Mary, Queen of
Scots, also Mary Stuart (1542-1587), daughter of James V, king of Scotland,
by his second wife, Mary of Guise.
Born in Linlithgow in December 1542, Mary became queen before she was a week
old. Raised in France, in 1558 she was married to the Dauphin, who succeeded
to the French throne as Francis II in 1559 but died the next year. Mary
returned to Scotland in 1561. Although Roman Catholic, at first she
accepted the Protestant-led government that she found in place. Her chief
minister was her half brother James Stuart, whom she soon afterward created
Earl of Moray.
Mary's marriage in 1565 to her cousin, the Catholic Scottish nobleman Henry
Stewart, Lord Darnley, was performed with Roman Catholic rites. The marriage
aroused Protestant feelings and was the signal for an insurrection by Moray
and a Scottish noble family who hoped to be joined by the whole Protestant
party. Their hope was disappointed, however, and the queen, taking the field
in person, at once quelled the revolt. Her triumph was scarcely over when
misunderstandings began to arise between her and Darnley. She had given him
the title of king, but he now demanded that the crown be secured to him for
life and that, if the queen died without children, it should descend to his
heirs.
Before Moray's rebellion Mary's secretary and adviser had been David Rizzio,
a court favorite and a Roman Catholic. The king was now persuaded that
Rizzio was the obstacle to his designs upon the crown. Acting on this
belief, he entered into a formal compact with Moray; Lord Patrick Ruthven;
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton; and other leaders of the Protestant
party. The result of this conspiracy was the murder of Rizzio in 1566. Early
in 1567 the house in which Darnley lay sick was blown up by gunpowder,
probably at the instigation of the Scottish nobleman James Hepburn, 4th Earl
of Bothwell, who, since Moray's revolt and still more since Rizzio's murder,
had been favored by the queen. Darnley was discovered strangled close by the
scene of the explosion. It was suspected that Mary herself was not wholly
ignorant of the plot. Evidence substantiating this theory is reflected in
incriminating letters and sonnets, allegedly written by Mary to Bothwell and
found later that year in a silver casket. Bothwell was brought to a mock
trial and acquitted; soon afterward he divorced his wife and married Mary in
a Protestant ceremony.
This step at once turned the Scottish nobles against Mary. She was able to
lead an army against them, and although it was equal in number to the
confederate army, it was visibly inferior in discipline. On June 15, 1567,
Mary's forces were defeated at Carberry Hill, and she was forced to abandon
Bothwell and surrender herself to the confederate lords. On July 24, at
Lochleven, she was prevailed upon to sign an act of abdication in favor of
her son, who was crowned as James VI five days afterward at Stirling.
Escaping from her island-prison at Lochleven on May 2, 1568, she was able
within a few days to assemble an army of 6000 men. On May 12 her army was
defeated by the regent Moray at Langside, near Glasgow. Four days afterward,
in spite of the entreaties of her best friends, Mary crossed Solway Firth
and sought refuge at the court of Elizabeth I, queen of England, only to
find herself a prisoner of Elizabeth for life.
Of the ensuing intrigues to effect her deliverance and to place her on the
throne of England, the most famous was that of Mary's page, Anthony
Babington, who plotted to assassinate Elizabeth. The conspiracy was
discovered, and Mary was brought to trial in October 1586. She was sentenced
to death on October 25, but not until February 1, 1587, did Elizabeth sign
the warrant of execution, which was carried out a week later.
