MARGARET OF SCOTLAND, SAINT

born c. 1045, probably Hungary died Nov. 16, 1093, Edinburgh; canonized 1250; feast day November 16, Scottish feast day June 16 queen consort of Malcolm III Canmore and patroness of Scotland. Margaret was brought up at the Hungarian court, where her father, Edward, was in exile. After the Battle of Hastings, Edward's widow and children fled for safety to Scotland. Her brother Edgar the Aetheling, defeated claimant to the English throne, joined her there. In spite of her leanings toward a religious life, Margaret married (c. 1070) Malcolm III Canmore, king of Scotland from 1057 or 1058 to 1093. Through her influence over her husband and his court, she promoted, in conformity with the Gregorian reform, the interests of the church and of the English population conquered by the Scots in the previous century. She died shortly after her husband was slain near Alnwick, Northumberland.