General Notes

REFN: 9056AN
Marguerite of France (1282 – 14 February 1317) was a daughter of Philip I
II of France and Maria of Brabant. She was also the second Queen conso
rt of King Edward I of England.
Three years after the death of his beloved first wife, Eleanor of Castil
e, at the age of 48 in 1290, Edward I was still grieving. But news g
ot to him of the beauty of Blanche, sister to King Philip IV of France. Ed
ward decided that he would marry Blanche at any cost and sent out emissari
es to negotiate the marriage with Philip. Philip agreed to give Blanc
he to Edward on the following conditions:
a truce was concluded between the two countries
Edward gave up the province of Gascony
Edward, surprisingly, agreed and sent his brother Edmund Crouchback, Du
ke of Lancaster, to fetch the new bride. Edward had been deceived, for Bla
nche was to be married to Rudolph I of Bohemia and eldest son of Albe
rt I of Germany. Instead Philip offered his younger sister Marguerite, a y
oung girl of 11, to marry Edward (then 55). Upon hearing this, Edward decl
ared war on France, refusing to marry Marguerite. After five years, a tru
ce was agreed, under the terms of which Edward would marry Marguerite a
nd would regain the key city of Guienne, and receive the £15,000 owed to M
arguerite from her father, King Philip III the Bold.
Edward was now 60 years old. The wedding took place at Canterbury on Septe
mber 8, 1299. Edward soon returned to the Scottish border to continue h
is campaigns and left Marguerite in London. After several months, bored a
nd lonely, the young queen decided to join her husband. Nothing could ha
ve pleased the king more, for Marguerite's actions reminded him of his fir
st wife Eleanor, who had had two of her sixteen children abroad.
Marguerite soon became firm friends with her stepdaughter Mary, a nun, w
ho was two years older than the young queen. In less than a year Margueri
te gave birth to a son, and then another a year later. It is said that ma
ny who fell under the king's wrath were saved from too stern a punishme
nt by the queen's influence over her husband, and the statement, Pardon
ed solely on the intercession of our dearest consort, queen Margueri
te of England, appears.
In all, Marguerite gave birth to three children: Thomas of Brotherton, 1
st Earl of Norfolk; Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent; and a daughte
r, named Eleanor in honor of Edward's first queen, who perished in infancy
.
The mismatched couple were blissfully happy. When Blanche died in 1306 (h
er husband never became Emperor), Edward ordered all the court to go in
to mourning to please his queen. He had realised the wife he had gained w
as "a pearl of great price". The same year Marguerite gave birth to a gir
l, Eleanor, a choice of name which surprised many, and showed Marguerite
's un-jealous nature. After Edward died, as a widow at twenty six, she nev
er remarried saying "when Edward died, all men died for me", but she us
ed her immense dowry to relieve people's suffering.
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