The Early Years of Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots was the only daughter of James V of Scotland and his French wife Mary of Guise. Henry VIII had at one stage hoped that Mary Queen of Scots would marry his son the future Edward VI. To keep the infant Mary Queen of Scots out of the reach of the English her widowed mother sent to France. It was in France that Mary Queen of Scots became a devout Roman Catholic, which alienated her from the majority of her Scottish subjects and made her such a threat to Elizabeth I.
A Short Disastrous Reign As Scotland's Queen
The legacy of Mary Queen of Scots turned out to be an unexpected as she had to flee Scotland after her third marriage to the Earl of Bothwell, whom many Scots suspected of murdering her second husband Lord Darnley. Her second marriage had produced a son, who succeeded to the Scots throne as an infant. James VI would never see his mother again, but unlike her would be crowned at Westminster Abbey, and die a natural death.
Exile And Execution in England
Mary Queen of Scots was jailed in England, whilst many of Elizabeth I's ministers wanted her to be executed in the interests of national security and the preservation of Protestantism in England and Wales. Mary Queen of Scots was of course next in line to the English throne and some English Roman Catholics believed that she was the rightful ruler as Elizabeth I was the illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII.
Ultimately the legacy of Mary Queen of Scots was a tragic one. She was frequently involved in Roman Catholic plots to kill Elizabeth I and it was only the latter’s reluctance to sign a death warrant that kept her alive yet imprisoned.
However the Babington Plot discovered in 1586 was one plot too far and Elizabeth I finally ordered her cousin's execution. Mary Queen of Scots died bravely on the executioner's block, whilst Elizabeth felt guilty about ordering her death.
The execution of Mary Queen of Scots and the failure of the Spanish armada meant that Elizabeth I lived out the remainder of her life naturally and left the throne to Mary’s son James VI. James however was a Protestant rather than a Roman Catholic.
Bibliography
Milstead D, Brewer’s Anthology – England, the English (2003) Cassell, London
Morgan K.O (editor) The Oxford Popular History of Britain (1993) Paragon, Oxford
Vale B, A History of the Church of England (2006) authorsonline.co.uk
