(Cover image - Queen Margaret by Daniel Mytens)
Margaret Tudor was the oldest of King Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth of York’s daughters and King Henry VIII’s sister. Some refer to her as the English Princess and Scottish Queen due to her being married off to Scotland’s King James IV at the tender age of 13 years old. After years of backstabbing one another, England and Scotland signed a peace treaty on 13 of September 1497 and it included a marriage agreement between James and little Margaret who at the time hadn’t even turned 6 years old. Their marriage and life together is something we’ll discuss in two days, though. Today we’re talking about her second marriage to the Earl of Angus.
What we do need to know now is that the peace treaty didn't last long and while Henry VIII found himself in Calais, the Scots took the opportunity and ran with it, allying themselves with France and trying to invade England while Katherine of Aragon was regent in the King’s absence and heavily pregnant. Unfortunately for him, Katherine’s troopes won at Flodden, killing him on 9 September 1513 and leaving Margaret in a dire position. Her late husband (killed by her brother’s army, let’s be mindful of that fact) had appointed her as regent of their son and heir, James V, but it had a catch; Margaret could only rule as regent and maintain her power at court as long as she didn’t remarry. It did make sense, though. Margaret had been Queen of Scotland by marriage so as soon as she became another’s bride, she’d stop being James’ widow.
But with that being said, she was in her mid twenties and had two young sons to provide for while surrounded by thirsty sharks and it might make you question her motives for marrying Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. Why would she risk losing it all in a court where everyone was against a woman ruler, and even moreso, an English one. There’s a theory that states that Margaret may have been pursuing the Douglas family protection, for herself and her children, as they were some of the most respected and important Scottish nobles. Maybe she thought it would solidify her hand on the throne until James V’s coming of age.
Others say she was foolishly in love. It could just simply be that she was too young, scared and desperate to see things clearly and be on her own. Whatever the hows and whys were, they got secretly married on 6th August 1514 at Kinnoull in Perthshire, hoping the news wouldn’t leak but it didn't take much for everyone to know. Parliament was totally outraged by this union and the nobility was totally against it too. They feared that Angus would rule through Margaret, as women were considered malleable and feeble, favouring his own kind and taking power away from them. Vultures flew all the way down on Margaret who saw how they intended on taking her away from her son reminding everyone about that little part of the late King’s will that guaranteed Margaret’s regency only as long as she remained unmarried.
Understandably so, Margaret went into fight or flight emotional response and sought her brother’s aid, asking for an army to defend her and her son’s claim. Henry VIII suggested that it would be best for everyone involved if Margaret and Angus brought the kid to England and created an English controlled regency for James V. It undoubtedly would ease all his headaches, having control over Scotland’s future monarch and shaping him into what best fitted England. Margaret and her husband refused the offer and maybe she’d later come to regret it.
One day Angus had to leave Stirling, where they were living at the moment, in order to stop a siege at the Archbishopric of St Andrew’s, and the Earl of Arran (naval commander and first cousin of James IV who served as Lord High Admiral of Scotland) ran to Stirling and took Margaret back to court in Edinburgh. There, she had to meet with the Council and was forced to abdicate from her regency in favour of John Stewart, Duke of Albany (grandson of James II, born and raised in France). This wasn’t meant to happen, since French King Louis XII (Margaret’s brother in law through his marriage to her younger sister Mary Tudor) had assured her that he wouldn’t let Albany step out from France. But fate rolled the dice and he passed away only a few months after his wedding, thus, being unable to honour his word and letting Albany be called and brought to Scotland.
Stewart remained polite to Margaret but he was clearly anti-English and didn’t appreciate the Douglas clan at all. Parliament supported the Council when they rebuked Margaret’s rights upon her children, claiming that they should be under the Government's wing to groom them appropriately and prepare them for their future roles. On hearing that and moved by either maternal love and instincts or power hunger, she entrenched herself within Stirling Castle with both James and little Alexander and refused to hand them over to the four Lords that were sent to take the kids to Edinburgh. Her husband took the Council’s side and asked her to adhere to what they demanded, probably fearing treason accusations that could lead them both to death. All of this led to a siege of Stirling Castle with Angus staying at his Forfar lands and not helping his family out but not complying to Albany’s orders either.
While all of this was going on, Lord Dacre (English Warden of the Marches), sent by Henry VIII to cause everyone more trouble and destabilise Scotland, tried his best to get Albany out of the country and encouraged Margaret to escape back to England with her infants.
It must have been deeply excruciating. Margaret was practically left alone by her husband while fighting to keep her kids at her side and now she was pregnant once again. She gave up and handed James and Alexander over to Albany and I can’t help but wonder if in that moment her uncles popped up in mind. Elizabeth of York’s younger brothers, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, disappeared under their uncle Richard’s care, never to be seen again and granting him the crown. Did she fear her sons would also vanish into thin air to make Albany King? Was she scared of never seeing James and Alexander again? She must have felt really exhausted and desperate to let them go after having put up such a fight to protect them.
With her expected due date approaching, she asked the Council to be let go to Linlithgow Palace to await the birth, which they conceded. As Scotland’s dowager Queen she had to ask permission for absolutely everything, losing her freedom and making her quite discontent with her life. With her children on her side she had not accepted Henry VIII’s offerings of taking them in, worrying it might undermine her son’s claim to the throne. Now she had nothing left to lose. She held no true power at court, they had taken away her children, her freedom and her jewels, and even had her sign official documents by force. She felt like the only answer to her situation was to leave and somehow get back to England.
On a day that Angus was permitted to visit her, they fled to his castle at Tantallon accompanied by Lord Hume and his wife, having to stop first at Harbottle Castle so that Margaret could give birth. There, on 8 October 1515, Margaret Douglas was born with pure chaos surrounding her.
She’s reported to have been very ill after the fact, with what’s nowadays assumed to be sciatica, but she still found it in herself to write to Albany. In that letter she not only informed him of her daughter’s birth but demanded to be restored into her former position.
Correspondence between the two kept coming and going, with Albany even telling Margaret he would pardon Gavin Douglas. He was Angus’ uncle and was appointed Abbot of Aberbrothwick as well as Archbishop of St Andrews by Margaret. But John Hepburn, prior of St Andrews, had obtained the vote of the chapter, so he expelled him and thus began the conflict that took Angus away from Margaret and caused her to be in such a vulnerable position that led to her abdicating. Gavin Douglas was imprisoned due to all of this and that’s what Albany was talking about here. He also offered full control over the boys and benefices within the properties of her dower. Clearly he wanted to keep her in Scotland where he could keep an eye on her, rather than in England, where international warfare could take place if Henry VIII woke up with the left foot. Besides, wouldn't it be a terrible PR move to have the mother of the King literally run for her life to another country?
Angus and Margaret signed a pact, which makes me wonder how much love could exist between them if these types of decisions were made through an official paper. In that pact, they agreed to be on each other’s team and not ally themselves with Albany under any circumstance with the objective to get her children back. To make matters worse, on top of her being ill, Dacre told her some devastating news: her little son Alexander had died at less than two years of age. Margaret was wrecked.
After a couple of months of back and forth, Henry sent for his sister, niece and brother in law and invited them down south to London. Surprisingly, for a couple who had just promised to each other to stick together against their enemies, Archibald accompanied his wife and daughter until they reached the border and then he travelled back to Scotland. When learning about this, Henry VIII is reported to have said about Angus' escape that it was ‘done like a Scot’. Even worse, Angus ran to Albany and tried to make peace with him.
That might have been the first time Margaret got a sour taste of her husband.
The former Scottish Queen set foot in London in May 1516. By 1517 a peace treaty was signed by Albany, Henry and Cardinal Wolsey while the first was in France trying to secure a marriage for James V. This brought Margaret back to the north where she was received by Albany’s deputy and her estranged husband. This is the moment when their marriage would receive the biggest blow.
Margaret found out that her husband had been seeing a former lover of his while she was in England. Lady Jane Stewart and Archibald had been living off of Margaret’s properties and revenues which got her so furious (rightfully so, may I say) that she wrote to Henry VIII hinting that she was considering divorce. Now, what would you say he answered to his older sister? Henry VIII, who would go down in history as the guy who got two of his wives killed and divorced two other ones, didn’t want to hear a single thing about Margaret divorcing Angus saying it was not what a godly fellow Christian ought to do. This angered her even more and made her feel alone, so she turned around and allied herself with the faction that asked for Albany’s return to Scotland. In a shocking turn of events, Albany told Margaret to resume her position as regent as he was in no rush to go back to Edinburg.
Angus and Margaret ended up on opposing ends, and their fights would be the centre of attention during the next few years. The Council asked Angus to give back Margaret’s rents and money, but he didn’t comply stating that, as her husband, he had rights over it (all whilst his lover lived at his wife’s expense).
Margaret began to ask Henry and Wolsey for a way out of her marriage, claiming that they hadn’t even lived together in months and that he didn’t love her. Dissolutions and annulments were fairly common amongst royals, but there had to have been a pre-contract to another person before the wedding or a non-consummation claim for it to be granted. Margaret went with the first option a bit later on, praying that they wouldn’t taint her daughter Margaret with bastardy claims as the marriage had been conducted in good faith. It was a risky game, and we can understand how hopeless Margaret had to be in order to play that card.
By November 1521, Albany was back and started working hand in hand with Margaret. Angus was relieved of all the offices he had accrued in Albany’s absence and somewhat of a brief reconciliation took place between the couple.
It didn’t last long and Margaret went in full force with the annulment request. Her brother betrayed her and sent Wolsey to prevent that from happening, accusing Margaret of lying about Angus with the intention of marrying Albany. Rumours swirled around about a possible affair between the two and how they intended on deposing James V and rule themselves.
Margaret accused Henry of being ‘sharp and unkind’ in his correspondence with her and Albany wrote to him trying to calm him down saying that he was the Governor and that James was perfectly fine, with no apparent issues with Margaret. Tensions grew, as they often did with Henry. Angus was sent to France and given a role at court, which some may say it was to save face or prevent more trouble to ensue.
Albany sailed to France to offer the French King aid on the ongoing war against England and Margaret took the chance and organised, with the help of Arran and the Hamiltons, a swift coup d'état that put her twelve year-old son as King with full powers and no regency.
This was the beginning of the end for her marriage with Angus. Henry VIII allowed him to go back to Scotland from France but by this moment, Margaret was in some type of relationship with Henry Stewart, which didn’t sit well with the Earl of Lennox who decided to retaliate by allying himself with Margaret’s husband. Angus tried to reclaim a position in Parliament but his wife cannoned him out of Edinburgh until February 1525 when she accepted him in at the Council.
I’ll let you guess for a moment what he did after.
He kidnapped James V and exercised power on his behalf for more than two years. James, as I’m sure anyone would understand, ended up hating Angus and the whole Douglas family.
Albany supported Margaret’s annulment and rallied for her in Rome, where in 1527 Pope Clement VII finally granted her petition, freeing her from Archibald. Even better, the Pope said that as the union had taken place in good faith, Margaret Douglas was no bastard, which I’m sure was a relief to Margaret Tudor.
She happily proceeded to marry her lover Henry Stewart on 3 March 1528 and in June 1528 James V escaped and began his Kingship with Margaret by his side. Angus was exiled for a while and died in January 1557 at Tantallon Castle, Scotland, from erysipelas.
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