Margaret Stewart, Dauphine of France
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Margaret Stewart (French: Marguerite d'Écosse) (Perth, Scotland 1424 – August 16, 1445 in Chalons Surmarne, Marne, France) was a princess of the Kingdom of Scotland and Dauphine of France by her marriage to the future Louis XI of France.
She was born to James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort. Joan was a daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and Margaret Holland. Somerset was a son of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford. John of Gaunt was in turn the third son of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.
Margaret was the eldest child of her parents and an older sister to James II of Scotland.
She married the Dauphin Louis on June 24 of 1436 in Tours, France. Margaret was lovely, gracious and very beautiful ("facie venusta valde" says the compiler of the Book of Pluscarden, "a very lovely face"), with a certain ability to write poesy and rhymes (no example of her compositions survived destruction at her husband's hands after her death). She was also superficial and very interested in court's social and gallant life. She was a favourite of her father-in-law Charles VII of France and popular among the courtiers. However, she felt herself alien amongst the French court, and became depressed.
She had a strained relationship with her husband, the future king of France, mainly because of Louis' hatred of his father. Charles VII ordered the marriage, and Margaret frequently supported the king against her husband. It is said that she wore a strongly tied corset because of her fear of pregnancies. Her unhappy marriage furthered her depression, as did the gossip spread regarding her by supporters of Louis.
She died childless in 1445, at the age of 20. Melancholy and distressed by slander against her, she sank into a final languor before dying. Her last words, in response to urging to rouse herself and live, were supposedly Fi de la vie! qu'on ne m'en parle plus ("Fie on life! Speak no more of it to me"). She was buried in St Laon Abbey, Thouars, Deux-Sevres, France. After her death, her husband married Charlotte of Savoy, mother of Charles VIII of France. Louis XI is buried in Notre Dame de Clery, Orleans next to Charlotte of Savoy.
Margaret is also famous for the legend that she was kissed or almost kissed by poet Alain Chartier while asleep in her own rooms (another variant of this legend has Anne of Brittany as its protagonist), though her age and location at the time of Chartier's death would have made that impossible.
[edit] Sources
- Ruth Putnam, Charles the Bold
| French royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jacqueline of Hainaut |
Dauphine of France 24 June 1436–16 August 1445 |
Succeeded by Charlotte of Savoy |
| Scottish royalty | ||
| Preceded by James II of Scotland |
Heir of Scotland as heiress presumptive 21 February 1437–16 August, 1445 |
Succeeded by Isabella Stewart, Duchess of Brittany |
