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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.

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© 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.

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© 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. Queen Mary realised that this had been his plan all along.

Whilst imprisoned, Mary was allowed a lady in waiting. For this job she chose a woman called Mary Seton, who was one of the original four Maries who had accompanied the Queen to France all those years ago. Mary also made two friends in Loch Leven Castle and together, they helped Queen Mary to escape.

Once she was free, Queen Mary raised an Army, leading them to the Earl of Moray and the two sides fought. Just as the fight commenced, one of Mary’s Generals fainted. As a result, Mary’s Army were unorganised, and some say they were in league with the other side. Queen Mary rode amongst the men, encouraging them, but she eventually lost the battle. Queen Mary quickly rode to the South of Scotland, eventually reaching England and planning to ask Queen Elizabeth for help.

Queen Mary was met by hundreds of soldiers when she landed on the English coast. She expected to be taken to Queen Elizabeth, but the English Queen refused to see her. Elizabeth was still worried that Queen Mary wanted to rule England and also believed that Mary knew of the plot to kill her husband, Lord Darnley, who was a relative of Elizabeth’s. Even though Queen Mary insisted she knew nothing of Darnley’s murder, Elizabeth could not work out if she was telling the truth. Instead, Queen Mary was kept as a prisoner.

For the next nineteen years Queen Mary was Elizabeth’s prisoner and spent her time planning escapes. She was a Catholic queen, and so wrote to English Catholics asking for their help in making her the Queen of England. These escapes were always discovered and in the end she was forbidden from writing letters. Queen Elizabeth also gave one of her men the job of spy master to watch the Queen. Mary always hoped that her son, King James VI would come to help her, but he had been raised by the Earl of Moray, who had convinced him that his mother was evil and untrustworthy.

In 1586 Queen Mary learned that her son, King James VI had signed a peace treaty with England which meant he would become King of England when Elizabeth died. He then banned Queen Mary from ruling in Scotland. She realised he was never going to help her and set about plotting to escape and kill Queen Elizabeth for the last time. She did not know that Elizabeth’s spy master had been reading her secret letters. She hid the letter in a beer barrel, but he found it anyway. Now he had cold hard proof that the Scottish Queen was guilty of treason.

Mary Queen of Scots was charged with the attempted treason of the Queen of England and was executed in 1587. Her son King James VI of Scotland also became King of England in 1603.

Megan Dunsby

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1. What date was Mary Stuart Born? (AF2)

2. Loch Leven Castle is described as ______, ______and ______. (AF2)

3. Can you think of another two adjectives to describe how you imagine Loch Leven Castle to be? (AF3/AF5)

4. Match the following quotes in the text with what they tell us about Queen Mary. (AF3) ‘Queen Mary spent her time planning to escape.’ popular ‘Scottish people cheered on the streets when Queen Mary returned’ scheming

5. Find a quote in the text to pair with this adjective. (AF5) brave

6. List Mary Queen of Scots’ husbands from first to last. (AF2/AF4)

7. Match the following words with their meanings. (AF2) Regent French heir to the throne jousting a person who rules a kingdom for a young King or Queen determined a title for a nobleman flee another word for began, started commenced will do anything to achieve something treason a secret plan to do something illegal treaty to run away preached killing or over throwing the King or Queen Dauphine a competition played on a horse with a lance Earl an agreement plot to give instructions, normally about religion insisted two different types of Christians Edinburgh to convince someone that you are absolutely positive about something Catholics and Protestants the capital city of Scotland

8. Which of the above words are Proper Nouns? (AF5)

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10. How do you think Queen Mary felt about her son when she was in prison in England? Explain why? (AF3)

11. Can you think of any other people who were executed by an English King or Queen? (AF7)

12. How were King James V and King James VI related? (AF3)

13. Why was Mary Stuart heir to the throne when she was born? (AF7)

14. Why did Mary of Guise stay behind in Scotland? How do you think she felt about staying behind? (AF2/AF3)

15. Do you think Mary was in on the plan to kill Lord Darnley? Why or why not? (AF3)

16. Why has the author used the word persuaded in this sentence, ‘Queen Mary persuaded him to flee’? (AF5)

17. Where in the text would you find information about Mary’s childhood? (AF4)

18. Tick the box next to the true statement. (AF2)

Queen Mary died in England. Queen Mary was not liked by the French people. Lord Bothwell was happy to leave Scotland.

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2. Loch Leven Castle is described as remote, dirty and isolated. (AF2)

3. Can you think of another two adjectives to describe how you imagine Loch Leven Castle to be? (AF3/AF5) Various answers, grim, dark, damp etc.

4. Pair the following quotes in the text with what they tell us about Queen Mary. (AF3) ‘Queen Mary spent her time planning to escape.’ popular ‘Scottish people cheered on the streets when Queen Mary returned’ scheming

5. Complete this line by finding a quote in the text to pair with this adjective. (AF5)

‘Queen Mary travelled to France on a rickety wooden ship.’ brave

6. List Mary Queen of Scots’ husbands from first to last. (AF2/AF4) Dauphine Francis, Lord Darnley and Lord Bothwell.

8. Which of the above words are Proper Nouns? (AF5) Regent, Dauphine, Earl, Edinburgh, Catholic, Protestant

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© Classroom Secrets Limited 2015 Comprehension – Mary Queen of Scots– 3a – Expert ANSWERS 9. Do you think the explosion at Lord Darnley’s home was an accident? Why or why not? (AF3) Various answers if justified. 10. How do you think Queen Mary felt about her son when she was in prison in England? Explain why? (AF3) Various answers if justified . 11. Can you think of any other people who were executed by an English King or Queen? (AF7) Guy Fawkes, Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard etc.

12. How were King James V and King James VI related? (AF3) Grandfather and Grandson.

13. Why was Mary Stuart heir to the throne when she was born? (AF7) Because she was the only child of the

King and Queen.

14. Why did Mary of Guise stay behind in Scotland? How do you think she felt about staying behind?

(AF2/AF3) Because she was worried that if she left one of the Scottish Lords would become King or Henry VIII

would invade. Various answers.

15. Do you think Mary was in on the plan to kill Lord Darnley? Why or why not? (AF3) Various answers if

justified.

16. Why has the author used the word persuaded in this sentence, ‘Queen Mary persuaded him to flee’? (AF5)

It shows that Bothwell did not want to leave Scotland.

17. Where in the text would you find information about Mary’s childhood? (AF4) At the beginning because the

text is in time order.

18. Tick the box next to the true statement. (AF2) Queen Mary died in England.  Queen Mary was not liked by the French people. Lord Bothwell was happy to leave Scotland.

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10 total marks Using Commas to Clarify Meaning Mini Test

1. Tick the sentences with meanings which could be changed with the addition of a comma. 4 marks a) She found a mouse trap and cheese all in the bucket as planned. b) David had said he didn’t care. c) The weather was horrible all day so they stayed in. d) He asked for money and Lego for his birthday. e) Don’t risk it Grandma.

2. How do commas affect the meaning of these sentences? Explain briefly for each pair. 2 marks

a) As the sun shone orange, people looked desperately for shade. As the sun shone, orange people looked desperately for shade.

b) When he saw the pirate ship on the horizon, the captain sounded the alarm. When he saw the pirate ship, on the horizon the captain sounded the alarm.

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SPaG | Using Commas to Clarify Meaning Using Commas to Clarify Meaning Test 2

3. Add or remove commas to give these sentences the required meaning. 3 marks a) Writing, clearly, isn’t easy. Can you add or remove commas in that sentence to make it mean that ‘writing so everyone can understand isn’t easy’?

b) Jess likes baking cats and doing ballet. Can you add commas in the sentence so it shows that Jess has three hobbies.

c) Debbie’s heroes are her parents, Spiderman, and Catwoman. Can you add or remove commas so that the sentence suggests that Debbie’s parents are Spiderman and Catwoman.

**END OF TEST**

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SPaG | Using Commas to Clarify Meaning Using Commas to Clarify Meaning Test Answers

1 Tick the sentences with meanings which could be changed with the addition of a comma. 4 marks

a) She found a mouse, trap and cheese all in the bucket as planned. b) David had said, he didn’t care. c) The weather was horrible all day so they stayed in.

d) He asked for money, and Lego for his birthday. e) Don’t, risk it Grandma.

2 How do commas affect the meaning of these sentences? Explain briefly for each pair. 2 marks

a) As the sun shone orange, people looked desperately for shade. As the sun shone, orange people looked desperately for shade.

In the first sentence, the sun is orange. In the second sentence it is the people that are orange. b) When he saw the pirate ship on the horizon, the captain sounded the alarm. When he saw the pirate ship, on the horizon the captain sounded the alarm.

In the first sentence, the captain sees the pirate ship on the horizon. In the second sentence, the captain is on the horizon himself.

3 Add or remove commas to give these sentences the required meaning. 3 marks

a) Writing, clearly, isn’t easy.

Can you add or remove commas in this sentence to make it mean ‘writing so a) Writing, clearly, isn’t easy. everyone can understand isn’t easy? Can you add or remove commas in that sentence to make it mean that ‘writing Writing clearly isn’t easy. so everyone can understand isn’t easy’?

b) Jess likes baking cats and doing ballet.

Can you add commas in that sentence so it shows that Jess has three hobbies.

Jess likes baking, cats and doing ballet. b) The criminal said the judge was an idiot. c) Debbie’s heroes are her parents, Spiderman, and Catwoman.

Can you add or remove commas so that the sentence suggests that Debbies Can you add commas in that sentence so it says the criminal is an idiot. parents are Spiderman and Catwoman.

Debbie’s heroes are her parents, Spiderman and Catwoman.

c) Debbie’s heroes are her parents, Spiderman and Catwoman. Can you add or remove commas so that the sentence suggests that Debbie’s parents are Spiderwoman and Catwoman.

SPaG | Using Commas to Clarify Meaning Test