Scottish Blog

1045-1093

Saint Margaret was the wife of the Scottish King Malcolm III.

Margaret was born in 1045 in Hungary, obviously yet not holding the title of Saint Margaret. She was the daughter of Edward “Outmere” (otherwise known as Edward the Exile). She was also the daughter of Edgar Ætheling (Aetheling), who for a short period of time was the uncrowned ruler of the Anglo-Saxons.

At a young age, the yet to be canonized Saint Margaret was caught in a storm which led her ship to Scotland. The point at which she landed is to the present day referred to as Saint Margaret’s Hope, which lies a short distance from the village of North Queensferry. Her party was met by an envoy of King Malcolm III, king of Scotland. She was taken under the protection of the King. This arrangement soon led to the marriage of the pair and to the title of Queen Consort for Margaret. It is said that a large motivation factor behind this for King Malcolm III was the prospect of marrying of the few remaining members the Anglo-Saxon royal family. This also led to the King of Scotland leading a number of invasions in support of his new found brother-in-law and his conquests into Northumberland.

Saint Margret became canonized and titled a saint in 1251 by Pope Innocent IV. It is said that she spent most of her time during her reign as Queen Consort helping the poor and orphans. She is believed to have risen every night at midnight to attend midnight mass and never have taken a meal before attending and feeding the poor at the church.

Within Scotland, Saint Margaret takes on dual roles in the way she is presented. In the Gaelic tradition Saint Margaret is not recognized by many as a saint. In fact she is often refered to as Margaret the Accursed or Accursed Margaret (Mairead/Maighread nam Mallachd in Gaelic). Margaret is credited by many as beginning the demise of Gaelic culture in Scotland, especially the lowlands. This began with the naming of the children of Saint Margaret and King Malcolm III. All eight of their children were given Anglo-Saxon names in support of their possible claim to the Anglo-Saxon crown, they were also raised with strong respect and reverence for their Anglo-Saxon roots, placing less emphasis on their Gaelic roots.