Editing Margaret, Maid of Norway (section)

== Infancy ==
Margaret, Maid of Norway, was the only child of King [[Eric II of Norway]] and his first wife, [[Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway|Margaret]], daughter of King [[Alexander III of Scotland]].{{sfn|Oram|2002|p=107}} She was born in [[Tønsberg]], a coastal town in southeastern Norway,{{sfn|Oram|2002|p=107}} between March and 9 April 1283, when her mother [[maternal death|died]], apparently from the [[complications of childbirth]].{{sfn|Duncan|2002|p=166}} 

Aged fifteen and possessing little royal authority, King Eric did not have much say about his daughter's future. The infant Margaret was instead in the custody of the leading Norwegian magnate, {{ill|Narve (bishop)|lt=Narve|no|Narve (biskop)|de|Narve}}, [[Bishop of Bergen]]. Margaret's upbringing in the city of [[Bergen]] shows that her future marriage was expected to be important to the kingdom's foreign policy.{{sfn|Oram|2002|p=107}} 

The 1281 treaty arranging the marriage of Eric of Norway and Margaret of Scotland specified that the Scottish princess and her children would succeed to the throne of Scotland if King Alexander died leaving no [[legitimacy (family law)|legitimate]] sons and if no legitimate son of King Alexander left legitimate children.{{sfn|Duncan|2002|p=166}} It also stated that the couple's daughters could inherit the Norwegian throne "if it is the custom". The Scottish party seems to have been deceived because the succession law of Norway, codified in 1280, provided only for male succession, meaning that the Maid could not have succeeded to her father's kingdom.{{sfn|Duncan|2002|p=169}}{{refn|Eric II was survived by one child from his second marriage, a daughter named [[Ingeborg, Duchess of Öland|Ingeborg]], but was succeeded by his brother, [[Haakon V]]. When Haakon V died, he was succeeded not by his daughter [[Ingeborg of Norway|Ingeborg]] but by her son [[Magnus VII]].{{sfn|Duncan|2002|p=169}}|group=nb}}