MARGARET, Queen of Scotland, Saint. — Great-niece of St. Edward the Confessor, born c. 1045 in Hungary, where her family was in exile, died 16 Nov. 1093.
Returning to her homeland at about nine years of age, she had to go into exile again with her family in Scotland after the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons at Hastings by William the Conqueror (1066). She was welcomed by King Malcolm III, who lodged her in the royal castle of Dunfermline and later asked for her hand in marriage (1070). The new queen proved a blessing to her husband and to the kingdom. Malcolm, uncultured and rough but of good disposition, was so influenced by her that he became an amiable, humane and pious king and one of Scotland’s most virtuous sovereigns. For his subjects, besides the good example of a life entirely devoted to prayer and to the poor, she devoted her best efforts to wean them from grave superstitious and scandalous abuses and recall them to Christian practice, convening various synods, procuring good priests, and herself working with the daughters of the nobility to provide churches with vestments and liturgical objects. Indeed, together with her husband she founded several churches, including that of the Most Holy Trinity at Dunfermline, where she was later buried. Having learned by divine revelation of the death of her husband and her eldest son in an expedition against William Rufus (13 Nov. 1093), she prepared herself for death and died three days later.
The feast of St. Margaret was extended to the whole Church by Innocent XII on 4 March 1693. Feast day: 16 November.