All About - History - Nero - Rome's Deadliest tyrant

H O
VILL IN?
OR
Mary, Queen
46
of Scots
Was Elizabeth’s enemy number one a
murderer or a martyr?
Adultery, murder, treason: Mary Stuart had
been accused of many things in her life, but
these were the crimes for which it would
be ended. As her beloved butler led her up
the steps of the execution scaffold, her hand
remained steady in his and she held her head high,
as if she were the guest of honour ascending the
staircase to a ball. On the scaffold, her captor asked if
she would like the comfort of a Protestant minister,
and she angrily refused. Kneeling before the block,
she prayed for her ladies in waiting to be spared, and
for England and Scotland to return to Catholicism.
Then, removing her veil and doublet, she revealed
a velvet petticoat in crimson-brown – the colour of
martyrdom. One of her ladies, weeping silent tears,
stepped forward with a handkerchief and tied it over
her mistress’s eyes. With the courage of a lion, Mary
placed her neck upon the execution block, and the
deed was done.
Just as in death, the one-time queen of Scotland
had lived her life with grace and majesty, despite
being a pawn in both the hands of her male relatives
and later her female cousin, Elizabeth I. Her father
King James V died on 14 December 1542, when Mary
was only six days old. All of a sudden this baby girl
was the most powerful person in Scotland – at least,
Written by Alicea Francis
on paper. Scotland was a Catholic country, but the
Protestant Reformation was sweeping Europe, and
members of both sides grappled for the regency. In
the end, it was a Protestant who ruled Scotland in
Mary’s place – the Earl of Arran, who was the greatgrandson
of James II and next in line to the throne.
Meanwhile in England, Henry VIII took advantage
of the regency to propose a marriage between the
young queen and his son, Edward, in the hope that
the two rival countries would finally be united. On 1
July 1543, the Treaty of Greenwich was signed, which
promised that Mary would be married to Edward
when she reached the age of ten. However, when
Henry VIII intercepted Scottish merchants on their
way to trade with their Catholic ally France, the Earl
of Arran was outraged, and immediately converted
to Catholicism. In December that year, the Treaty of
Greenwich was overturned.
Henry was not a man who could be told ’no’
easily. Determined that the union would go ahead,
the king of England initiated a campaign of ‘Rough
Wooing’, and took military action against the Scottish.
Though he died just a few years later, his son Edward
continued the campaign, and when the Scots
suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
in 1547, they turned to the French for help. King
Defining
moment
Mary marries the
Earl of Darnley
When her husband King Francois II of France
diesjustayearintotheirreign,Maryreturns
to Scotland and embarks on a quest to find a
new husband. Her cousin, the 16-year-old Earl
ofDarnley,ishandsomeandathletic,notto
mention a strong contender for the English
throne. The pair soon marries, much to
the despair of Queen Elizabeth I.
29 July 1565