| Margaret of France | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Detail of Margaret from the 14th centuryChroniques de France ou de St Denis | |
| JuniorQueen consort of England | |
| Tenure | 27 August 1172 – 11 June 1183 |
| Coronation | 27 August 1172 (Winchester Cathedral) |
| Queen consort of Hungary andCroatia | |
| Tenure | 1186 – 23 April 1196 |
| Born | 1158 |
| Died | 18 September 1197 (aged 38–39) St John ofAcre |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Henry the Young King Béla III of Hungary |
| Issue | William |
| House | Capet |
| Father | Louis VII of France |
| Mother | Constance of Castile |
Margaret of France (French:Marguerite,Hungarian:Margit; 1158 – 18 September 1197) was juniorQueen of England by marriage toHenry the Young King until his death in 1183, andQueen of Hungary andCroatia by marriage toBéla III of Hungary from 1186.
Margaret was the eldest daughter ofLouis VII of France by his second wifeConstance of Castile.[1] Her older half-sisters,Marie andAlix, were also older half-sisters of her future husband.
She was betrothed toHenry the Young King on 2 November 1160, who was actually the son of Eleanor of Aquitaine who was previously married to Margaret's father, Louis VII of France. Henry was the second son ofKing Henry II of England andEleanor of Aquitaine. He was five years old at the time of this agreement while Margaret was about two. Margaret'sdowry was the vital and much disputed territory ofVexin.[1]
Margaret's husband became co-ruler with his father in 1170. Because ArchbishopThomas Becket was in exile, Margaret was not crowned along with her husband on 14 July 1170. This omission and the coronation being handled by a surrogate greatly angered her father. To please the French King, Henry II had his son and Margaret crowned together inWinchester Cathedral on 27 August 1172.[2] When Margaret became pregnant, she held her confinement inParis, where she gave birth prematurely to their only son William on 19 June 1177, who died three days later on 22 June. She had no further children, possibly due to infertility resulting from this birth.[3]
Her husband, Henry the Young King was generally well liked, but also highly impressionable and took part in a family rebellion against his father,King Henry II. Henry II's other sons and QueenEleanor of Aquitaine took part in the rebellion, but it is unknown Margaret's part. She may have sided with her husband and mother-in-law, in regard to her husband's powerlessness and landless position.[3] After the rebellion, both Queen Eleanor and Junior Queen Margaret were powerless.[3]
Margaret was accused in 1182 of having a love affair withWilliam Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, although contemporary chroniclers doubted the truth of these accusations. Henry the Young King may have started the process to have their marriage annulled ostensibly due to her adultery, or possibly due to the lack of children. The Young King's hesitation to act showed he was caught between believing and doubting the rumors, although due to her known piousness and lack of chroniclers hinting at a soiled reputation, it is likely that she was innocent of these charges of infidelity.[3] Margaret was sent back toFrance, according to E. Hallam (The Plantagenets) and Amy Kelly (Eleonore of Aquitaine and the Four Kings), to ensure her safety during the civil war with Young Henry's brotherRichard the Lionheart. Her husband died in 1183 while on campaign in the Dordogne region of France. The coronet he and she would have worn was chronicled in about 1218 as "the traditional ring-of-roses coronet of the house of Anjou". Margaret may have taken her coronet to Hungary in 1186 when she married King Bela III. A ring-of-roses coronet was discovered in a convent grave in Budapest in 1838, which may be the same one.
After receiving a substantial pension in exchange for surrendering her dowry of Gisors and the Vexin, Margaret became the second wife ofBéla III of Hungary in 1186.[4] Béla III was searching for a wife and had heard of her piety and wisdom.[3] As Queen of Hungary, she played a political role in 1189 by acting as a mediator to restore peace between Béla and his younger brother Géza, whom Béla had imprisoned as a contender for the throne.[3] She helped intervene and settle the dispute between the brothers. Margaret's marriage to Béla III was also childless, but it did not cause any contention as Béla already had many children from his first marriage.[3]
She waswidowed for a second time in 1196. With no nearby male relative, and no heir, she went to theHoly Land and died on pilgrimage at St John ofAcre in 1197, having only arrived eight days prior to her death.[a] She was buried at theCathedral of Tyre, according toErnoul, the chronicler who continued the chronicles ofWilliam of Tyre.
Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary Cadet branch of theRobertian dynasty Born: 1157 Died: 1197 | ||
| Royal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byas sole consort | Queen consort of the English 27 August 1172 – 11 June 1183 Served alongside:Eleanor of Aquitaine | Succeeded byas sole consort |
| Vacant Title last held by Agnes of Antioch | Queen consort of Hungary 1186–1196 | Vacant Title next held by Constance of Aragon |
