Margaret's True Romantic Story

My name is Margaret.  I was born around 1046.  I was the daughter of Princess Agatha of Hungary and the Anglo-Saxon Prince Edward Atheling of England who were in exile after they fled from those brutish Danish Vikings who had taken the English throne.  Later, we returned to England where I spent much of my youth in the court of my great-uncle, the English king, Edward the Confessor.

After Edward died and that awful French invader from Normandy, William the Conqueror, invaded England in 1066, my family and I fled by sea from England and were shipwrecked off the coast of Scotland. King Malcolm befriended us and was captivated by my beauty and graciousness. We were married at the castle of Dunfermline in 1070.

Malcolm was good-hearted, but rough and uncultured, as was his country. Because of Malcolm’s love for me, I was able to soften his temper, polish his manners and help him become a virtuous king. He left all domestic affairs to me and often consulted me in state matters.

I  tried to improve my adopted country by promoting the arts and education. For religious reform, I encouraged synods and was present for the discussions which tried to correct religious abuses common among priests and lay people, such as simony, usury and incestuous marriages. With my husband, we founded several churches.

I was not only a queen, but a mother. Malcolm and I had six sons and two daughters.  Three of my sons became kings of Scotland.  I personally supervised their religious instruction and other studies.

Although I was very much caught up in the affairs of the household and country, I remained detached from the world. My private life was austere. I set aside certain times for prayer and reading Scripture.  I ate sparingly and slept little in order to have time for devotions.   Malcolm and I kept two Lents, one before Easter and one before Christmas.  During these times, I always rose at midnight for Mass.  On the way home after Mass, I would wash the feet of six poor persons and give them alms.   I was always surrounded by beggars in public and never refused them.   It is recorded that I never sat down to eat without first feeding nine orphans and 24 adults.

In 1093, King William Rufus made a surprise attack on Alnwick castle in Edinburth.  Malcolm and our oldest son, Edward, were killed.   I was already on my deathbed and died four days after my husband on November 16.

I now watch over my country as Saint Margaret of Scotland - “The Pearl of Scotland.”  My feast day is November 16.

Saint Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045 – 16 November 1093), also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Margaret was sometimes called “The Pearl of Scotland”.^[1] Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England. Margaret and her family returned to England in 1057, but fled to the Kingdom of Scotland following the Norman conquest of England of 1066. Around 1070 Margaret married Malcolm III of Scotland, becoming his queen consort. She was a pious woman, and among many charitable works she established a ferry across the Firth of Forth for pilgrims travelling to Dunfermline Abbey, which gave the towns of South Queensferry and North Queensferry their names. Margaret was the mother of three kings of Scotland and a queen consort of England. According to the Life of Saint Margaret, attributed to Turgot of Durham, she died at Edinburgh Castle in 1093, just days after receiving the news of her husband's death in battle. In 1250 she was canonised by Pope Innocent IV, and her remains were reinterred in a shrine at Dunfermline Abbey. Her relics were dispersed after the Scottish Reformation and subsequently lost.  (Wikipedia)