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Mary Queen of Scots Mary Stuart was born on the 8th December 1542. Mary’s father was King James V of Scotland and her mother was a French Princess called Mary of Guise. Just before Mary was born, her father was injured in battle against the English. He later died of these injuries on the 14th December 1542. This meant Mary became Queen of Scotland when she was only six days old. She was known as Mary Queen of Scots. Mary was only a child when she was crowned Queen which meant that Scotland needed a regent. A regent is someone who looks after the country until a child King or Queen is old enough to rule. Mary of Guise wanted to act as regent for her daughter but the powerful Scottish Lords decided that a distant relative of Mary’s called the Earl of Arran would be regent instead. He was known to have a desire to be King. At this time Scotland was a difficult country to rule. Wars were raging between the Scottish Catholics and Protestants, and King Henry VIII of England wanted to rule in Scotland as well. His soldiers regularly invaded Scottish land. By the time Mary was born, Scotland had already lost many of its best soldiers (including King James V himself) in battles against the English. With no luck invading Scotland, Henry VIII employed a different tactic instead. He decided that his five year old son, Prince Edward, would marry Mary. This would mean both countries would be ruled by him. However, the King of France also wanted Mary to marry his son, Dauphine Francis (Dauphine means heir to the throne in French). The Earl of Arran also had a son that he wanted Mary to marry, so that he would one day rule as King. King Henry VIII invaded Scotland again to take the young child to make sure this didn’t happen. Mary of Guise hid Queen Mary, moving her to different castles for five years. Finally she asked King Henri II of France for help protecting her daughter. The King of France agreed but instead of marrying Edward, Queen Mary would have to marry his son, Dauphine Francis. Mary of Guise agreed and King Henri II sent a fleet of ships to safely bring Mary, who was now six years old, to France. Mary of Guise was worried that if she also went to France, one of the Scottish Lords would make themselves the new King of Scotland. To make sure this didn’t happen she decided to stay in Scotland. Mary of Guise never saw her daughter again. Queen Mary travelled to France on a rickety wooden ship with a Governess and four companions each called Mary (or Marie in French). The nursery rhyme, ‘Mary Mary Quite Contrary’, was written about these ‘four Maries’. On her arrival the young Queen Mary was warmly welcomed by the French people. She became good friends with Dauphine Francis, who was a year younger than her. Unfortunately, the four Maries could not live with her in the Palace but were well cared for in a local convent instead. When Queen Mary was fifteen years old she married Dauphine Francis, the heir to the French throne, at Notre Dame Cathedral. The four Maries were there, and Mary stood out in a long dress and a golden crown. She had grown into a beautiful, intelligent young woman who was now Queen of Scotland and Queen Dauphiness of France. Unfortunately, a few months later the King of France died unexpectedly in a jousting tournament. This meant Mary and her new husband became the King and Queen of France at a young age (although not as young as when Mary became Queen of Scotland). Sadly, one year later Mary’s mother died in Scotland and later that year Mary’s husband also died. Mary loved her husband very much, and was very sad and lonely. The French throne did not belong to Queen Mary without her husband so a new French King was crowned. Mary decided to return to Scotland with the four Maries to rule there instead. classroomsecrets.com © Classroom Secrets Limited 2015 Comprehension – Mary Queen of Scots – 4b – Expert Most Scottish people cheered on the streets when Queen Mary returned, but some were not pleased to see her. Since she had left Scotland, it had become a Protestant country, and Mary was a Catholic Queen. After years of fighting about what religion Scotland should follow, this made people nervous. One man called John Knox was especially annoyed at Queen Mary’s return, and preached in church about the sin of being a Catholic. The Scottish Lords were powerful and jealous of each other and were not interested in helping Mary rule. Mary had a half-brother who did help her, so she made him the Earl of Moray. This made things easier, but then Mary discovered a plot to kidnap her. She realised that she needed a husband and heir to secure her throne. England’s Queen Elizabeth was afraid that Mary would marry another King in Europe, and together they would try and invade England. To prevent this, Queen Elizabeth offered to help Mary find a husband, but instead, Mary chose an English man called Lord Darnley who was related to Elizabeth. This made her furious and meant that any children Mary and he might have could be heir to the English throne. Mary’s new husband, Lord Darnley, turned out to be a disastrous choice for the Queen. He was lazy, hungry for power, and strongly disliked by the Scottish people. He was jealous of Mary’s half-brother, who was forced to flee Scotland as a result of their arguments. Whilst Mary was pregnant, Darnley was cruel to her, and began believing rumours that she was secretly in love with her secretary, a man named Riccio. These rumours were started by the Scottish Lords who wanted Darnley gone and he fell straight into their trap. One night he burst into Mary’s rooms and held her back whilst his friends stabbed Riccio to death. This was exactly what the Lords had wanted, as they knew that Mary must punish her husband for his part in the murder. However, Mary decided to forgive Darnely and secretly moved with him to Edinburgh Castle. At this time Mary had also got back in touch with a man called Lord Bothwell. She had known Bothwell in France, and he soon became her close advisor. Mary’s friends and other advisors were suspicious of him, believing he wanted to marry the Queen. Mary ignored their advice and continued the friendship. At Edinburgh Castle Mary gave birth to a baby boy and named him Prince James after her father. People rejoiced and bonfires were lit all over Scotland in celebration of the new heir to the throne. However, when Lord Darnley refused to attend his son’s Christening, Mary decided enough was enough. She wrote to her half- brother, the Earl of Moray explaining how cruel Darnley had been, and asked him and Lord Bothwell for their help in getting her a divorce. Soon after, Lord Darnley was recovering from smallpox in his Edinburgh house when there was a massive explosion. Guards arrived to find the house blown up and the bodies of Lord Darnley and his servant in the garden. Mysteriously however, the bodies appeared to have been strangled and showed no marks of being in an explosion. People were instantly suspicious of Lord Bothwell as they believed he was in love with the Queen and wanted to be King. Mary did not seem to care, and continued her friendship with Lord Bothwell. This angered the Scottish people, who began to think that the Queen had been in on the plan. A few months later Queen Mary and Lord Bothwell were on their way home from visiting the young Prince James when Bothwell kidnapped the Queen. The two disappeared, and he forced her to marry him in secret. The Scottish Lords were furious with Bothwell and the Queen. In response, the Lords raised an Army and marched to where the two were staying. They intended to punish and imprison Bothwell. classroomsecrets.com © Classroom Secrets Limited 2015 Comprehension – Mary Queen of Scots – 4b – Expert The Lord’s Army surrounded the castle but Queen Mary distracted the soldiers, allowing Lord Bothwell to escape. She later followed him. Mary realised she was in danger of losing her throne and began to raise an Army herself. Eventually the Lords found where she was staying, and the two sides met. The Lords demanded that if she wanted to stay as Queen then Bothwell would have to leave Scotland. Queen Mary persuaded him to flee and he ran away to Denmark. Queen Mary then followed the Lords to Edinburgh, believing that she was still their Queen. When Mary reached Edinburgh she realised that she had been tricked. The crowds shouted and jeered and she realised she was no longer a Queen, but the Lords’ prisoner. Mary was not taken to her castle, but locked her up on a remote island in the dirty, isolated Loch Leven Castle instead. Mary was pregnant with twins, but when she gave birth in the damp and cold castle they both died. Mary herself became very sick and in desperation she signed abdication papers that meant her one year old son, Prince James would now be King James VI of Scotland. But King James was a child so he needed a regent, it was decided that this would be the Earl of Moray.

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