|
Mary Queen of Scots 1542-1587
Mary, also called Mary (not Martha)
Stuart, was queen of Scotland from 1542 until 1567.
She was first
lady in France from 1559 until 1560.
People talked about her beauty,
which you might or might not find supported by the picture above.
Mary's Family
Mary's grandmother was
 Henry VIII's
elder sister
Margaret Tudor.
Mary's father was King James V of Scotland. Mary's mother was
French Mary de Guise.
Mary's first husband was
Francis II of France. Her second
husband was Henry Stewart, earl of Darnley. Her third husband
was James Hepburn, 4th earl of Bothwell. Mary would've kept
going but her execution cut her short.
With husband Henry, Mary had a son, James VI of Scotland, who
became
James I of England.
Mary's Life — The
Happy Years
Mary's life started on a rather promising note. As a five year old, Mary came to France and grew up at the court of
King Henry II and
Catherine de Médicis.
Mary's father, King James V of Scotland,
died when she was six years old. This event made Mary Queen of
Scotland.
In 1558, Mary was married to Francis, son of Henry and Catherine.
In
the same year,
Elizabeth Tudor
became Elizabeth I Queen of England. This meant Mary would be next in line for the
English throne.
In fact, some decided Elizabeth was illegitimate altogether and Mary
was the true queen of England. Henry II of France saw it that way and
claimed the English throne for Mary.
In 1559, Henry died and
his son Francis, who was also Mary's husband, became king of France.
This was Mary's zenith. It went downhill from there.
Mary's Life — The
Bummer Years
In 1560, Husband Francis II died at age 16. He was succeeded by his
brother, Charles IX.
In August of 1561, Mary, Roman Catholic by faith, decided to move back to Protestant Scotland.
She lived now next door to her arch-rival Elizabeth I. First big mistake.
Second big mistake followed in July 1565.
Mary married Henry Stewart, the Earl of Darnley. This meant a raise in power for the
Stewart (Stuart) family and the Lennox family (Henry's father was
the 4th earl of Lennox) and shook up the Scottish upper crust.
Instead of a smooth
shift of power within the noble families, struggle
and unrest commenced.
Furthermore, Mary
thought she was in love with Henry
Stewart, but Henry turned out to be the complete airhead with a
violent temper at that.
Mary became unhappier but not smarter.
Did She or Didn't She?
Mary might or might
not have had a liaison with James Hepburn, the 4th Earl of Bothwell.
Furthermore, she might or might not have planned to kill airhead
Henry.
Check out the
Casket Letters.
In any event,
it followed some action.
On the night of February 9, 1567, Henry
Stewart's house blew up with him in it. Henry
tried to get out of the building but someone wanted the job done
properly and strangled him
on the doorstep.
Who was the mysterious strangler? We will never know for
sure. Some people say that James
Hepburn is a strong candidate.
Meanwhile in DenseVille, Mary decided to
dig her own grave. She supported all rumors around her by marrying James Hepburn
only three months after the killing of husband Henry.
The
Scots had had it. They exiled James Hepburn and put Mary in prison. In
her place, Mary's son James was declared king of Scotland.
Mary's two brain cells celebrated infertility and came up with
another good plan. Why not escape and flee to the country to which she was the biggest threat, England?
Off she went and after studying the wallpaper of an English prison
for 18 years, Mary was beheaded.
More History
|
