Marguerite of France (born 1158)

Infobox British Royalty
majesty
consort
name = Marguerite
more = no
title = Young Queen consort of England
Queen consort of Hungary
spouse = Henry the Young King
mar. 1172 dec. 1183
Béla III of Hungary
mar. 1186 dec. 1196
issue = William "(died in infancy)"
royal house = House of Árpád
House of Plantagenet
House of Capet
father = Louis VII of France
mother = Constance of Castile
date of birth = November 1157
date of death = August/September 1197
place of death = St John of Acre
place of burial = Cathedral of Tyre|

Marguerite of France (November 1157 – August/September 1197) was the eldest daughter of Louis VII of France by his second wife Constance of Castile.

Early life

Marguerite was a younger half-sister to Marie de Champagne and Alix of France. She was an older sister to Alys, Countess of the Vexin. Constance died in giving birth to Alys on 4 October 1160. Marguerite and Alys were older half-sisters to Philip II of France and Agnes of France.

Her maternal grandparents were Alfonso VII of Castile and Berenguela of Barcelona. Berenguela was a daughter of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona by his third wife Douce of Provence.

She was betrothed to Henry the Young King of England on 2 November 1160. Henry was the second of five sons born to Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was five years old at the time of this agreement while Marguerite was only two.

First marriage

Her husband became co-ruler with his father in 1170. They were formally married on 27 August 1172 in Winchester Cathedral. Marguerite became pregnant and gave birth to their only son William on 19 June 1177. The child was born prematurely and died on 22 June of the same year. She was accused in 1182 of having a love affair with William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, although contemporary chroniclers doubted the truth of these accusations. Henry may have started the process to have their marriage annulled, ostensibly due to her adultery but in reality because she could not conceive an heir. Marguerite was sent back to France, according to E. Hallam ("The Plantagenets") and Amy Kelly ("Eleonore of Aquitaine and the Four Kings"), to ensure her safety during the civil war with Young Henry's brother Richard. Her husband died in 1183 while on campaign in the Dordogne region of France.

econd marriage

After receiving a substantial pension in exchange for surrendering her dowry of Gisors and the Vexin, she became the second Queen consort of Béla III of Hungary in 1186. The difficult delivery of her only known child in 1177 seems to have rendered her sterile, as she had no further children by either Young Henry or Béla.

Later life

She was widowed for a second time in 1196 and died on pilgimage to the Holy Land at St John of Acre in 1197, having only arrived a few days prior to her death. She was buried at the Cathedral of Tyre, according to Ernoul the chronicler who continued the chronicles of William of Tyre.
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