Eleanor of Scotland

Eleanor of Scotland
Archduchess consort of Austria
Tenure	1449–1480
Born	1433
Died	20 November 1480(1480-11-20) (aged 46–47)
Burial	Stams
Spouse	Sigismund, Archduke of Austria
House	Stewart
Father	James I of Scotland
Mother	Joan Beaufort

Eleanor of Scotland (1433 – 20 November 1480) was an Archduchess of Austria by marriage to Sigismund, Archduke of Austria, a noted translator, and regent of Austria in 1455–58 and 1467. She was a daughter of James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort.

Early life

Eleanor was the sixth child of James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort.^[1] James I was known for his great love of literature which he passed on to Eleanor and her sister Margaret.^[1]

Starting in 1445, Eleanor lived at the court of Charles VII of France, where it was suggested that she should marry Frederick, King of the Romans.^[1][2] In 1447, she accompanied Marie of Anjou, Queen of France, on a pilgrimage on Mont Saint-Michel.^[3]

Archduchess of Austria

In 1448 or 1449 the teenage Eleanor married Sigismund, a Habsburg Duke, then Archduke of Further Austria, and finally ruler of Tyrol (from 1446 to 1490).^[1][2]

Eleanor served as regent for her husband from 1455 to 1458 and again in 1467.^[2]

Heinrich Steinhöwel dedicated his translation of Boccaccio's On Famous Women to Eleanor.

Translation

Eleanor was a great lover of books and literate in several languages.^[2] She translated The History of the King's Son of Galicia, named Pontus, and the beautiful Sydonia (Pontus and Sidonia) from French to German.^[2] The French original passed through several editions between 1480 and 1550.^[2]

In addition to translating the work, Eleanor also revised it to increase the political power of women.^[2] Only the courts with effective female advisors retained their political stability.^[2]

Based on the number of printings, it was a popular book.^[2] A copy of the German translation, preserved in the library of Gotha, bears the date 1465.^[3]

Eleanor and Elisabeth von Nassau-Saarbrücken are credited with introducing the prose novel to German literature.^[2]

Death

Eleanor died giving birth to her son Wolfgang at Innsbruck on 20 November 1480 and was buried in Stams.

Gallery

• 
  Sigismund, Archduke of Austria and his betrothed Radegonde of Valois and successive wives Eleanor of Scotland and Catherine, Archduchess of Austria.
• 
  Sigismund and Eleanor Statues in Stams

References

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