Margarete Sambiria
| Margaret Sambiria | |
|---|---|
Margaret Sambiria
|
|
| Queen consort of Danmark | |
| Reign | 1252–1259 |
| Born | c. 1230 Germany |
| Died | December 1282 |
| Burial | Doberan Abbey |
| Spouse | Christopher I of Denmark |
| Issue | Eric V of Denmark |
| Father | Sambor II, Duke of Pomerania |
| Mother | Matilda of Mecklenburg |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Margaret Sambiria of Pomerania (in Danish: Margrethe Sambiria, Sambirsdatter or Margrethe Sprænghest; c. 1230 – December 1282) was the Queen consort of Denmark by marriage to King Christopher I of Denmark, and regent during the minority of her son, King Eric V of Denmark from 1259 until 1264. She is the first woman confirmed to have formally ruled as regent of Denmark. She was the reigning fief-holder of Danish Estonia in 1266-1282.
Margaret was born around 1230 to Sambor II, Duke of Pomerania and Matilda of Mecklenburg.
She had a Danish connection from her maternal grandparents Henry Borwin II, Lord of Mecklenburg and Lady Kristina from Scania, who was reportedly a daughter of the Danish magnate Galen clan from Eastern Denmark, and related to the Hvide clan of Zealand.
Margaret received her first name, then yet relatively rare in North Germany and Poland, in honor of her maternal Scandinavian relations, where the name Margaret came in the late 11th century with the family of Inge I of Sweden), presumably of her aunt, the countess of Schwerin, and her great-aunt, the princess of Rugia.
In 1248, she married prince Christopher, the youngest son of Valdemar II of Denmark and Berengária of Portugal. In accordance with the then succession custom of agnatic seniority, her husband ascended the throne of Denmark in 1252. Margaret was crowned with him.
Already as queen, Margaret was reportedly involved in politics. During the reign of Christopher, there was a conflict between the king and the archbishop Jakob Erlandsen, who demanded autonomy of the church from the crown, with the right to hold his own armies, a demand which lead to his arrest. This was a conflict which Margaret was to inherit as regent.
Her husband died on 29 May 1259, rumored to have been poisoned. Their son and heir Eric V of Denmark was a child, and Margaret was made regent until her son's maturity in 1264. This was unprecedented in Denmark, as no queen or queen dowager, as far as it is known, had until then formally and officially have the mandate as regent of Denmark.
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