Eleanor of Scotland

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 his wife, Joan Beaufort. James I was known for his great love of literature which he passed on to Eleanor and her sister Margaret. In 1447, she accompanied Marie of Anjou, Queen of France, on a pilgrimage on Mont Saint-Michel.

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). who was in Savoy due to her contracted marriage to Louis of Savoy, Count of Geneva.

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

Translation Eleanor was a great lover of books and became literate in several languages, She was able to write in Latin, French, German and Scots.

Eleanor translated The History of the King's Son of Galicia, named Pontus, and the beautiful Sydonia (Pontus and Sidonia) from French to German. De Claris Mulieribus (Concerning Famous Women) to her.

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

Death Eleanor died giving birth to her son Wolfgang at Innsbruck on 20 November 1480. She was buried in the Cistercian Abbey at Stams, Tyrol, Austria.

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