Margaret (Oldenburg) Queen of Scots
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Margaret (Oldenburg) Queen of Scots (1456 - 1486)

Margaret "of Denmark" Queen of Scots formerly Oldenburg aka Stewart
Born in Denmarkmap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married 13 Jul 1469 in Holyrood, Edinburgh, Scotlandmap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 30 in Stirling Castle, Stirlingshire, Scotlandmap
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Scottish Nobility
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Contents

Biography

Margaret was the only daughter of Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden; Duke of Schleswig-Holstein; Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst; and Dorothea, Margravine of Brandenburg.[1][2][3] Although not much is known of Margaret's childhood it is likely that her mother, Queen Dorothea, was a role model for her young daughter. Dorothea quietly and efficiently handled many of the kingdom's financial matters which her husband preferred not to be bothered with, as well as being in complete control of the management of her own estates. The queen was also instrumental in founding the University of Copenhagan.[4][5] Because intermittent discussions between Denmark and Scotland concerning a marriage between Margaret and the young Scottish king began as early as 1458 (when Margaret was only a few years old), [6] it is highly probable that Dorothea herself oversaw the early education of a daughter who was most likely to become a future queen.

Marriage and Children

Margaret of Denmark was married 13 July 1469 at Holyrood to James III, King of Scots.[1][2] She was thirteen years old, and the groom had just celebrated his eighteenth birthday. Under the terms of the marriage contract 1) Scotland's debt owing on the Western Isles was completely written off; 2) King Christian agreed to pay 60,000 florin (£20,000) for Margaret's dowry, of which 50,000 was to be written off in return for Norway pledging its rights in Orkney to Scotland (as the king was unable to raise the remaining 10,000 florin, that amount was also written off in exchange for Norway pledging its rights in the Shetlands to Scotland); 3) James was to provide the Palace of Linlithgow and the Castle of Doune for Margaret's jointure; and 4) a third of the royal revenue was to be settled on Margaret if she survived her husband.[7]

There were three children from this marriage:

  1. James IV, King of Scots; b. 17 Mar 1472/3;[1][8] m. 8 Aug 1503 Margaret Tudor;[1][8] d. 9 Sep 1513[1][8]
  2. James Stewart, Archbishop of St Andrews; Duke of Ross; Marquess of Ormond; b. Mar 1475/6;[1][9] d. 12-17 Jan 1503/4[9][10]
  3. John Stewart, earl of Mar; b. Dec 1479;[11][1] d. 11 Mar 1502/3[12][1]

Queen Consort/Queen Mother

Although one biographer, Giovanni Sabadino, writing four years after Margaret's death, claimed that she was more loved and revered by the people than the king himself "because she possessed more aptitude than he for ruling the kingdom"[13] there is no evidence to suggest that the king and queen worked together to govern Scotland, or that Margaret was included in any political decisions.[14] Her name appeared on only one grant issued in the king's name, rewarding John Dundas for his actions taken to liberate James III in 1482 from Edinburgh Castle, where he was being held prisoner.[14]

Sabadino also suggested that Margaret and her brother-in-law, Alexander, duke of Albany, acted together to have the king imprisoned "for the good of the kingdom."[13] These allegations cannot be proven. What is certain is that in 1478 the king appointed Margaret as guardian of their young son James, who was heir to the throne. In that position, she was later able to exert a great deal of influence in arranging the king's release (in 1482) from Edinburgh Castle.[14] Albany was required to seek her advice (as the heir's guardian) before taking any actions himself, and she was able to communicate with her husband through Lord Darnley, whom she paid as the keeper of Edinburgh.[15] Margaret insisted that during the period of the king's imprisonment the government continue to funtion in his name, and later historians have credited her actions with the relatively prompt and bloodless way the crisis was resolved and the king released.[15] It is possible, however, that there were rumors of collusion between Albany and the queen and that those rumors caused James III to distrust his wife.[6] On his release, the king chose to continue living at Edinburgh while the queen remained in her dower castle at Stirling with their three children. There is no evidence that they ever saw each other again after the events of 1482.[6]

Death

Queen Margaret died at Stirling Castle on 14 July 1486, and was buried at Cambuskenneth Abbey later that same month.[2][16][17] The following year the king made an attempt to secure her canonization, although his efforts may have been motivated by a desire to quell (possibly unfounded) rumors that she had been poisoned by one of his own closest advisors.[6][15]

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 1, pp. 20-21.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 1, pp. 667-668. BRUS. 14. James III of Scotland.
  3. Henderson, Thomas F. Margaret (1457?-1486). Dictionary of National Biography, archive edition.
  4. Skovgaard-Petersen, Inge. Queenship in Medieval Denmark, in Medieval Queenship, John Parsons (ed.), New York: St Martins Press (1998), pp. 38-39.
  5. Marshall, Rosalind. Scottish Queens. Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd. (2019), p. 72.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Macdougall, Norman. Margaret (Margaret of Denmark). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online (23 Sep 2004), rv. 19 May 1011, available here by subscription.
  7. Reg.Mag.Sig.I, vii, No. 154; Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii, p. 187, cited in Burnett, George. Rotuli Scaccarii Regum Scotorum. Edinburgh: General Register House (1885), vol. 8, preface pp. xxxix - xli and fn 3.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 1, pp. 668-674. BRUS. 15. James IV of Scotland.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 1, pp. 667-668. BRUS. 14. ii. James Stewart.
  10. Burnett, George. Rotuli Scaccarii Regum Scotorum. Edinburgh: General Register House (1889), vol. 12, preface xxxii.
  11. Dickson, Thomas. Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House (1877), vol. 1, preface pp. lxiv-lxv.
  12. Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 210.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Chandler, S.B. An Italian Life of Margaret, Queen of James III. The Scottish Historical Review, published by Edinburgh University Press, vol. 32, no. 113, part 1 (Apr 1953), p. 55.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Ewen, Elizabeth. The New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (2018), p. 299.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Ewen, Elizabeth. The New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (2018), p. 300.
  16. Burnett, George. Rotuli Scaccarii Regum Scotorum. Edinburgh: General Register House (1886), vol. 9, preface p. lx.
  17. Theiner, Augustin. Vetera Monumenta Hibernorum et Scotorum.... Rome: the Vatican (1864), pp. 499-500.
See Also:
  • Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands, Scotland, Kings. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Medieval Lands database, James (III) of Scotland.
  • Henderson, Thomas F. The Royal Stewarts. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons (1914), p. 56.
  • Louda, Jiri and Michael MacLagan. Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe. (2nd edition) London: Little, Brown and Company (1999), table 14.
  • Macdougall, Norman. James III. Edinburgh: John Donald (2009), repr. 2017.
  • Nichols, John Gough. The Herald and Genealogist. London: Nichols and Nichols, vol. 1, p.300.
  • Oram, Richard. The Kings and Queens of Scotland. Gloucestershire: The History Press (2001), reprinted 2011.
  • Pryde, E.B. (ed). Handbook of British Chronology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2003), 3rd ed, p. 60.
  • Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy. London: The Bodley Head (1999), pp. 237-238.




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Comments: 8

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I have finished for now with the update on this profile. PMs who are not certified to edit Margaret's profile have been moved to the trusted list; if any of you have plans to get pre-1500 certification please let the project know when that happens and you'll be added back as a PM. Thanks,

Jen

posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
I have removed two images which were actually of Mary, Queen of Scots; one image which was labeled on another site as 'generic medieval woman,' and two images which had no attribution and whose origins and whether or not they were legal to use could not be determined. I will try to replace these with images which are not under copyright.

Jen

posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
Because Queen Margaret was a historically significant person in Scotland and none of the current PMs are certified to work on pre-1500 profiles, the Scotland Project has been added as a co-manager of this profile and will soon be doing a profile update. If anyone knows of additional sources and/or information they would like to see added please message me or post here in comments.

Thanks, Jen for the Scotland Project

posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
Where she is "entombed/buried with her husband James is on this video (below has been placed on James III) profile as well.

James the III King of Scots, and his wife Princess Margaret of Denmark are buried together, the inscription on their tomb (which is shown inside an Iron fense and locked w/chain and lock shows James death as 2 June 1438 - Pause the linked video at 8:11 to read the inscription, just before this spot, the person touring the Bell tower and the Cemetery talks just a bit about them both being buried here, then zooms in on the enscription quickly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X49vu7V3tG8 - pause a 8:11

posted by Arora (G) Anonymous
My maternal Grand mother comes through this line from the Stewart line. My gedmatch number is M883922
posted by Dawn Brown
Von Oldenburg-18 and Oldenburg-27 appear to represent the same person because: Obviously the same person and needs to be merged.
posted by Eugene Quigley
Oldenburg-27 and Von Oldenburg-18 are not ready to be merged because: Not sure which last name is correct.
posted by Susan (Nixon) Shirey
This should be a protected profile!
posted by Eugene Quigley

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