Maid of Norway

Margaret

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Queen of Scotland

In office
1286-1290
Preceded by  |  Alexander III
Succeeded by  |  John Baliol

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Born  |  March/April 1283
Tønsberg, Norway
Died  |  September 26-29, 1290
Orkney Islands, Norway
(now Orkney, Scotland)

Margaret (c. March 1283 - September 26-29, 1290), Queen of Scots (1286-1290), usually known as the “Maid of Norway”, was the daughter of king Eric II of Norway and granddaughter of Alexander II of Scotland. All of Alexander's offspring had died before Alexander himself died in 1286, and Margaret, aged three, succeeded him. She was betrothed to the future Edward II, in a bid for Anglo-Scottish peace through the dynastic union of the English and Scottish crowns, but her death en route from Norway led to disputed succession in Scotland, the intervention of England's Edward I and the subsequent Wars of Scottish Independence.