ELIZABETH I & MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

“If Elizabeth had triumphed in life, Mary would triumph in death”

From the beginning of her reign, Elizabeth I was always aware of her tenuous hold on the crown.

As a Protestant, Elizabeth faced constant threats from England’s Catholic faction.
A faction which favoured a rival claim to the throne, Mary Queen of Scots – a devout Catholic.

The Catholics insisted Elizabeth was the illegitimate product of an unlawful marriage.
Mary, however, was the paternal grandaughter of Henry VIII’s older sister Margaret Tudor – and therefore the rightful English heir.

Mary was Scotland’s ruler from just six days old.
She spent her early years at the French court, where she was raised alongside her future husband Francis II.

16-year-old Mary married Francis in April 1558, and was crowned Queen of France in July 1559.

Widowed just a year later, following the unexpected death of Francis, she left her home of 13 years for the unknown entity of Scotland.

Mary was a Catholic queen in a largely Protestant state, a state that didnt really want a Catholic woman on the throne.
Mary tried to form compromises that enabled her to maintain authority, without infringing on the practice of either religion.

As Mary settled into her new role, in a country she had no experience of, she sought to strengthen relations with her southern neighbour, Elizabeth.

Given Elizabeth’s precarious hold on the throne, Mary’s blood claim was worrying.
Despite these concerns, Elizabeth certainly considered the possibility of naming Mary her heir.

But acknowledging Mary as the heir presumptive, would leave Elizabeth vulnerable to coups organized by England’s Catholic faction.

Elizabeth asked Mary to ratify the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh, which would prevent Mary from making any claim to the English throne.

Mary refused, instead appealing to Elizabeth as ‘Sister Queens’ –

“in one isle, of one language, the nearest kinswomen that each other had.”

The pair would continue to exchange regular correspondence, even becoming friends of sorts.
They traded warm sentiments and discussed the possibility of meeting face-to-face.

But the two would never actually meet in person….

Although she was famously dubbed the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth only embraced this persona during the later years of her reign.

At the height of her power, she would receive proposals from foreign rulers, but turning each one down.
In doing so, Elizabeth avoided falling under a man’s domination.

Mary, however, married a total of three times.
Mary’s second husband, Lord Darnley was also her first cousin, and this proved to be a highly unsuitable match.

Darnley displayed a greed for power, which culminated in the murder of Mary’s secretary, David Rizzio on the 9th March 1566.

Relations between Mary and Elizabeth soured following Mary’s union with Darnley, which Elizabeth viewed as a direct threat to her throne – and she wasn’t wrong.

By February 1567, tensions had thawed enough for Mary to name Elizabeth Godmother and protector of her infant son, the future James VI of Scotland & I of England.

When Mary’s husband Darnley was murdered, Mary married the man accused of his murder, James Hepburn~Earl of Bothwell.

Bothwell had a violent temper, and despite his differences from Darnley, shared the deceased king’s proclivity for power.

Regardless of whether sexual attraction, love, or faith in Bothwell as her protector against the feuding Scottish lords – Mary’s decision to marry him cemented her downfall.

In the summer of 1567, the increasingly unpopular Mary was imprisoned by her Scottish nobles, and forced to abdicate in favor of her baby son.

Bothwell fled to Denmark, where he died in captivity 11 years later.

Defeated once and for all, Mary escaped and fled to England, expecting Elizabeth to offer a warm welcome.
She hoped Elizabeth would help her regain the Scottish throne.

Instead, Elizabeth placed Mary under house arrest – a position she would be in for the next 18 years.
However, she may have been under arrest, but Mary was always treated like the queen she was.

A long series of Catholic plots against Elizabeth finally culminating in the Babington Plot to assassinate her.

Elizabeth’s ministers demanded Mary’s exEcution, for her alleged involvement in the plot.

Around 8 a.m. on 8th February 1587, the 44-year-old Scottish queen knelt in the great hall of Fotheringhay Castle, and thanked the headsman for making “an end of all my troubles.”

Three axe blows later she was dead, her severed head held high as a warning to all who defied Elizabeth Tudor…….

Mary Queen of Scots may have been the monarch who’s life ended at the hands of Elizabeth, but she eventually proved triumphant in a roundabout way.

After Elizabeth died childless in 1603, it was Mary’s son, James VI of Scotland and I of England, who ascended to the throne as the first to rule a united British kingdom.