Wednesday, August 18, 2010

My Grandmother Was a Saint : Queen Margaret, Patroness Saint of Scotland (1045-1093)

As the small ship rocked violently in the North Sea storm, the twenty-year old Saxon princess sent a prayer to heaven.  If The Lord Our God found, in His infinite wisdom, to allow her and her family to survive the journey to the Continent, she would devote her life to humbly serving His Name. 

The ship had set out from Northumbria to sail across the brackish waters to carry what remained of the Saxon Royal line, and a small band of loyalists, into exile on the Continent.  William, the Duke of Normandy’s, successful invasion of England meant an interruption to the House of Wessex’s years of rule.  But their dynasty had been deposed and restored twice before.  It was unknown if it would be restored again.

The storm drove the ship north rather than east, and it washed up on a rocky outcropping that, years later, would become known as Saint Margaret’s Hope.   The passengers of the ship were taken to the court of Malcolm III, King of the Scots, where they received a warm welcome.  Malcolm had been an exile himself in the past and had found refuge in the Wessex royal court.

Years earlier Malcolm’s father Duncan had been murdered in a coup that Shakespeare would dramatize centuries later in Macbeth.  Malcolm showed hospitality to all of the shipwrecked refugees, but he gave special attention to Princess Margaret.  Malcolm was forty years old and widowed.  If he was able to marry the twenty-year old princess, he would be uniting two royal dynasties, and perhaps all of Great Britain would follow.

Margaret had been preparing herself for the nunnery, but after deep prayer and meditation, and consultation with earthly advisors, she consented to the marriage.  The marriage had obvious political benefits for Malcolm, but by all accounts and evidence, he was genuinely enamored with his young bride.

As Queen Consort, Margaret never forgot the promise that she had made to the Divine Power on that fateful stormy day.  And because of her husband’s adoration, and the respect of the Scots as a people, she wielded a great deal of power.  Almost immediately she organized a synod, which resulted in the regulation of the Lenten feast, observance of the Easter communion, and reform of many corrupt and abusive church practices.  Before Margaret, mass was conducted in the dozens of local Scottish dialects that were spoken during that era.  Margaret established the Latin mass in Alba (the Gaelic name for Scotland), which helped to unite the nation.

Malcolm was illiterate, and had not been a particularly religious man, but he had great respect for his wife’s piety and faith.  He could not read her holy texts, but it is said that he would often kiss the books, and arrange for them to be gilded and encrusted with jewels.  Margaret’s influence on the king only increased his popularity amongst his people.

Margaret spent much of her reign in service to the poor.  She frequently visited the sick, and had hostels constructed for the indigent.  During Advent and Lenten feats she would host as many as 300 commoners in the royal castle.  Her charity extended to the clergy, and her introduction of the Benedictine Order to Scotland helped to bring closer union between Rome and the Celtic Church.

In late 1093, Malcolm and his son Edward went off into battle against the forces of King William Rufus, the son and heir of William the Conqueror.   Both Malcolm and his son were killed in battle.  Queen Margaret had been ill, and when she was told of the death of her husband and son, she was devastated, and died three days later.

The memory of Margaret’s charity, piety and just rule remained clear in the hearts and minds of the Scots.  She was canonized in 1250 by Pope Innocent  IV, and was made Patroness Saint of Scotland in 1673.  In Scotland today there are scores of churches, hospitals, schools and streets named in her honor.  Her bloodline would continue through the Royal Houses of England and Scotland for centuries.

My link to St. Margaret:  Adam Lowe Martin (son of)-Allen Lowe Martin-Margaret F. Persse (daughter of)-Edwin Theophilus Persse (son of)-Dudley Persse-Theophilus Blakeney Persse-Henry Stratford Persse-William Persse-Elizabeth Parsons (daughter of)-William Parsons (son of)- William Parsons -Frances Savage (daughter of)-William Savage (son of)-Arthur Savage-John Savage-Laurence Savage-Ann Bostock (daughter of)-Elizabeth Dutton-Anne Touchet (daughter of)-5th Baron Audley (son of)-4th Baron Audley-John Tuchet-Joan Audley (daughter of)-2nd Baron Audley (son of)-1st Baron Audley-Nicholas d’ Audley-Ela of Salisbury-William II Longespee-3rd Earl of Salisbury-Henry II-Empress Matilda (daughter of)-Matilda of Scotland-Saint Margaret of Scotland

Illustration:  Saint Margaret with the Children

As The Weekly Dash enters its third week of existence, the readership and the number of followers continues to steadily increase.  Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to look at this blog, and special thanks to those of you who have made comments and given other feedback.

I know that many of you have had issues with the “follow” button.  I have accosted many of you, both through Facebook and in person, asking you to follow this site.  Some of you think you have signed up, but your name never registered. IF you could just take a moment, right now, and see if your name is on the list.  If it is not, (I know how annoying this is), if you could please give it just one more shot.  If it still does not work, please let me know.  If any of you are experienced bloggers, any advice would be appreciated.

Next Week’s Post:  “If Defeated, the Nation Could Scarcely Have Lived”

13 comments:

  1. WOW! she really was a saint! it's amazing that you can find such personal information about them. fantastic & interesting! i love the painting too.
    ...b

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  2. Thanks, Brooke. It is really amazing how much we know about someone who lived a thousand years ago.

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  3. Thats crazy man! The stuff you find amazes me!

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  4. To Andrew: I think it is, too. The next three weeks are going to be even crazier! Thanks for reading.

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  5. Adam,
    Tremendous blog. When your book comes out...call me!! :) You've inspired me to start my own.....Lynda @ Booking Authors Ink

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  6. Adam, this is hands down your best article yet! I have always had a love of Scotland. Like I have adopted it as my "ancestral homeland."

    You touched on two points of history that have been touched on in some of my recent favorite books.

    In Bernard Cornwall's "Saxon Series" [link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bernard+cornwell+saxon+chronicles&x=0&y=0&sprefix=bernard+cornwell&ih=8_7_2_1_0_0_1_0_0_1.35_135&fsc=-1 ] which deals with Northumbria and Alfred's rise to the throne.

    And the King Raven series by Steven Lawhead. [Link: http://www.amazon.com/Hood-Raven-King-Book-1/dp/B001O9CES2/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282427336&sr=1-3 ] He sets Robin Hood during the time of William Rufus to explain the origins of the character.

    Very nice!

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  7. Thanks, Don. I will definitely have to check those books out. The next post is set in the Confederacy and the week after that will be in the Utah Territory. And then, put a shrimp on the barby, we're headed Down Under! NOTE TO ALL READERS: The books Don mentioned are available for sale by clicking on the appropriate icon in the right column.

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  8. WOW! You've gone back a long way with this one. Your grandmother, Aunt Peg to me, was a saint. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to the next one.

    Dan

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  9. Dan: Thanks for the comment. I did write the post with a Margaret-Margaret connection in mind. Of course it was your mother's work that provided the initial inspiration for looking into the family tree. She did the hard work, and I really appreciate how you and Tom have continued what she started.
    (Dan and his brother Tom are my dad's cousins. Their mother, Grace Persse Loveday, did a tremendous amount of research and organization in putting together a family tree that traces the Persse and Schuyler and related names. This blog would not have been possible without her.)

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  10. You have incredible family history! I can't wait to see what's next!! :)

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  11. Lilly will love reading this. Adam, this is fun to read.

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  12. Anon: Thanks, I hope that she does. PLEASE READ THEM BEFORE SHE DOES. THERE MAY BE SOME ADULT AND/OR DISTURBING ISSUES IN SOME POSTS! (Lily is my pre-teen niece)

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