Eleanor of Scotland

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]

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).[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.

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]

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

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