Hiya I'm Bruce Fummey, now Mary, Queen of Scots is the most iconic of Scottish Monarchs. Her life
is seen as a tragedy, in truth it was more of an accident and in this video I'm going to explain
why. So if you're interested in the people, places and events in Scottish history,
then hit the subscribe button at the bottom right hand side of the screen at any time and
click the notification bell to make sure that they tell you when I bring out a new video, in
the meantime, let me tell you a story. Today is the 1st of January, now in 1537 it had a significance
more than just being New Year's Day, but to understand why you'll have to watch the end of this video.
First, I need to tell you about four funerals and a wedding, and some stuff that happened in there.
This is Stirling Castle, it's hugely associated with Mary, Queen of Scots.
As a child she was brought here for protection from her nasty great uncle Henry the Eighth.
As a mother she held a great pageant here on what's now the esplanade and car park for the
baptism of her son James. It was leaving here, after a visit with him that she was abducted by
Bothwell, never to see her son again as her life spiralled downwards. It was in that church at the
other side of the car park, at the age of one, her son was crowned King of Scots in her absence, but
I digress. Some folks weren't happy with Mary as Queen of Scots, but I'm going to take you
inside to explain why Mary should never have been Queen of Scots in the first place, come on.
Okay, so Historic Scotland did give me permission to film, but then they closed the Castle for
Covid. If you were standing in the central courtyard of Stirling Castle though, which
would you think was the most stunning centrepiece; The Great Hall, built by Mary's granddad James the Fourth,
or the Renaissance Palace, built by her dad, James the Fifth, for her mum, Marie de Guise?
It's Marie de Guise that we're going to talk about for a moment. In marrying Marie
de Guise, James was marrying into one of the most wealthy and powerful families in France during
what became the last hurrah of the Franco- Scottish Alliance. For him at the time this was a no-brainer.
He had this Renaissance Palace built for her and for me it's the high point of any visit to what I
think is Scotland's best castle visit when you get in! Now James wasn't Marie de Guise's only suitor,
she was also being pursued by Henry the Eighth as his fourth wife, after Jane Seymour, although Marie
famously said that she feared her neck was too small for such a great marriage as that!
James had met Marie during a nine-month period that he spent in France looking for a suitable
bride. She sailed for a new life here in Scotland in June 1538, destined to be the
mother of the most famous Queen of Scots. Not quite, you see the child Mary was neither male
nor the firstborn of the marriage between James and Marie de Guise.
Mary was in fact the third child, I should say the third legitimate child; Henry was a terrible rake,
but Mary, Queen of Scots had two elder brothers, James and Robert. Her eldest brother, James,
was born the rightful heir to the throne in St Andrews on the 22nd of May 1540. Four days later
he was baptized in a lavish ceremony with the nobles of the land and messages sent to the
King of France and the child's great-uncle, the spurned Henry the Eighth, who must have been delighted.
James and Marie were graced with a further son, Robert on the 12th of April the next year, but
that April brought pain as well as joy because both little boys had died before the month was out.
It was because of these two deaths in April 1541 that James and Marie were left childless.
It was because of the subsequent death of James himself six days after the birth of his daughter
that in December the next year Mary became Queen of Scots.
So you see Mary was never supposed to have been the child Queen of Scots.
The early death of her two brothers and her dad thrust her, as a new-born babe into the maelstrom
of European politics. It wasn't long before she was brought here to Stirling Castle to the more
defensible place to protect her from her uncle Henry the Eighth's rough wooing, but the story goes deeper
than that. You see, not only was Mary the third child, but James was never even supposed to marry
her mother Marie de Guise in the first place. You see when James was in France looking for a wife,
Marie was never in his plans, in fact Marie de Guise was James the Fifth's second wife. Let me explain;
James's dad James the Fourth was the last Scottish, indeed the last British Monarch to be killed in battle.
He was killed at the battle of Flodden after invading England to help France,
or was he? If you haven't already seen it, you should watch my video 'The King Who Never Died', I'll
leave a link at the end obviously. Scotland had invaded France as part of our treaty obligations
to France, but we were so badly decimated at Flodden, that in gratitude Scots were given special
privileges to trade and to settle in France, also when that treaty, The Auld Alliance was renewed at
Rouen in 1517, James the Fourth's surviving son, James the Fifth, was promised the hand of one of the King
of France's daughters. Now the French King's elder daughter had been promised to the King of Spain,
what's more, by the time James was looking for a wife, the French King argued that his
younger daughter, Madeleine was too sickly to marry, and to head off to Scotland. She may
have had TB, but she was certainly poorly with some kind of respiratory complaint,
so when James crossed the channel, the French King had promised him the same dowry as he would have
got for marrying his own daughter, but to marry Marie of Bourbon. Now if you're upset at all the
chauvinism right now, two things; one, don't shoot the messenger and two, it's about to get worse!
They say Mary of Bourbon wasn't much of a looker, and when James got there and saw her he said naw,
honour the treaty. Not only that, but Madeleine, the 16 year old sickly princess wanted to marry James,
because she said she wanted to be a Queen before she died, so James the Fifth of Scotland and
Madeleine of France were married in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on New Year's Day 1537.
They left France in May to return to Scotland but on the 7th of July, Madeleine died ... a Queen.
It turns out the King of France was right about the effects of Scotland on his daughter!
James should have married Marie of Bourbon, but ended up marrying Madeleine of France,
but she died and he ended up marrying the widow Marie de Guise, she bore James two heirs, but
they died, and that is why their third child, Mary became Queen of Scots in December 1542.
There's a link to my video 'The King Who Never Died', and you'll find it here.
If you want more about Mary, Queen of Scots then I've got a video about how she escaped from prison
and that is up there. In the meantime, tha mi an dochas bum bith lath math leibh. Tiorridh an drasda.