mary queen of scots husbands in order
Rejoice don't weep These words of comfort were spoken by Mary to one of her servants as she faced execution. [147], Mary apparently expected Elizabeth to help her regain her throne. Regardless of whether sexual attraction, love or faith in Bothwell as her protector against the feuding Scottish lords guided Marys decision, her alignment with him cemented her downfall. [175] For overriding political reasons, Elizabeth wished neither to convict nor to acquit Mary of murder. [66] The Protestant reformer John Knox preached against Mary, condemning her for hearing Mass, dancing, and dressing too elaborately. 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). They sent him to France ostensibly to extend their condolences, while hoping for a potential match between their son and Mary. He sent copies to Elizabeth, saying that if they were genuine, they might prove Mary's guilt. [86] Mary fell in love with the "long lad", as Queen Elizabeth called him since he was over six feet tall. Facts about the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. James Feder. "[9] His House of Stuart had gained the throne of Scotland in the 14th century via the marriage of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert the Bruce, to Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland. Why Mary wed Darnley remains a mystery. [145] She landed at Workington in Cumberland in the north of England and stayed overnight at Workington Hall. [98] Unable to muster sufficient support, Moray left Scotland in October for asylum in England. [220], At Fotheringhay, on the evening of 7 February 1587, Mary was told she was to be executed the next morning. In July, Elizabeth sent Sir Henry Sidney to cancel Mary's visit because of the civil war in France. [197] Plots centred on Mary continued. 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. She issued a proclamation accepting the religious settlement in Scotland as she had found it upon her return, retained advisers such as James Stewart, Earl of Moray (her illegitimate paternal half-brother), and William Maitland of Lethington, and governed as the Catholic monarch of a Protestant kingdom. 1558 - 1603. The lords took Mary to Edinburgh, where crowds of spectators denounced her as an adulteress and murderer. [218] On 3 February,[219] ten members of the Privy Council of England, having been summoned by Cecil without Elizabeth's knowledge, decided to carry out the sentence at once. Rizzio was dragged from the room and killed. 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. In May 1567 they wed at Holyrood and Mary wrote to the foreign courts that it was the right decision for her country. Mary, Queen of Scots is born, daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise . [39] Mary's maternal grandmother, Antoinette de Bourbon, was another strong influence on her childhood[40] and acted as one of her principal advisors. After an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne, she fled southward seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Elizabeth I of England. From the outset, there were two claims to the regency: one from the Catholic Cardinal Beaton, and the other from the Protestant Earl of Arran, who was next in line to the throne. 8 Dec 1542. Abduction: 24 April 1567 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. Aged 22, Mary described her 19-year-old groom as the lustiest and best proportioned long man that she had seen.. Mary fell passionately in love with Henry, Lord Darnley, but it was not a success. "The Husbands of Mary Queen of Scots" https://englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/husbands-of-mary-qos/, October 28, 2022, You are here: Home Tudor Relatives The Husbands of Mary Queen of Scots, Copyright 1999-2023 All Rights Reserved.English HistoryOther Sites: Make A Website Hub, The Right to Display Public Domain Images, Author & Reference Information For Students, https://englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/husbands-of-mary-qos/, House Of Tudor Genealogy Chart & Family Tree, Mary, Queen of Scots: Biography, Facts, Portraits & Information, Catherine Howard: Facts, Biography, Portraits & Information, Queen Elizabeth I: Biography, Facts, Portraits & Information, Jane Seymour Facts, Biography, Information & Portraits, Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk and Princess Mary Tudor, Anne Boleyn Facts & Biography Of Information, Katherine Parr Facts, Information, Biography & Portraits, King Henry VIII Facts, Information, Biography & Portraits, Lady Jane Grey Facts, Biography, Information & Portraits, Lady Catherine Grey Facts & Information Biography, Mary Queen of Scots Chronology & Timeline 1542 to 1587, Margaret Tudor Queen of Scotland Facts, Biography & Information, Elizabeth Stafford, Elizabeth Blount & Henry Fitzroy Facts. [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. The wedding took place at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, however less than a year after the ceremony, Franciss father Henry II died and the young couple became king and queen of France. 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. Instead, its more likely the queens attitudes toward each other were dictated largely by changing circumstance. Following an uprising against the couple, Mary was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle. She was concerned that the killing of a queen set a discreditable precedent and was fearful of the consequences, especially if, in retaliation, Mary's son, James, formed an alliance with the Catholic powers and invaded England. Dudley was Sir Henry Sidney's brother-in-law and the English queen's own favourite, whom Elizabeth trusted and thought she could control. Although each of these marriages was short-lived, every one of these unions made an impact on Scottish history. [149] In mid-July 1568, English authorities moved Mary to Bolton Castle, because it was farther from the Scottish border but not too close to London. Mary's great uncle Henry VIII of England wanted to trap her in a marriage with his Protestant heir Edward, the future Edward VI. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine 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. She later charged him with treason, but he was acquitted and released. Mary Queen of Scots was executed by beheading at the age of 44 on the orders of her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. [111] The cause of her illness is unknown. The portraits were made by an unknown artist in around 1565, at the time of their marriage. [198], Mary sent letters in cipher to the French ambassador, Michel de Castelnau, scores of which were discovered and decrypted in 20222023. Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's associate digital editor, history. Entering the later stages of her pregnancy, she was desperate to escape and somehow won over Darnley and they escaped together. To avoid the bloodshed of battle, she turned herself over and the rebels took her to Edinburgh while Bothwell struggled to rally troops of his own. Now, they were angry that Bothwell would be all-powerful and they decided to wage war against him. [152] In Scotland, her supporters fought a civil war against Regent Moray and his successors. Regent Arran resisted the move, but backed down when Beaton's armed supporters gathered at Linlithgow. Mary Queen of Scots, 1543 - 1567, d. 1587. [59], King Francis II died on 5 December 1560 of a middle ear infection that led to an abscess in his brain. Mary, once the fragile last hope of the Stuart dynasty, was just 23 years old and had fulfilled one of a monarchs greatest duties providing a healthy son and heir. Margaret was Henry VIII's older sister so Mary was Henry VIII's great-niece. When Moray rushed into the room after hearing her cries for help, she shouted, "Thrust your dagger into the villain!" Mary, unwilling to cause further bloodshed and understandably terrified, followed his suggestions. According to most contemporaries, they were close and affectionate with one another even as children. Edinburgh Castle. Bothwell fled to Denmark, where he died in captivity 11 years later. After Riccios death, the nobles kept Mary prisoner at Holyrood Palace. Mary as queen: 10 July 1559 . [243] Differing interpretations persisted into the 18th century: William Robertson and David Hume argued that the casket letters were genuine and that Mary was guilty of adultery and murder, while William Tytler argued the reverse. Both queens were surprisingly fluid in their religious inclinations. [50] Henry II of France proclaimed his eldest son and daughter-in-law king and queen of England. He was superficially charming and, unlike most men, taller than the queen. [196] To discredit Mary, the casket letters were published in London. Days after this final meeting, Mary fled Scotland to seek refuge in England, hoping for the protection of Elizabeth I of England. The murder 25 years later of Henry Lord Darnley, her consort and the father of the infant who would become King James I of England and James VI of Scotland, remains one of history's most notorious unsolved crimes. 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. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. This legendary statement came true much later not through Mary, but through her great-great-granddaughter Anne, Queen of Great Britain. Link will appear as Hanson, Marilee. 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. Josie Rourkes film sees Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie transform from allies into rivals, but in actuality, the queens relationship was far more complex. Given her precarious hold on the throne and the subsequent paranoia that plagued her reign, she had little motivation to name a successor who could threaten her own safety. Darnley was a weak man and soon became a drunkard as Mary ruled entirely alone and gave him no real authority in the country. Robbie provides the foil to Ronans Mary, donning a prosthetic nose and clown-like layers of white makeup to resemble a smallpox-scarred Elizabeth. [231] Items supposedly worn or carried by Mary at her execution are of doubtful provenance;[232] contemporary accounts state that all her clothing, the block, and everything touched by her blood was burnt in the fireplace of the Great Hall to obstruct relic hunters. [146] On 18 May, local officials took her into protective custody at Carlisle Castle. This fear-driven logic even extended to the queens potential offspring: As she once told Marys advisor William Maitland, Princes cannot like their own children. [134] The marriage was tempestuous, and Mary became despondent. [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. 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. As is often the case, the truth is far more nuanced. Mary, Queen of Scots became Queen of Scotland at six days old. [156] Mary denied writing them and insisted they were forgeries,[157] arguing that her handwriting was not difficult to imitate. He recuperated from his illness in a house belonging to the brother of Sir James Balfour at the former abbey of Kirk o' Field, just within the city wall. 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. 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. Only four of the councillors were Catholic: the Earls of Atholl, Erroll, Montrose, and Huntly, who was Lord Chancellor. ), 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. | READ MORE. [166] Guy points out that the letters are disjointed and that the French language and grammar employed in the sonnets are too poor for a writer with Mary's education[167] but certain phrases in the letters, including verses in the style of Ronsard, and some characteristics of style are compatible with known writings by Mary. "[213] She protested that she had been denied the opportunity to review the evidence, that her papers had been removed from her, that she was denied access to legal counsel and that as a foreign anointed queen she had never been an English subject and thus could not be convicted of treason. Mary was accused of involvement in the murder, the prime suspect was the Earl of Bothwell, who within weeks would be Mary's husband. [158] They are widely believed to be crucial as to whether Mary shared the guilt for Darnley's murder. June; Mary of Guise passes away in Scotland December; Mary's husband, Francis, Mary's husband, passes away 1561 Mary returns to Scotland 1562 Northern campaign and visit to Inverness; aged 19 1563 Mary visits Inveraray,Dunure Castle, Dumfries, and Peebles; aged 20 1564 Mary hunts near Blair Atholl, Tayside; aged 21 [62] Mary returned to Scotland nine months later, arriving in Leith on 19 August 1561. [194] Elizabeth's principal secretary William Cecil, Lord Burghley, and Sir Francis Walsingham watched Mary carefully with the aid of spies placed in her household. Francis II She was accused of plotting to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and . The French fleet sent by Henry II, commanded by Nicolas de Villegagnon, sailed with Mary from Dumbarton on 7 August 1548 and arrived a week or more later at Roscoff or Saint-Pol-de-Lon in Brittany.[33]. Henry Stuart, styled as Lord Darnley until 1565, was the son of Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox, and his wife, Margaret Douglas. 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. 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. Not only was she a female monarch in an era dominated by men, she was also physically imposing, standing nearly six feet tall. Mary married Francois in 1558. [159] The chair of the commission of inquiry, the Duke of Norfolk, described them as horrible letters and diverse fond ballads. Mary's father, James V, King of Scotland died on 14 December 1542 following the Battle of Solway Moss. 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. Darnley became jealous of Mary's secretary and favourite, David Riccio. Mary was taken to Lochleven Castle and held prisoner in that island fortress; fearing for her own life, she became desperately ill. She was forced to sign a document abdicating the crown in favor of her year-old son. At the height of her power, she juggled proposals from foreign rulers and subjects alike, always prevaricating rather than revealing the true nature of her intentions. . The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scotland, Mary was six days old when her father died and she inherited the throne. 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. After spending the night at Dundrennan Abbey, she crossed the Solway Firth into England by fishing boat on 16 May. 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. 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. 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. She had been queen for all but the first six days of her life, John Guy writes in Queen of Scots, [but] apart from a few short but intoxicating weeks in the following year, the rest of her life would be spent in captivity.. He was imprisoned in Denmark, became insane and died in 1578. Mary I, also called Mary Tudor, byname Bloody Mary, (born February 18, 1516, Greenwich, near London, Englanddied November 17, 1558, London), the first queen to rule England (1553-58) in her own right. 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. Moray had sent a messenger in September to Dunbar to get a copy of the proceedings from the town's registers. 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. Such accusations rest on assumptions,[249] and Buchanan's biography is today discredited as "almost complete fantasy". [124][125] Bothwell, Moray, Secretary Maitland, the Earl of Morton and Mary herself were among those who came under suspicion. Three months after Darnleys death, Mary wed the man whod been accused ofand acquitted of in a legally suspect trialhis murder. On 24 July 1567, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son. Visitors can still see the small room where this monarch was born. Whereas Mary aged in the relative isolation of house arrest, Elizabeths looks were under constant scrutiny. James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, was a vainglorious, rash and hazardous young man, according to ambassador Nicholas Throckmorton. [38] Her future sister-in-law, Elisabeth of Valois, became a close friend of whom Mary "retained nostalgic memories in later life". 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. [10], Mary was christened at the nearby Church of St Michael shortly after she was born. Barely a month after the marriage, rebel nobles and their forces met Marys troops at Carberry Hill, 8 miles south-east of Edinburgh. Mary, Queen of Scots' pampered childhood That same year, another ginger-haired princess was born on December 8 at Linlithgow Palace in Scotland. His death occurred soon after an unsuccessful rebellion in the North of England, led by Catholic earls, which persuaded Elizabeth that Mary was a threat. [244] In the latter half of the 20th century, the work of Antonia Fraser was acclaimed as "more objective free from the excesses of adulation or attack" that had characterised older biographies,[245] and her contemporaries Gordon Donaldson and Ian B. Cowan also produced more balanced works. [137] The following night, she was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle on an island in the middle of Loch Leven.
