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Margaret of France, Queen of England

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For other people with the same name, see Margaret of France (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary.
Margaret of France
Queen consort of England
Tenure8 September 1299 – 7 July 1307
Bornc. 1279
Paris, France
Died(1318-02-14)14 February 1318
Marlborough Castle, Wiltshire
Burial
Christ Church Greyfriars, Newgate
SpouseEdward I of England
Issue
more...		Thomas, Earl of Norfolk
Edmund, Earl of Kent
HouseCapet
FatherPhilip III of France
MotherMaria of Brabant

Margaret of France (c. 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.

Early life

Her father died when she was 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

The death of Edward's beloved first wife, Eleanor of Castile, at the age of 49 in 1290, left him reeling in grief. However, it was much to Edward's benefit to make peace with France to free him to pursue his wars in Scotland. Additionally, with only one surviving son, Edward was anxious to protect the English throne with additional heirs. In summer of 1291, the English king had betrothed his son and heir, the future Edward II, to Blanche of France, half-sister to the French King Philip IV, in order to achieve peace with France. However, hearing of her renowned beauty, Edward decided to have his son's bride for his own and sent emissaries to France. Philip agreed to give Blanche to Edward on the conditions that a truce would be concluded between the two countries, and that Edward would give 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 to marry Edward (then 55). Upon hearing this, Edward declared war on France, refusing to marry Margaret. After five years, a truce was agreed upon under the influence of Pope Boniface VIII. A series of treaties in the first half of 1299 provided terms for a double marriage: Edward I would marry Margaret and his son would marry Isabella of France, Philip's only surviving daughter. Additionally, the English monarchy would regain the key territory of Guienne and receive £15,000 owed to Margaret as well as the return of Eleanor of Castile's lands in Ponthieu and Montreuil as a dower first for Margaret, and then Isabella.[3]

Margaret's seal as queen[4]

Edward was then 60 years old, at least 40 years older than his bride. The wedding took place at Canterbury on 8 September 1299. Margaret was never crowned, being the first uncrowned queen since the Conquest. This in no way lessened her dignity as the king's wife, however, for she used the royal title in her letters and documents, and appeared publicly wearing a crown even though she had not received one during a formal rite of investiture.[5]

French Monarchy
Direct Capetians
Hugh Capet
Robert II
Henry I
Philip I
Louis VI
Louis VII
Philip II
Louis VIII
Louis IX
Philip III
Philip IV
Grandchildren
Louis X
John I
Philip V
Charles IV

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.[6]

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. In 1305, the young queen acted as a mediator between her step-son and husband, reconciling the heir to his aging father, and calming her husband's wrath.[7]

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.[8] She and her stepson, the future king Edward II (who was two years younger than she), 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" as Margaret was respected for her beauty, virtue, and piety. The same year Margaret gave birth to a girl, Eleanor, named in honour of Edward's first wife, a choice 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.

Widowhood

Arms of Margaret of France as Queen of England.

Margaret never remarried after Edward's death in 1307, despite being only 26 when widowed. She was alleged to have stated that "when Edward died, all men died for me".

Margaret was not pleased when Edward II elevated Piers Gaveston to become Earl of Cornwall upon his father's death, since the title had been meant for one of her own sons.[9] She attended the new king's wedding to her half-niece, Isabella of France, and a silver casket was made with both their arms. After Isabella's coronation, Margaret retired to Marlborough Castle (which was by this time a dower house), but she stayed in touch with the new Queen and with her half-brother Philip IV by letter during the confusing times leading up to Gaveston's death in 1312. Margaret, too, was a victim of Gaveston's influence over her step-son. Edward II gave several of her dower lands to the favourite, including Berkhamsted Castle. In May 1308, an anonymous informer reported that Margaret had provided ₤40,000 along with her brother, Philip IV, to support the English barons against Gaveston.[10] Due to this action, Gaveston was briefly exiled and Margaret remained fairly unmolested by the upstart until his death in June 1312.

She was present at the birth of the future Edward III in November 1312.

On 14 February 1318 she died in her castle at Marlborough. Dressed in a Franciscan habit, she was buried at Christ Church Greyfriars in London, a church she had generously endowed. Her tomb, beautifully carved, was destroyed during the Reformation.[11]

Issue

In all, Margaret gave birth to three children:[12]

Ancestry

Family of Margaret of France, Queen of England
16. Philip II Augustus of France
8. Louis VIII of France
17. Isabelle of Hainaut
4. Louis IX of France
18. Alfonso VIII of Castile
9. Blanche of Castile
19. Eleonor of England
2. Philip III of France
20. Alfonso II of Provence
10. Ramon Berenguer IV of Provence
21. Garsenda of Sabran and Forcalquier
5. Marguerite of Provence
22. Thomas I of Savoy
11. Beatrice of Savoy
23. Marguerite of Geneva
1. Marguerite of France
24. Henry I, Duke of Brabant
12. Henry II, Duke of Brabant
25. Maud of Boulogne
6. Henry III, Duke of Brabant
26. Philip of Swabia, King of Germany
13. Marie of Hohenstaufen
27. Irene Angelina of Byzantium
3. Maria of Brabant
28. Eudes III, Duke of Burgundy
14. Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy
29. Alix of Vergy
7. Adelaide of Burgundy
30. Robert III of Dreux
15. Yolande of Dreux
31. Aénor of Saint-Valéry

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Margaret of France (1318).
  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. ^ Weir, A. (2005), Kings and Queens of Britain, p. 4-5, Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-345-45319-0.
  4. ^ Boutell, Charles (1863), A Manual of Heraldry, Historical and Popular, London: Winsor & Newton, p. 275
  5. ^ Williamson, D. (1986), Kings and Queens of Britain, p. 75, Salem House, ISBN 0-88162-213-3.
  6. ^ Hilton, Lisa (2008). p. 240. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ Weir, Alison (2005). p. 18. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Hilton, Lisa (2008). p. 241. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ Hilton, Lisa (2008). p. 247. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ^ Weir, Alison (2005). p. 45. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ Weir, Alison (2005). p. 117. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ a b Michael Prestwich. Edward I, University of California Press, 1988. pg 131.
  13. ^ Alison Wier. Eleanor of England, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, page 88.
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

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