Margaret, Maid of Norway (c. 1283–1290)
Margaret, Maid of Norway (c. 1283–1290)
Child-queen of Scotland . Name variations: Margaret of Norway; Margaret Ericsdottir. Born before April 1283 in Tönsberg, Norway; died at age eight on September 26, 1290, en route to Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland; buried in Bergen, Norway; daughter of Margaret of Norway (1261–1283) and Eirik the Priest-Hater also known as Eric II Magnusson (1268–1299), king of Norway (r. 1280–1299); granddaughter of Alexander III, king of Scotland (r. 1249–1286).
At age three, in 1286, Margaret, known as the Maid of Norway, succeeded her grandfather Alexander III, king of Scotland. She was the only child of Alexander's daughter, Margaret of Norway , who had married Eric II, king of Norway. In 1289, the young Margaret was affianced to Prince Edward (the future Edward II, king of England), but she mysteriously died at sea en route to the Orkneys from Bergen, Norway, by way of the North Sea. Her death left Scotland without a monarch, prompting a bitter conflict, the first Interregnum, between the families of Bruce and Balliol for the throne.