St. Margaret
St. MargaretDate of birth: Say 1050?
Place of
birth: Unknown.
The birth of Margaret's father in
1016×7, Margaret's marriage in 1070×1, and the births of eight
children before 1093 are the main clues we have about the date of
Margaret's birth. Around 1050 seems like a reasonable estimate,
but there would be nothing to rule out a date as early as 1040 or
the late 1030's.
Date of death: 16(?) November 1093.
Place of
burial: Dunfermline.
According to John of Worcester,
Margaret lived for only three days after learning of the deaths
of her husband and eldest son ["Quorum morte cognita,
regina Scottorum Margareta tanta affecta est tristitia, ut subito
in magnam incideret infirmitatem. ... nam post tres dies
occisionis regis, soluta carnis vinculis, ut creditur, ad gaudia
transivit æternæ salutis." John Worc. s.a. 1093 (2:
32)]. Turgot, in his life of Margaret, written 1100×7, states
that she died on the fourth day after her husband's death [ESSH
2: 83]. After mentioning the death of Malcolm, the Annals of
Ulster and Annals of Loch Cé state that Margaret
died of sorrow for him "ria cenn nomaidhe"
["A righan imorro .i. Margareta do ec dia cumaidh ria
cenn nomaidhe." AU, s.a. 1093; similarly in ALC, s.a.
1093]. The words "ria cenn nomaidhe" are
translated by the editors of AU as "within nine days"
but have been interpreted differently by different authors [see
the comments in ESSH 2: 50 n. 5]. An inserted folio in the
Chronicle of Melrose gives her date of death as 16 November
["Quod ut audivit felix regina Margareta, immo, ut
verius dicam, spiritu sancto præscivit, confessione et
communione susceptis, Deo se precibus commendans, animam sanctam
celo reddidit, xvi.º kalendas Decembris." Chron.
Melrose, s.a. 1057 (inserted folio), p. 52]. The Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle has only the year of her death [ASC(E) s.a. 1093]. John
of Hexham's continuation of Simeon of Durham's history states
that she was buried at Dunfermline ["[David] Regnavit
autem xxix. annis, corpusque ejus ad Dunfermelin delatum in
sepulchro regum Scotiæ sepultum est, ubi et Sancta Margareta
regina mater ejus requiescit." Sim. Durh., Hist.
Regum, cont. John of Hexham, c. 26, s.a. 1153 (2: 330)].
Father: Eadweard (Edward) "the Exile", d. 19 April 1057.
Mother: Agatha, living 1067.
Spouse: m. 1070×1, Máel Coluim mac
Donnchada (Malcolm III), d. 13
November 1093, king of Scotland.
See the page of Malcolm III for further details.
Children:
See the page of Malcolm III for further details.
Eadweard (Edward), d. 13×15 November
1093.
Eadmund (Edmund), d. after 1094.
Eadgar (Edgar), d. 6×13 January 1107,
king of Scotland, 1097-1107.
Alexander I, d. 23×6 April 1124, king
of Scotland, 1107-24;
m. Sybil, d. 12 or 13 July 1122, daughter of Henry
I, king of England.
Æthelred, earl of Fife, abbot of
Dunkeld.
David I, d. 24 May 1153, king of
Scotland, 1124-53;
m. Matilda, daughter of Waltheof,
earl of Northumbria.
Eadgyth/Matilda, d. 1 May 1118;
m. 1100, Henry
I, king of England.
Mary, d. 31 May 1116;
m. 1102 Eustace III, count of Boulogne.
ALC = William M. Hennessy, ed. & trans., Annals of Loch Cé (Rolls Series 54, London, 1871). See also the CELT website.
ASC = Charles Plummer, Two of the Saxon Chronicles parallel, based on the earlier edition by John Earle, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1892-9). ASC(A) indicates the "A" manuscript of the chronicle, and similarly for the other manuscripts.
AU = Seán Mac Airt and Gearóid Mac Niocaill, eds., The Annals of Ulster (Dublin, 1983). See also the CELT website.
Chron. Melrose = Joseph Stevenson, ed., Chronica de Mailros (Edinburgh, 1835).
ESSH = Alan Orr Anderson, Early Sources of Scottish History, 2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1922, reprinted Stamford, 1990). [Contains English translations of many of the primary records]
John Worc. = Benjamin Thorpe, ed., Florentii Wigorniensis monachi chronicon ex chronicis, 2 vols., (London, 1848-9). (The work formerly attributed to Florence of Worcester is now generally attributed to John of Worcester.)
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 20 June 2010.