Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87). Queen of Scotland. She succeeded her father, James V of Scotland, when only a week old and was brought up in France, where she later married Francis II. She returned to Scotland after his death in 1560, a Catholic queen of a Protestant country. She married her cousin, Henry Darnley, in 1565 but they soon quarrelled. Darnley was involved in the murder of Mary’s secretary, Rizzio, and was him-self murdered by a conspiracy in which Mary was believed to have had a part. Just three months later she married the earl of Bothwell, who had been accused of the murder. Rebellions in Scotland followed and Mary fled to England, where Elizabeth I had her imprisoned. After 18 years in prison she was finally executed, following numerous Catholic plots to place her on the English throne.
“This may be truly said, that if a life of exile and misery, endured with almost saintly patience from the 15th June 1567 to the day of her death on the 8th February 1587 could atone for crimes and errors of the class attributed to her, no such penalty was ever more’ fully discharged than by Mary Stuart. Walter Scott History of Scotland (1829-30)”
