Mary queen of scots family tree

Mary, Queen of Scots is perhaps the best known figure in Scotland&#;s royal history. Her life provided tragedy and romance, more dramatic than any legend.

She was born in a week before her father, King James V of Scotland, died prematurely.

It was initially arranged for Mary to marry the English King Henry VIII’s son Prince Edward; however the Scots refused to ratify the agreement.

None too pleased by this, Henry sought to change their mind through a show of force, a war between Scotland and England… the so called ‘Rough Wooing’. In the middle of this, Mary was sent to France in to be the bride of the Dauphin, the young French prince, in order to secure a Catholic alliance against Protestant England. In , after the Dauphin, still in his teens, died, Mary reluctantly returned to Scotland, a young and beautiful widow.

Scotland at this time was in the throes of the Reformation and a widening Protestant &#; Catholic split.

Queen mary queen of scots biography bloody mary The authenticity of the casket letters has been the source of much controversy among historians. Queen Elizabeth I. Main article: Murder of Lord Darnley. At Fotheringhay, on the evening of 7 February , Mary was told she was to be executed the next morning.

A Protestant husband for Mary seemed the best chance for stability. Mary fell passionately in love with Henry, Lord Darnley, but it was not a success. Darnley was a weak man and soon became a drunkard as Mary ruled entirely alone and gave him no real authority in the country.

Darnley became jealous of Mary&#;s secretary and favourite, David Riccio.

He, together with others, murdered Riccio in front of Mary in Holyrood House.

Mary queen of scots family tree At the same time he rehoused Queen Elizabeth to a rather less prominent tomb nearby. Further reading [ edit ]. She was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. Cleopatra VII.

She was six months pregnant at the time.

Her son, the future King James VI of Scotland and I of England, was baptised in the Catholic faith in Stirling Castle.

This caused alarm amongst the Protestants.

Lord Darnley, Mary&#;s husband, later died in mysterious circumstances in Edinburgh, when the house he was lodging in was blown up one night in February His body was found in the garden of the house after the explosion, but he had been strangled!

Mary had now become attracted to James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, and rumours abounded at Court that she was pregnant by him.

Bothwell was accused of Darnley&#;s murder but was found not guilty. Shortly after he was acquitted, Mary and Bothwell were married.

Queen mary queen of scots biography mary stuart Related articles. She was taken to Fotheringhay Castle and executed in In his opinion — and that of most of Catholic Europe — Mary of Scotland was the next heir to the English throne. Life in France [ edit ].

The Lords of Congregation did not approve of Mary&#;s liaison with Bothwell and she was imprisoned in Leven Castle where she gave birth to still-born twins.

Bothwell meanwhile had bid Mary goodbye and fled to Dunbar. She never saw him again. He died in Denmark, insane, in

In May Mary escaped from Leven Castle.

She gathered together a small army but was defeated at Langside by the Protestant faction.

Queen mary queen of scots biography While her servants wept and called out prayers in a medley of languages, she laid her neck upon the block, commended herself to God and received the death-stroke. Mary knew very well that she was succeeding to a most troubled heritage. Elizabeth I was Mary's cousin. Mary certainly believed that Darnley, angry because she had denied him the crown matrimonial, wanted to kill her and the child, thus becoming King of Scots.

Mary then fled to England.

In England she became a political pawn in the hands of Queen Elizabeth I and was imprisoned for 19 years in various castles in England. Mary was found to be plotting against Elizabeth; letters in code, from her to others, were found and she was deemed guilty of treason.

She was taken to Fotheringhay Castle and executed in It is said that after her execution, when the executioner raised the head for the crowd to see, it fell and he was left holding only Mary&#;s wig.

Mary was intially buried at nearby Peterborough Cathedral.

Mary&#;s son became James I of England and VI of Scotland after Elizabeth&#;s death in Although James would have had no personal memories of his mother, in he had Mary&#;s body exhumed from Peterborough and reburied in a place of honour at Westminster Abbey.

At the same time he rehoused Queen Elizabeth to a rather less prominent tomb nearby.