Margaret of Denmark

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:for another queen-consort (that of Norway), historically known as her namesake, see Margaret I of Denmark - and for Queens Margaret of Denmark, see Queen Margaret of Denmark

Margaret of Denmark (June 23, 1456 - before July 14, 1486) was the daughter of King Christian I of Denmark (1448-1481), Norway (1450-1481), and Sweden (1457-1464), and his wife Dorothea of Brandenburg.

In July, 1469, at Holyrood Abbey, she married James III Stuart, the King of Scotland (1460-88).

This marriage produced three sons :

James IV (March 17, 1473 - September 9, 1513)
James Stewart, Duke of Ross (March 1476 - January 1504), and
John Stewart, Earl of Mar (December 1479 - 1503).

Her father, king Christian I of Denmark and also of Norway, agreed on a remarkable dowry to her. He however was strained in cash, so the islands of Orkney and Shetland, Norwegian crown possessions, were pledged as security until the dowry will be paid.

William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness was at that time the Norse earl of Orkney, who was made in 1473 to exchange his Orkney fief to castle Ravenscraig, so the Scottish throne took the earl's rights in the islands too.

She died at Stirling Castle and is buried in Cambuskenneth Abbey.

Legacy

Her great-great-grandson James VI of Scotland married another princess of her dynasty, Anne of Denmark. They became ancestors of all the future monarchs of England and Scotland.

When in the 20th century some Orcadian dissatisfaction emerged against UK central government, some digged the historical facts of Margaret's marriage contract and pleaded either the King of Norway or the monarch of Denmark to settle cash payment of Margaret's dowry into Scottish governmental treasury in order to have Orkney and Shetland returned to their original position as part of Scandinavia and not that of United Kingdom.

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