structure, genre, sources, and major themes, plus extensive
bibliography.)
——. Life and Miracles of Saint Margaret of Cortona, trans.
Thomas Renna. (Forthcoming from Franciscan Institute.)
Bornstein, Daniel. “The Uses of the Body: The Church and the
Cult of Santa Margherita da Cortona.” Church History, 62,
1993, pp. 163–177.
Cannon, Joanna, and André Vauchez. Margaret of Cortona and
the Lorenzetti: Sienese Art and the Cult of a Holy Woman in
Medieval Tuscany. University Park: Pennsylvania State Uni-
versity Press, 1999. (See especially parts 1 and 5.)
“Margherita da Cortona.” In Bibliotheca sanctorum, Vol. 8.
Rome: Istituto Giovanni XXIII nella Pontifi cia Università
Lateranense, 1961–1971, cols. 759–773.
Schlager, Bernard. “Foundresses of the Franciscan Life: Umili-
ana Cerchi and Margaret of Cortona.” Viator, 29, 1998, pp.
141–166.
Sherry Reames
MARGRETHE I
(1353–October 27, 1412)
Queen of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, Margrethe
was the daughter of King Valdemar IV Atterdag (“ever-
day”) of Denmark and Queen Helvig. At the age of six,
she was betrothed, and at the age of ten married, to King
Hákon of Norway, son of King Magnus of Sweden of
the Folkungs dynasty. Rebellion in Sweden brought
Albrecht of Mecklenburg to the throne, but Hákon kept
a fi rm grip on the western parts of the country. Thus,
by marriage, Margrethe acquired the additional titles of
queen of Norway and Sweden. The upbringing of the
young queen was overseen by the Swedish noblewoman
Merethe Ulfsdotter, together with that of Merethe’s
own daughter, and “both often tasted the same birch.”
Merethe herself was of notable birth; her father was a
Swedish nobleman, and her mother St. Birgitta of Vad-
stena. The young Queen Margrethe was from the very
beginning made familiar with current political themes,
and was raised in an environment that doubtless shaped
her opinion of the possibilities for women in society.
In 1370, around Christmas, she gave birth to her only
child, Óláf (Óláfr), the legitimate heir to the crown of
Norway and, more or less, Sweden. In Denmark, the
problem of succession was deliberately kept undecided.
Margrethe’s rebellious brother, Christoffer, had died,
and King Valdemar had made vague promises to the son
of Margrethe’s sister Ingeborg, Albrecht of Mecklenburg
(not to be confused with King Albrecht of Sweden, his
father’s brother). When King Valdemar died on October
24, 1375, the Danish Council was faced with a diffi cult
choice, since the Mecklenburg candidate was heavily
supported by the German emperor, Charles IV. Mar-
grethe acted swiftly, as if she were the recognized ruler
of the realm. After many negotiations, the Danes elected
Olaf king in May 1376. But under the military threat
by Albrecht, an agreement was reached in September
that opened the way for recognition of Albrecht’s rights,
without detracting from Olaf’s, by submitting the issue
to arbitration by a number of German princes. Margrethe
thwarted this accord by claiming that all arbitration had
to follow Danish rules of succession, of which there
were none, since Danish kings were elected freely.
The death of Emperor Charles in November 1378 and
of Duke Albrecht in February 1379 left Margrethe to
skirmish only with Albrecht of Sweden. King Hákon
died in the late summer of 1380, only forty years old.
The next summer, Olaf was acclaimed with all rights
as hereditary king of Norway.
In 1386, diplomacy separated the Holsteinians from
the Mecklenburg party, albeit at the cost of concessions
regarding tile status of the duchy of Schleswig under
the Crown, but, as usual, with an enfeoffment of doubt-
ful character, supplemented with clauses that cried out
for interpretation. In Sweden, Albrecht gradually lost
control over the main fi efs to the councilors. Details
of their contacts with Margrethe are not known. But
Olaf’s sudden death on August 3, 1387, for the moment
upset all possible plans. Then, on August 10, Margrethe
established herself as “authorized lady and husband and
guardian of all of the realm of Denmark,” until a new
king could be elected according to her proposal. The
following year, she performed a similar “coup d’état”
in Norway, and managed to secure similar recognition
from a number of Swedish magnates. The resulting war
with King Albrecht was decided on February 24, 1389,
by her victory at Axevall and Åsle, where Albrecht was
captured while the German faction still kept Stockholm.
The same year, Margrethe adopted her sister’s maternal
grandson, Bugislav of Pomerania, now renamed Erik,
who would become king of all three kingdoms. Ev-
erything seemed settled, when a war of revenge with
Mecklenburg broke out. The peace in 1395 secured the
release of Albrecht, who put up Stockholm as a pledge
for the release sum. As this sum was not paid, Stock-
holm fi nally fell into the hands of Margrethe by 1398.
Margrethe had already instituted her famous Union of
Kalmar the year before. The resulting document, when
compared with the coronation document for Erik, sug-
gests that the outcome was not fully in accord with her
ideas of monarchial reign. This may explain why the
document was written only as a semivalid paper draft,
kept secret in Denmark. The stipulated parchment copies
to be sent to all three countries were never made, but
the document was later used to curb the government of
Erik of Pomerania. The lack of a son and the varying
rules of succession in the three kingdoms would eventu-
ally prove to be the ultimate obstacle for Erik and thus
for the life work of Margrethe. Nevertheless, the union
between Denmark and Norway lasted until 1814, and
with Sweden until the 1520s, indirectly giving fuel to
the wars of the 17th and 18th centuries, and playing aMARGRETHE I