Scottish Consorts. Madeleine of Valois.

Madeleine of Valois (10 August 1520 – 7 July 1537) was a French princess who briefly became Queen of Scotland in 1537 as the first wife of King James V. The marriage was arranged in accordance with the Treaty of Rouen, and they were married at Notre-Dame de Paris in January 1537, despite French reservations over her failing health. Madeleine died in July 1537, only six months after the wedding and less than two months after arriving in Scotland, resulting in her nickname, the “Summer Queen”.

Early life

Madeleine (back right) with her mother and sisters, from the Book of Hours of Catherine de’Medici.
Madeleine was born at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, the fifth child and third daughter of King Francis I of France and Claude, Duchess of Brittany, herself the eldest daughter of King Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany.

She was frail from birth, and grew up 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. Together with her sister, Margaret, she was raised by her aunt, Marguerite de Navarre until her father remarried and his new wife, Eleanor of Austria, took them into her own household. By her sixteenth birthday, she had contracted tuberculosis.

Marriage negotiations

Three years before Madeleine’s birth, the Franco-Scottish Treaty of Rouen was made to bolster the Auld Alliance after Scotland’s defeat at the Battle of Flodden. A marriage between a French princess and the Scottish King was one of its provisions. In April 1530, John Stewart, Duke of Albany, was appointed commissioner to finalize the royal marriage between James V and Madeleine. However, as Madeleine did not enjoy good health, another French bride, Mary of Bourbon, was proposed.

James V sent his herald James Atkinhead to see Mary of Bourbon, and a contract was made for James to marry her. Although Mary not being a daughter of the King, she was allotted a dowry like that of a French princess. King James travelled to France in 1536 to meet Mary of Bourbon. However upon arrival James was not attracted to Mary. James was taken with the beauty of the delicate Madeleine, he asked Francis I for her hand in marriage. Fearing the harsh climate of Scotland would prove fatal to his daughter’s already failing health, Francis I initially refused to permit the marriage.

James V met Francis I and the French royal household between Roanne and Lyon on 13 October. He continued to press Francis I for Madeleine’s hand, and despite his reservations and nagging fears, Francis I reluctantly granted permission to the marriage only after Madeleine made her interest in marrying James very obvious. The court moved down the Loire Valley to Amboise, and to the Château de Blois, and the marriage contract was signed on 26 November 1536.

was Francis I right?