The Kingdom of Scotland existed from 843 to 1707 and operated mostly under male-preference primogeniture. This meant that women could inherit the throne, but only if they had no brothers. We will look at the women who were passed over due to this rule.
Margaret of Scotland
Margaret was born before 1195 as the daughter of William I the Lion, King of Alba, and Ermengarde de Beaumont. She had two sisters and a brother who eventually succeeded their father as King, Alexander II. Margaret and her sister, Isabella, were held as hostages by King John I of England from 1209. On 19 June 1221, Margaret married Hubert de Burgh, Regent of England, but she was disappointed in the match. Hubert wasn’t made an earl until 1227, and he had been married twice before. Margaret and Hubert had one daughter together, who was named after her mother, but young Margaret did not live to adulthood. The elder Margaret was widowed in 1243 and outlived her husband for sixteen years, dying on 25 November 1259.1
Margaret Stewart
Margaret was born between 1367 and 1373 as the eldest daughter of the future King Robert III of Scotland and Annabella Drummond. She had several younger siblings, including David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (who died at the age of 23) and the future King James I (who was around 20 years younger than Margaret). Her father succeeded as King in 1390, and by then Margaret had been married to Archibald Douglas, who became the 4th Earl of Douglas in December 1400. They went on to have at least five children together, including the future 5th Earl of Douglas. In 1424, Margaret’s husband was killed at the Battle of Verneuil. Margaret died between 1450 and 1451.
Margaret Stewart
Margaret was born on 25 December 1424 as the eldest daughter of King James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort. She had five younger sisters and one surviving younger brother, the future King James II. She was betrothed to the future King Louis XI of France from an early age as part of a political alliance for Scottish assistance in the war between France and England. Margaret sailed for France in March 1436, and she was escorted by some of the greatest Scottish nobles. She married Louis in Tours on 25 June 1436 and became the Dauphine of France. She was taken into the household of the French Queen, Marie of Anjou, where she reportedly saw very little of her husband, whose aversion to her was remarked upon by contemporaries. She is said to have devoted much of her time to writing, and she was criticised by doctors for it, who claimed that her “poetic overwork” may have contributed to her death. She was treated with kindness by King Charles VII and his wife, and when she died on 16 August 1445, there was a great outpouring of grief.
Elizabeth Stuart
Elizabeth was born on 19 August 1596 as the second child and the eldest daughter of King James VI of Scotland (later also King James I of England) and Anne of Denmark. Elizabeth had an elder brother, Frederick Henry, who died at the age of 18, and one surviving younger brother, the future King Charles I. Frederick Henry died shortly before Elizabeth was married to Frederick V, Elector Palatine, and her younger brother Charles became the next Prince of Wales. Elizabeth and Frederick went on to have thirteen children, of whom not all lived to adulthood. Elizabeth died on 13 February 1662. Her daughter, Sophia, was eventually appointed as the successor to Queen Anne.
The Kingdom of Scotland unified with the Kingdom of England to form a single Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
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