1. Family background
2. Rise to power
3. The marriages
4. Conspiracy to death
 
 
 
 
1. Family Background     TOP
On December 8, 1542, Mary, daughter of Mary of (Antoinette de) Guise and King James V of Scotland, was born at Linlithgow Palace. Her father died a week after Mary’s birth from injuries inflicted upon him during the battle at Solway Moss where he wad defeated by the English. Jame's death lead to the crowning of  the nearly one year old Mary as queen of Scots.
 
Wedding plans were already set by treaty for Mary to wed Henry VIII’s son, Edward. However, Henry VIII’s erratic behavior and constant plots to murder others in power caused the Scots to avoid the English marriage and then sent the five year old Mary off to France, where her mother resided. In 1548, the Scotish Parliament arranged for Mary to wed Francis (Dauphin), the heir of Henry II, king of France. Mary first met her four-year-old betrothed husband at the age of five. They were close and affectionate with one another even as children and traveled from one royal palace to another like Fountaineblea to Meudon, or to Chambord or Saint-Germain.
 
At an age where most noble women are considered either ‘fair’ or ‘beautiful’, Mary was noted as being lovely, intelligent, and full of vitality. Mary was educated in the traditional manner of French princesses; she spoke French and learned Latin, Italian, Spanish and a little Greek while learning to dance, sing, play the lute as well as converse on religious matters. Although she had much promise to a glorious life ahead of her, Mary’s life would not be as peaceful and happy as one would have hoped.
 
 
 
 
2. Rise to Power     TOP
By the age of eleven, Mary was deemed to be as intelligent and well-spoken as a woman of twenty-five by her doting father-in-law. Mary’s uncle, Cardinal Guise, taught her about statecraft, perhaps encouraging her natural feelings of clemency and mercy. In fact, Mary was to be remarkably free from bigotry during her short reign in Scotland, even towards her subjects of a different religion.
 
In 1558, Mary married her betrothed Dauphin in an incredible celebration at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. She was exceptionally tall for a woman in the 16th century and was every inch the majestic Queen; she had an oval face, shapely chin, and small mouth which were balanced by her golden-red hair, large forehead, and hazel eyes. Many considered Mary to be the most beautiful princess in Europe, much like her relative Mary, sister of Henry VIII, who had also been queen of France for a short period of time.
 
In that same year of Mary’s marriage, Queen Mary I of England passed away and Henry II of France encouraged his daughter-in- law to assume the royal arms of England. In his opinion - and that of most of Catholic Europe - Mary of Scotland was the next heir to the English throne. This belief, of course, would have serious repercussions throughout Mary's life. Elizabeth I never forgot this first offense and could not rest easily while her Catholic cousin lived. In the next year, Henry II of France, died at the age of 40 which made Mary and her husband Queen and King of France. Sadly, just six months later, her young husband also died of an ear infection.
 
Mary was understandably devastated by the chain of tragic events and left for Scotland, which was under religious and civil discord throughout the country side. Without waiting for a safe-conduct pass from Elizabeth, whose ships were patrolling her route, Mary set out for Scotland on 14 August 1561 and, five days later, reached Leith, the port of Edinburgh.
 
Mary knew very well that she was succeeding to a most troubled heritage. After her recent years of loss and grief, she was determined to make a bright future. During an age of religious persecution which earned her cousin Mary Tudor the nickname 'Bloody Mary,' Mary was determined that every one of her Scottish subjects should worship God as their conscience right and made no religious persecution under her rule. In this sense, she resembled her cousin Elizabeth I.
 
The Scots received their new queen with great joy and celebration. At once, she began to try and help them; within a year of her arrival, one-sixth of all Church benefices were given to the Protestant ministers to relieve their poverty. She also attempted to strengthen the power of the Crown against Scotland's notoriously difficult-to-control nobles. Of course, such a strategy would lead to more peace and stability within the realm. As a result, she was popular with the common people but not the nobility.
 
In 1563, Mary began the traditional 'royal progress' throughout Scotland. Even though Mary charmed all who met her, she treaded dangerous ground with her policy of non-discrimination and desire to unify the nation, taking power away from the independent nobles. In the political realm, Mary kept up peaceful relations with France, Spain, and England, without having never met Elizabeth face-to-face. But, in 1566, her patience was tried by Throckmockor, the English ambassador's persistent and obvious spying, (link to codes part about him) she ordered him out of the kingdom. Also her peace with France and Spain was kept without a treaty, though a treaty would have given Scotland some measure of protection against England in the possibility of conflict. However, Mary was aware that any treaty could compromise her subjects, involving them in another war that would cause strife. Above all, she wanted peace and prosperity, and she kept Scotland safely distanced from political machinations. When the threat to Mary's reign finally came, it was not from outside powers, but from within her own nation.
 
 
 
 
3. Marriages    TOP
As queen, Mary was more than aware that she should marry and provide heirs to the throne. In July of 1565, she wed Henry Stewart (Lord Darnley), her cousin by way of their shared grandmother Margaret. A weak, vain, and unstable young man, he was a surprising choice of husband for Mary. The lord was superficially charming and, unlike most men, taller than the queen. He was fond of courtly amusements and as such a nice change from the dour Scottish lords who usually surrounded Mary. He never seemed to care for his wife and sought far more power than she was willing to give him. When she was six months pregnant in March of 1566, Darnley joined a group of Scottish nobles who broke into her supper-room at Holyrood Palace and dragged her French secretary, David Riccio, into another room and stabbed him to death. They claimed Riccio had undue influence over her foreign policy but, in reality, they probably meant to cause Mary, who watched this horrific crime, to suffer a miscarriage. Mary believed Darneley was angry because she had denied him the crown matrimonial thus wanted to kill her and the child.  Considering most women did not survive miscarriages in the 16th century, this would clear the way for him to become King of Scots. However that was unlikely since had he been successful, Darnley would not have lived long after his wife’s death.
 
After Riccio's death, the nobles kept Mary prisoner at Holyrood Palace because she did not have a miscarriage. Once she entered the later stages of her pregnancy, she was desperate to escape and convinced Darnley to help her escape. Three months followed bringing about James VI, the future king of Scotland. This birth brought congratulations from all over Europe. Still young and healthy after the birth, Mary now had an heir. This period of time was to be the peak of her reign and her greatest and happiest moment. In December 1566 James was baptized in the Chapel Royal of Stirling Castle. Mary, once the fragile last hope of the Stewart dynasty, was just 23 years old and had fulfilled one of a monarch's greatest duties - providing a healthy son and heir. Elizabeth of England, ten years older, watched these events with interest since she knew her own future would be - by choice - unmarried and childless. She could well imagine that Mary's son would be her heir as well.
 
James's birth only provided a temporary calm. The nobles who plotted with Darnley felt betrayed by him since, they had captured the queen and her potential heir, murdered her dear friend, and were still not in a position to demand anything. In February of 1567 the nobles destroyed Darnley's home, Kirk o' Field and Darnley's strangled body was found in the garden.
 
After Darnley’s death, Mary was unwilling to cause further bloodshed. Understandably terrified, she left Edinburgh for a castle at Dunbar. Bothwell, a noble who previously pursued Mary to wed him before her marraige to Darnely, told her she needed a strong husband who could help unify the nobles behind her. Mary knew herself to be powerless and had an infant son to consider. Thus she wed Bothwell in May 1567, in hopes of stabilizing the country. An agreement the nobles had signed which indicated they were prepared to accept him as their overlord was supposed to guarantee their marriage would unify the royal couple and the nobles.
 
The agreement was useless since the nobles were not to be trusted. They were angry that Bothwell would be all-powerful and decided to wage war against him. Only a month after the marriage, rebel nobles and their forces fought Mary's troops at Carberry Hill, south-east of Edinburgh. Upon their demands that Mary abandon Bothwell, Mary turned herself over to avoid the bloodshed of battle. The nobles took Mary to Lochleven Castle and held prisoner on an island fortress. From her illness, she was forced to sign a document abdicating the crown in favor of her year-old son.
 
By 1568, Mary escaped the prison with the help of George Douglas, a brother to one of her keepers at Lochleven. Ten months after captivity, she was free to fight for the throne. Her supporters gathered and battled forces at Dumbarton Castle in Langside, Glasgow. Mary's forces lost and she was forced to flee. Against all advice, she asked Elizabeth I for support since she was James's godmother, Mary's cousin and a fellow independent Queen.
 
 
 
 
4. Conspiracy to Death    TOP
Mary set sail for England on May 16th,1568. She arrived in Workington, Cumbria where Elizabeth kept Mary guarded. In December 1569, the Casket Letters were at Westminster. They were letters belonging to Bothwell which were found in his casket. They disappeared soon afterwards and only translations and copies remain. These ‘letters’ implicated that Mary was guilty of conspiracy against the queen of England.
 
Mary was moved from prison to prison, to only arrive at Fotheringay Castle. Of course, Mary plotted from the very beginning to escape where her plots grew more and more murderous. However Mary's imprisonment only ended with her execution.
 
In October 1586, Mary was put on trial at Fotheringay for plotting to kill Elizabeth and claims for the English throne.
 
The trial trail ended on October 16, 1586 and was executed the morning of February 8th,1587.
 
Dressed in black and velvet satin, she entered the Great Hall of Fotheringay Castle and commanded her servant tell her son that she had never done anything to compromise their kingdom of Scotland. Sixteen years after Mary, queen of Scots’ execution, Mary's son became King of England and Scotland.