Madeleine of Valois

Magdalene of Valois
Queen consort of Scots
Madeleine de Valois by Corneille de la Haye
Tenure	1 January - 7 July, 1537
Spouse	James V
Father	Francis I of France
Mother	Claude, Duchess of Brittany
Born	August 10, 1520(1520-08-10) St. Germain-en-Laye
Died	July 7, 1537 (aged 16) Edinburgh, Scotland
Burial	Holyrood Abbey

Madeleine de Valois (August 10, 1520 – July 7, 1537), was a princess of France and Queen consort of James V, King of Scots. Princess Madeleine was born at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, the fifth child and third daughter of King Francis I of France and Claude de France, daughter of Louis XII of France. Very frail since birth, she was raised in the warm and temperate Loire Valley region of France, rather than at Paris, as her father feared that the cold would destroy her delicate health. By her sixteenth birthday, she had contracted tuberculosis. Despite this, she sparked the interest of the visiting Scottish King, James V, who arrived in France in 1536, seeking a bride who would both strengthen political ties between Scotland and France and would also bring a large dowry that would help the virtually bankrupt Scottish coffers. James V was smitten with the delicate young princess and asked her father for her hand in marriage. Citing her illness and the harsh climate of Scotland, which he feared would prove fatal to be his daughter's already failing health, Francis I initially refused to permit the marriage. James V then temporarily turned his attention to another bride, Marie de Guise, but abandoned his courtship of her when he saw Madeleine again at a court ball. He approached Francis I for Madeleine's hand again, and despite his reservations and nagging fears, Francis I reluctantly granted permission to the marriage when Madeleine made her interest in marrying James very obvious. The pair married on January 1, 1537 at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in what Francis I and James V hoped would renew and strengthen the "Auld Alliance" between Scotland and France ^[1]. Francis I also provided Madeleine with a very generous (and much needed) dowry, which proved to be a great help to the Scottish treasury. After months of festivities and celebrations, the couple left France for Scotland in May, 1537. By this time, Madeleine's health had deteriorated even further and she was very sick when the royal pair landed in Scotland. On July 7, 1537, a few short weeks later (and a month before her 17th birthday), Madeleine died in her husband's arms at Edinburgh, Scotland. Queen Madeleine was interred in Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh. Less than a year after her death, her husband married the widowed Mary of Guise, the woman he had previously wooed and who had been present at his wedding to Madeleine.

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