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Mary of Guelders

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Mary of Guelders
Queen consort of Scots
Reign3 July 1449 – 3 August 1460
Born1434
Grave, Netherlands
Died1 December 1463 (aged 29)
Roxburgh Castle, Roxburghshire
Burial
Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh
SpouseJames II
Issue
among others		James III
Alexander, 1st Duke of Albany
HouseHouse of Egmond
FatherArnold, Duke of Gelderland
MotherCatherine of Cleves

Mary of Guelders (c. 1434 – 1 December 1463) was the Queen Consort of Scotland as the wife of King James II of Scotland. She served as Regent of Scotland from 1460 to 1463.

Biography

Background

She was the daughter of Arnold, Duke of Guelders, and Catherine of Cleves, a great-aunt of Anne of Cleves. She was a great-niece of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.

Burgundian court

Philip and his wife Isabella of Portugal at first planned to have Mary betrothed to Charles, Count of Maine, but her father could not pay the dowry.[1] Mary stayed on at the Burgundian court, where Isabella frequently paid for her expenses. Mary attended Isabella's daughter-in-law Catherine of France, while she herself was attended upon by ten people.[2] The duke and duchess then started negotiations for a Scottish marriage. Philip promised to pay her dowry, while Isabella paid for her trousseau. William Crichton came to the Burgundian court to escort her back to Scotland.[3]

Marriage and children

She landed in Scotland in June 1449 and both nobles and the common people came to see her as she made her way to Holyrood Abbey. Mary married James II, King of Scots, at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh on 3 July 1449. A sumptuous banquet was given, while the Scottish king gave her several presents. It had been agreed that any sons they might have would have no right to the duchy of Guelders.

James and Mary had seven children together:

Regency

After her husband's death, Mary acted as Regent for their son James III of Scotland until her own death three years later. Mary was drawn into the War of the Roses taking place in England at this time. She appointed Bishop Kennedy as her chief advisor; their companionship was described as well- functioning despite the fact that the bishop favored an alliance with the Lancastrians, while Mary at first wanted to continue playing off the warring parties in England against each other.[4]

While Mary was still mourning the death of King James II, the Lancastrian Queen Margaret of Anjou fled north across the border seeking refuge from the Yorkists. Mary sympathetically aided Margaret and took Edward of Westminster into her household to keep them out of Yorkist hands.

Mary's dealings with Margaret were mainly to provide aid to the deposed queen. Mary gave a number of Scottish troops to help Margaret and the Lancastrian cause. She and Margaret also organised a betrothal between Prince Edward, son of King Henry VI of England, and King James III's sister Princess Margaret in 1461. In return for her support, Mary asked for the town of Berwick on the Anglo-Scottish border, which Margaret was willing to give up.

Relations between the two women deteriorated, however, with the increasingly friendly alliance between King Edward IV of England and Duke Philip of Burgundy. Any support by Mary for Margaret, Edward's enemy, threatened the alliance that Duke Philip wanted with King Edward IV against the French King Louis XI.

Edward IV tried to put a stop to Mary's support of Margaret by proposing marriage to the widowed queen, which Mary rejected. Her uncle, Duke Philip, pressured her to call off the betrothal of Margaret of Scotland and Prince Edward, to Margaret's disappointment. In 1462, she paid the Lancastrian royals to leave Scotland and made peace with Edward IV. She also hinted at the possibility of a marriage between herself and the new English king. Mary, reportedly, had several affairs during her period as regent, notably one with the Lord Hailes[5]

Mary went ahead with James II's plan to build a castle on land at Ravenscraig, designed to withstand the use of artillery, and lived in it while it was under construction until her death.[6]

Trinity College Church

A devout Catholic, Mary founded Trinity College Church ca. 1460 in memory of her husband. The church, located in the area now known as Edinburgh's Royal Mile, was demolished in 1848 to make way for Waverley station, although it was partially reconstructed in 1870 under the name Trinity Apse. Mary was buried in the church, although her coffin was moved to Holyrood Abbey in 1848.

Ancestry

Family of Mary of Guelders
16. John I, Count of Egmond
8. Arnold I, Count of Egmond
17. Guida d'Armstall
4. John II, Count of Egmond
18. Frederick VII, Count of Leiningen
9. Jolanthe of Leiningen
19. Jolanthe of Jülich
2. Arnold, Duke of Guelders
20. Otto van Arkel
10. Johan XII van Arkel
21. Isabelle of Bar
5. Maria van Arkel
22. William II, Duke of Jülich
11. Joanna of Jülich
23. Mary of Guelders
1. Mary of Guelders
24. Adolph II, Count of Mark
12. Adolph III, Count of Mark
25. Margaret of Cleves
6. Adolph I, Duke of Cleves
26. Gerhard VI, Duke of Jülich
13. Margaret of Jülich
27. Margaret von Ravensberg
3. Catherine of Cleves
28. Philip the Bold
14. John the Fearless
29. Margaret III, Countess of Flanders
7. Marie of Burgundy
30. Albert I, Duke of Bavaria
15. Margaret of Bavaria
31. Margaret of Brieg

Notes

  1. ^ Marshall, Rosalind K. (2003). Scottish Queens, 1034-1714. Tuckwell Press. pp. 57–58.
  2. ^ Marshall, Rosalind K. (2003). pp. 57–58. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ Marshall, Rosalind K. (2003). p. 60. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Marshall, Rosalind K. (2003). p. 66. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ Anne Echols, Marty Williams: An annotated index of medieval women
  6. ^ Marshall, Rosalind K. (2003). p. 67. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

References

  • Knut Haeger : Skotsk krönika (A Scottish Chronicle), Stockholm (1982) ISBN 91-20-067366-4 (In Swedish)
  • Alison Weir: Lancaster and York: The War of the Roses, London (1995) ISBN 97-800-99-540-175
Scottish royalty
Preceded by Queen consort of Scotland
1449–1460 		Succeeded by

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