King Edward of ENGLAND

                   Born about 1045, died 16 Nov., 1092, was a daughter of Edward"Outremere", or "the Exile", by Agatha, kinswoman of Gisela, the wife ofSt. Stephen of Hungary. She was the granddaughter of Edmund Ironside. Aconstant tradition asserts that Margaret's father and his brother Edmundwere sent to Hungary for safety during the reign of Canute, but no recordof the fact has been found in that country. The date of Margaret's birthcannot be ascertained with accuracy, but it must have been between theyears 1038, when St. Stephen died, and 1057, when her father returned toEngland. It appears that Margaret came with him on that occasion and, onhis death and the conquest of England by the Normans, her mother Agathadecided to return to the Continent. A storm however drove their ship toScotland, where Malcolm III received the party under his protection,subsequently taking Margaret to wife. This event had been delayed for awhile by Margaret's desire to entire religion, but it took place sometime between 1067 and 1070. In her position as Queen, all Margaret'sgreat influence was thrown into the cause of religion and piety. A synodwas held, and among the special reforms instituted the most importantwere the regulation of the Lenten fast, observance of the Eastercommunion, and the removal of certain abuses concerning marriage withinthe prohibited degrees. Her private life was given up to constant prayerand practices of piety. She founded several churches, including the Abbeyof Dunfermline, built to enshrine her greatest treasure, a relic of thetrue Cross. Her book of the Gospels, richly adorned with jewels, whichone day dropped into a river and was according to legend miraculouslyrecovered, is now in the Bodleian library at Oxford. She foretold the dayof her death, which took place at Edinburgh on 16 Nov., 1093, her bodybeing buried before the high altar at Dunfermline. In 1250 Margaret wascanonized by Innocent IV, and her relics were translated on 19 June,1259, to a new shrine, the base of which is still visible beyond themodern east wall of the restored church. At the Reformation her headpassed into the possession of Mary Queen of Scots, and later was securedby the Jesuits at Douai, where it is believed to have perished during theFrench Revolution. According to George Conn, "De duplici statu religionisapud Scots" (Rome, 1628), the rest of the relics, together with those ofMalcolm, were acquired by Philip II of Spain, and placed in two urns inthe Escorial. When, however, Bishop Gillies of Edinburgh applied throughPius IX for their restoration to Scotland, they could not be found. Thechief authority for Margaret's life is the contemporary biography printedin "Acta SS.", II, June, 320. Its authorship has been ascribed to Turgot,the saint's confessor, a monk of Durham and later Archbishop of St.Andrews, and also to Theodoric, a somewhat obscure monk; but in spite ofmuch controversy the point remains quite unsettled. The feast of St.Margaret is now observed by the whole Church on 10 June.