brittany in 1305 and ruled until his death in 1312. He was succeeded by John III, his eldest son by his first marriage. However, John’s death in 1341 sparked the War of the Breton Succession when Yolande’s son, John de Montfort, claimed the duchy in place of Joan of Penthièvre, daughter of Guy (Arthur’s 2nd son by his 1st wife), who was married to Charles of Blois, nephew of King Philip VI of France. Joan and Charles were therefore backed by the French crown, and Edward III of England supported the claims of John de Montfort; the war eventually became part of the greater conflict, the Hundred Years War. When John fell ill and died in 1345, the war continued in the name of his 6-year-old son and Yolande’s grandson, another John (John IV, duke of Brittany) and finally ended in John’s favour with the treaty of Guérande in April 1365.

After being widowed for a second time Yolande did not remarry.

During her time in Brittany Yolande continued to administer to her Scottish estates; in October 1323 safe-conduct to Scotland was granted to a French knight ‘for the dower of the Duchess of Brittany while she was Queen of Scotland‘.² It seems uncertain when Yolande died. Sources vary between 1324 and 1330, although she was still alive on 1st February 1324 when she made provision for the support of her daughter, Marie, who had become a nun.

These arrangements for her daughter are the last mention of Yolande in the historical record, the date of her death as uncertain as that of her birth.

Footnotes: ¹ Chronique de Lanercost, 118, quoted by Jessica Nelson in Oxforddnb.com. ²CSP Scot.. 3. no. 829 quoted by Jessica Nelson in Oxforddnb.com.

Sources: Marc Morris Edward I: A Great and Terrible King by Marc Morris; Brewer’s British Royalty by David Williamson; The Mammoth Book of British kings & Queens by Mike Ashley; Britain’s Royal Families by Alison Weir; The Oxford Companion to British History edited by John Cannon; The History Today Companion to British History Edited by Juliet Gardiner and Neil Wenborn; The Story of Scotland by Nigel Tranter; Scotland, History of a Nation by David Ross; oxforddnb.com; undiscoveredscotland.co.uk; freelancehistorywriter.com.