Details

Name

Mary

Brief Biography

1542 - 1587, Scottish

Occupation

Monarch

Description

Queen Mary I of Scotland, best known as Mary, Queen of Scots, was born Mary Stuart at Linlithgow Palace on 7th December 1542, the daughter of King James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. James died in 1542, making Mary queen. Her mother, acting as regent, sent the infant to France for safety, due to pro-English and pro-French political factions vying to control the child. Mary married Francis, the Dauphin of France. In July 1559 he became King Francis II. Mary became Queen of France and of Scotland. Many Roman Catholics in Scotland, England, Ireland and Europe also recognised her as queen of England after Mary I died and the Protestant Elizabeth I succeeded her in November 1558. Mary’s claim to the English throne was based on being the grand-daughter of Margaret Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII, Elizabeth's father. To Roman Catholics, Mary's claim was stronger than Elizabeth's because they viewed Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn as illegal. As Elizabeth grew older, and remained unmarried and without an hier, the Stuart royal family's claims to the English and Scottish thrones increased. However, Mary's young husband Francis II died in December 1560, after a reign of 17 months. Unwilling to live under the domination of her mother-in-law Catherine De Medicis, she returned to Scotland. Landing at Leith in 1561, she took the advice of the moderates James Stuart (her half-brother, later Earl of Moray) and William Maitland of Lethington and recognised the Reformed (Presbyterian) church, allowing it a modest endowment but not full establishment. Mary married her second husband (and first cousin) Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, on 29th July 1565. The marriage soured and she refused him the right to succeed her should she die without issue. Mary turned to her Italian secretary, David Rizzio, for comfort and advice. On 9th March 1566, a group of Protestant lords, acting with the support of Darnley, murdered Rizzio in Mary's presence at Holyrood Palace. Mary, by then six months pregnant, survived. On 19 June 1566, she gave birth to her son James at Edinburgh Castle. By the end of 1566 Mary had befriended James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who was helping to dissolve her marriage to Lord Darnley. But, on 10th February 1567, Darnley was murdered at Kirk o' Field, Canongate burgh, neighbouring Edinburgh. Bothwell was believed to be the chief instigator of the murder, but was acquitted after a brief trial. On 15th May 1567, Mary married Bothwell, according to the Protestant rite. The Scottish nobles, many of whom disliked the Bothwell, banded together to face Mary and her new husband. Mary surrendered and Bothwell fled. Mary was imprisoned at Lochleven Castle. On 24th July 1567, she was compelled to abdicate in favour of her son who became King James VI of Scotland. With the help of a few brave friends, Mary escaped and rallied an army which engaged in a battle at Langside, near Glasgow, on 13th May 1568, but was beaten by an army led by the Protestant lords. Mary went to England to beg support and shelter from her cousin Elizabeth, who accepted her but kept her under house arrest. Numerous plots by English Roman Catholics and foreign agents revolved around Mary, to free her and restore her to Scotland and also pursue the claim to the English throne. The plots were frustrated by English agents but concerns were raised about the safety of Elizabeth. English agents sought to trap Mary to remove the threat. The Babington plot, which called for the assassination of Elizabeth, was the trap which ensnared Mary. She was found guilty of complicity and sentenced to be beheaded. Although reluctant to execute her cousin, Elizabeth gave the order, which was carried out at Fotheringhay Castle on 8th February 1587. Mary was buried first at Peterborough Cathedral. In 1612, after he had ascended the English throne in 1603, her son King James VI of Scotland and I of England had her interred in Westminster Abbey, London.