Margaret Tudor

Margaret Tudor was born on November 28, 1489, in Westminster Palace, to Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York. She was one of Henry VII’s eight legitimate children. She had four brothers: Arthur, Prince of Wales; Henry VIII, King of England; Edward; and Edmund; and three sisters: Mary, Queen of France; Elizabeth; and Katherine. Edward, Edmund, Elizabeth, and Katherine did not survive infancy.

Her parents named her after Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, who was her paternal grandmother. Her baptism took place at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster.

According to contemporary views, the daughters of kings were invaluable assets to be used for financial, political, diplomatic, and social gains for the family. Her father was considering a union between her and James IV even before she turned six.

James IV (born March 17, 1473) was considerably older than her. However, England needed Scotland to cease backing Perkin Warbeck, who was pretending to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, one of the sons of Edward IV, and claiming that he was a legitimate heir to the English throne.

It was also possible that Henry VII was looking for a way to unite the English and Scottish crowns one day. On September 30, 1497, a truce was finally reached between the kingdoms and the marriage was being considered seriously once more.

The wedding was a lavish affair. The new queen of Scotland was allocated a large wardrobe of attire and James IV declared that a considerable amount of land and a number of houses would be transferred to her possession.

Accompanied by a large group of courtiers, Margaret entered Scotland in 1503. She met her husband and the rest of the Scottish court at Berwick upon Tweed on 1 August. A week later, on 8 August, their marriage was confirmed in person at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh.

Margaret and James had six children together: James, Duke of Rothesay (February 21. 1507 – February 27, 1508); Unknown Daughter (died shortly after birth on July 15, 1508); Arthur Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (October 20, 1509 – July 14, 1510); James V (April 10, 1512 – December 14, 1542); Unknown Daughter (died shortly after birth in November 1512); and Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross (April 30, 1514 – December 18, 1515). None of her children except for James V made it through infancy.

James IV was a very able king. He was also a true Renaissance royalty with a deep love for science and mechanics. Furthermore, he was highly-educated, a fluent polyglot, and according to various sources, a very handsome man. Not much is known about the relationship between him and Margaret but her father provided a scanty dowry for her which did not help in improving relations between Scotland and England.

Following the death of Henry VII in 1509, his son Henry VIII became the new king of England. He had neither his father’s patience nor intelligence and promptly started preparing for a war against France. The Treaty of Perpetual Peace did not last a decade since its conclusion as James IV was forced to attack England to honour the Auld Alliance. He was killed on September 9, 1513, at the Battle of Flodden.

Margaret was very vocal in her opposition to the war but James IV still named her as the regent for their son. The only stipulation was that she had to remain a widow. The Battle of Flodden did not only cause the death of the king, but it was also an utter disaster for Scotland itself.

The Parliament was held at Stirling shortly after the king’s death and Margaret’s status as the regent was confirmed. Things were quite complicated for her. In addition to being the first woman to hold such power in Scotland, she was also the sister of an enemy king.

The Scottish court became divided into two clear factions. One group clearly favoured France’s influence on Scotland. They believed that John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, should be the regent for the infant prince instead of Margaret. He was the closest male relative of the king. To the pro-French group among the nobles, he represented the very essence of the Auld Alliance.

Margaret, almost by default, became the leader of the pro-English faction. Initially, she demonstrated all the necessary skills needed to be a successful administrator. She managed to bring a temporary end to the conflict between the parties and successfully pursued tentative peace with England. However, she then undid all that good work by letting her emotion override her good sense when she became deeply attracted to Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus.

Margaret needed allies and so she became closer to the powerful House of Douglas. Angus did not have a great reputation. Even his uncle, the cleric and poet Gavin Douglas, dubbed him a “young witless fool". Margaret and Angus married secretly on August 6, 1514, in the parish church of Kinnoull, near Perth.