In December 1534, Francis I insisted that his eldest daughter Madeleine's health was too poor for marriage, suggesting that James V should marry Mary of Bourbon, daughter of the Duke of Vendôme, instead to fulfil the Treaty of Rouen. Again, the Duke of Albany briefly entertained the idea that James might marry Christina of Denmark, and the king halted progress on the marriage negotiations. There was also an investigation into the possibility of James marrying his former mistress, Margaret Erskine, before the negotiations resumed again, and in March 1536 a final contract made for Mary of Bourbon to marry James V. She would have a dowry as if she were a French princess, and Francis I consolidated the agreement by sending James the collar of the Order of Saint Michael as a token of his affection.Hay, Denys, ed., The Letters of James V (HMSO: Edinburgh, 1954), 318: Bapst, E., Les Mariages de Jacques V, 273.
