Lady Macbeth’s Successor

Unlike Lady Macbeth, Malcolm’s queen didn’t crave power. In fact, when Malcolm proposed to her, she initially rejected him and the opportunity to become queen of Scotland. She preferred a religious life. But eventually she yielded to Malcolm and thereafter became Scotland’s most beloved queen. Margaret was viewed by many Scots as a royal saint, a combination of Princess Di and Mother Theresa – the polar opposite of Lady Macbeth. She was humble, kind and generous and worked tirelessly to improve the spiritual and material life in Scotland. If Malcolm jump-started the process of Anglicizing the country (as he does at the end of Shakespeare’s Macbeth), Margaret threw it into overdrive. As an English princess who was born and educated in Hungary, Margaret brought English and European manners and culture to backward Scotland. (Because Scotland was remote and had never been conquered by Ancient Rome, the civilizing influences of the European continent had always been slow to reach it.) According to Margaret’s biographer and friend Turgot:[1]

“It was due to her that the merchants who came by land and sea from various countries brought along with them for sale different kinds of precious wares which until then were unknown in Scotland. And it was at her instigation that the natives of Scotland purchased from these traders clothing of various colours, with ornaments to wear; so that from this period, through her suggestion, new costumes of different fashion were adopted, the elegance of which made the wearers appear like a new race of beings.”

Margaret’s sons—who Turgot says were carefully brought up by their mother “and instructed as far as possible in honorable ways”—continued reforming Scottish manners and Anglicizing the kingdom. When her youngest, David, ascended the throne in 1124, he promised to give a 3-year tax break to anyone who dressed better and ate with a spoon. William of Malmesbury writes:

When [David] obtained the kingdom, he released from the payment of taxes, for three years, all such of the countrymen as would pay more attention to their dwellings, dress more elegantly, and feed more nicely.”

“Feed more nicely” probably meant not stuffing your face like a Neanderthal every time someone put a trencher[2]in front of you. William of Malmesbury also wrote that King David “had rubbed off all the rust of Scottish barbarism.” Remote Scotland had at last attained European manners—at least in the urban areas. The highlanders continued to rough it, as the film Braveheart shows.

Margaret also reformed (Romanized) the Scottish Celtic church, instituted changes in government and polished the appearance of the court. Turgot states that,

The laws of the realm were adjusted by her counsel; divine religion was furthered by her industry; the people rejoiced in the prosperity of commerce….Her whole life, ordered by extreme control of discretion, was a pattern of virtue. She instituted also more ceremonious service of the king, so that when he walked or rode he was surrounded with great honour by many troops; and this with such discipline that, wherever they went, none of them was permitted to despoil anyone, nor did any of them dare to oppress or to injure countrymen or poor men in any way. She multiplied also the adornments of the royal palace, so that not only was it resplendent with various adornment of silken cloths; but even the whole house glittered with gold and silver.”

[1]Turgot’s Life of St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland,  tr. by William Forbes-Leith, S.J.

[2]A dry crust of bread that functioned as an edible plate.

Mother of Scottish Kings

Some Scots resisted Margaret’s changes, but to most she was a saint, the complete opposite of Lady Macbeth (as depicted by Shakespeare). Throughout St. Margaret’s reign, she fed, clothed and supported the poor, sacrificing her own comfort to help others. Turgot tells us that:

“Not only would she have given to the poor all that she possessed; but if she could have done so she would have given her very self away…When she went out of doors, either on foot or on horseback, crowds of poor people, orphans and widows flocked to her, as they would have done to a most loving mother, and none of them left her without being comforted. But when she had distributed all she had brought with her for the benefit of the needy, the rich who accompanied her, or her own attendants, used to hand to her their garments, or anything else they happened to have by them at the time, that she might give them to those who were in want; for she was anxious that none should go away in distress. Nor were her attendants at all offended, nay rather each strove who should first offer her what he had, since he knew for certain that she would pay it back two-fold.”[1]

Margaret also freed Saxon slaves whenever she had the opportunity:

“But who can tell the number of English of all ranks, carried captive from their own land by violence of war and reduced to slavery, whom she restored to liberty by paying their ransom? Spies were employed by her to go secretly through all the provinces of Scotland and ascertain what captives were oppressed with the most cruel bondage, and treated with the greatest inhumanity. When she had privately ascertained where these prisoners were detained, and by whom ill-treated, commiserating with them from the bottom of her heart, she took care to send them speedy help, paid their ransom and set them free…”[2]

After Margaret’s death in 1093 (which occurred shortly after she heard about Malcolm’s savage murder in England), miracles were associated with her belongings and with places she frequented. Scottish women who wished to become pregnant visited and touched a stone on which Margaret used to pray. And when her body was removed from its tomb and taken to a new site, some years after her death, it’s reported that the scent of flowers rose from her grave. 156 years after her death, Margaret was canonized St. Margaret of Scotland.

Margaret’s sons, grandsons and their heirs inherited her good judgment and preserved the Scottish kingdom for another two centuries. The scholar William Forbes-Leith S.J. says: “It is owing in great measure to [the] virtuous education given by Margaret to her sons that Scotland was governed for the space of 200 years by seven excellent kings, that is, by her three sons, Edgar, Alexander, David, by David’s two grandsons, Malcolm IV, and William [the Lion], and William’s son and grandson, Alexander II and Alexander III; during which space the nation enjoyed greater happiness than perhaps it ever did before or after.” After Alexander III’s accidental death in 1286 and the mysterious death of his only heir,  Margaret of Norway, in 1290, Scotland faced its darkest hour. England, which had long sought to dominate its northern neighbor, saw its opportunity. The age of Braveheart was at hand.

1998. MARGARET & HER ROYAL SONS—by Jesse Bryant Wilder, editor of NEXUS.

[1]Turgot, Life of St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland,  tr. by William Forbes-Leith, S.J.

[2]Ibid.

QUESTIONS

1. In one or two paragraphs compare Lady Macbeth to Saint Margaret.
2. What political advantage did Malcolm gain by marrying St. Margaret?
3. How did St. Margaret change Scotland?
4. Upon his accession to the Scottish throne, what law did St. Margaret’s youngest son pass to improve Scottish manners?
5. Read excerpts of Turgot’s glowing biography, The Life of Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland. List the principal characteristics that Turgot attributes to Queen Margaret.

ESSAY  1:
Turgot was a contemporary and friend of Saint Margaret. He was in a unique position to reveal details about her life that few others could and few others did. But one must never rely on one source for historical information. Who else wrote about St. Margaret during the Middle Ages? In an essay, compare three of these accounts. In what ways do they confirm and differ from each other and from Turgot’s biography?

ESSAY  2:
Research the rule of one of Saint Margaret’s sons. Then, in an essay, discuss this son’s successes and failures as King of Scotland and explain where the son lived up to his mother’s standards and ideals and where he failed to do so.

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