Queen consort of James IV of Scotland, sister of Henry VIII
The eldest daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, Margaret Tudor married James IV, king of Scotland on 8 August 1503. Margaret’s marriage, though not a particularly happy one, brought a period of peace between Scotland and England that lasted until the early years of Henry VIII’s reign and had the unforeseen consequence of leading to Stuart claims to the English throne.
By 1511, the young Henry VIII, wanting to prove his mettle, renewed hostilities with France, the traditional ally of Scotland. Seeking to aide his French allies, James IV invaded England, dying at the Battle of Flodden Field along with the majority of his nobility on 9 September 1513.With James IV’s death, Margaret became queen regent for her seventeen-month-old son, James Regent though she may have been, a divided council ran the government of Scotland with Margaret, but her sudden and unwise marriage in 1514 to Archibald Douglas, earl of Angus, whom she chose to make coregent, weakened her political position. In 1516, parliament deposed her in favor of John Stuart, duke of Albany; Margaret, along with her husband, fled Scotland for a brief exile in England.
After lengthy negotiations, Albany allowed Margaret to return to Scotland in June 1517, simply to live there as the mother of the king. From 1518 to 1524, Margaret found herself caught between the pro-English Scottish and pro-French Scottish factions of the nobility. Margaret, to the detriment of her own reputation, played one side against the other in the hope of regaining control of her son and her finances. Finally, in 1524, Margaret regained her position as queen regent and continued to pursue a middle ground policy, much to the consternation of her brother, Henry VIII. Unfortunately, the feuding continued, with her own husband, aided by the English, usurping her authority and custody of James V, between 1527 and 1528.
In 1528, James, now sixteen, managed to escape from the control of the Douglas clan and asserted himself as king of Scotland. Margaret divorced Douglas, married Henry Stewart, lord Methven, and resumed her life as queen dowager. Though she continued to try to influence her son and never ceased to have financial difficulties, her political importance to either England or Scotland had long passed her by. Her death in 1541 went largely unnoticed.
Timothy G. Elston
See also Power, Politics, and Women.
Bibliography
Buchanan, Patricia Hill. Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1985.
Harvey, Nancy Lenz. The Rose and the Thorn:The Lives of Mary and Margaret Tudor. New York: Macmillan, 1975.
Perry, Maria. Sisters to the King: The Tumultuous Lives of Henry VIU’s Sisters, Margaret of Scotland and Mary of France. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999.
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