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Margaret of France: Enigmatic Consort

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Norman to Early Plantagenet Consorts

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Abstract

Of all the queens consort of late medieval England, perhaps the least known is Margaret of France (c. 1279–1318). Teenage second bride to the ageing Edward I, and successor to the much-mourned Eleanor of Castile, Margaret quietly fulfilled those traditional queenly duties of childbearing and intercession during her husband’s less than passive dotage and then, apparently, slipped from prominence following Edward’s death in 1307. But Margaret occupies a unique place in English history: she was during her life the daughter, sister, and aunt of French kings, Queen consort of one of England’s most revered monarchs, dowager Queen, aunt to her successor, mother to the heir to the throne, and stepmother to one of England’s least successful kings.

This essay combines an analysis of narrative and archival sources to examine Margaret’s intercessory and political agency and reconstruct her familial networks and affinity, in order to assess the extent and nature of her contribution to this turbulent period.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Michael Prestwich, Edward I (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), 129.

  2. 2.

    Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of England, 3 vols. (Philadelphia, 1849), 2:109–121. See more recently: John Carmi Parsons, “Margaret [Margaret of France] (1279?–1318), queen of England, second consort of Edward I,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/18046.

  3. 3.

    John Carmi Parsons, Eleanor of  Castile: Queen and Society in Thirteenth-Century England (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997).

  4. 4.

    Lisa Benz St. John, Three Medieval Queens: Queenship and the Crown in Fourteenth-Century England (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); John Carmi Parsons, “The Intercessionary Patronage of Queen Margaret and Isabella of France,” in Thirteenth Century England VI, ed. Michael Prestwich, Richard Britnell and Robin Frame (Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 1995), 145–156.

  5. 5.

    Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 17.

  6. 6.

    Prestwich, Edward I, 376–400.

  7. 7.

    Chronica monasterii S. Albani Willelmi Rishanger, ed. H.T. Riley, 2 vols. (London: Rolls Series 28, 1865), 2:388–390; Foedera, Conventiones, Litterae et Cuiuscunque Generis Acta Publica, ed. Thomas Rymer, 4 vols. (London: Record Commission, 1816–30), 1:904.

  8. 8.

    The Chronicle of Pierre de Langtoft, In French Verse, From the Earliest Period to the Death of King Edward I, ed. T. Wright, 2 vols. (London, 1866–1868), 2:318–321; Prestwich, Edward I, 129–131; J.R.S. Phillips, Edward II (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010), 81.

  9. 9.

    Rishanger, 194, 394–397, 401–402. For the wedding, see: The Chronicle of Bury St. Edmunds 1212–1301 (Chronica Buriensis 1212–1301), ed. Antonia Gransden (London: Nelson, 1964), 152–153.

  10. 10.

    Alison Marshall, “Thomas of Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk and Marshal of England: A Study in Early Fourteenth-century Aristocracy” (PhD thesis, University of Bristol, 2006), 29–31.

  11. 11.

    Rishanger, 438–439; Liber Quotidianus Contrarotulatoris Garderobiae, Anno Regni Regis Edwardi Primi Vicesimo Octavo, A. D. MCCXCLV et MCCC, ed. J. Topham (London, 1787), 38 (2 June).

  12. 12.

    Fiona Watson, Under the Hammer: Edward I and Scotland, 1286–1307 (East Linton: Tuckwell Press, 1998), 98–222.

  13. 13.

    Langtoft, 324–325.

  14. 14.

    Calendar of the Close Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office, 1272–1509, 47 vols. (London: HMSO, 1896–1963), 1302–07, 19, 58; Calendar of the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office, 1232–1509, 53 vols. (London: HMSO, 1891–1971), 1292–1301, 604.

  15. 15.

    Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 109; Alison Marshall, “The Childhood and Household of Edward II’s Half-Brothers, Thomas of Brotherton and Edmund of Woodstock,” in The Reign of Edward II, ed. Gwilym Dodd and Anthony Musson (Woodbridge: York Medieval Press, 2006), 190–204.

  16. 16.

    Carmi Parsons, “Margaret of France.”

  17. 17.

    Pierre Chaplais, “Some Private Letters of Edward I,” English Historical Review 77, no. 302 (January 1962): 79–85.

  18. 18.

    TNA, SC 1/12/203 (1 May), 204 (7 May): “par la quisse De vous le comperez.” References to original records are to TNA unless otherwise stated.

  19. 19.

    Chaplais, “Private Letters,” 82.

  20. 20.

    CCR 1302–07, 539 (28 June 1307).

  21. 21.

    E 101/369/11, fol. 46v; Prestwich, Edward I, 164.

  22. 22.

    E 101/501/23, mm. 3–4.

  23. 23.

    CCR 1302–07, 529.

  24. 24.

    British Library Add. MS 8835, fol. 15v; Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, ed. J. Bain, 4 vols. (Edinburgh, 1881–8), 4:466; Prestwich, Edward I, 501.

  25. 25.

    French Chronicle of London, ed. G. Aungier (London: Camden Series 28, 1844), 31; The Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough, ed. H. Rothwell (London: Royal Historical Society, 1957), 367–368; Matthew Strickland, “Treason, Feud and the Growth of State Violence: Edward I and the ‘War of the Earl of Carrick,’ 1306–7,” in War, Government and Aristocracy in the British Isles, c.1150–1500, ed. Chris Given-Wilson, Ann Kettle, and Len Scales (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2008), 104–108.

  26. 26.

    CCR 1302–7, 481–482 (28 January 1307). For comment: Hilda Johnstone, Edward of Carnarvon, 1284–1307 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1946), 116.

  27. 27.

    CPR 1301–07, 505.

  28. 28.

    Strickland, “Treason.”

  29. 29.

    Strickland, Lives of the Queens, 2:117.

  30. 30.

    Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 36–37, 103–104.

  31. 31.

    Parsons, “Intercessionary Patronage,” 150.

  32. 32.

    Parsons, “Intercessionary Patronage,” 145.

  33. 33.

    Carmi Parsons, “Margaret of France.”

  34. 34.

    Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 21, 35.

  35. 35.

    CPR 1292–1301, 491, 509, 616; 1301–07, 37, 38, 60, 135, 170, 321, 341, 378.

  36. 36.

    CPR 1301–07, 339 (26 April 1305). See also 378 (17 June 1306).

  37. 37.

    CPR 1301–07, 37, 38; CCR 1302–07, 16.

  38. 38.

    Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 50.

  39. 39.

    Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 49.

  40. 40.

    CPR 1301–07, 378; E 159/81, rot. 63.

  41. 41.

    SC 8/39/1904.

  42. 42.

    Parsons, “Intercessionary Patronage,” 148.

  43. 43.

    Foedera, 1:912–13; Gerald Harriss, King, Parliament and Public Finance in Medieval England to 1369 (Oxford, 1975), 149–150.

  44. 44.

    Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 83; CPR 1301–07, 118–119, 240, 243, 363–370, 372.

  45. 45.

    CPR 1301–07, 118–119. She was confirmed in her rights, and the properties were committed to her on 21 June 1304: CPR 1301–07, 240–241.

  46. 46.

    CCR 1302–07, 276.

  47. 47.

    CPR 1301–07, 60, 257.

  48. 48.

    Hilda Johnstone, “The Queen’s Exchequer under the Three Edwards,” in Historical Essays in Honour of James Tait, ed. J.G. Edwards (Manchester, 1933), 143–153; Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 72–79.

  49. 49.

    SC 1/12/203.

  50. 50.

    CPR 1307–13, 25.

  51. 51.

    “Annales Paulini,” in Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, ed. W. Stubbs, 2 vols. (London, 1882–1883), 1:258; Flores Historiarum, ed. H.R. Luard, 3 vols. (London: Rolls series 95), 3:141; E 101/373/7, m. 3.

  52. 52.

    CCR 1307–13, 12; SC 1/35/70 (5 December).

  53. 53.

    CCR 1307–13, 30; CPR 1307–13, 138, 188.

  54. 54.

    CPR 1307–13, 355 (16 April 1305; repeated 12 March 1307: 544).

  55. 55.

    CPR 1292–1301, 182, 210 (protections issued to travel with Langton on 12 January and 16 November 1296).

  56. 56.

    CCR 1296–1302, 235, 381; 1302–07, 8, 132, 133.

  57. 57.

    CPR 1292–1301, 525; The Political Songs of England, ed. T. Wright (London: Camden Society, 1839), 212–223.

  58. 58.

    CCR 1302–07, 214 (24 June 1304).

  59. 59.

    CCR 1302–07, 55.

  60. 60.

    CPR 1292–1301, 603.

  61. 61.

    CPR 1292–1301, 109, 435, 441; CCR 1296–1302, 170, 175; CFR 1272–1307, 397.

  62. 62.

    E 101/363/8.

  63. 63.

    CCR 1302–07, 268; CPR 1292–1301, 374, 560; 1301–07, 49, 53.

  64. 64.

    CPR 1301–07, 388.

  65. 65.

    CPR 1301–07, 56, 58, 114, 323.

  66. 66.

    CPR 1292–1301, 406, 421.

  67. 67.

    CPR 1301–07, 555.

  68. 68.

    CCR 1296–1302, 523; 1302–07, 8, 416; CFR 1272–1307, 449, 538; CPR 1301–07, 506.

  69. 69.

    E 101/355/17. Also named are John de Columbariis and Hugh de Beaurepair, respectively the Queen’s chandler and keeper of her horses, and Robert de Halghton, clerk of her marshalsea.

  70. 70.

    E 101/667/6.

  71. 71.

    E 101/373/15, f. 3; E 101/373/19 (27 September 1308).

  72. 72.

    CPR 1301–07, 26.

  73. 73.

    CPR 1301–07, 236.

  74. 74.

    CPR 1301–07, 102.

  75. 75.

    CPR 1301–07, 235; C 143/47/9.

  76. 76.

    SC 8/72/3598. The licence for Studham to make the grant is dated 12 April 1306: CPR 1301–07, 425. The inquisition ad quod damnum is C 143/57/29.

  77. 77.

    C 241/46/182.

  78. 78.

    E 159/81, rot. 35.

  79. 79.

    Records of the Trial of Walter Langeton, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, 1307–1312, ed. A. Beardwood (London: Royal Historical Society, 1969).

  80. 80.

    Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem and Other Analogous Documents Preserved in the Public Record Office, Edward II, 2 vols. (London: HMSO, 1908–10), 1:235 (no. 398); CPR 1307–13, 243, 316, 437, 520, 528, 530, 532, 567, 574, 594, 597; CPR 1313–17, passim.

  81. 81.

    CPR 1313–17, 136–137, 137–138.

  82. 82.

    Calendar of Memoranda Rolls (Exchequer) Preserved in the Public Record Office, Michaelmas 1326–Michaelmas 1327, ed. R.E. Latham (London: HMSO, 1968), 211 (no. 1509); CPR 1317–21, 135 (inspeximus of 25 April 1318).

  83. 83.

    Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 2, 119, 121.

  84. 84.

    Jeff Hamilton, “The Character of Edward II: The Letters of Edward of Caernarfon Reconsidered,” in Reign of Edward II, 5–21; Letters of Edward, Prince of Wales, 1304–1305, ed. Hilda Johnstone (Cambridge: Roxburghe Club, 1931), 44–45, 73–74, 88–90, 96, 111, 127.

  85. 85.

    Hamilton, “Character,” 16.

  86. 86.

    Hamilton, “Character,” 7; Letters, 160.

  87. 87.

    Johnstone, Edward of Carnarvon, 96–101; Phillips, Edward II, 106–107.

  88. 88.

    Letters, 70 (no. 286).

  89. 89.

    Parsons, “Intercessionary Patronage,” 150–151.

  90. 90.

    CPR 1307–13, 58.

  91. 91.

    Paulini, 258; Flores, 3:141; E 101/373/7, m. 3.

  92. 92.

    Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 41–43.

  93. 93.

    Jeff Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, 1307–1312: Politics and Patronage in the Reign of Edward II (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1988); Pierre Chaplais, Piers Gaveston, Edward II’s Adoptive Brother (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994).

  94. 94.

    J.R. Maddicott, Thomas of Lancaster, Earl of Lancaster, 1307–1322: A Study in the Reign of Edward II (Oxford, 1970), 83–84, 335–356.

  95. 95.

    Paulini, 258, 262.

  96. 96.

    For Margaret’s role, see: Lisa Benz St. John, “In the Best Interest of the Queen: Isabella of France, Edward II and the Image of a Functional Relationship,” in Fourteenth Century England VIII, ed. J.S. Hamilton (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2014), 21–42.

  97. 97.

    Hamilton, Piers Gaveston, 55–56, 147.

  98. 98.

    CCR 1307–13, 24; CPR 1307–13, 55 (16 March).

  99. 99.

    CPR 1307–13, 9, 13, 51, 52, 58; CFR 1307–19, 18.

  100. 100.

    CPR 1307–13, 96.

  101. 101.

    SC 8/126/6270; C 49/4/6.

  102. 102.

    SC 8/60/2973.

  103. 103.

    CPR 1307–13, 216–218.

  104. 104.

    CPR 1307–13, 215; Foedera, 2:i, 105; Phillips, Edward II, 161–167.

  105. 105.

    CPR 1307–13, 255, 263, 368, 420.

  106. 106.

    CPR 1307–13, 272, 332.

  107. 107.

    Vita Edwardi Secundi, ed. W. R. Childs (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 44–47.

  108. 108.

    W.M. Ormrod, Edward III (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011), 10, 12.

  109. 109.

    E 101/375/9, fol. 33r; 375/19, m. 2; 376/20, m. 4.

  110. 110.

    E 101/375/19, m. 2.

  111. 111.

    DL 27/13.

  112. 112.

    CPR 1313–17, 100, 116, 121–2, 227–8.

  113. 113.

    CPR 1313–17, 498.

  114. 114.

    SC 1/35/131.

  115. 115.

    SC 8/2/69.

  116. 116.

    SC 8/39/1919.

  117. 117.

    E 101/377/7, fol. 6; Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 115.

  118. 118.

    CPR 1317–21, 46, 115–116; CCR 1313–18, 527, 538.

  119. 119.

    Benz, Three Medieval Queens, 97.

  120. 120.

    E 101/501/24; Liber Quotidianus, 350–351.

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  1. The National Archives, London, UK

    Paul Dryburgh

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  1. University Campus North Lincolnshire, England, UK

    Aidan Norrie

  2. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Carolyn Harris

  3. University of Reading, Reading, UK

    J.L. Laynesmith

  4. York, UK

    Danna R. Messer

  5. University of Winchester, Winchester, UK

    Elena Woodacre

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Dryburgh, P. (2023). Margaret of France: Enigmatic Consort. In: Norrie, A., Harris, C., Laynesmith, J., Messer, D.R., Woodacre, E. (eds) Norman to Early Plantagenet Consorts. Queenship and Power. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21068-6_14

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