[MR] Wikipedia: Birth of Mary Queen of Scots

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots:

You may be tired of hearing about Scottish history from me, and I've
already commented on many of the major topics, so I won't repeat them for a
while.

That said, today marks the birth of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1542, and her
disastrous reign is so important to the history of both Scotland and
England, that I must call it to your attention.

Queen Mary was the daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. Her
father died just days after her birth leaving Scotland was under a regency
for many years. The regent was her Protestant uncle the Earl of Arran, who
was next in line to the throne. Mary of Guise was fiercely protective of
her daughter, and had the child raised a staunch Catholic. This left the
nobility, and indeed the rest of the country divided and with daggers
drawn. Eventually Mary was taken to France where she lived at the French
court.

After a short marriage to the Francis, King of France, the adult Mary
returned to Scotland to claim the Scottish throne for herself. Had she
behaved herself, she might have been a successful queen. As has been
pointed out on many modern T-shirts, women who behave themselves seldom
make history. Mary certainly did not behave herself. In particular, her two
subsequent marriages scandalized Scotland, and contributed to the growing
Protestant cause.

Eventually after a brief civil war, she had to flee Scotland, and took
refuge in England under Elizabeth I. Mary had a legitimate claim on the
English throne, and became a figurehead for Catholic plotters, so Elizabeth
kept her under house arrest. Mary's involvement in the Babbington plot to
kill Elizabeth and return England to Catholicism, forced Elizabeth to have
Mary executed.

As you all know, Mary's son James VI of Scotland eventually inherited the
English throne. He was descended from Margaret Tudor, Queen Consort of
Scotland and wife of James IV. Margaret was the daughter of Henry VII, and
thus sister to Henry VIII. Despite Mary Queen of Scots' bungling, the
Stuarts ended up winning all the marbles (along with a few other baubles,
and both crowns).

If you would like to read the Wikipedia article about Mary, please go here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Queen_of_Scots

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Who Doesn't Think Much of Most of the Stuart Rulers