Edith of Scotland

Edith of Scotland, (c.1080-1118) was the wife of Henry I of England. She was the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland and St. Margaret of Scotland. Robert Curthose had stood as godfather at her christening.

When she was about six-years-old Edith and her sister, Mary, were sent to Romsey, where their aunt Christina was abbess. Some controversy came up in later years over whether Edith had been professed as a nun. She insisted that her aunt Christina had veiled her only to protect her "from the lust of the Normans". Edith claimed she had pulled the veil off and stamped on it, and her aunt beat and scolded her most horribly. During her stay at Romsey and Wilton, Edith was much sought-after as a bride; she turned down proposals from both William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, and Alan Rufus, Lord of Richmond. Hermann of Tournai even claims that William Rufus considered marrying her.

She and Henry seem to have known one another for some time before their marriage — William of Malmesbury states that Henry had "long been attached" to her, and Orderic Vitalis says that Henry had "long adored" Edith's character. Through her mother she was decended from Edmund II of England; this was very important as Henry wanted to help make himself more popular with the English people and Edith represented the old English dynasty. In their children the Norman and Anglo-Saxon dynasties would be united.

Edith and Henry were married on November 11, 1100 at Westminster Abbey by Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury. She was crowned as "Matilda", a fashionable Norman name. She and Henry had two children:

1. Maud, born February 1102
2. William Adelin, born 1103

She maintained her court primarily at Westminster, but accompanied her husband in his travels all across England, and in 1106/1107, Edith visited Normandy with Henry. Her court was filled with musicians and poets; she commissioned Turgot to write a biography of her mother, Saint Margaret. She was an active queen, and like her mother was reknowned for her devotion to religion and the poor. William of Malmesbury describes her as attending church barefoot at Lent, and washing the feet and kissing the hands of the sick. After her death in 1118 she was remembered by her subjects as "Matilda the Good Queen" and "Matilda of Blessed Memory", and for a time sainthood was sought for her, though she was never canonized.

Sources

• Chibnall, Marjorie. The Empress Matilda: Queen Consort, Queen Mother, and Lady of the English, 1992
• Hollister, Warren C. Henry I, 2001
• Parsons, John Carmi. Medieval Mothering, 1996
• Parsons, John Carmi. Medieval Queenship, 1997