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Margaret, Maid of Norway

Margaret, Maid of Norway (1 April 1283 – 1 September 1290) was Queen of Scotland from 19 March 1286 to 1 September 1290, succeeding Alexander III of Scotland and preceding John Balliol.

Biography[]

Margaret was born in Tonsberg, Norway on 1 April 1283, the daughter of King Eric II of Norway and Margaret of Scotland. Her mother died in childbirth, and she was raised in the Norwegian Catholic House of Yngling. She was raised in Bergen by the local bishop, as she was expected to be a valuable bride; her grandfather Alexander III of Scotland lacked a male heir, so she was the heir apparent of Scotland. On her grandfather's death on 19 March 1286, she became the designated Queen of Scotland, and, on 6 November 1289, the Treaty of Birgham named Margaret "Queen and heir of the kingdom." In 1290, she set out for Scotland, but she died of food poisoning at Orkney on 1 September 1290, ending the line of King William the Lion and leading to the rise of John Balliol and the Wars of Scottish Independence.

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