Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway

Margrete Aleksandersdotter ( born February 28, 1261 England; † April 9, 1283 in Bergen ) was a Norwegian queen.

Her parents were King Alexander III. of Scotland (1241-1286) and his wife Queen Margaret (1240-1275), daughter of King Henry III. of England and his wife Eleanor of Provence.

On July 25, 1281 a marriage contract between Margrete and King Erik Magnusson was closed in Roxburgh. The following year she came at the age of 20 years to Norway and married in Bergen the 13 year old king and was crowned by Archbishop Jon Raude simultaneously to the queen. But she died soon after. It was a purely politically motivated marriage. You should eliminate the tensions between Norway and Scotland, as Norway in 1266 in the Treaty of Perth, the Hebrides and the Isle of Man had to cede to Scotland since the 1260er years passed. On the Norwegian side one was interested in securing the possession of Orkney and Shetland.

The marriage contract provided a dowry of 14,000 marks sterling, payable in four dates 1281-1284 in Bergen, before. Half of it should be paid on the income from the ownership of land in Scotland. These revenues were later to dispute between Norway and Scotland, because the payments were recruited after 1289. In Norway, Margaret received as a wedding gift, the income of 1,400 Markebol. The contract also contained detailed provisions on the succession of the children of this marriage to the Scottish throne in the event that King Alexander should die without privileged heirs. This situation, which was adopted in 1281 as a purely hypothetical, occurred when King Alexander III. 1286 died. This meant that the daughter of King Erik and his wife Margrete named Margaret inherited the Kingdom of Scotland. It was in 1289 recognized as Queen of Scotland.

Their marriage was not easy. She was married with a child, and her mother Ingeborg Eriksdatter was dominant in the royal court. After a Scottish Chronicle she had been against the coronation Margrete. Another Scottish Chronicle describes how she tried to cultivate her husband, who taught him English and French, and table manners. They apparently died of an in Norway at that time rampant disease that claimed many lives.

Together with Erik, she was immortalized in the Norwegian folk poetry through the romantic poem " Kong Eirik og Hugaljod " with 38 verses. It probably dates from the 13th century.