Eleanor of Scotland

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

Eleanor of Scotland (1433 – Innsbruck 20 November 1480) was a daughter of James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort. She was an Archduchess of Austria by marriage and a noted translator.

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

Starting in 1445, Eleanor lived at the court of Charles VII of France. In 1447, she accompanied Marie of Anjou, Queen of France, on a pilgramage on Mont Saint-Michel.

In 1448 or 1449 the teenage Eleanor married Sigismund (1427–1496), a Habsburg Duke, then Archduke of Further Austria, and finally ruler of Tyrol (from 1446 to 1490).

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

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

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

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

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

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