Eleanor of Scotland

Who was Eleanor of Scotland?

Eleanor of Scotland was a daughter of James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort. She married Sigismund, a Habsburg Duke, then Archduke of Further Austria, and finally ruler of Tyrol.

Eleanor, like her two eldest sisters, inherited their father's love of literature. Her husband not being remarkable for learning, and ignorant of the French language, but fond of romances and works of fiction. The name of the archduchess is connected with the popular work entitled The History of the King's Son of Galicia, named Pontus, and the beautiful Sydonia. Eleanor translated this work from French to German. The French original passed through several editions between c. 1480 and 1550.' A copy of the German translation, preserved in the library of Gotha, bears the date 1465. This book seems to have been circulated extensively.