Margaret of France, Queen of England

Margaret of France, Queen of England
Margaret of France
Queen consort of England
Tenure 8 September 1299 – 7 July 1307
Spouse Edward I of England
Issue
Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
House Capetian Dynasty
House of Plantagenet
Father Philip III of France
Mother Maria of Brabant
Born 1279 ?
Paris, France
Died 14 February 1318(1318-02-14)
Marlborough Castle, Wiltshire
Burial Christ Church Greyfriars, Newgate

Margaret of France (1279 ?[1] – 14 February 1318[1]), a daughter of Philip III of France and Maria of Brabant, was Queen of England as the second wife of King Edward I, who was her father's first cousin.

Contents

Early life

Her father died when she was only three years old and she grew up under guidance of her mother and Joan I of Navarre, her half-brother King Philip IV's wife.[2]

Marriage

Three years after the death of his beloved first wife, Eleanor of Castile, at the age of 49 in 1290, Edward I was still grieving. But Edward decided that he would marry Blanche of France at any cost and sent out emissaries to negotiate the marriage with her half-brother, King Philip. It was much to Edward's benefit to make peace with France to free him to pursue his wars in Scotland. Philip agreed to give Blanche to Edward on the following conditions:

  1. A truce was concluded between the two countries.
  2. Edward gave up the province of Gascony.

Edward agreed and sent his brother Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, to fetch the new bride. Edward had been deceived, for Blanche was to be married to Rudolph III of Habsburg, the eldest son of King Albert I of Germany. Instead, Philip offered her younger sister Margaret, a young girl of 11, to marry Edward (then 55). Upon hearing this, Edward declared war on France, refusing to marry Margaret. After five years, a truce was agreed, under the terms of which Edward would marry Margaret, would regain the key city of Guienne, and receive £15,000 owed to Margaret.

Marguerite of France's arms as Queen consort[3]

Edward was then 60 years old. The wedding took place at Canterbury on 8 September 1299. Margaret was never crowned, being the first uncrowned queen since the Conquest.[4]

French Monarchy
Direct Capetians
Arms of the Kingdom of France (Ancien).svg
Philip III
   Philip IV
   Charles III, Count of Valois
   Louis d'Evreux
   Margaret, Queen of England
   Blanche, Duchess of Austria

Edward soon returned to the Scottish border to continue his campaigns and left Margaret in London, but she had become pregnant quickly after the wedding. After several months, bored and lonely, the young queen decided to join her husband. Nothing could have pleased the king more, for Margaret's actions reminded him of his first wife Eleanor, who had had two of her sixteen children abroad.

In less than a year Margaret gave birth to a son, Thomas of Brotherton who was named after Thomas Becket, since she had prayed to him during her pregnancy. That Margaret was physically fit was demonstrated by the fact that she was still hunting when her labour pains started.[5]

The next year she gave birth to another son, Edmund.

It is said[who?] that many who fell under the king's wrath were saved from too stern a punishment by the queen's influence over her husband, and the statement, Pardoned solely on the intercession of our dearest consort, queen Margaret of England, appears.

She favored the Franciscan order and was a benefactress of a new foundation at Newgate. Margaret employed the minstrel Guy de Psaltery and both she and her husband liked to play chess.[6]

Margaret soon became firm friends with her stepdaughter Mary of Woodstock, a nun, who was two years older than the young queen. She and her stepson, Edward, Prince of Wales, the future king Edward II (who was two years younger than her), also became fond of each other: he once made her a gift of an expensive ruby and gold ring, and she on one occasion rescued many of the Prince's friends from the wrath of the King.

The mismatched couple were blissfully happy. When Blanche died in 1305 (her husband never became Emperor), Edward ordered all the court to go into mourning to please his queen. He had realised the wife he had gained was "a pearl of great price". The same year Margaret gave birth to a girl, Eleanor, named in honour of Edward's first queen, a choice of which surprised many, and showed Margaret's unjealous nature.

When Edward went on summer campaign to Scotland in 1307, Margaret accompanied him, but he died in Burgh by Sands.

Queen Dowager

Margaret was not pleased when Edward II made Piers Gaveston Earl of Cornwall upon his father's death, since the title had been meant for her own son.[7] She attended his wedding to her half-niece, Isabella of France, and a silver casket was made with both their arms. Margaret retired to her castle in Marlborough after her coronation, but she stayed in touch with Isabella and her half-brother Philip by letter during the confusing times leading up to Gaveston's death.

She assisted at the birth of prince Edward.

In 1318, she died in her castle at Marlborough.

Issue

In all, Margaret gave birth to three children:

Ancestry

Later life

She never remarried after Edward's death in 1307, despite being only 26 when widowed. She lived out the remainder of her life in Marlborough Castle, by this time a dower house, and used her immense dowry to relieve people's suffering. Her saying was, "when Edward died, all men died for me". She died just 10 years after her husband, at the age of 36, and was buried at Greyfriar's Church, Newgate.

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b John Carmi Parsons, ‘Margaret (1279?–1318)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008.
  2. ^ Hilton, Lisa (2008). Queens Consort, England's Medieval Queens. Great Britain: Weidenfeld & Nichelson. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-7538-2611-9. 
  3. ^ Boutell, Charles (1863), A Manual of Heraldry, Historical and Popular, London: Winsor & Newton, pp. 275 
  4. ^ Williamson, D. (1986), Kings and Queens of Britain, p. 75, Salem House, ISBN 0-88162-213-3.
  5. ^ Hilton, Lisa (2008). p. 240. 
  6. ^ Hilton, Lisa (2008). p. 241. 
  7. ^ Hilton, Lisa (2008). p. 247. 
English royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Eleanor of Castile
Queen consort of England
Lady of Ireland

8 September 1299 – 7 July 1307
Vacant
Title next held by
Isabella of France

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary — For other people of the same name, see Margaret of France (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Margaret of France, Queen of England. Margaret of France Junior Queen consort of the English Tenure 1170 – 11 June 1183 …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England — (1430–1482)    Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of HENRY VI, was the effective leader of the house of LANCASTER from the mid 1450s to 1471. The daughter of René, duke of Anjou, a French nobleman with unrealized claims to various European Crowns,… …   Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses

  • Margaret of France — Marguerite of France may refer to: Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary (1158 – 1197), queen consort of England and Hungary Margaret of Provence (1221–1295), queen of France as the wife of Louis IX of France Margaret of France… …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret of Burgundy, Queen of France — Margaret of Burgundy Queen consort of France Tenure 1314–1315 Queen consort of Navarre Countess consort of Champagne Tenure 1305–1315 …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain — For other people named Margaret of Austria, see Margaret of Austria (disambiguation). Margaret of Austria Queen consort of Spain and Portugal Margaret of Austria, 1609, by Bartolomé González y Serrano Spouse …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland — For other people of the same name, see Margaret of Denmark (disambiguation). Margaret of Denmark Margaret of Denmark Queen consort of Scotland Tenure 1469–1486 …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary — For other people named Margaret of Bohemia, see Margaret of Bohemia (disambiguation). Margaret of Bohemia Queen consort of Hungary Tenure 1342–1349 Spouse Louis I of Hungary House House of Luxembourg …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret of France, Duchess of Brabant — For other people of the same name, see Margaret of France (disambiguation). Margaret of France Duchess of Brabant Spouse John I, Duke of Brabant House House of Capet …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret of Anjou — receiving the Book of Romances. From an illuminated manuscript by the Talbot Master Queen consort of England (first time) Tenure …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret de Menteith — (fl 1311–1324) was a daughter of Alexander, Earl of Menteith and his wife Matilda. She was the wife of Alexander de Abernethy, a noted Scottish knight and opponent of Robert I of Scotland. She is first encountered in historical records as lady… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”