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The House Of Stewart |
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Mary, Queen of Scots
1542-1567
THE MURDER OF DARNLEY
On the night of 10th February,1566, Darnley, while recuperating from syphilis at a house at Kirk'o Field near Edinburgh, was murdered. In a explosion which shook Edinburgh, the house was blown up with gunpowder and Darnley and a servant were found dead in the grounds. They had been strangled, presumably having escaped the blast. James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, was considered by many to be responsible for the act and the Queen's own complicity in her husband's murder suspected. The skull of Darnley, pitted with the tell tale marks of syphillis, is now in the possession of the College of Surgeons at Edinburgh.
Darnley's shocked and grieving father, Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox, angrily demanded an inquiry into his son's murder. The Queen duly complied, and Bothwell was declared innocent of any involvement in Darnley's death. There were many, including Lennox himself, who were sceptical of this verdict and saw it as little more than a whitewash.
The Lennox Jewel
The Lennox Jewel, an enamel locket set with precious stones was made in 1570 for Lady Margaret Douglas the mother of Darnley to commemorate the death of her son. The jewel is now on display to the public at Holyrood House in Edinburgh.
JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL
Despite advice urging her to the contrary, the Queen heedlessly and foolishly consented to marry Bothwell. The ill starred marriage took place according Protestant rites on May 15, 1566, at Holyrood Palace. The outraged
Scottish lords rose in revolt in the name of the now fatherless Prince James. Mary and Bothwell faced the rebels at Carberry Hill, but the ranks
of her troops were decimated by desertions and she was forced to negotiate with the lords rather than risk battle. The Queen agreed to surrender to her enemies on the promise
that no further action would be taken against her. Bothwell, who as part of the agreement was allowed to leave unharmed, eventually made good his escape to Norway.
On arrival, he was imprisoned in Dragsholm Castle, where he was chained to a pillar half his own height, rendering him incapable of standing upright. He was to remain there, crouching in the dark and in his own filth until his death ten years later. His body had became overgrown with hair. Bothwell's mummified corpse was later put on display in the crypt at Faarevejle Church, near Dragsholm.
ABDICATION
Mary was lead captive back to the capital by the lords and abused by the people, dirty and dishevelled and with tears flowing down her face, as their shouts of "burn the whore" rang in her ears, her humiliation was complete and her reputation in tatters. She was later sighted half naked, hysterically weeping and desperately calling for aid at the window of the house where she was held prisoner.
Removed to the island castle of Lochleven, she was bullied and threatened and cajoled into abdicating in favour of her infant son, James. Her treacherous bastard brother James, Earl of Moray, was duly appointed Regent. Undefeated and using her legendary Stewart charm to solicit aid, the Queen managed a daring escape from her island prison. Swiftly gathering together an army, Mary met the rebels in battle at Langside on 13th May, 1568. On loosing the battle the Queen fled, though advised by friends on the foolishness of such a course, Mary disregarded their pleas and impulsively rode for England to seek protection and support from her 'dear sister and cousin' Elizabeth.
THE YEARS OF ENGLISH CAPTIVITY
On her arrival in England, Queen Elizabeth I refused to grant her cousin an audience, and instead placed Mary in confinement at Carlisle Castle. Lady's Walk, at the castle, is named after her, as it was here that she used to take exercise during her captivity. The Scots Queen was moved to Bolton Castle in July 1568, where she was placed under the care of Henry the 9th Lord Scrope.
Elizabeth ordered an enquiry into the murder of Darnley, which the Scots lords were invited to present
their evidence before. The English Queen was in a dilemma. She could not place her cousin at the head of an army against the Protestant Scots lords, as such would mean political suicide for her. On the other
hand, she could not allow her to go to France to solicit aid, such a scenario would place a foreign power at England's back door. Equally, to keep Mary in England
was to make her the inevitable focus of Catholic plots.
The chief evidence presented at the enquiry were the so called Casket Letters, a set of eight letters purportedly written by Mary and found in a silver box, said to once belong to Francois II, Mary's first husband. They were accepted as genuine at the time, although doubt now exists as to whether they actually were.
Elizabeth, with characteristic caution, decided not to let the enquiry reach any verdict and decided to retain Mary as a prisoner in England. She was to remain Elizabeth's prisoner for nineteen long and weary years. While she languished in her English prison, Mary's son James, now King of Scotland, raised in the Calvinist religion, was brought up by her enemies to regard his mother as an adulteress and the murderess of his father.
Mary's captivity in England was prolonged and tedious, she was moved between the castles of Sheffield, Tutbury, Wingfield, and Chartley. Mary passed the time at embroidery, a visitor wrote "All the day she wrought with her needle and that the diversity of colours made the time less tedious". The Queen passed many hours at the hobby, in the company of the formidable Bess of Hardwick, her jailer’s wife. She drew her inspiration from sources such as emblem books, natural history books, and fables. She also read and wrote letters. She kept several pets including lap dogs and singing birds.
Mary's health began to decline due to lack of exercise and she gained weight. She concentrated her considerable energies on procuring her release by entering into conspiracies against her English cousin. Notes were frequently smuggled in to her and Mary's hopes of eventual release were never quite extinguished.Throughout the 18 years of her weary English imprisonment, the Queen of Scots came to symbolise the hopes of the English Catholics.
Mary was moved to Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire on 4th
February 1569, its cold and draughts had a detrimental effect on her health and she came to loathe the castle and complained that in winter that the wind would whistle through her chamber.
Describing it it as "sitting squarely on top of a mountain in the middle of a plain" subjecting her to all the winds and "injures' of heaven".
She was moved from Tutbury in 1569, but returned there in 1570 after the failure of the Norfolk plot and placed under the guardianship of Sir Ralph Sadler, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Salder acted with kindness toward Mary, and allowed her to hawk and ride. He was later replaced by the severe puritan Sir Amyas Paulet, whom Mary came to detest. He humiliated her by removing her royal cloth of state, which reduced the Queen to tears.
Mary's confinement under Paulet became much more severe, she had previously been allowed to walk in the privy garden within the Castle walls, but this was now prevented. The Queen had distributed money to the poor on Maundy Thursday. In 1585, 42 girls and 18 little boys received 1½ yards of woollen cloth. Money was also given to the poor of Tutbury town. Paulet reacted in fury at this and stopped it immediately. Mary was moved on to Chartley Castle in 1585.
After enduring many years of English captivity , Mary attempted to negotiate with James through a Guise emissary for an 'Association', or joint rule with him in Scotland. Her opportunist son, however, was more eager to gain the approval of Elizabeth, to favour his own ends and concluded that the 'The Association desired by his mother should neither be granted or spoken of hereafter.' Mary deeply wounded, wrote 'I am so grievously offended at my heart, at the impiety and ingratitude that my child has been constrained to commit against me.'
The desperate Mary entered into a plot with Elizabeth's maternal cousin, the Catholic Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, one of the most powerful noblemen in England. They plotted to assassinate the Protestant Queen and place Mary on the throne of England with Norfolk as her consort. The plot was uncovered by Elizabeth's agents and Norfolk was sent to the block. Although her life was spared, Elizabeth ensured that Mary's confinement now became more rigorous. As a direct result of the plot, Parliament introduced a bill in 1572 which excluded Mary from the throne. Elizabeth, however, refused to assent to it.
THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
A scheme was devised by Elizabeth's spymaster, Francis Walsingham, designed to end the threat posed by Mary and bring her to the block. In 1586, Anthony Babington, a young and ardent Catholic, played the leading role in a conspiracy to free Mary. Coded messages to and from Mary were sent in beer barrels, the barrels, along with their incriminating replies were regularly intercepted by Walsingham's agents. When Mary responded positively to the plotters, as Walsingham hoped she would, her death knell had sounded and her fate sealed. Walsingham then pounced on the unsuspecting Queen. The plotters were arrested and executed and the Queen put on trial for her offences.
The trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, presided over by 40 lords, took place at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire.
Mary represented herself ably, warning her judges "Remember, the theatre of the world is wider than the realm of England." The verdict was a foregone conclusion
and she was found guilty. Elizabeth, after much prevacation, due to her fears that her cousin's execution would provide the arch Catholic Phillip of Spain with the excuse he required to launch an invasion of England, was finally prevailed upon to sign Mary's
death warrant.
Mary, Queen of Scots passed the night before her execution in distributing her few belongings to the faithful servants who had remained with her in captivity and writing letters to her brother-in-law, the King of France and to Phillip II of Spain, requesting that he reward her servants, before lying down on her bed without undressing.
A message was sent to her errant son James, informing him that her dearest wish had always been to see the kingdoms of England and Scotland united. She went to her death in the Great Hall at Fotheringay Castle on 8th February, 1587 displaying sublime courage. Every inch a Queen, she walked with resolution and dignity to the scaffold. Dressed all in black satin and velvet, Mary wore a deep red petticoat, the colour of martyrdom.
On the scaffold, ignoring the Protestant Dean of Peterborough who prayed vociferously and at length in English, the Queen of Scots prayed aloud in latin. When the executioner, in accordance with established tradition, asked the Queen's forgiveness, she replied "I forgive you with all my heart, for now I hope you will make an end of all my troubles."
Having undressed to her underwear and been blindfolded by her attendants, the Queen crossed herself and laid her neck upon the block. With outstretched hands, she murmured "Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." The first blow of the axe did not sever her neck, the Queen's lips moved and she let out an audible groan before the axe came down again with a sickening thud. The task had to be completed with a sawing action before the head was completely severed, her lips were still seen to move for some time afterwards.
In a scene which evoked pathos even from her enemies, Mary's Skye Terrier, which had accompanied her into the hall concealed under her skirts, whimpering, splattered in her blood, it lay between the Queen's body and her decapitated head. It was dragged away and washed but pining and refusing to eat, the dog did not long survive the trauma.
Mary's body was encased in a casket of lead and buried at Peterborough Cathedral. The Queen's mercenary son, James VI, after registering protests solely for the sake of his reputation, accepted a pension from Elizabeth and lead her to understand that the sad scene played out at Fotheringay need not permanently affect relations between their two countries.
When James VI succeeded to the English throne in 1603, he became the first monarch of Great Britain. By way of reparation for his earlier treatment of her, he had his mother's body translated to the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey, the mausoleum of England's monarchs.
James provided a costly, magnificent and majestic white Marble monument to Mary's memory. He further ordered that the Castle at Fotheringay, the tragic scene of his mother's execution, be razed to the ground. Only a mound, where purple thistles are said to grow, remains today.
Mary's descendants-The House of Stuart