Margaret Stewart, Duchess of Touraine

Margaret was born on an unknown date between 1367 and 1373. Her parents were married by April 1367,{{cite book |last1=Penman |first1=Michael |title=David II |date=2004 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-2023 |pages=348 |edition=First}} while she had been born by the time of the entail of the Scottish succession passed by parliament in 1373 at the demand of her grandfather, Robert II.{{cite book |last1=Boardman |first1=Stephen |title=The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III, 1371-1406 |date=1996 |publisher=Tuckwell press |isbn=978-1-904607-68-7 |pages=56 |edition=First}} Margaret was named as her father's eldest daughter in a charter of 1378.{{cite book |title=Registrum Honoris de Morton: A Series of Charters of the Earldom of Morton With Other Original Papers - Volume II|date=1853|publisher=Nabu Press reprint of Bannatyne Club |page=136 |edition=Reprinted}} Probably in 1387,{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland |date=1998 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-036-5 |pages=70 |edition=Second}} but perhaps as late as 1390,{{cite book |last1=Penman |first1=Michael |title=David II |date=2004 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-2023 |pages=419}} Margaret married Archibald Douglas, the eldest son of Archibald the Grim. Margaret's father-in-law became Earl of Douglas in 1389.

Margaret's father, John Stewart, Earl of Carrick, succeeded her grandfather, Robert II, as King of Scots in 1390, taking the regnal name of Robert III after his accession. After Margaret's father-in-law died in 1400, her husband Archibald became Earl of Douglas and Lord of Galloway.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland |date=1998 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-036-5 |pages=92 |edition=Second}} There are few records of Margaret during the intervening decade. After his succession as Earl of Douglas, Margaret's husband embarked on a long martial career. He was defeated and captured by English forces at the Battle of Homildon Hill in 1402, not returning to Scotland until 1407.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=James I |date=1994 |publisher=Canongate Press |isbn=1-898410-40-2 |pages=15 |edition=First}} By that time, Margaret had suffered a series of family tragedies. Her younger brother, David, after a period as regent for their father, was arrested and starved to death on the orders of their uncle Robert, Duke of Albany, in 1402.{{cite book |last1=Boardman |first1=Stephen |title=The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III, 1371-1406 |date=1996 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=978-1-904607-68-7 |pages=244 |edition=First}} In 1406, her father Robert III died shortly after the capture of her other surviving brother, James, by English pirates.{{cite book |last1=Boardman |first1=Stephen |title=The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III, 1371-1406 |date=1996 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=978-1-904607-68-7 |pages=297 |edition=First}} Amidst these events, Margaret was named in 1405 to receive payments from the Scottish exchequer on behalf of her youngest sister, Egidia, who was probably incapacitated.{{cite web |title=Egidia Stewart |url=https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SCOTLAND.htm#_ftnref1483 |website=Medieval Lands |publisher=Foundation for Medieval Genealogy |access-date=8 April 2025}}

On 24 April 1424, Margaret's husband was elevated to the French title of Duke of Touraine by Charles VII of France, for his service as the leader of Scottish contingents in the Hundred Years' War. However, on 17 August of the same year he was killed fighting in the Battle of Verneuil against an English army.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland |date=1998 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-036-5 |pages=222 |edition=Second}} Before his departure for France, the duke had delegated power in Galloway to Margaret.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland |date=1998 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-036-5 |pages=117 |edition=Second}} Meanwhile their eldest son, Archibald, who had been old enough to exercise authority alongside his father from 1419, inherited his father's Scottish titles, also becoming de jure Duke of Touraine.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland |date=1998 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-036-5 |pages=117 |edition=Second}} Margaret's official authority in Galloway was confirmed by her brother James I in 1426, when the king granted her the title of "lady of Galloway" for the remainder of her lifetime.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland |date=1998 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-036-5 |pages=232 |edition=Second}}

In 1426, Margaret made a grant to the Greyfriars of Dumfries in memory of her husband and her third son James, who had also fallen at Verneuil.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland |date=1998 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-036-5 |pages=191 |edition=Second}} Margaret's title to Galloway was the source of some friction with her eldest son, who supported the claim of William Douglas of Lesswalt, a prominent Gallovidian landowner, to the constableship of Lochnaw Castle over Margaret's preferred appointee, her squire Andrew Agnew.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=James I |date=1994 |publisher=Canongate Press |isbn=1-898410-40-2 |pages=78 |edition=First}} In a political compromise, Margaret in October 1426 secured Agnew's title to Lochnaw as a feudal vassal of Douglas of Lesswalt.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=James I |date=1994 |publisher=Canongate Press |isbn=1-898410-40-2 |pages=79 |edition=First}} Margaret attended her brother's court in 1429, probably alongside her younger sister, Mary, to demonstrate support for the claims of her nephew, John Kennedy, to lands in Carrick.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=James I |date=1994 |publisher=Canongate Press |isbn=1-898410-40-2 |pages=128 |edition=First}} In 1431, Margaret intervened with the king to secure her eldest son's release from detention, after the latter had clashed briefly with his uncle, James I, over the king's treatment of the Kennedy family.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=James I |date=1994 |publisher=Canongate Press |isbn=1-898410-40-2 |pages=139 |edition=First}}

In the wake of her brother's assassination in 1437, Margaret's eldest son was chosen by the Parliament of Scotland to become regent of the kingdom on behalf of her nephew, James II.{{cite book |last1=McGladdery |first1=Christine |title=James II |date=1990 |publisher=John Donald |isbn=978-1-904607-89-2 |pages=15 |edition=Second}} After exercising authority for two years, the earl died of a fever at Restalrig in 1439.{{cite book |last1=McGladdery |first1=Christine |title=James II |date=1990 |publisher=John Donald |isbn=978-1-904607-89-2 |pages=20 |edition=Second}} Margaret's grandson William became Earl of Douglas, but was killed alongside his brother the following year at the Black Dinner by his great-uncle, Margaret's brother-in-law James the Gross, who thus succeeded to the earldom. Margaret was then forced to acquiesce to the marriage of her only surviving grandchild, Margaret Douglas, to James the Gross' son William.

During Margaret's later years, her granddaughter was recognized as exercising authority in Galloway, allowing her husband William, who became Earl of Douglas in 1443, to use the style of Lord of Galloway jure uxoris.{{cite book |last1=McGladdery |first1=Christine |title=James II |date=1990 |publisher=John Donald |isbn=978-1-904607-89-2 |pages=38 |edition=Second}} Margaret was forced to formally resign her title to Galloway in William's favour in 1447. By that time, she had retired to the priory of Lincluden and vacated her residence of Threave Castle, which was now occupied by her granddaughter's husband.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland |date=1998 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-036-5 |pages=275 |edition=Second}} In 1449, Margaret's name was included in William's petition to Charles VII of France, asking him to recognize William's usage of the style of Duke of Touraine. This petition was denied, although Margaret continued to style herself as duchess.{{cite book |last1=McGladdery |first1=Christine |title=James II |date=1990 |publisher=John Donald |isbn=978-1-904607-89-2 |pages=69 |edition=Second}} Margaret died on an unknown date in 1450/51. She was still alive in January 1450, when her nephew James II confirmed her resignation of Galloway,{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland |date=1998 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=1-86232-036-5|pages=287 |edition=Second}} but she had died by January 1451.{{cite book |last1=McGladdery |first1=Christine |title=James II |date=1990 |publisher=John Donald |isbn=978-1-904607-89-2 |pages=103 |edition=Second}} Margaret's tomb survives today at Lincluden.

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Category:Scottish princesses

Category:Scottish duchesses

Category:Scottish countesses

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Category:1370 births

Category:1450 deaths

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