March 2 | Marjorie Bruce

December, 1296 - March 2, 1316: Age 19

Marjorie Bruce was the eldest daughter of Robert Bruce, who was crowned Robert I of Scotland during the Wars of Scottish Independence against Edward I of England.

Just a few months after her father was crowned, Marjorie was taken prisoner by an enemy of her father, along with her stepmother, two aunts, and another lady. She was nine years old. The prisoners were delivered to Edward I, who sent her and one aunt to a convent. Her stepmother was confined to a manor house in Yorkshire and the other two ladies were actually put in a cage and displayed to the public. Edward considered confining the nine-year-old Marjorie to a cage as well, but was persuaded not to.

Edward I died a year later but his son, Edward II, continued Marjorie's confinement for about 8 years (the ladies in the cage were moved to a convent after 4 years). She was released in 1314 in a prisoner exchange. Of course back in Scotland, as the daughter of a king, she was still virtually a prisoner, and was given to Walter Stewart as wife in reward for his valour in battle. The picture above is of the imagined meeting with new husband, drawn centuries after the fact. There is no known portrait of her in existence.

Two years later, while pregnant, Marjorie's horse startled while she was out riding and she fell to the ground. She went into labour and delivered a son prematurely, dying a few hours after the birth. The child, however, survived, and eventually ascended to the throne as Robert II. She is, in fact, the direct ancestor of the subsequent monarchs of both Scotland and England, including our own Queen Elizabeth.

Source: Wikipedia