Hi to all the members!!!!
After a short hiatus to my previous threads (due to more investigation to properly ended it), I decided to began this one dedicated to the "Maid of Norway", whose early death changed completely the history of Scotland (and also England, if we counted her betrothal).
There follows a recapitulation of the historical well-known events:
_________________________________
9 April 1283: Margaret, by birth Princess of the Scots and Queen consort of Norway, gave birth a daughter in the town of Tønsberg, Norway. The Queen died either during childbirth or by consequence of a post-partum infection. The little princess, named Margaret after her late mother, was raised at the court of her father, King Eric II Magnusson of Norway, nicknamed "Priest Hater" due to his unsuccessful relations with his local church hierarchy.
Due to the marriage contract of her parents (signed in December 1281), since her birth the newborn Norwegian princess became in the second-in-line to the throne of Scotland, and heiress apparent after the death of her only surviving maternal uncle, Prince Alexander, on 28 January 1284 without issue. A few days later, on 5 February at Scone, all thirteen earls of Scotland, twenty-four barons and the heads of the three main Gaelic kindreds of the West, Alexander of Argyll, Aonghas Mór of Islay and Alan MacRuari of Garmoran, agreed to recognise Margaret as "Lady and Right Heir" (domina et iure heredem) in default of male heirs:
"...we shall all receive our illustrious child Margaret, daughter of the daughter of our said lord king, Margaret of good memory, sometime queen of Norway, by the illustrious Lord Erik king of Norway; and as she descends with full legitimacy we shall receive her as our lady and right heir of our said lord king..."
Her maternal grandfather, King Alexander III of Scotland, concerned about the potential loss of independence of his Kingdom and the inminent English intervention, quickly arranged a second marriage for himself, with the French noblewoman Yolande de Dreux, in a way to distance from his neighbour King Edward I, and to emphasize Scottish independence from England. The wedding took place on 15 October 1285 at Jedburgh Abbey, but was short-lived: five months later, in the night between 18 and 19 March 1286, Alexander III died in a fall from his horse while riding in the dark to visit his wife at Kinghorn in Fife for her birthday.
The death of Alexander III plunged his strong and stabilized Kingdom into a period of uncertainty: although Margaret of Norway was now the heiress of Scotland and her father, with the help of Edward I, began to intensified his daughter's rights, soon Queen Yolande declared herself pregnant with the late King's unborn child, who, whatever was his gender, displaced Margaret in the line of succession.
On 2 April 1286 at Scone, Perth and Kinross, the Guardians of Scotland were elected by a parliament to govern the Kingdom pending the birth of the child; seven months later, on 25 November 1286 at Clackmannan, the Guardians reunited to witness the birth, but unfortunately Queen Yolande gave birth an stillborn child.
The stillbirth of Alexander III's posthumous child confirmed Margaret of Norway as the sole legal heiress of her grandfather and, according to the previous agreement at Scone, the rightful Queen of Scotland. However, within weeks John Balliol began the war to obtain the crown from himself; but he had to faced the opposition of the Bruce family, who captured strongholds in Galloway, and fighting in the name of the Maid of Norway, suppressed the rebellion with many important families like the Stewards supporting them. In 1289, the Guardians maintained the peace in Scotland between the competing claims of Margaret, Robert Bruce and John Balliol.
By that time, was clear that the Guardians of Scotland showed no desires to bring the Maid of Norway to the Kingdom; in fact, was King Eric II, who counting with the alliance with Edward I, who raised the matter again. Without taking any consideration or consult to the Guardians, was arranged between Eric II and Edward I the betrothal between Margaret and Prince Edward, heir of the English throne, with Pope Nicholas IV quickly granting a dispensation for consanguinity because they are they were first cousins once removed (Margaret was the great-granddaughter of King Henry III of England and Prince Edward his grandson). With their power weakened by the alliance Norway-England, the Guardians finally signed with Edward I the Treaty of Salisbury, which agreed that Margaret would be sent to Scotland before 1 November 1290, and that any agreement on her future marriage would be deferred until she was in Scotland.
King Edward I and the Guardians continued the negociations for the recognition of the betrothal between Margaret and Prince Edward, based on the collective assumption that Margaret would be queen and the young Edward king. However, all this plans were brought to nothing as Margaret died of the effects of sea-sickness in the Orkney Islands on 26 September 1290 while sailing to Scotland.
Until them, the narrative showed the historical events, but now....what happened if the infant-Queen survive her illness and arrived to Scotland?....
_________________________________
Having arrived to the Orkney Islands (at that time part of the Kingdom of Norway) with a large retinue, Princess Margaret became seriously ill, probably due to sea-sickness. Her life was in danger for some time, but by early October 1290 she recovered, although remained weak; for this, she was transported from St. Margaret's Hope to the town of Burwick, still in Orkney.
The Guardians of Scotland send an embassy leaded by William Fraser, Bishop of St. Andrews and Robert de Bruce, 6th Lord of Annandale -both staunch supporters of the Maid- to officially received her in Scotish soil; however, due to Margaret's illness, they were forced to waited in the village of Thurso for her.
During the Maid's convalescence at Burwick, an English entourage, leaded by Prince Edmund, Earl of Lancaster and Edward I's brother, arrived there to escorted the Maid to her Kingdom; having send his own brother to conduced the infant-Queen to her domains, Edward I wanted to show his hegemony over Scotland and his interference in his politics.
Once the Scotish entourage knew about the intentions of Edward I to had his subjects escorted the Maid to her domains, they send fierce protests to the English King, claiming that the arrival of his embassy to Scotland was a clear violation to the Treaty of Salisbury, who guaranteed the independence of both the Scotish and English interests in exchange of the recognition of the betrothal of the Maid with Prince Edward.
King Edward I deliberately delayed to made a formal reply to the Guardians: by early December 1290, the already fully-recovered Margaret remained in Burwick with her Norwegian entourage, who, following the instructions of King Eric II, was eager to enter in Scotish soil.
Finally, after protracted negotiations (who confirmed the betrothal with the English prince) and the intervention of Pope Nicholas IV, only on 2 January 1291 and following the orders of their King, the English entourage leave Burwick. Now, Margaret was free to entered in Scotland.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
In the early hours of 2 January 1291, Princess Margaret of Norway, with her native entourage leaded by her paternal uncle Prince Haakon, Archbishop Jørund of Nidaros and Bishop Narve of Bergen, arrived in the village of Thurso, where the Scotish embassy formally received her as their Queen. Both retinues remained there for two days, until 4 January, when in a solemn ceremony, the infant-Queen was officially handed to the Lord of Annandale, who became in her guardian for the rest of her journey to Scone, where was scheduled to be the customary inauguration and coronation. From her fellow contrymen, only remained with her Archbishop Jørund and Bishop Narve (following instructions of Eric II as witnesses of the coronation) with their personal armies, and three Norwegian maids; from them, Margaret could only be surrounded by Scotish people, in order to be accustomed to the uses and language of her Kingdom.
TO BE CONTINUED.......
After a short hiatus to my previous threads (due to more investigation to properly ended it), I decided to began this one dedicated to the "Maid of Norway", whose early death changed completely the history of Scotland (and also England, if we counted her betrothal).
There follows a recapitulation of the historical well-known events:
_________________________________
9 April 1283: Margaret, by birth Princess of the Scots and Queen consort of Norway, gave birth a daughter in the town of Tønsberg, Norway. The Queen died either during childbirth or by consequence of a post-partum infection. The little princess, named Margaret after her late mother, was raised at the court of her father, King Eric II Magnusson of Norway, nicknamed "Priest Hater" due to his unsuccessful relations with his local church hierarchy.
Due to the marriage contract of her parents (signed in December 1281), since her birth the newborn Norwegian princess became in the second-in-line to the throne of Scotland, and heiress apparent after the death of her only surviving maternal uncle, Prince Alexander, on 28 January 1284 without issue. A few days later, on 5 February at Scone, all thirteen earls of Scotland, twenty-four barons and the heads of the three main Gaelic kindreds of the West, Alexander of Argyll, Aonghas Mór of Islay and Alan MacRuari of Garmoran, agreed to recognise Margaret as "Lady and Right Heir" (domina et iure heredem) in default of male heirs:
"...we shall all receive our illustrious child Margaret, daughter of the daughter of our said lord king, Margaret of good memory, sometime queen of Norway, by the illustrious Lord Erik king of Norway; and as she descends with full legitimacy we shall receive her as our lady and right heir of our said lord king..."
Her maternal grandfather, King Alexander III of Scotland, concerned about the potential loss of independence of his Kingdom and the inminent English intervention, quickly arranged a second marriage for himself, with the French noblewoman Yolande de Dreux, in a way to distance from his neighbour King Edward I, and to emphasize Scottish independence from England. The wedding took place on 15 October 1285 at Jedburgh Abbey, but was short-lived: five months later, in the night between 18 and 19 March 1286, Alexander III died in a fall from his horse while riding in the dark to visit his wife at Kinghorn in Fife for her birthday.
The death of Alexander III plunged his strong and stabilized Kingdom into a period of uncertainty: although Margaret of Norway was now the heiress of Scotland and her father, with the help of Edward I, began to intensified his daughter's rights, soon Queen Yolande declared herself pregnant with the late King's unborn child, who, whatever was his gender, displaced Margaret in the line of succession.
On 2 April 1286 at Scone, Perth and Kinross, the Guardians of Scotland were elected by a parliament to govern the Kingdom pending the birth of the child; seven months later, on 25 November 1286 at Clackmannan, the Guardians reunited to witness the birth, but unfortunately Queen Yolande gave birth an stillborn child.
The stillbirth of Alexander III's posthumous child confirmed Margaret of Norway as the sole legal heiress of her grandfather and, according to the previous agreement at Scone, the rightful Queen of Scotland. However, within weeks John Balliol began the war to obtain the crown from himself; but he had to faced the opposition of the Bruce family, who captured strongholds in Galloway, and fighting in the name of the Maid of Norway, suppressed the rebellion with many important families like the Stewards supporting them. In 1289, the Guardians maintained the peace in Scotland between the competing claims of Margaret, Robert Bruce and John Balliol.
By that time, was clear that the Guardians of Scotland showed no desires to bring the Maid of Norway to the Kingdom; in fact, was King Eric II, who counting with the alliance with Edward I, who raised the matter again. Without taking any consideration or consult to the Guardians, was arranged between Eric II and Edward I the betrothal between Margaret and Prince Edward, heir of the English throne, with Pope Nicholas IV quickly granting a dispensation for consanguinity because they are they were first cousins once removed (Margaret was the great-granddaughter of King Henry III of England and Prince Edward his grandson). With their power weakened by the alliance Norway-England, the Guardians finally signed with Edward I the Treaty of Salisbury, which agreed that Margaret would be sent to Scotland before 1 November 1290, and that any agreement on her future marriage would be deferred until she was in Scotland.
King Edward I and the Guardians continued the negociations for the recognition of the betrothal between Margaret and Prince Edward, based on the collective assumption that Margaret would be queen and the young Edward king. However, all this plans were brought to nothing as Margaret died of the effects of sea-sickness in the Orkney Islands on 26 September 1290 while sailing to Scotland.
Until them, the narrative showed the historical events, but now....what happened if the infant-Queen survive her illness and arrived to Scotland?....
_________________________________
THE INFANT-QUEEN
Birth of the Maid of Norway and death of her mother, Queen Margaret.
Birth of the Maid of Norway and death of her mother, Queen Margaret.
Having arrived to the Orkney Islands (at that time part of the Kingdom of Norway) with a large retinue, Princess Margaret became seriously ill, probably due to sea-sickness. Her life was in danger for some time, but by early October 1290 she recovered, although remained weak; for this, she was transported from St. Margaret's Hope to the town of Burwick, still in Orkney.
The Guardians of Scotland send an embassy leaded by William Fraser, Bishop of St. Andrews and Robert de Bruce, 6th Lord of Annandale -both staunch supporters of the Maid- to officially received her in Scotish soil; however, due to Margaret's illness, they were forced to waited in the village of Thurso for her.
During the Maid's convalescence at Burwick, an English entourage, leaded by Prince Edmund, Earl of Lancaster and Edward I's brother, arrived there to escorted the Maid to her Kingdom; having send his own brother to conduced the infant-Queen to her domains, Edward I wanted to show his hegemony over Scotland and his interference in his politics.
Once the Scotish entourage knew about the intentions of Edward I to had his subjects escorted the Maid to her domains, they send fierce protests to the English King, claiming that the arrival of his embassy to Scotland was a clear violation to the Treaty of Salisbury, who guaranteed the independence of both the Scotish and English interests in exchange of the recognition of the betrothal of the Maid with Prince Edward.
King Edward I deliberately delayed to made a formal reply to the Guardians: by early December 1290, the already fully-recovered Margaret remained in Burwick with her Norwegian entourage, who, following the instructions of King Eric II, was eager to enter in Scotish soil.
Finally, after protracted negotiations (who confirmed the betrothal with the English prince) and the intervention of Pope Nicholas IV, only on 2 January 1291 and following the orders of their King, the English entourage leave Burwick. Now, Margaret was free to entered in Scotland.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
In the early hours of 2 January 1291, Princess Margaret of Norway, with her native entourage leaded by her paternal uncle Prince Haakon, Archbishop Jørund of Nidaros and Bishop Narve of Bergen, arrived in the village of Thurso, where the Scotish embassy formally received her as their Queen. Both retinues remained there for two days, until 4 January, when in a solemn ceremony, the infant-Queen was officially handed to the Lord of Annandale, who became in her guardian for the rest of her journey to Scone, where was scheduled to be the customary inauguration and coronation. From her fellow contrymen, only remained with her Archbishop Jørund and Bishop Narve (following instructions of Eric II as witnesses of the coronation) with their personal armies, and three Norwegian maids; from them, Margaret could only be surrounded by Scotish people, in order to be accustomed to the uses and language of her Kingdom.
TO BE CONTINUED.......
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