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Summary Key Information on Mary, Queen of Scots (Word Doc)
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Key information on Mary, Queen of Scots and the role she played under the reign of Elizabeth I. Format is Word Doc, but can also be purchased as a PDF.
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Mary Queen of ScotsL.O: To explain the complications she caused Elizabeth and the subsequent plots that arose
- Mary spent much of her childhood in France
- Returned to Scotland when she was in her late teens
- Born in 1542 she was the only child of James V of Scotland; she became when she was a week
old, leaving the country at war with England
- Scottish nobles ruled the country on behalf of the infant Queen
- If Edward VI lived longer that he did he may have married Mary
- 1548: Mary was taken to France to be educated at court by her mother, Mary of Guise- she was
brought up as a Catholic
- 1558: Married Francis II
- 1559: King Francis II of France
- 1560: Francis died. His sudden death left Mary a widow at 18 and her mother died the same
year. The situation in France was chaotic - beginning of the French Wars of Religion between
Catholics and the Huguenots
- 1561: Returned to Scotland to assume the role as Queen. Since the Treaty of Edinburgh peace
had been restored between England and Scotland and the government was supportive of
Protestantism
- Rival groups of nobles threatened a situation of civil war
- Mary was not allowed any power or influence
- Mary probably saw more of a future with England than Scotland
- 1565: Married Lord Darnley (great grandson of Henry VII) prompting speculation that she in-
tended to claim the English throne- either as the Catholic heir or from Elizabeth’s death
- Darnley had a strong claim to the English throne as well as a more distant one to the Scottish
throne
- The marriage was a disaster
- Mary became pregnant, but it was speculated to be David Rizzio, her secretary and lover
- Rizzio was murdered in 1566 in front of pregnant Mary by henchmen under the direction of Lord
Darnley
- Mary gave birth to a boy, James
- 1567: Darnley had been recovering from an illness
- Mary had taken another lover, the Earl of Bothwell
- In February Darnley and his Valet were killed in an explosion at Kirk-o-field - evidence suggests
that Darnley had actually been strangled before the explosion suggesting murder
- Bothwell was suspected of the plot and rumours circulated that Mary had knowledge of it
- Mary and Bothwell ran away together and were married
- She later miscarried twins but by then the marriage had ended as Bothwell fled to Denmark
- Few people thought that Mary was a suitable ruler after the 1560s
- She was forced to abdicate in favour of her baby son, James
- The Earl of Murray, leader of the Protestant lords, became regent
- 1568: Mary fled to England putting Elizabeth in a difficult position
- She wanted to show support to her deposed cousin but this would mean attacking her Protes-
tant allies in Scotland
- On one hand by not acting would suggest that she agreed that a monarch could be deposed
- Elizabeth kept Mary under close scrutiny and house arrest for the next 19 years
- Focal point for Catholic and noble discontent and potential pawn for the Spanish and French to
depose Elizabeth
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