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TIME CAPSULE
MAY
WHAT
HAPPENED NEXT?
A queen becomes a pawn in a
deadly game of thrones
1567 MARY, QUEEN
OF SCOTS IS MARRIED
The young Catholic monarch marries the
Earl of Bothwell, a tempestuous match that
leads to her downfall
Lord Darnley and his
men set upon Riccio at
a party, stabbing him in
front of Mary’s very eyes
AFFAIRS OF STATE
Riccio was Mary’s Italian private
secretary. Born to an impoverished
family, he was a talented musician
and attracted Mary’s attention.
Rumours circulated that Mary and
Riccio were having an affair, which
inflamed her jealous and controlling
husband, and led to Darnley’s demise.
GETTY X4
Aged just 24, Mary, Queen
of Scots was already on
her third husband. In an
event lacking the usual cheer
of a royal wedding, she married
the Earl of Bothwell in May
1567. It was a sombre start to a
relationship that, like the ones
before, was doomed to fail.
DIE HARD
The Queen of Scots was Queen
Elizabeth I’s cousin, and a
potential rival for the English
crown. She had married the
future King of France at 15, but
was widowed just two years later.
Her second marriage to Lord
Darnley (Henry Stewart) had
started off well, but his lust for
power soon grew. In an attempt
to claim the crown matrimonial,
he stabbed Mary’s friend Riccio
during a dinner party while his
six-months-pregnant wife was
held at gunpoint. Naturally, this
broke their marriage irretrievably.
Since divorce was not an option
for the Catholic queen, it was
decided that Stewart be removed
by any means necessary.
Unfortunately for him, this
meant a violent death. Two
barrels of gunpoweder were
placed beneath his bedroom and
an explosion was triggered. The
blame for the murder was laid
upon the Earl of Bothwell, an
advisor of the Queen, although he
was later acquitted.
Bothwell and Mary soon
married, under a cloud of
suspicion. Nobody would believe
that the Queen would marry the
man (who was widely believed to
have killed her previous husband)
out of love alone. The marriage
remains controversial today, as
it is often alleged that Bothwell
raped Mary to ensure their legal
union. Many of Mary’s old friends
turned against her, and she was
forced to abdicate after putting
up a small fight in June 1567. As
she was led away, the crowds
screamed that she was both an
adulteress and murderer.
THE PRISONER
With Elizabeth I still feeling
threatened by Mary’s Catholic
claims to the throne, the Queen
of Scotland was placed under
house arrest in England, so that
she could be kept under close
surveillance. For almost 20 years,
the disgraced queen moved from
castle to castle, but was never
allowed her freedom.
The final straw came in 1586,
when she was implicated in a plot
to assassinate Elizabeth, and tried
for treason. Though her spirited
defence – arguing that she could
not be charged for treason on the
grounds that she was a foreign
subject – was strong, Mary’s
tumultuous life came abruptly to
an end on the chopping block in
February 1587. d
ABOVE: The Earl
of Bothwell was
imprisoned in
Denmark and
declared insane
RIGHT: Mary,
Queen of Scots,
was executed
by her cousin
Elizabeth I
24 HISTORYREVEALED.COM