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MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

 

Mary Queen of Scots

Born: December 8, 1542

Died: February 8, 1587

Crime: Accused of Plotting to Murder the Queen of England

 

Biography 

Mary Queen of Scots was born in 1542. She was brought up as a devout Catholic, which caused  conflict between Mary and her Protestant cousin Elizabeth. Mary’s family members, including her parents, died when she was very young. The lords of Scotland sent Mary to France for her own safety. While in France she married Francis II, who was the king, and naturally allowed her to lead a lavish life. She also became associated with a monk who was a religious teacher and helped her develop a stronger understanding of Catholicism. Her husband died leaving Mary widowed at age 17.  After this she returned to Scotland to claim her rightful place as the Queen of the Scots. She then chose to marry her cousin, Darnely Rizzo.  He  was very unpopular with the people of Scotland. In the summer of 1565 Mary gave birth to a baby boy, who she named James. She thought that after Elizabeth, Queen of England, died Mary’s son would become king. On February 9,1567 she and her husband were visiting at a residence in Kirk 0‘Field, Scotland. The house they were at was blown up and Mary’s husband died as a result. Several months after his death, she chose to marry a man by the name of Brothwell. He was disliked as much as her cousin had been. The lords of Scotland rose up in resistance against Mary and Brothwell. He escaped to another part of Europe and died from alcoholism. She, on the other hand, was captured and put in prison. When she was captured her son became the King of the Scots. 

Mary escaped from prison and fled to England. Here she believed, that her cousin Elizabeth would help her and protect her. Elizabeth though felt the need to protect her right to the throne and did everything except what Mary had wanted. One of the reasons that Elizabeth disliked Mary, was because of her religion. Mary, was  a Catholic and England at this time was Protestant. It had taken many years to finally reach religious stability, but under Elizabeth they did. There was also another major reason that Mary was disliked by Elizabeth. Mary, like most Catholics, did not believe in divorce. So Elizabeth thought she would claim that Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII marriage was the only legitimate marriage of Henry VIII making Elizabeth an illegitimate heir and challenging her right to the throne. 

Trial and Execution 

Elizabeth’s advisors said the best thing to do would be to execute her, but she needed to be guilty of a crime to do it. She was moved to different castles for nineteen years. It took many years to bring up a case against Mary.  They finally did make a case by inserting a spy into her household.  The evidence that Elizabeth’s spy alleged focused on a man named Anthony Babington. They were supposedly secretly conspiring to kill Elizabeth.  The spies intercepted letters from Mary.  Mary and her accomplice were both tried for treason and executed.

Mary was dressed in scarlet for the execution. She was extremely weak so she had to be helped up on the scaffold. She prayed before she was put to death as well. One thing that was extremely gruesome about her execution was that it took to numerous swings of the axe to finally sever her head. Mary’s head was uncovered for the execution. She had very little hair and had always wore a wig to cover that up. After she was pronounced dead her body still continued  to move which disturbed those in attendance until it was discovered her dog was underneath her dress. 

Historic Significance 

Mary Queen of Scotts was beheaded because she was a threat to the current monarch and she was an ardent Catholic.  England had made the difficult transition from Catholicism to Protestantism and now there was no turning back.

 

<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Execution-of-Mary-Queen-of-Scots.jpg> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOmd-ZX5f8g