The Maid of Norway: Scotland's Lost Queen and a Kingdom's Fate

In 1286, the death of Alexander III left Scotland without a clear heir, and the crown passed to a three-year-old girl across the North Sea. Margaret, the Maid of Norway, was a granddaughter of the Scottish king and the daughter of a Norse princess, yet her reign lasted barely four years, most of it spent in the Orkney Islands. Her sudden death in 1290 on the voyage to her new kingdom plunged Scotland into a succession crisis that opened the door to Edward I of England, the Great Cause, and the wars of independence. This episode follows the child queen's brief, tragic life, the negotiations that made her heir, and the hasty coronation that never happened. We look at the Orkneyinga saga, the Bishop of Bergen, the Treaty of Salisbury, and the shadow of the Balliol and Bruce families. Lucas and Luna also consider how a little girl's fate changed the course of Scottish history, setting the stage for Bannockburn and the Declaration of Arbroath. #MaidOfNorway #MargaretOfScotland #AlexanderIII #Orkney #TreatyOfSalisbury #GreatCause #EdwardI #JohnBalliol #RobertTheBruce #ScottishSuccession #MedievalScotland #NorseScotland #OrkneyingaSaga #QueenMargaret #1290 #ScottishHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo