Saint Margaret of Scotland, is also known by her Anglo-Saxon name Margaret Ætheling (1045–1093). She married Malcolm III, King of Scots, becoming his Queen consort. The daughter of the English prince Edward the Exile or "Edward Outremer", son of Edmund Ironside, Margaret was born in Hungary. Her mother Agatha was related to the kings of Hungary. When her uncle, Edward the Confessor, the (French-speaking) Anglo-Saxon King of England, died in 1066, she was living in England where her brother, Edgar Ætheling, had decided to make a claim to the vacant throne. After the conquest of the Kingdom of England by the Normans the widowed Agatha decided to leave Northumberland with her children and return to the Continent, but a storm drove their ship to Scotland where they sought the protection of King Malcolm "Canmore". The spot where she is said to have landed is known today as St Margaret's Hope, near the village of North Queensferry. Malcolm was probably a widower, and was no doubt attracted by the prospect of marrying one of the few remaining members of the Anglo-Saxon royal family. The marriage of Malcolm and Margaret soon took place and was followed by several invasions of Northumberland by the Scottish king, probably in support of the claims of his brother-in-law Edgar. These, however, had little result beyond the devastation of the province.

Far more important were the effects of this alliance upon the history of Scotland. Margaret used her connections to facilitate the introduction of the continental Benedictine monastic order, helping Malcolm to found Dunfermline Abbey. Moreover, a considerable portion of the old Northumbrian kingdom had been conquered by the Scottish kings in the previous century, but up until this time the English population had little influence upon the ruling element of the kingdom. Malcolm's marriage possibly improved the condition of the ethnically Anglo-Saxon population he ruled, and under Margaret's sons, Edgar I, Alexander I and David I, the Scottish royal court became more like that of its Anglo-Norman and continental neighbours. Margaret was very religious, and saw to the building of churches and the preservation of sacred relics. She rebuilt the monastery of Iona, and provided a free ferry (between what is now North and South Queensferry) and housing for pilgrims coming to visit the shrine of Saint Andrew. She was a lavish alms-giver, and paid the ransoms of English hostages held by the Scots.
 

She was canonised in 1251 by Pope Innocent IV on account of her great benefactions to the Church.
 

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