The frail infant, named Mary Stuart, was the. Norfolk was executed and the English Parliament introduced a bill barring Mary from the throne, to which Elizabeth refused to give royal assent. [119], In late January 1567, Mary prompted her husband to return to Edinburgh. Not only were the two absolute rulers in a patriarchal society, but they were also women whose lives, while seemingly inextricable, amounted to more than their either their relationships with men or their rivalry with each other. He sent copies to Elizabeth, saying that if they were genuine, they might prove Mary's guilt. Mary Queen of Scots was executed by beheading at the age of 44 on the orders of her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. Marys mother Marie de Guise had arranged the marriage when Mary and Francis were infants, and so Mary was brought up knowing she would one day be queen of France and Scotland. Mary's father, James V, King of Scotland died on 14 December 1542 following the Battle of Solway Moss. She also had an infant son to consider. [58] On 11 June 1560, their sister, Mary's mother, died, and so the question of future Franco-Scots relations was a pressing one. [6] She was the great-granddaughter of King Henry VII of England through her paternal grandmother, Margaret Tudor. Around 8 a.m. on February 8, 1587, the 44-year-old Scottish queen knelt in the great hall of Fotheringhay Castle and thanked the headsman for making an end of all my troubles. Three axe blows later, she was dead, her severed head lofted high as a warning to all who defied Elizabeth Tudor. Mary, byname Mary, Queen of Scots, original name Mary Stuart or Mary Stewart, (born December 8, 1542, Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian, Scotlanddied February 8, 1587, Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire, England), queen of Scotland (1542-67) and queen consort of France (1559-60). Henry commented: "from the very first day they met, my son and she got on as well together as if they had known each other for a long time". In the summer of 1567, the increasingly unpopular queen was imprisoned and forced to abdicate in favor of her son. Defeated once and for all, the deposed queen fled to England, expecting her sister queen to offer a warm welcome and perhaps even help her regain the Scottish throne. [229] Cecil's nephew, who was present at the execution, reported to his uncle that after her death, "Her lips stirred up and down a quarter of an hour after her head was cut off" and that a small dog owned by the queen emerged from hiding among her skirts[230]though eye-witness Emanuel Tomascon does not include those details in his "exhaustive report". 3 [72] In this, she was acknowledging her lack of effective military power in the face of the Protestant lords, while also following a policy that strengthened her links with England. [46] Twenty days later, she married the Dauphin at Notre Dame de Paris, and he became king consort of Scotland. Men say that, instead of seizing the murderers, you are looking through your fingers while they escape; that you will not seek revenge on those who have done you so much pleasure, as though the deed would never have taken place had not the doers of it been assured of impunity. Despite the fact that Mary was also queen of Scotland, she knew little of the land of her birth. The pair exchanged regular correspondence, trading warm sentiments and discussing the possibility of meeting face-to-face. [88][89], English statesmen William Cecil and the Earl of Leicester had worked to obtain Darnley's licence to travel to Scotland from his home in England. Advertising Notice On 1 July 1543, when Mary was six months old, the Treaty of Greenwich was signed, which promised that, at the age of ten, Mary would marry Edward and move to England, where Henry could oversee her upbringing. Francis and his new wife became king and queen of France less than a year after their wedding ceremony at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Privacy Statement Despite these concerns, Elizabeth certainly considered the possibility of naming Mary her heir. She was thought to be dying. All were said to have been found in a silver-gilt casket just less than one foot (30cm) long and decorated with the monogram of King Francis II. At the same time, shes quick to point out that the portrayal of Mary and Elizabeth as polar oppositesCatholic versus Protestant, adulterer versus Virgin Queen, beautiful tragic heroine versus smallpox-scarred hagis problematic in and of itself. Mary's illegitimate half-brother, the Earl of Moray, was a leader of the Protestants. To date, acting luminaries from Katharine Hepburn to Bette Davis, Cate Blanchett and Vanessa Redgrave have graced the silver screen with their interpretations of Mary and Elizabeth (though despite these womens collective talent, none of the adaptations have much historical merit, instead relying on romanticized relationships, salacious wrongdoings and suspect timelines to keep audiences in thrall). Mary would go back to claim her throne in Scotland, leaving Charles Franciss younger brother who was only 10 years old at the time-to inherit his brothers title and position as king. Whereas Mary aged in the relative isolation of house arrest, Elizabeths looks were under constant scrutiny. , a Protestant reformer who objected to both queens rule, may have declared it more than a monster in nature that a Woman shall reign and have empire above Man, but the continued resonance of Mary and Elizabeths stories suggests otherwise. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [101] Mary refused his request and their marriage grew strained, although they conceived by October 1565. [199] After the Throckmorton Plot of 1583, Walsingham (now the queen's principal secretary) introduced the Bond of Association and the Act for the Queen's Safety, which sanctioned the killing of anyone who plotted against Elizabeth and aimed to prevent a putative successor from profiting from her murder. Her first husband was Francis II of France, who she married when she was just fifteen years old. A queer historian assesses the historical accuracy of the gay stuff in the Mary Queen of Scots movie. Beaton's claim was based on a version of the king's will that his opponents dismissed as a forgery. 2572212 | VAT registration No. In the eyes of the Catholic Church, Elizabeth was the illegitimate product of an unlawful marriage, while Mary, the paternal granddaughter of Henry VIIIs older sister Margaret, was the rightful English heir. Her only condition was the immediate alleviation of the conditions of her captivity. Darnley was murdered a few months after they were married, and Mary later married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Mary, Queen of Scots, may have been the monarch who got her head chopped off, but she eventually proved triumphant in a roundabout way: After Elizabeth died childless in 1603, it was Marys son, James VI of Scotland and I of England, who ascended to the throne as the first to rule a united British kingdom. Mary was misled into thinking her letters were secure, while in reality they were deciphered and read by Walsingham. [120] Mary visited him daily, so that it appeared a reconciliation was in progress. Not content with his position as king consort, he demanded the Crown Matrimonial, which would have made him a co-sovereign of Scotland with the right to keep the Scottish throne for himself, if he outlived his wife. Its unsurprising that the tale of these two queens resonates with audiences some 400 years after the main players lived. Only four of the councillors were Catholic: the Earls of Atholl, Erroll, Montrose, and Huntly, who was Lord Chancellor. [250] Mary's courage at her execution helped establish her popular image as the heroic victim in a dramatic tragedy.[251]. She reacted with fury and fear. [158] They are widely believed to be crucial as to whether Mary shared the guilt for Darnley's murder. [121] On the night of 910 February 1567, Mary visited her husband in the early evening and then attended the wedding celebrations of a member of her household, Bastian Pagez. Despite being married three times, there are relatively few portraits of Mary with her husbands. Although she was famously dubbed the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth only embraced this chaste persona during the later years of her reign. She assumed the throne as queen of Scotland when she was just six days old, upon the death of her father. He was released nineteen months later, after Cecil and Walsingham interceded on his behalf. [126] Elizabeth wrote to Mary of the rumours: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, I should ill fulfil the office of a faithful cousin or an affectionate friend if I did not tell you what all the world is thinking. [36] At the French court, she was a favourite with everyone, except Henry II's wife Catherine de' Medici. In May 1567 they wed at Holyrood and Mary wrote to the foreign courts that it was the right decision for her country. Mary was aged just fifteen when she was married to Francis, although the pair had been betrothed ten years earlier. The Tudor queen pressured Mary to ratify the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh, which wouldve prevented her from making any claim to the English throne, but she refused, instead appealing to Elizabeth as queens in one isle, of one language, the nearest kinswomen that each other had., To Elizabeth, such familial ties were of little value. [76], Mary then turned her attention to finding a new husband from the royalty of Europe. [24] The Treaty of Greenwich was rejected by the Parliament of Scotland in December. [236] Her body was embalmed and left in a secure lead coffin until her burial in a Protestant service at Peterborough Cathedral in late July 1587. [103] On 9 March, a group of the conspirators accompanied by Darnley murdered Rizzio in front of the pregnant Mary at a dinner party in Holyrood Palace. [196] To discredit Mary, the casket letters were published in London. A Huguenot uprising in France, the Tumult of Amboise, made it impossible for the French to send further support. [146] On 18 May, local officials took her into protective custody at Carlisle Castle. [73], Mary sent William Maitland of Lethington as an ambassador to the English court to put the case for Mary as the heir presumptive to the English throne. A post-mortem revealed internal injuries, thought to have been caused by the explosion. Although each of these marriages was short-lived, every one of these unions made an impact on Scottish history. When Mary left for Scotland, she travelled with the children of Scotland's nobility, including the 'Four Maries,' the women who would stay with her throughout her later imprisonment and execution. In October, she was put on trial for treason under the Act for the Queen's Safety before a court of 36 noblemen,[209] including Cecil, Shrewsbury, and Walsingham. He ignored the edict. Facts about the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. Not only were the two absolute rulers in a patriarchal society, but they were also women whose lives, while seemingly inextricable, amounted to more than their either their relationships with men or their rivalry with each other. Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart[3] or Mary I of Scotland,[4] was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. Mary as queen: 10 July 1559 . Marys third and final marriage began and ended with controversy. 24 Apr 1558. [163], Mary's biographers, such as Antonia Fraser, Alison Weir, and John Guy, have come to the conclusion that either the documents were complete forgeries,[164] or incriminating passages were inserted into genuine letters,[165] or the letters were written to Bothwell by a different person or written by Mary to a different person. After an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne, she fled southward seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Elizabeth I of England. GB 638 3492 15, Copyright 2023 Warners Group Publications Plc. In the immediate aftermath of Darnleys murder, he met with Mary about six miles outside of Edinburgh. Sketch of Mary, queen of Scots, age 12 or 13, by Clouet. Chastelard was tried for treason and beheaded. She refused to attend the inquiry at York personally but sent representatives. [92] Mary's insistence on the marriage seems to have stemmed from passion rather than calculation; the English ambassador Nicholas Throckmorton stated "the saying is that surely she [Queen Mary] is bewitched",[93] adding that the marriage could only be averted "by violence". A Brief History of Steamboat Racing in the U.S. Texas-Born Italian Noble Evicted From Her 16th-Century Villa. Kristen Post Walton outlines a middle ground between these extremes, noting that Marys Catholic faith and gender worked against her throughout her reign. Darnley was a weak man and soon became a drunkard as Mary ruled entirely alone and gave him no real authority in the country. Mary's contemporary supporters, including Adam Blackwood, dismissed them as complete forgeries or letters written by the Queen's servant Mary Beaton. [91] Their children, if any, would inherit an even stronger, combined claim. She was considered a pretty child and later, as a woman, strikingly attractive. [227] She was blindfolded by Kennedy with a white veil embroidered in gold, knelt down on the cushion in front of the block on which she positioned her head, and stretched out her arms. [240], Assessments of Mary in the 16th century divided between Protestant reformers such as George Buchanan and John Knox, who vilified her mercilessly, and Catholic apologists such as Adam Blackwood, who praised, defended and eulogised her. In July, Elizabeth sent Sir Henry Sidney to cancel Mary's visit because of the civil war in France. She became queen at 6 days old. [185] Her chambers were decorated with fine tapestries and carpets, as well as her cloth of state on which she had the French phrase, En ma fin est mon commencement ("In my end lies my beginning"), embroidered. English troops then intervened in the Scottish civil war, consolidating the power of the anti-Marian forces. Entering the later stages of her pregnancy, she was desperate to escape and somehow won over Darnley and they escaped together. In July of 1565, she wed a cousin named Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, a weak, vain, and unstable young man; like Mary, he was also a grandchild of Henry VIIIs sisterMargaret. Mary had briefly met her English-born half-cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in February 1561 when she was in mourning for Francis. On the promise of French military help and a French dukedom for himself, Arran agreed to the marriage. 04 September 2017. [151] A commission of inquiry, or conference, as it was known, was held in York and later Westminster between October 1568 and January 1569. By running to England, Mary hoped Elizabeth I would protect her from harm. [55], In Scotland, the power of the Protestant Lords of the Congregation was rising at the expense of Mary's mother, who maintained effective control only through the use of French troops. In 1561, Mary, Queen of Scots, upset the applecart of the Protestant Reformation. [139] On 24 July, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son James. Aged five Mary Queen of Scots was sent to France by her mother Marie of Guise because she was contracted to marry Francis (Francois), the eldest son of King Henri II of France and Catherine de Medici. On 24 April 1567, Bothwell, with a force of 800 men, kidnapped Mary whilst she was riding between Linlithgow and Edinburgh. [206] In a successful attempt to entrap her, Walsingham had deliberately arranged for Mary's letters to be smuggled out of Chartley. Mary and Bothwell confronted the lords at Carberry Hill on 15 June, but there was no battle, as Mary's forces dwindled away through desertion during negotiations. Mary was born on 8 December 1542 at Linlithgow Palace, Scotland, to King James V and his French second wife, Mary of Guise. [8], A popular tale, first recorded by John Knox, states that James, upon hearing on his deathbed that his wife had given birth to a daughter, ruefully exclaimed, "It cam wi' a lass and it will gang wi' a lass! Within two months of the wedding, she became pregnant with future King James I. [99] Mary broadened her privy council, bringing in both Catholics (Bishop of Ross John Lesley and Provost of Edinburgh Simon Preston of Craigmillar) and Protestants (the new Lord Huntly, Bishop of Galloway Alexander Gordon, John Maxwell of Terregles and Sir James Balfour). During her son's minority, she played a key role in the conflict between the pro-French and pro-English factions in Scotland, constantly shifting her allegiances to suit her financial interests. Bastardized following the 1536 execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn, she spent her childhood at the mercy of the changing whims of her father, Henry VIII. [223], The executioner Bull and his assistant knelt before her and asked forgiveness, as it was typical for the executioner to request the pardon of the one being put to death. In 1559, Henry II of France, died at the age of 40. [210][211] Spirited in her defence, Mary denied the charges. The denouement of Mary and Elizabeths decades-long power struggle is easily recalled by even the most casual of observers: On February 8, 1587, the deposed Scottish queen knelt at an execution block, uttered a string of final prayers, and stretched out her arms to assent to the fall of the headsmans axe. Registration now open. English forces mounted a series of raids on Scottish and French territory. When Moray rushed into the room after hearing her cries for help, she shouted, "Thrust your dagger into the villain!" [123] There were no visible marks of strangulation or violence on the body. [100], Before long, Darnley grew arrogant. Mary Queen of Scots picks up in 1561 with the eponymous queen's return to her native country. Mary Stuart's (Saoirse Ronan's) attempt to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), Queen of England, finds her condemned to years of imprisonment before facing execution. Dudley was Sir Henry Sidney's brother-in-law and the English queen's own favourite, whom Elizabeth trusted and thought she could control. [68], To the surprise and dismay of the Catholic party, Mary tolerated the newly established Protestant ascendancy,[69] and kept her half-brother Moray as her chief advisor. As a Protestant, she faced threats from Englands Catholic faction, which favored a rival claim to the thronethat of Mary, the Catholic Queen of Scotsover hers. Mary, Queen of Scots, towered over her contemporaries in more ways than one. And though Marys father, James V, reportedly made a deathbed prediction that the Stuart dynasty, which came with a lassMarjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert the Brucewould also pass with a lass, the woman who fulfilled this prophecy was not the infant James left his throne to, but her descendant Queen Anne, whose 1714 death marked the official end of the dynastic line. [56] In early 1560, the Protestant Lords invited English troops into Scotland in an attempt to secure Protestantism. [147], Mary apparently expected Elizabeth to help her regain her throne. Margaret was Henry VIII's older sister so Mary was Henry VIII's great-niece. [234] Davison was arrested, thrown into the Tower of London, and found guilty of misprision. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1546 - 10 February 1567), was an English nobleman who was the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the father of James VI of Scotland and I of England. But the two never actually met in person, a fact some historians have drawn on in their critique of the upcoming film, which depicts Mary and Elizabeth conducting a clandestine conversation in a barn. Then, news of another killing broke. The marriage of Mary Queen of Scots: 24 April 1558. James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, was a vainglorious, rash and hazardous young man, according to ambassador Nicholas Throckmorton. She fled to England and begged in letters for her cousin Elizabeth's support and help regaining her throne. [170] In contrast, Weir thinks it demonstrates that the lords required time to fabricate them. [47][48], In November 1558, Henry VIII's elder daughter, Mary I of England, was succeeded by her only surviving sibling, Elizabeth I. [109] The ride was later used as evidence by Mary's enemies that the two were lovers, though no suspicions were voiced at the time and Mary had been accompanied by her councillors and guards. In France the royal arms of England were quartered with those of Francis and Mary. [3] Widowed following the unexpected death of her first husband, France's Francis II, she left. At the centre of the Scottish court, 1561-68. Link will appear as Hanson, Marilee. Barely a month after the marriage, rebel nobles and their forces met Marys troops at Carberry Hill, 8 miles south-east of Edinburgh. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scotland, Mary was six days old when her father died and she inherited the throne. Josie Rourkes film sees Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie transform from allies into rivals, but in actuality, the queens relationship was far more complex. [215] Nevertheless, Elizabeth hesitated to order her execution, even in the face of pressure from the English Parliament to carry out the sentence. On 14 December, six days after her birth, she became Queen of Scotland when her father died, perhaps from the effects of a nervous collapse following the Battle of Solway Moss[7] or from drinking contaminated water while on campaign. [197] Plots centred on Mary continued. Her Marys returned with her as ladies-in-waiting. . After eighteen and a half years in captivity, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth in 1586 and was beheaded the following year at Fotheringhay Castle. The nobles who had plotted with Darnley now felt betrayed by him; after all, they had captured the queen and her potential heir, murdered her dear friend, and were in a position to demand anything. Mary was accompanied by her own court including two illegitimate half-brothers, and the "four Marys" (four girls her own age, all named Mary), who were the daughters of some of the noblest families in Scotland: Beaton, Seton, Fleming, and Livingston. Mary, Queen of Scots is born, daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise . [118] At the start of the journey, he was afflicted by a feverpossibly smallpox, syphilis or the result of poison. Mary's guardians, fearful for her safety, sent her to Inchmahome Priory for no more than three weeks, and turned to the French for help. [171] At least some of Mary's contemporaries who saw the letters had no doubt that they were genuine. Three months after Darnleys death, Mary wed the man whod been accused ofand acquitted of in a legally suspect trialhis murder. Instead, its more likely the queens attitudes toward each other were dictated largely by changing circumstance. For myself, I beg you to believe that I would not harbour such a thought. Queen of Scotland (r. 15421567) and Dowager Queen of France, Consorts to debatable or disputed rulers are in, Sadler to Henry VIII, 23 March 1543, quoted in, Sadler to Henry VIII, 11 September 1543, quoted in, A dispensation, backdated to 25 May, was granted in Rome on 25 September (, Confession of James Ormiston, one of Bothwell's men, 13 December 1573, quoted (from. Mary's great uncle Henry VIII of England wanted to trap her in a marriage with his Protestant heir Edward, the future Edward VI. Why Mary wed Darnley remains a mystery. Her husband, Francois II, King of France had died unexpectedly, and . Instead, Elizabeth placed Maryan anointed monarch over whom she had no real jurisdictionunder de facto house arrest, consigning her to 18 years of imprisonment under what can only be described as legally grey circumstances. [132] Bothwell and his first wife, Jean Gordon, who was the sister of Lord Huntly, had divorced twelve days previously. [193] Early the following year, Moray was assassinated. [19][17], Beaton wanted to move Mary away from the coast to the safety of Stirling Castle. Not only had Darnleys arrogant behaviour during the early months of the marriage angered many of the Scottish nobles, but it had also incurred the displeasure of Queen Elizabeth I of England, who was angry to see Darnley, as her English subject, marry the Queen of Scots, who was herself in line to the throne of England. In June, the much awaited French help arrived at Leith to besiege and ultimately take Haddington. [38] Her future sister-in-law, Elisabeth of Valois, became a close friend of whom Mary "retained nostalgic memories in later life". [136] Bothwell was given safe passage from the field. ), Mary was a Catholic queen in a largely Protestant state, but she formed compromises that enabled her to maintain authority without infringing on the practice of either religion. Robbie provides the foil to Ronans Mary, donning a prosthetic nose and clown-like layers of white makeup to resemble a smallpox-scarred Elizabeth. Wed to the dauphin in April 1558, 16-year-old Maryalready so renowned for her beauty that she was deemed la plus parfaite, or the most perfectascended to the French throne the following July, officially asserting her influence beyond her home country to the European continent. As she told Elizabeths ambassador soon before her July 1565 wedding to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, not to marry, you know it cannot be for me. Darnley, Marys first cousin through her paternal grandmother, proved to be a highly unsuitable match, displaying a greed for power that culminated in his orchestration of the March 9, 1566, murder of the queens secretary, David Rizzio. [148] Elizabeth was cautious, ordering an inquiry into the conduct of the confederate lords and the question of whether Mary was guilty of Darnley's murder. George Lasry, Norbert Biermann, Satoshi Tomokiyo, Two of the commissioners were Catholics (, Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son James, Cultural depictions of Mary, Queen of Scots, "National Records of Scotland; Hall of Fame A-Z - Mary Queen of Scots", "Elizabeth and Mary, Royal Cousins, Rival Queens: Curators' Picks". According to Janet Dickinson of Oxford University, any in-person encounter between the Scottish and English queens wouldve raised the question of precedence, forcing Elizabeth to declare whether Mary was her heir or not. [16][17] The treaty provided that the two countries would remain legally separate and, if the couple should fail to have children, the temporary union would dissolve. In the absence of Lennox and with no evidence presented, Bothwell was acquitted after a seven-hour trial on 12 April. Her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I held her. It is impossible now to prove either way. [175] For overriding political reasons, Elizabeth wished neither to convict nor to acquit Mary of murder. [217] On 1 February 1587, Elizabeth signed the death warrant, and entrusted it to William Davison, a privy councillor. Historian Jenny Wormald believes this reluctance on the part of the Scots to produce the letters and their destruction in 1584, whatever their content, constitute proof that they contained real evidence against Mary. "[13], As Mary was a six-day-old infant when she inherited the throne, Scotland was ruled by regents until she became an adult. [168], The casket letters did not appear publicly until the Conference of 1568, although the Scottish privy council had seen them by December 1567. On 7 July 1548, a Scottish Parliament held at a nunnery near the town agreed to the French marriage treaty. This legendary statement came true much later not through Mary, but through her great-great-granddaughter Anne, Queen of Great Britain. [51] Mary's claim to the English throne was a perennial sticking point between herself and Elizabeth. Days after this final meeting, Mary fled Scotland to seek refuge in England, hoping for the protection of Elizabeth I of England. [59], King Francis II died on 5 December 1560 of a middle ear infection that led to an abscess in his brain.