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Introduction

Mary, Queen of Scots (1565)

Mary's execution at Fotheringhay Castle (1587)

She is the most written-about queen in the history of the British Isles and generates more interest than even Elizabeth I and Victoria, yet she reigned in her native Scotland for less than six years. Why does Mary, Queen of Scots, produce such attention? Because there is such romance to her story. She was beautiful, kind, and well spoken. She was the Queen of France and Scotland, and the heir apparent to her cousin, Elizabeth I, in England. Yet her life became a tragedy. Poor choices of the heart led to her forced abdication and she fled for help to England, help which for political and religious reasons was not forthcoming. Her years spent imprisoned and her eventual death by beheading made Mary a martyr and an object of perpetual fascination.

Essential Facts

1. Although Mary was the titular Queen of Scotland, she spent most of her reign in France. Crowned Queen of Scotland before she was a year old, Mary was betrothed to the French Dauphin, Francis, at the age of five. Unfortunately Francis was a sickly young man and reigned for only six months before dying of an ear infection. The French did not want the expense of providing for Mary, so she was sent back to Scotland.
2. Mary was not prepared for Scotland and took little action as queen there. Her biggest mistake was to marry Charles Darnley, a Catholic noble from England. The marriage was a disaster from the start. Darnley was a power hungry drunk who alienated much of Mary’s court and they soon separated.
3. Finally making an even worse mistake, Mary married another man, the Earl of Bothwell, who was almost universally hated. The Scots revolted, Bothwell fled, and Mary was captured and forced to abdicate in favor of her infant son.
4. Mary fled to England in hopes that Elizabeth I, her cousin, would help her regain her throne. However, since Mary had long claimed she deserved the throne of England because of her Catholicism, Elizabeth was loath to help her militarily. When it became clear that negotiations were not likely to restore Mary to her throne, she became a prisoner in England. It is interesting that the two cousins, at odds for years, never actually met.
5. Mary was involved in three major plots against Elizabeth’s life. Finally put on trial for treason in 1586, Mary was found guilty and beheaded in February 1587. She went to her death bravely and seemingly still beautiful with her full red hair. However, when the executioner lifted the head by the hair after the beheading, the hair remained in his hand as the head fell to the floor. She had been wearing a wig.