Saint Margaret of Scotland

Queen of Scotland
(c. 1045–1093)

Saint Margaret of Scotland was born around 1045, the granddaughter of King Edmund Ironside of England, and spent part of her youth in exile in Hungary before returning to England as a child of the English royal house. After the Norman Conquest she fled with her family by sea and was driven by storms to the coast of Scotland, where she was welcomed by King Malcolm III Canmore. Malcolm fell in love with the beautiful and cultivated English princess, and they were married around 1070.

The marriage transformed both the king and the kingdom. Malcolm was a brave warrior king of simple tastes and no great learning; Margaret was devout, educated, and deeply committed to the reform of the Scottish Church, which had developed certain customs that differed from Roman practice. Under her influence Malcolm learned to respect and eventually to love the things of God, and together they worked to bring the Scottish Church into conformity with Rome on matters of liturgy and discipline, introducing the Roman customs for Easter, Lent, and Sunday observance, and putting an end to simony and various other abuses.

As queen she practised remarkable personal austerity: she rose before dawn to pray, fasted rigorously, and served the poor with her own hands at table. She and Malcolm maintained a practice of washing the feet of nine poor people each day and feeding twenty-four more. She ransomed slaves and captives and gave generously to orphans and widows. She built churches and monasteries, including the great Benedictine monastery of Dunfermline, where she and Malcolm were eventually buried.

She died on November 16, 1093, just four days after learning that her husband and eldest son had been killed in battle. She was canonised by Innocent IV in 1249 and is the patron saint of Scotland. Her feast is celebrated on November 16th.