St Margaret, Queen of Scots

at the Scottish Highland Games Speakers Series in 2017
Linda Stern

Greetings, I am Linda Stern, and I am the 27th great-granddaughter of Margaret, Princess of Wessex, Queen of Scots, who 150 years after her death became St Margaret of Scotland.

I have Scottish heritage on both sides of my family and my relation to her is through my grandmother on my father’s side, the Mitchells. I am speaking about her not because I am a descendant, but because she is an example of a strong woman with a vision for her people who worked tirelessly for her goal, and she is a great role model for a life supported by faith. 

St Margaret, Queen of Scots has long fascinated historians as one of the most complex women in medieval history. She is chronicled by her own personal confessor in the Catholic Church and written about by historians in her lifetime and after.  More is known about Margaret than most medieval queens and she is thought to be an intense woman of piety, conscience, charity, compassion, and intelligence, who had very great influence on her husband, and through him over Scottish history. 

St Margaret, Queen of Scots…. was born an English Princess in the House of Wessex.  Her father was Prince Edward the Exile, and her mother was Agatha, of royal Hungarian blood. Delving into your ancestors is exciting and somewhat fictionalized history.  You will see many times in history, that unless a woman is high born AND has great historical or cultural worth, the facts & stories about her may not exist or be questionable.  

Margaret’s exact birth date is not known for sure but is thought to be September 8th, 1045, and by the way… that’s my birthday too, just separated by 900 years. 

A little background info- Before Margaret’s birth, her father- Prince Edward, the exile, had been taken out of England as a toddler to escape the wrath of the new conquering ruler, Cnut, the Great the King of Denmark, and Norway and also England.  Another story says that Cnut had the family taken to Sweden to have them murderer.  But because the king of Sweden, where the family was sent, was a good man he did not murder the children, so they escaped to Kiev.  The king, btw, was a saint (St Stephan) so why Cnut thought he would murder them, I don’t know. So eventually, Margaret’s father came to the court of St Stephan of Hungary where he met his future wife, they married, and they had 3 children. The family resided in royal and religious courts in Sweden and Kiev and Hungary as devoted Catholics. 

So back to the drama in their homeland of England!  After Cnut, there were 2 more Danish/Norwegian rulers and then the House of Wessex regained the throne of England.  The king who regained the throne was Edward, the Confessor, and when he heard that Margaret’s father was alive in Hungary the family was recalled back to England in 1057.  This was because King Edward the Confessor had taken a vow of celibacy and had no children so next in line was Margaret’s father Edward the Exile. So, the family arrived back to England so that Margaret’s father would be the successor to the childless King. 

Within 3 weeks of arriving, Margaret’s father was crowned and then killed… by poisoning.  In fact- Margaret was present at his death and for the rest of her life, she wondered if she could have saved him somehow. If you have watched Game of Thrones or The White Queen or the White Princess…. think of the positioning of all those elements and you sort of have how it was. It was very dangerous to be in line for the throne. 

So, Margaret’s family, now without her father, was abandoned in Briton.  His widow, Agatha, needed to raise and protect the two princesses, (Margaret & Christina) and the small prince- Edgar the Atheling, who was slated to inherit the throne of England.  Actually, at one point, Edgar was proclaimed King of England, BUT…. William the Conqueror saw this as a great time to invade, and it was so he invaded, and he won.  At this point, Margaret’s royal family was out again! As I said- very dangerous to be in this family or inline for any throne, back then.

So, in 1066 (it took a little while), Margaret’s mother, Agatha, planned an escape back to the continent- back to Hungary- to save her children from a life of being a political prisoner or death.  So, the escape was planned, they slipped out at night, but during their escape, ….as in all good stories……while sailing over raging seas, they shipwrecked along the northwestern coast of Scotland, on a land belonging to what they believed to be barbarians- the Scots.   This location is a beach now called St Margaret’s Hope and is a place people go to pray and connect St Margaret. 

The Scottish king, Malcolm Ceanmor (Malcolm Bighead) heard of the shipwreck, went to the beach, and rescued the family. He offered the royal family sanctuary and…. as in all good love stores - the king soon found love with Margaret, and he asked for her hand in marriage. BTW…. Malcolm knew the importance of a marriage with one of the few remaining members of the Anglo-Saxon royal family. She was after all, the sister to the rightful king of England. And Margaret’s family knew this as well seeing it as a way to get Edgar back on the English throne. 

Margaret’s plans actually were to continue her education and become a nun but for the good of all her family, England and the Scottish people, she decided to marry the king. So, they were married in 1070. 

Raised in royal courts on the continent and England, Margaret knew that her husband needed polishing to be considered part of the world power. Being involved in world power is what both families wanted. This was important for her family, as they wanted to put her brother, Edgar back on the English throne. So, Margaret crafted Malcolm's transformation from a warlord barbarian to a worldly medieval king. By her care, the king himself became more civilized and so did the people of Scotland. 

Having been raised in royal courts, she found Scotland and the Scots very rough and began to introduce English manners and ways, which the Gaelic people did not like. But Malcolm saw and knew that the English ways were going to prevail, so he helped Margaret as much as he could. She had a great influence on her husband, and through him over Scottish history, especially in its religious aspects. 

She is called the Pearl of Scotland as she worked tirelessly to bring charity, religious reform, and refined culture to her adopted land of Scotland, and she earned the love and trust of the people as she worked long and hard to benefit the poor and less fortunate.

Margaret initiated religious reforms in Scotland, to make the worship practices of the Church in Scotland--- conform to those of Rome. She also invited the Benedictine order to establish a monastery at Dunfermline. She established free ferries for the poor pilgrims journeying to St. Andrews. Many days, the Queen's rooms were full of ladies working on vestments for the church. 

Her dedication to the church had started at the youngest of ages in Hungary and continued with wanting to be a nun but also continued in the life of a Queen. She would rise at midnight each night to attend church services. Each night. Also, there was a hidden cave, which she made into her personal place of devotion and prayer. She also at times would disguise herself as a male to enter a church forbidden to women. Imagine a woman forbidden to enter a sacred space. And yet we worked tirelessly for the Church.  She prayed, fasted, admonished, and celebrated with fanatical intensity Queen Margaret had trouble with the priests who spoke Gaelic in Scotland. They had ways of doing things, which were different than the Roman Catholic Church.  Margaret debated these priests, and King Malcolm translated what each side was saying. Margaret did well in these arguments, but the Gaelic-speaking people did not want to be taught English ways. It was eventually her pure spirit not the ways of the RC church that convinced others to change. I also think it was the pressure from her husband, the King. 

Malcolm wanted to please his wife.  Although he could not read, he had some of the books bound in gold and set with precious stones of topazes, sapphires, and rubies. This is part of one of her stories.

St. Margaret is not famous as a worker of miracles.  But the priests who lived at her Court spoke of an interesting occurrence. One day Margaret, Malcolm and their entourage were on a journey. The servant, who carried the Four Gospel book, accidentally dropped the book into the river without knowing it. When the Queen asked for her book, the servant saw it was missing. They searched along the road, but the book seemed lost. 

At long last the book was found in the river, open, and rolling about among the pebbles.  But not a single letter had been damaged. Not one single jewel was gone. The book looked as if it had never touched by the water, except a tiny stain on the margin. Because of this occurrence, the Queen became even fonder of her book when it was brought back to her. You can see this book at the Library at Oxford. 

Margaret and her husband had many children- 8 in total but she loved all the children of Scotland. She would serve orphans and the poor with her own spoon before she ate, and she would wash the feet of the poor in imitation of Christ to encourage compassion. And she also gave away her garments to the poor, which encouraged other well to do families to do the same.  

Concerning Margaret and Malcolm’s children, she was very careful in their education. Of those children there were 3 kings of Scots, one traitor to the Scots, one Abbot of Dunkeld, one Queen of England married to King Henry 1, one Countess of Boulogne and a son who died in battle at the age of 22. One of her sons, David was the best of the old kings of Scotland, and this is the line that I descend from. 

Margaret knew that others could benefit from the gold in Scotland’s treasury. For instance, she stole from the King’s gold to give it to the poor on rides about the countryside.  Also, Scotland jails were full of poor prisoners who were captured in England during the war for ransom.  Margaret found the prisoners, paid their ransom (from the royal treasury!!) and sent them home. The priest who wrote about her life says that he admired her works of mercy more than miracles.  And it was reported that the king was fond of her pious plundering, and he good-naturedly threatened that he would have her tried and punished and he called her- his Little Thief.

After she had been Queen for nearly 25 years, she became weak and tired. A friend sent a messenger to fetch the priest, and when he arrived, she told him that it had been revealed to her, she was soon to die. 

Unfortunately, Malcolm was away fighting a war with two of their sons. Margaret had no way of getting news about him, so the priest was startled she said: "Perhaps this very day a great misfortune will fall on Scotland- such a sorrow that has not been felt for many years.” And it happened that on that very day Malcolm and the eldest son were slain in battle. Margaret didn’t know that her words had come true.

After praying in her chapel, she returned to her bed as she was in great pain she asked for the Black Rood. The Black Rood was considered to be part of the True Cross on which Jesus died. It was said that she brought the priceless relic from Hungary to England and then on to Scotland with her. She lay quietly in her bed, with the Rood at her heart, when her son Edgar came in. He had been fighting with his father and brother, but he escaped the battle. 

At first Edgar could not speak, then in broken words he told the story of how he had saw his father and his brother fall, sword in hand. Edgar was in deep grief not only for his father and brother but because he knew bad times were ahead as Gaelic-speaking people would rebel against him as he was partly English.  And as if this was not enough, he was watching his mother die.  She said a last prayer and left this world. 

So it was that in 1093, her beloved husband, King Malcolm was killed in battle alongside their son…. and the queen died of within 3 days.  Margaret was not yet fifty, but a life of constant austerity and fasting, probably led to her death. 

The queen was declared a saint 150 years after her death in 1250 for country wide religious reform and charity.  She almost single-handedly led the people of Scotland into modern times both in culture and in religious reform. She showed the power of one woman motivated by faith. 

There are several stories, told centuries after her death. In one, Margaret and Malcolm’s burial place was being changed to a new location. So, Margaret's coffin was removed from the original position- first.  But the workers carrying it found it so heavy that they had to set it down. And ….as they set it down…. they realized they put it down…...right next to the grave of her beloved husband, Malcolm.  Only when they moved King Malcolm’s coffin first, were they able to lift St Margaret’s coffin to its new location.  Legend says that the queen’s spirit, out of love and respect for her husband, prevented her coffin from being moved first to their new resting place.

It is said that tiny, beautiful lights float around areas where St Margaret spent time, which some say --means that she still watches over Scotland and her people to this day.  I wish I could have met this powerful woman but because so much is written about her, I feel as though I am getting to know her across the centuries as she encourages us all to be strong and be led by faith. 

Thank you very much for listening to the story of one of the strong women in Scotland and may the blessing of St Margaret be on you.