Margaret Plantagenet
Encyclopedia
Margaret of England was the tenth child and seventh daughter of King Edward I of England
and Eleanor of Castile
. Her husband was John II, Duke of Brabant
, whom she married in 1290; the year of her mother's death. Margaret and John had one child, John III, Duke of Brabant
.
, the tenth child of King Edward I of England and his first queen consort, Eleanor of Castile. Margaret's maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III of Castile
and his second wife Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu
, and her paternal grandparents were Henry III of England
and his wife Eleanor of Provence
. Henry III was son of John of England
and his second wife Isabella of Angoulême
. John was son of Henry II of England
and Eleanor of Aquitaine
.
Margaret's fifteen siblings included: Henry of England
, Joan of Acre
, Eleanor, Countess of Bar, Elizabeth of Rhuddlan
and her father's suceesor, Edward II of England
.
When Margaret's mother died in 1290, her father remarried to Margaret of France. She was daughter of Philip III of France
and Maria of Brabant. They were parents to three children: Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk
, Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
and Eleanor of England.
in Westminster Abbey
, London; becoming Duchess of Brabant
less than four years later on 3 May 1294 . She had been acquainted with her groom since childhood, as they had been betrothed in 1278 when she was three years old. Margaret's wedding festivities were splendidly extravagant; they included a procession of knights in full body armour and richly-dressed ladies singing as they paraded through the streets of London to the music provided by harpers, minstrels and violinists, while fools danced. Their only child was John III, Duke of Brabant
, successor to his father.
Margaret, described having been a good-natured, merry child in her youth, was unhappy at the Brabant court, as she was forced to accept her husband's perennial succession of mistresses and the illegitimate children they bore him; all of whom were raised at court alongside her own son, John. The latter was her only child, born 10 years after her marriage to the Duke.
During the reign of John II, Brabant
continued supporting a coalition to stop French expansion. He tried to conquer South Holland (district of medieval Holland) from the pro-French count John II of Holland, but was not successful. John, who suffered from kidney stone
s and wanted his duchy to be peacefully handed over to his son upon his death, in 1312 signed the famous Charter of Kortenberg
.
Margaret and John attended the wedding of her brother King Edward II to Isabella of France
in Boulogne on 25 January 1308. They accompanied the royal pair to England for their joint coronation at Westminster Abbey the following month.
After his death John II was buried in the St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral
in Brussels
. Margaret died twenty-two years after her husband. She died in Belgium and is buried at Cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula, Brussels
. Both tombs have since been destroyed.
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile was the first queen consort of Edward I of England. She was also Countess of Ponthieu in her own right from 1279 until her death in 1290, succeeding her mother and ruling together with her husband.-Birth:...
. Her husband was John II, Duke of Brabant
John II, Duke of Brabant
John II van Brabant , also called John the Peaceful, was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg...
, whom she married in 1290; the year of her mother's death. Margaret and John had one child, John III, Duke of Brabant
John III, Duke of Brabant
Jan III van Brabant , also called John III, the Triumphant , was Duke of Brabant, Lothier, and Limburg...
.
Family
Margaret was born on 15 March 1275, at Windsor CastleWindsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
, the tenth child of King Edward I of England and his first queen consort, Eleanor of Castile. Margaret's maternal grandparents were Ferdinand III of Castile
Ferdinand III of Castile
Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...
and his second wife Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu
Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu
Joan of Dammartin was Queen consort of Castile and León , suo jure Countess of Ponthieu and Aumale . Her daughter, the English queen Eleanor of Castile, was her successor in Ponthieu...
, and her paternal grandparents were Henry III of England
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
and his wife Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Provence was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Henry III of England from 1236 until his death in 1272....
. Henry III was son of John of England
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
and his second wife Isabella of Angoulême
Isabella of Angoulême
Isabella of Angoulême was queen consort of England as the second wife of King John from 1200 until John's death in 1216. They had five children by the king including his heir, later Henry III...
. John was son of Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
and Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
.
Margaret's fifteen siblings included: Henry of England
Henry of England
Henry of England was the fifth child and second son of Edward I of England by his first wife Eleanor of Castile....
, Joan of Acre
Joan of Acre
Joan of Acre was an English princess, a daughter of the King Edward I of England and queen Eleanor of Castile...
, Eleanor, Countess of Bar, Elizabeth of Rhuddlan
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan was the eighth and youngest daughter of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile...
and her father's suceesor, Edward II of England
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
.
When Margaret's mother died in 1290, her father remarried to Margaret of France. She was daughter of Philip III of France
Philip III of France
Philip III , called the Bold , was the King of France, succeeding his father, Louis IX, and reigning from 1270 to 1285. He was a member of the House of Capet.-Biography:...
and Maria of Brabant. They were parents to three children: Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk
Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk
Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, Lord Marshal of England was the son of Edward I of England and Margaret of France.-Early life:...
, Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent was a member of the English Royal Family.-Early life:He was born at Woodstock in Oxfordshire, the son of Edward I Longshanks, King of England and his second wife, Margaret of France. He was 62 years younger than his father, who died when Edmund of Woodstock...
and Eleanor of England.
Marriage
On 8 July 1290 Margaret married John II, Duke of BrabantJohn II, Duke of Brabant
John II van Brabant , also called John the Peaceful, was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg...
in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, London; becoming Duchess of Brabant
Duchess of Brabant
The Duchess of Brabant is the woman married to the heir to the Belgian throne, the Duke of Brabant. But this was only as of 1840 when it was revived as an honorific title for the Crown Prince of the newly created Kingdom of Belgium...
less than four years later on 3 May 1294 . She had been acquainted with her groom since childhood, as they had been betrothed in 1278 when she was three years old. Margaret's wedding festivities were splendidly extravagant; they included a procession of knights in full body armour and richly-dressed ladies singing as they paraded through the streets of London to the music provided by harpers, minstrels and violinists, while fools danced. Their only child was John III, Duke of Brabant
John III, Duke of Brabant
Jan III van Brabant , also called John III, the Triumphant , was Duke of Brabant, Lothier, and Limburg...
, successor to his father.
Margaret, described having been a good-natured, merry child in her youth, was unhappy at the Brabant court, as she was forced to accept her husband's perennial succession of mistresses and the illegitimate children they bore him; all of whom were raised at court alongside her own son, John. The latter was her only child, born 10 years after her marriage to the Duke.
During the reign of John II, Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
continued supporting a coalition to stop French expansion. He tried to conquer South Holland (district of medieval Holland) from the pro-French count John II of Holland, but was not successful. John, who suffered from kidney stone
Kidney stone
A kidney stone, also known as a renal calculus is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation formed in the kidneys from dietary minerals in the urine...
s and wanted his duchy to be peacefully handed over to his son upon his death, in 1312 signed the famous Charter of Kortenberg
Charter of Kortenberg
On September 27, 1312, the Duke of Brabant signed a charter that should better be referred to as a constitution. It was valid for the entire duchy. From this charter originated a kind of "Parliament of Cortenbergh" or a "Council of Cortenberg" or what was called an assembly of "The Lords of...
.
Margaret and John attended the wedding of her brother King Edward II to Isabella of France
Isabella of France
Isabella of France , sometimes described as the She-wolf of France, was Queen consort of England as the wife of Edward II of England. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre...
in Boulogne on 25 January 1308. They accompanied the royal pair to England for their joint coronation at Westminster Abbey the following month.
After his death John II was buried in the St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral
St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral
The St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church at the Treurenberg hill in Brussels, Belgium. In French, it is called Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule and in Dutch Sint-Michiels- en Sint-Goedelekathedraal, usually shortened to "Sint-Goedele".In 1047, Lambert II, Count of...
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. Margaret died twenty-two years after her husband. She died in Belgium and is buried at Cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. Both tombs have since been destroyed.