St. Margaret: Queen of Scotland

By Alan J. Wilson

This text looks at the life of St Margaret. Her father was the son of Edmund Ironside, who fled England on the accession of Cnut. As heirs to Edward the Confessor she and her brother returned from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0859763986
• ISBN13: 9780859763981
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: John Donald
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.5" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Interesting book for obtaining a background in Saint Margaret's life and times

Having read another reviewer's dismissive opinion of this book, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised by this book, although my previous understanding was admittedly based on pamphlets and short hagiographic summaries. I do think it is hilarious that the author proposes that King Malcolm's first wife, Ingibiorg, must have been an undocumented daughter of King Malcolm's dead rival Thorfinn of Orkney (who co-ruled Scotland with MacBeth), rather than exploring the possibility that she was the widow of his rival (and, if so, much older than Malcolm). The author doesn't speculate on what could have provoked Margaret to argue for such a sweeping change to marital customs (banning levirate and other 'inheritance' marriages) - cited as one of the five great works for which she deserved to be sainted. I think waiting two years for an elderly wife to die, or worse, nursing an aged first wife after marrying Malcolm, could have provided such passion. I admit, it could have been the then-almost commonplace practice of murdering relatives to obtain property through marriage to widows, without reference to any interesting factoids about Malcolm's first marriage. Unless you are thoroughly steeped in cutting edge research into Saint Margaret's life, I think you would find this an interesting and informative book.