Mary Queen of Scots was a woman who had a very difficult and eventful life.
She was a Queen who lost her head following being sentenced to death by her cousin Elizabeth
I of England.
Mary had fled Scotland and was held under house arrest for almost two decades by the
English King, but after being involved in a number of plots to oust Elizabeth from the
throne, and instate Mary as the Queen of England.
But she would be executed inside the walls of Fotheringhay Castle, and much is known
about her execution.
But even before her tragic demise, there was a part of Mary’s life which was also rather
tragic and unfortunate and that was her love life and the marriages she had.
She was not the luckiest in love, but what is the story of the tragic 3 husbands of Mary
Queen of Scots?
King Henry II of France wished to unite the Scottish and French by having his three year
old son, the Dauphin Francis marry Mary Queen of Scots.
The marriage was agreed with the promise that the French would help the Scottish in military
campaigns.
At the time the English were fighting the Scots, and the French did come to help at
some point.
But the marriage treaty for Mary and Francis was agreed at a nunnery on the 7th July 1548.
With the agreement in place, the five year old Mary was sent to France, and she spent
the next 13 years there at the French court.
The French fleet sailed with Mary from Dumbarton on the 7th August 1548 and arrived a week
later in Brittany.
Mary had been accompanied despite being a young girl with her own court including four
girls her own age named Mary who were the daughters of Scottish nobles.
Also her governess came with her, but Mary was considered a clever and spritely child.
Inside of the French court she learned how to play different musical instruments, and
she was also fluent in many other languages and was skilled in horsemanship and also falconry.
Many at the royal court loved her, however Catherine de Medici the wife of King Henry
II did not.
She became a close friend with Elisabeth of Valois, and she was well looked after.
At some point in her childhood she did contract smallpox, but was not left scarred by this.
With regards to her relationship with her first husband the future Francis II, it was
said that the pair were close and were affectionate.
They travelled to different royal palaces together and were attended on by a group of
servants.
They had known each other since before they were married.
Mary was described as a tall young lady, and her husband Francis was short and he had a
stutter.
It was said that, ‘from the very first day they met, my son and she got on as well together
as if they had known each other for a long time.’
Mary at this time would also sign over the Scottish kingdom to the French if she died
without children, but she then married Francis at Notre Dame de Paris.
At this time, in the eyes of many Catholics in England, they believed that Mary was the
legitimate successor to the throne, and that she should in time become the rightful Queen
of England through as the senior legitimate dependent of Henry VII through her grandmother
Margaret Tudor.
Henry II of France her father in law proclaimed his son and Mary the King and Queen of England.
But Henry II died on the 10th July 1559 after a joust, and his son the 15 year old Francis
became King, and Mary then became Queen.
But in June 1560, Mary’s mother died in Scotland at the age of 45, but then six months
later tragedy would strike.
Her young husband Francis who was rather sickly died from an ear infection on the 5th December
1560, and she then went back to Scotland to claim her throne.
Her Second Husband would be Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley her cousin.
He was considered a weak, vain and unstable young man, and he was also a grandchild of
Margaret Tudor.
It’s not known for certain why the pair married, but Darnley was charming and was
a tall man.
He was a fan of entertainment at court, and was a rather positive part of court to begin
with.
However he never seemed too bothered about Mary, and was more interested in the power
she could give him.
At the age of 22 Mary said her 19 year old groom was, ‘The lustiest and best proportioned
long man that she had ever seen,’ however her infatuation and love turned to darkness.
2 months after the wedding, Mary fell pregnant with the future King James I of England, and
whilst she was six months pregnant, Darnley’s evil side came out.
He had organised and joined a group of Scottish nobles who broke into Holyrood Palace, and
then committed one of the most brutal murders of the 16th century.
David Rizzio was Mary’s flamboyant secretary, and Darnley was jealous of how close he was
with the Queen, and many also believed he was sleeping with the Queen.
However Darnely and the nobles then dragged Rizzio from the supper room at Holyrood, and
in another room stabbed him awfully to death.
They justified this by saying Rizzio had too much influence over Mary, but Mary watched
her secretary die a painful death.
She believed Darnley was angry as she had refused to make him the King of the Scots,
and she believed that he wanted to kill her unborn child who would become her successor.
But it’s unlikely that Darnley would ever have been able to kill Mary also.
But after Rizzo’s death, Mary was then kept a prisoner at Holyrood.
During her final months of pregnancy, she tried to escape and even at some point tried
to win over Darnley and the pair escaped together.
James VI of Scotland and James I of England was later born, and in December 1566 he was
baptised in the Chapel Royal of Stirling Castle.
But the nobles who plotted with Darnley then felt betrayed by him, as they had captured
the Queen and their heir, murdered her close friend, and they now wanted Darnley dead.
As he helped Mary escape, this made them very angry.
In February 1567 near to Darnley’s house Kirk O Field, the body of Lord Darnley the
second husband of Mary Queen of Scots was found.
The house had been blown up by gunpowder, but strangely inside the garden of the building,
Darnley’s body was found.
But he had been strangled and then dumped there, so someone had murdered him.
There were many nobles implicated in Darnley’s murder and one of them was James Hepburn the
Earl of Bothwell.
Following the murder, Bothwell met with Mary outside of Edinburgh and he had with him 600
men.
He said he would escort Mary to Dunbar castle as she was in danger, and Mary who was terrified
went with him.
IT’s believed that he was a man who assaulted Mary, and forced her into marriage under threats
of her life.
Bothwell’s friends had previously told Mary to marry him as she needed a strong husband
who couldn’t unite the rebel lords.
But Mary had refused this preferring to marry Darnley, but she was now powerless.
It’s believed she consented to marry Bothwell, to stabilise Scotland.
In May 1567 the couple married at Holyrood, and she wrote to foreign courts saying for
her country it was the right thing for her to do.
However the nobles were now angry that Bothwell would become too powerful, and they waged
war against him.
A month after the marriage, the rebel nobles and their army met Mary’s royal army at
Carberry Hill, 8 miles south of Edinburgh.
They demanded that Mary leave her husband, and she refused.
To avoid the bloodshed of the battle, she turned herself over and the rebels took her
to Edinburgh.
Bothwell could not rally his own army, but Mary was then imprisoned inside of Lochleven
Castle and held in the island fortress.
She even became very ill here, and she was then forced to abdicate the crown in favour
of her son.
In July 1567, James was then crowned King, and Mary’s half brother James Stewart became
Regent.
Bothwell would later be imprisoned in Denmark where he was left to Rot at Dragsholm Castle.
But Mary would later flee to England for her safety, and she was held under arrest by Elizabeth
I for almost two decades.
Elizabeth I feared Mary as she had a genuine claim to the throne, and many Catholics across
England who were being persecuted by Elizabeth wanted Mary on the throne.
She was kept under lock and key for 19 years moved from house to house, and most of her
imprisonment was rather comfortable inside of castles and stately houses.
But Mary Queen of Scots’ love life was incredibly tragic, and she saw her first husband die
at a young age, her second husband who was a murderer was blown up and strangled, and
her third husband was a violent man who treated her awfully, and would later be left for dead.
It was a love life that was not successful.
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