Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) Mary, Queen of Scots Although the Stuart family had gained the Scottish throne through Marjory (daughter of Robert the Bruce), Mary became Queen only because all male alternatives had been exhausted. Princess Mary Stuart was born at Linlithgow Palace, Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, on December 7 or December 8, 1542 to King James V of Scotland and his French wife, Marie de Guise. The six-day-old Mary became Queen of Scotland when her father died at the age of thirty. James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran was the next in line for the throne after Mary; he acted as regent for Mary until 1554, when he was succeeded by the Queen’s mother, who continued as regent until her death in 1560. When Mary was only nine months old she was crowned Queen of Scotland in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle on September 9, 1543. Henry VIII then began his “rough wooing” designed to impose the marriage to his son on Mary. This consisted of a series of raids on Scottish territory and other military actions.

It lasted until June 1551, costing over half a million pounds and many lives. In May of 1544, the English Earl of Hertford (later created Duke of Somerset by Edward VI) arrived in the Firth of Forth hoping to capture the city of Edinburgh and kidnap Mary, but Marie de Guise hid her in the secret chambers of Stirling Castle. On September 10, 1547, known as “Black Saturday”, the Scots suffered a bitter defeat at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh. Marie de Guise, fearful for her daughter, sent her temporarily to Inchmahome Priory. The French King, Henri II, was now proposing to unite France and Scotland by marrying the little Queen to his newborn son, the Dauphin François. On July 7, the French Marriage Treaty was signed at a nunnery near Haddington. With her marriage agreement in place, five-year-old Mary was sent to France in 1548 to spend the next ten years at the French court. Vivacious, pretty, and clever (according to contemporary accounts), Mary had a promising childhood. While in the French court, she was a favourite.

She received the best available education, and at the end of her studies, she had mastered French, Latin, Greek, Spanish and Italian in addition to her native Scots. She also learned how to play two instruments and learned prose, horsemanship, falconry, and needlework. Under the ordinary laws of succession, Mary was also next in line to the English throne after her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, who was childless. In the eyes of many Catholics Elizabeth was illegitimate, making Mary the true heir. François died on December 5, 1560. Mary’s mother-in-law, Catherine de Medici, became regent for the late king’s brother Charles IX, who inherited the French throne. Under the terms of the Treaty of Edinburgh, signed by Mary’s representatives on July 6, 1560 following the death of Marie of Guise, France undertook to withdraw troops from Scotland and recognise Elizabeth’s right to rule England. The eighteen-year-old Mary, still in France, refused to ratify the treaty. At Holyrood Palace on July 29, 1565, Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, a descendant of King Henry VII of England and Mary’s first cousin.

The union infuriated Elizabeth, who felt she should have been asked permission for the marriage to even take place, as Darnley was an English subject. Elizabeth also felt threatened by the marriage, because Mary’s and Darnley’s Scottish and English royal blood would produce children with extremely strong claims to both Mary’s and Elizabeth’s thrones. Before long, Mary became pregnant. Darnley became arrogant and demanded power commensurate with his courtesy title of “King”, and on one occasion Darnley attacked Mary and unsuccessfully attempted to cause her to miscarry their unborn child. Darnley was jealous of Mary’s friendship with her private secretary, David Rizzio. On March 9 a group of the lords, accompanied by Darnley, murdered Rizzio in front of Mary while the two were in conference at Holyrood Palace. Following the birth of their son, James, in 1566, a plot was hatched to remove Darnley. He was recuperating in a house in Edinburgh. In February 1567, an explosion occurred in the house, and Darnley was found dead in the garden, apparently of strangulation. This event, which should have been Mary’s salvation, only harmed her reputation.

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, an adventurer who would become her third husband, was generally believed to be guilty of the assassination, and was brought before a mock trial but acquitted. On April 24 Mary visited her son at Stirling for the last time. On her way back to Edinburgh Mary was abducted by Bothwell and his men and taken to Dunbar Castle. On May 6 they returned to Edinburgh and on May 15, at Holyrood Palace, Mary and Bothwell were married according to Protestant rites. The Scottish nobility turned against Mary and Bothwell and raised an army against them and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle. On May 2, 1568, Mary escaped from Loch Leven and once again managed to raise a small army. After her army’s defeat at the Battle of Langside on May 13, she fled to England. When Mary entered England on May 19, she was imprisoned by Elizabeth’s officers at Carlisle. Elizabeth considered Mary’s designs on the English throne to be a serious threat, and so eighteen years of confinement followed, much of it in Sheffield Castle. Mary was put on trial for treason by a court of about 40 noblemen.

She was ultimately convicted of treason, and was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire on February 8, 1587. A copy of Mary’s effigy in Westminster Abbey, as commissioned by her son James VI/I, now housed in Scotland. Mary Queen of Scots | Famous Scots | VisitScotland Mary Queen of Scots About Add to basket Remove from basket Plus Minus Add to trip planner Remove from trip planner Mary Queen of Scots Mary Queen of Scots is one of history's true enigmas. Historians know plenty about what she did and where she went during her short life, but the debate still rages on who she was; a selfless martyr, spurred on by passion for her country and devotion to God, or an icy and manipulative adulteress, capable of murder to achieve her political ambitions? It's time to decide for yourself - explore the life and times of Mary Queen of Scots and learn about the events surrounding her life and reign in the fantastic guide, Discover Something About Mary Queen of Scots . Bring her story to life and visit the places where some of the most dramatic events took place.

In museums, exhibits and collections, feast your eyes on some fascinating objects associated with her, including jewellery, documents, instruments, textiles and more, and see her immortalised in works of art. 9 key facts Born 8 December 1542 in Linlithgow Palace. Crowned Queen of Scots in the Chapel Royal, Stirling Castle, aged just nine months. Smuggled to France aged five, where she lived until she was 18. Gave birth to her only child in Edinburgh Castle. He would rise to become James VI of Scotland and I of England. Some believe she arranged to have her first husband, Lord Darnley, assassinated. Married for a second time to Lord Bothwell - some believe he abducted her against her will. Imprisoned for almost a year in Lochleven Castle in Kinross before managing to escape. Last hours in Scotland were spent in Dundrennan Abbey in Dumfries & Galloway before journeying to England to seek protection from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. Confined in England for 18 years before Elizabeth sanctioned her death warrant and she was beheaded. She died 8 February 1587 in Fotheringhay Castle.

Find out more Lennoxlove House , near Haddington, East Lothian, where you can see her death mask John Gray Centre , a library, museum and archive, also in Haddington, which displays documents signed and sealed by Mary. Blairs Museum , Aberdeen where a memorial portrait of Mary on the day of her execution is on display Mary Queen of Scots Visitor Centre , Jedburgh, Scottish Borders, for information about her visit to the town in 1566. Stirling Castle & Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots Home Page The earliest recorded castle at Stirling was used by Malcolm Canmore in the 11th century. Alexander I died here in 1124, as did William the Lyon in 1214. Edward I of England captured the castle in 1304 when he used a siege engine called the "War Wolf", even though the garrison had already surrendered. William Wallace took the castle for the Scots, but it was retaken by the English until the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

Robert the Bruce had the castle slighted, but it was rebuilt by Edward III of England, after his victory of Halidon Hill in 1333, in support of Edward Balliol. The English garrison was besieged in 1337 by Andrew Moray, but it was not until 1342 that the Scots recovered the castle. James III was born here in 1451. James II lured the 8th Earl of Douglas to it in 1452, murdered him, and had his body tossed out of one of the windows, despite promising safe conduct. Click here to see a reconstruction of the castle. The present castle which dates only from the 15th century, stands on a sheer 250-ft crag. The castle's Parliament Hall was built for James III, and his son James IV added the fine gatehouse. James V built most of the royal palace in the early 16th century, and turned the castle into one of the most sumptuous in Scotland. James VI, Mary's son, remodelled the Chapel Royal (below) for the christening of Prince Henry in 1594.

Mary spent the first few years of her life, from 27 July 1543 within the safe confines of this castle and in the hands of her guardian Lord Erskine, to February 1548, when she was moved to Dumbarton Castle and eventually shipped to France. It is here, in the Old Chapel, that Mary was crowned Queen of Scots on 9th September 1543 aged only 9 months. The ceremony was by no means lavish, and consisted of the quick investiture of the child in the presence of the nobility. The Earl of Arran bore the crown, the Earl of Lennox the sceptre, and the Earl of Argyll the sword of state. The pro-English party, including Angus, Gray, Glencairn, Cassillis and Maxwell, stayed away altogether. Sir Ralph Sadler reported scathingly back that Mary had been crowned "with such solemnitie as they do use in this country, which is not very costlie". Even the date chosen was full of ill omens, falling on the thirtieth anniversary of the Battle of Flodden. Stirling Castle being a crown palace, Mary spent quite some time there.

A month in summer 1562 and most of September, October and November the following year, April and May of 1565, and some days in September and December of 1566 when her son was lodged there in the care of John Erskine, Earl of Mar and son of Mary's own former guardian. On 17th December 1566, she attended little James' christening, who was brought to the Chapel Royal in the arms of the Count of Brienne, proxy for the King of France, in a torchlight procession. The godparents were Elizabeth I of England, who notoriously absent, sent a gold font and was represented by Jean, Countess of Argyll and also the child's aunt, Charles IX of France, Mary's brother-in-law, and her uncle, the Duke of Savoy represented by M. du Croc. James was christened according to catholic rites but Mary refused to let the priest spit in the child's mouth as was the custom. The ceremony was attended by many of the Scottish nobles, but the Protestant Lords together with Bedford, Elizabeth's emissary, stayed outside the chapel.

Mary spared no expense for this ceremony, clothing the nobility and ordering masques and fire-works. Darnley, the child's father, who had put the final nail in the coffin of his disastrous marriage to Mary by aiding and abetting the murder of Riccio, and had also fallen from grace with Elizabeth and the French court, kept a low profile sulking in a corner of the castle. Indeed, it would not be long before he met his own untimely death at Kirk o'Field. One of the main features of Stirling Castle is the recently fully renovated Great Hall with its stunning hammerbeam ceiling, modelled on the ceiling of the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle, and does not contain a single nail. Its limestone exterior might seem surprising at first as it contrasts with the dark colouring of the rest of the castle, but it is in fact how the building would have looked in earlier times. The King and the Queen's bedchambers located in the Royal Palace (below) are also in the process of being restored to their original splendour.

The King's Knot, the great formal garden behind the south fa�ade of the Palace, is thought to date to the time of Mary's grandson, Charles I, but her father, James V, employed a French gardener at Stirling in the 1530s and thus the establishment of a garden here may date to these years. Mary's first visit to Stirling Castle since her return to Scotland, was on 13 September 1561. The next day, she was subjected to an incident during which her priests and clerks were beaten up by Lords Argyll and James while the High Mass was being sung in the Chapel Royal. This came as a shock to Mary as, not long before that, Lord James had stopped the mob from disturbing Mary's private mass at Holyrood. Later that evening, Mary came very close to asphyxiation when she left a candle burning by her bedside, which set fire to the curtains of her four-poster bed. Open all year.

Tel.: 44+ (0)1786 450 000 History Rewind: Mary Queen of Scots crowned – Royal Central History Rewind: Birth of Queen Elizabeth I On 9th September 1543, a child that was barely a year old was crowned Queen of Scotland in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle. Mary, Queen of Scots, would go on to be one of the more embattled Queen’s in history. Nobody would be surprised, considering the burden that she was shouldering as Monarch of a very turbulent Scotland. For a female to be crowned in Scotland, it was evident that the country was experiencing a severe succession crisis. Being at such a young age, the Scottish Lords found it very difficult to respect her and so Mary was sent to France for her safety. Mary lived and grew up in France where she married the future King of France, Francis II. Mary didn’t return to her native homeland of Scotland, where she was still Queen until she was eighteen years of age in 1561 after Francis’ premature death.

After marrying Lord Darnley in 1565, Mary gave birth to a son, James, who would eventually become the first Stuart King of England upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Following an uprising against Mary and her third husband, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, Mary was arrested and held prisoner at Lochlevan Castle. Mary was also forced into abdicating her throne and hand it over to her young son James, who hence became King of Scots. Mary escaped prison and fled to England in the hope that her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, would come to her aid. Mary assumed that their family ties would work in her favour, though she was far from the truth. At the age of 25, Mary, a former anointed Queen, began a lengthy stay in some of England’s manor houses and castles that were to be her prisons. For the next nineteen years, Mary was kept prisoner, in which time she never came face to face with Queen Elizabeth. Mary did not do herself any favours though; to anybody that would listen, she would tell them that she was the rightful Queen of England, and in 1570 she even received the backing of the Pope.

Mary was becoming an increasing problem for Elizabeth and the fear that a Catholic uprising and Mary’s proclamation of Queen would happen was high. For years, Elizabeth’s government were building a case against Mary, although some argue that there was to no case to build. In 1586, Anthony Babington devised a plot to kill Elizabeth and sent a coded letter to Mary to inform her of what he had planned. Mary replied that she agreed with his plot, illustrating her involvement in this treasonous plot. Sir Francis Walsingham and his spy network intercepted the letters and consequently executed Babington, whilst Mary was put on trial. Mary was found guilty of plotting to kill Queen Elizabeth I and was sentenced to death. Elizabeth hesitated to sign Mary’s death warrant. Elizabeth was a God anointed Queen, and so how could she effectively murder another anointed Queen? Elizabeth eventually did sign the warrant and Mary, Queen of Scots was executed at Fortheringhay Castle on 8th February 1587. The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots at the hands of Elizabeth I is argued to be the final provocation for King Philip of Spain to launch his Spanish Armada on England, an attack that ultimately failed.

Mary Queen of Scots Mary Queen of Scots The People of the Palace Mary Queen of Scots Mary Queen of Scots The infant Mary was crowned Queen of Scots in the Chapel Royal in 1543 and Stirling Castle was supposed to be her safe haven in turbulent times. She became a political pawn as England and France competed for influence over the kingdom. England’s Henry VIII waged war against Scotland – the Rough Wooing – to force her to marry his son. But Mary wed the son of the French king instead, the first of her three marriages. Mary staged one of the first firework display in Scotland to celebrate the baptism of her son, the future James VI. She also enjoyed football, watching a match among her courtiers played at Carlisle. In 1567, the Catholic queen was forced to abdicate by Protestant noblemen. Twenty years later she was dead, beheaded after a long imprisonment in England having fled Scotland to seek the protection of her cousin Queen Elizabeth.

Stirling Castle is open today 9.30am - 5pm (last entry 4.15pm) Buy Tickets Castle Secrets It is widely rumoured that James V would swap his riches for rags and sneak out of the castle to the old town of Stirling where he would mingle with his subjects posing as the guid man of Ballengeigh. Castle Secrets Secret binary code was discovered on one of the Stirling Heads that turned out to be musical notes to a long lost requiem from the 16th Century. Visitors can hear the music in the royal palace today. Castle Secrets The phrase “pushing the boat out” is thought to have been coined in relation to the extravagant celebrations held at the castle for Prince Henry’s baptism in 1594 when a full-size boat featuring live mermaids and shooting cannons was used to serve the fish course. Castle Secrets Nine skeletons dating from 1200-1400s were unearthed in a long-lost royal chapel in 2008. It is thought they must have been people of stature to have been buried within the castle. Visitors can come face to face with 2 of the skeletons in the castle exhibition.

Castle Secrets Research carried out in 2011 revealed that King Arthur’s round table may well have been hidden beneath the historic King’s Knot that sits below the castle. Writers including John Barbour and Sir David Lindsay have linked the landmark to the legend of King Arthur for more than six centuries. Mary, Queen of Scots - The Tudor Society The Tudor Society Get to know the personalities behind Tudor history You are here : Author: Claire Ridgway Here's a brief bio of Mary, Queen of Scots: Mary, Queen of Scots, was born at Linlithgow Palace in Scotland on 8th December 1542. She was the daughter of James V of Scotland and his second wife, Mary of Guise, and the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor (Henry VIII’s sister) and James IV of Scotland. On the 14th December, when she was just six days old, Mary became Queen of Scotland after her father died of a fever. She was crowned Queen on 9th September 1543 at Stirling Castle.

As Mary was a baby, James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, acted as regent until 1554 when he surrendered the regency to Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise, who acted as regent until her death in 1560. At the age of five, Mary was sent to France after the marriage between her and François, the French Dauphin, had been agreed in a treaty in 1548. As the future queen consort of France, she received an excellent education and showed herself to be an excellent linguist. She married Francis (François) on the 24th April 1558 at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. She was 15 and her husband was 14. Henry II of France died in July 1559, and Mary’s husband became Francis II of France. The couple already believed that they were King and Queen of England, Henry II having proclaimed them so after Mary I’s death in 1558.

Although Elizabeth I was Queen of England, having been named as next in the succession after Mary I in her father’s will, many Catholics did not accept Elizabeth as Queen, because they believed her to be illegitimate, and believed that Mary Stuart was the true queen. Francis II died on 5th December 1560, and Mary returned in August 1561 to her homeland of Scotland, a country divided by religious conflict. Although she was a staunch Catholic, she tolerated Protestants and had many Protestants on her Privy Council. On the 29th July 1565, Mary married her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, at Holyrood Palace. The marriage broke down when Darnley was involved in the murder of Mary’s secretary, David Rizzio, who was actually murdered in front of a pregnant Mary. The couple’s son, James, the future James VI (James I), was born on 19th June 1566, and was just eight months old when his father, Darnley, was killed in an explosion at Kirk o’ Field in February 1567.

Mary went on to marry James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, a man implicated in Darnley’s murder, after allegedly being abducted and raped by him in April 1567. The couple married at Holyrood on the 15th May 1567. The Scottish nobility did not approve of the match, and raised an army against Bothwell and Mary. Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle where, in July 1567, she miscarried twins. On the 24th July 1567 she was forced to abdicate, and her son became James VI of Scotland with Mary’s illegitimate half brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, acting as Regent. Mary managed to escape from Loch Leven on the 2nd May 1568, and fled to England where she was placed in protective custody in Carlisle Castle under the orders of Elizabeth I.

She was to spend the rest of her life as a prisoner, being moved from Carlisle to Bolton Castle in July 1568, from Bolton to Tutbury Castle in January 1569, from Tutbury to Wingfield Manor, Chatsworth and Sheffield Castle and then back to Tutbury, from Tutbury to Chartley in December 1585, and finally to Fotheringhay Castle in 1586. On her arrival in England in 1568, Mary had expected Elizabeth to support her in her endeavour to win back the throne of Scotland, but Elizabeth was unwilling to help a woman who was implicated in the murder of her second husband, Lord Darnley, and who refused to ratify the Treaty of Edinburgh. Mary was a threat to Elizabeth, as was shown by the Ridolfi Plot of 1570, a plot to assassinate Elizabeth and replace her with Mary. Mary denied any involvement in the plot, but was implicated in the Babington Plot of 1586 after Sir Francis Walsingham intercepted letters in which Mary gave her support for an attempt on Elizabeth I’s life. Mary was tried for treason in October 1586 and found guilty.

Parliament and Elizabeth’s Privy Council put pressure on Elizabeth to execute Mary, but Elizabeth was unwilling to sign the death warrant of a fellow sovereign, who she believed to be appointed by God, and also a woman with Tudor blood. Elizabeth finally signed Mary’s death warrant on the 1st February 1587 and it was delivered, without the Queen’s knowledge to Fotheringhay, where the sentence was carried out on the 8th February 1587. She was buried first at Peterborough Cathedral and then moved to Westminster Abbey by her son James I in 1612. He erected a beautiful marble tomb for her, topped with an effigy. You can read a translation of the Latin inscription on the tomb at (Taken from On This Day in Tudor History by Claire Ridgway) Mary, Queen of Scots (Dauphin) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Stay & Play In Ca â âQueen Mary In Long Beach A Royal Gemâ Van Nuys News Press Google News - Aug 29, 2011 'Here I am a Los Angeles native, and in 34 years I had never been to the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

This grand ocean liner was bought by the City of Long Beach just over 40 years ago, and remains to this day a' Art Deco Festival Right At Home At The Queen Mary Long Beach Press Telegram Google News - Aug 27, 2011 'Guests dress in period style at a previous Art Deco Ball aboard the Queen Mary. Toward the end of summer, going on seven years now, the Queen Mary comes alive with the sounds of dance music, the clink of champagne glasses and gentle' Show Less Mary was baptised at the nearby Church of St Michael shortly after she was born. Rumours spread that she was weak and frail, but an English diplomat, Ralph Sadler, saw the infant at Linlithgow Palace in March 1543, unwrapped by her nurse, and wrote, "it is as goodly a child as I have seen of her age, and as like to live." … Read More As Mary was an infant when she inherited the throne, Scotland was ruled by regents until she became an adult.

From the outset, there were two claims to the Regency: one from Catholic Cardinal Beaton, and the other from the Protestant Earl of Arran, who was next in line to the throne. Beaton's claim was based on a version of the late king's will that his opponents dismissed as a forgery. Arran, with the support of his friends and relations, became the regent until 1554 when Mary's mother managed to remove and succeed him. Read Less King Henry VIII of England took the opportunity of the regency to propose marriage between Mary and his own son, Prince Edward, hoping for a union of Scotland and England. On 1 July 1543, when Mary was six months old, the Treaty of Greenwich was signed, which promised that at the age of ten Mary would marry Edward and move to England, where Henry could oversee her upbringing. … Read More The treaty provided that the two countries would remain legally separate and that if the couple should fail to have children the temporary union would dissolve. However, Cardinal Beaton rose to power again and began to push a pro-Catholic pro-French agenda, which angered Henry, who wanted to break the Scottish alliance with France.

Beaton wanted to move Mary away from the coast to the safety of Stirling Castle. Regent Arran resisted the move, but backed down when Beaton's armed supporters gathered at Linlithgow. Read Less The Earl of Lennox escorted Mary and her mother to Stirling on 27 July 1543 with 3,500 armed men. Mary was crowned in the castle chapel on 9 September 1543, with "such solemnity as they do use in this country, which is not very costly" according to the report of Ralph Sadler and Henry Ray. … Read More Shortly before Mary's coronation, Scottish merchants headed for France were arrested by Henry, and their goods impounded. The arrests caused anger in Scotland, and Arran joined Beaton and became a Catholic. The Treaty of Greenwich was rejected by the Parliament of Scotland in December. The rejection of the marriage treaty and the renewal of the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland prompted Henry's "Rough Wooing", a military campaign designed to impose the marriage of Mary to his son. English forces mounted a series of raids on Scottish and French territory.

Read Less 1544 2 Years Old In May 1544, the English Earl of Hertford (later Duke of Somerset) raided Edinburgh, and the Scots took Mary to Dunkeld for safety. … Read More In May 1546, Beaton was murdered by Protestant lairds, and on 10 September 1547, nine months after the death of Henry VIII, the Scots suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh. Mary's guardians, fearful for her safety, sent her to Inchmahome Priory for no more than three weeks, and turned to the French for help.<br /><br /> The French king, Henry II, proposed to unite France and Scotland by marrying the young queen to his three-year-old son, the Dauphin Francis. On the promise of French military help, and a French dukedom for himself, Arran agreed to the marriage. Read Less Show Less Mary, the only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland, was six days old when her father died and she acceded to the throne.

She spent most of her childhood in France while Scotland was ruled by regents, and in 1558, she married the Dauphin of France, Francis. … Read More He ascended the French throne as King Francis II in 1559, and Mary briefly became queen consort of France, until his death in December 1560. Widowed, Mary returned to Scotland, arriving in Leith on 19 August 1561. Four years later, she married her first cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, but their union was unhappy. In February 1567, his residence was destroyed by an explosion, and Darnley was found murdered in the garden.<br /><br /> James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was generally believed to have orchestrated Darnley's death, but he was acquitted of the charge in April 1567, and the following month he married Mary. Following an uprising against the couple, Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle. On 24 July 1567, she was forced to abdicate in favour of James, her one-year-old son by Darnley.

After an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne, she fled southwards seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Queen Elizabeth I of England. Mary had previously claimed Elizabeth's throne as her own and was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics, including participants in a rebellion known as the Rising of the North. Perceiving her as a threat, Elizabeth had her confined in various castles and manor houses in the interior of England. After eighteen and a half years in custody, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth, and was subsequently beheaded. Read Less … Portraits of Mary show that she had a small, oval-shaped head, a long, graceful neck, bright auburn hair, hazel-brown eyes, under heavy lowered eyelids and finely arched brows, smooth pale skin, a high forehead, and regular, firm features. She was considered a pretty child and later, as a woman, strikingly attractive. At some point in her infancy or childhood, she caught smallpox, but it did not mark her features.

<br /><br />Mary was eloquent and especially tall by sixteenth-century standards (she attained an adult height of 5 feet 11 inches or 1.80 m), while Henry II's son and heir, Francis, stuttered and was abnormally short. Henry commented 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". Read Less On 4 April 1558, Mary signed a secret agreement bequeathing Scotland and her claim to England to the French crown if she died without issue. … Read More Twenty days later, she married the Dauphin at Notre Dame de Paris, and Francis became king consort of Scotland. Read Less In November 1558, Henry VIII's elder daughter, Queen Mary I of England, was succeeded by her only surviving sibling, Elizabeth I. … Read More Under the Third Succession Act, passed in 1543 by the Parliament of England, Elizabeth was recognised as her sister's heir, and Henry VIII's last will and testament had excluded the Stuarts from succeeding to the English throne.

Yet, in the eyes of many Catholics, Elizabeth was illegitimate, and Mary Stuart, as the senior descendant of Henry VIII's elder sister, was the rightful queen of England. Henry II of France proclaimed his eldest son and daughter-in-law king and queen of England, and in France the royal arms of England were quartered with those of Francis and Mary. Mary's claim to the English throne was a perennial sticking point between her and Elizabeth I. Read Less 1559 17 Years Old When Henry II died on 10 July 1559 from injuries sustained in a joust, fifteen-year-old Francis became King of France, with Mary, aged sixteen, as his queen consort. … Read More Two of Mary's uncles, the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorraine, were now dominant in French politics, enjoying an ascendancy called by some historians la tyrannie Guisienne.<br /><br /> In Scotland, the power of the Protestant Lords of the Congregation was rising at the expense of Mary's mother, Mary of Guise, who maintained effective control only through the use of French troops.

The Protestant Lords invited English troops into Scotland in an attempt to secure Protestantism, and a Huguenot rising in France, called the Tumult of Amboise, in March 1560 made it impossible for the French to send further support. Instead, the Guise brothers sent ambassadors to negotiate a settlement. Read Less Show Less On 11 June 1560, their sister Mary of Guise died, and so the question of future Franco-Scots relations was a pressing one. Under the terms of the Treaty of Edinburgh, signed by Mary's representatives on 6 July 1560, France and England undertook to withdraw troops from Scotland and France recognised Elizabeth's right to rule England. … Read More However, the seventeen-year-old Mary, still in France and grieving for her mother, refused to ratify the treaty.<br /><br /> King Francis II died on 5 December 1560, of a middle ear infection which led to an abscess in his brain. Mary was grief-stricken. Her mother-in-law, Catherine de' Medici, became regent for the late king's ten-year-old brother Charles IX, who inherited the French throne.

Read Less Show Less They next met on Saturday 17 February 1565 at Wemyss Castle in Scotland, after which Mary fell in love with the "long lad" (as Queen Elizabeth called himâhe was over six feet tall). They married at Holyrood Palace on 29 July 1565, even though both were Catholic and a papal dispensation for the marriage of first cousins had not been obtained. … Read More English statesmen William Cecil and the Earl of Leicester had worked to obtain Darnley's licence to travel to Scotland from his home in England. Although her advisors had thus brought the couple together, Elizabeth felt threatened by the marriage, because as descendants of her aunt, both Mary and Darnley were claimants to the English throne and their children, if any, would inherit an even stronger, combined claim. However, Mary's insistence on the marriage seems to have stemmed from passion rather than calculation. The English ambassador Nicholas Throckmorton stated "the saying is that surely she Mary is bewitched", adding that the marriage could only be averted "by violence".

The union infuriated Elizabeth, who felt the marriage should not have gone ahead without her permission, as Darnley was both her cousin and an English subject. Read Less Mary's marriage to a leading Catholic precipitated Mary's half-brother, the Earl of Moray, to join with other Protestant lords, including Lords Argyll and Glencairn, in open rebellion. Mary set out from Edinburgh on 26 August 1565 to confront them, and on the 30th Moray entered Edinburgh, but left soon afterward having failed to take the castle. … Read More Mary returned to Edinburgh the following month to raise more troops. In what became known as the Chaseabout Raid, Mary and her forces and Moray and the rebellious lords roamed around Scotland without ever engaging in direct combat. Mary's numbers were boosted by the release and restoration to favour of Lord Huntly's son, and the return of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, from exile in France. Unable to muster sufficient support, in October Moray left Scotland for asylum in England.

Mary broadened her privy council, bringing in both Catholics (Bishop of Ross John Lesley and provost of Edinburgh Simon Preston of Craigmillar) and Protestants (the new Lord Huntly, Bishop of Galloway Alexander Gordon, John Maxwell of Terregles and Sir James Balfour).<br /><br /> Before long, Darnley grew arrogant. Not content with his position as king consort, he demanded the Crown Matrimonial, which would have made him a co-sovereign of Scotland with the right to keep the Scottish throne for himself if he outlived his wife. Read Less Mary refused his request, and their marriage grew strained even though they conceived by October 1565. … Read More He was jealous of her friendship with her Catholic private secretary, David Rizzio, who was rumoured to be the father of her child. Read Less Show Less By March 1566, Darnley had entered into a secret conspiracy with Protestant lords, including the nobles who had rebelled against Mary in the Chaseabout Raid.

… Read More On 9 March, a group of the conspirators, accompanied by Darnley, murdered Rizzio in front of the pregnant Mary at a dinner party in Holyrood Palace. Over the next two days, a disillusioned Darnley switched sides, and Mary received Moray at Holyrood. On the night of 11â12 March, Darnley and Mary escaped from the palace, and took temporary refuge in Dunbar Castle before returning to Edinburgh on 18 March. The former rebels Lords Moray, Argyll and Glencairn were restored to the council. Read Less Mary's son by Darnley, James, was born on 19 June 1566 in Edinburgh Castle, but the murder of Rizzio led inevitably to the breakdown of her marriage. In October 1566, while staying at Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders, Mary made a journey on horseback of at least four hours each way to visit the Earl of Bothwell at Hermitage Castle, where he lay ill from wounds sustained in a skirmish with border reivers.

… Read More The ride was later used as evidence by Mary's enemies that the two were lovers, though no suspicions were voiced at the time and Mary had been accompanied by her councillors and guards. Immediately after her return to Jedburgh, she suffered a serious illness that included frequent vomiting, loss of sight, loss of speech, convulsions and periods of unconsciousness. She was thought to be near death or dying. Her recovery from 25 October onwards was credited to the skill of her French physicians. The cause of her illness is unknown; diagnoses include physical exhaustion and mental stress, haemorrhage of a gastric ulcer, and porphyria. Read Less At Craigmillar Castle, near Edinburgh, at the end of November 1566, Mary and leading nobles held a meeting to discuss the "problem of Darnley". … Read More Divorce was discussed, but then a bond was probably sworn between the lords present to remove Darnley by other means: "It was thought expedient and most profitable for the common wealth... that such a young fool and proud tyrant should not reign or bear rule over them;...

that he should be put off by one way or another; and whosoever should take the deed in hand or do it, they should defend." Darnley feared for his safety and after the baptism of his son at Stirling shortly before Christmas, he went to Glasgow to stay on his father's estates. At the start of the journey, he was afflicted by a fever, possibly smallpox, syphilis, or the result of poison, and he remained ill for some weeks. Read Less Show Less In late January 1567, Mary prompted her husband to return to Edinburgh. … Read More He recuperated from his illness in a house belonging to the brother of Sir James Balfour at the former abbey of Kirk o' Field, just within the city wall. Mary visited him daily, so that it appeared a reconciliation was in progress. Read Less On the night of 9â10 February 1567, Mary visited her husband in the early evening and then attended the wedding celebrations of a member of her household, Bastian Pagez.

… Read More In the early hours of the morning, an explosion devastated Kirk o' Field, and Darnley was found dead in the garden, apparently smothered. There were no visible marks of strangulation or violence on the body. Bothwell, Moray, Secretary Maitland, the Earl of Morton and Mary herself were among those who came under suspicion. Elizabeth wrote to Mary of the rumours, "I should ill fulfil the office of a faithful cousin or an affectionate friend if I did not... tell you what all the world is thinking. Men say that, instead of seizing the murderers, you are looking through your fingers while they escape; that you will not seek revenge on those who have done you so much pleasure, as though the deed would never have taken place had not the doers of it been assured of impunity. For myself, I beg you to believe that I would not harbour such a thought." Read Less Between 21 and 23 April 1567, Mary visited her son at Stirling for the last time.

… Read More On her way back to Edinburgh on 24 April, Mary was abducted, willingly or not, by Lord Bothwell and his men and taken to Dunbar Castle, where he may have raped her. On 6 May, Mary and Bothwell returned to Edinburgh and on 15 May, at either Holyrood Palace or Holyrood Abbey, they were married according to Protestant rites. Bothwell and his first wife, Jean Gordon, who was the sister of Lord Huntly, had divorced twelve days previously.<br /><br /> Originally Mary believed that many nobles supported her marriage, but things soon turned sour between the newly elevated Bothwell (created Duke of Orkney and consort of the Queen) and his former peers, and the marriage proved to be deeply unpopular. Catholics considered the marriage unlawful, since they did not recognise Bothwell's divorce or the validity of the Protestant service. Both Protestants and Catholics were shocked that Mary should marry the man accused of murdering her husband. The marriage was tempestuous, and Mary became despondent. Twenty-six Scottish peers, known as the confederate lords, turned against Mary and Bothwell, raising an army against them.

Mary and Bothwell confronted the lords at Carberry Hill on 15 June, but there was no battle as Mary's forces dwindled away through desertion during negotiations. Bothwell was given safe passage from the field, and the lords took Mary to Edinburgh, where crowds of spectators denounced her as an adulteress and murderer. Read Less Show Less On 2 May 1568, Mary escaped from Loch Leven Castle with the aid of George Douglas, brother of Sir William Douglas, the castle's owner. … Read More Managing to raise an army of 6,000 men, she met Moray's smaller forces at the Battle of Langside on 13 May. Defeated, she fled south; after spending the night at Dundrennan Abbey, she crossed the Solway Firth into England by fishing boat on 16 May. She landed at Workington in Cumberland in the north of England and stayed overnight at Workington Hall. On 18 May, local officials took her into protective custody at Carlisle Castle.<br /><br /> Mary apparently expected Elizabeth to help her regain her throne.

Elizabeth was cautious, ordering an inquiry into the conduct of the confederate lords and the question of whether Mary was guilty of Darnley's murder. Read Less In mid-July 1568, English authorities moved Mary to Bolton Castle, because it was further from the Scottish border but not too close to London. … Read More A commission of inquiry, or conference as it was known, was held in York and later Westminster between October 1568 and January 1569. In Scotland, her supporters fought a civil war against Regent Moray and his successors.<br /><br /> As an anointed queen, Mary refused to acknowledge the power of any court to try her and refused to attend the inquiry at York personally (she sent representatives), but Elizabeth forbade her attendance anyway. As evidence against Mary, Moray presented the so-called casket lettersâeight unsigned letters purportedly from Mary to Bothwell, two marriage contracts, and a love sonnet or sonnets said to have been found in a silver-gilt casket just less than one foot (30 cm) long, decorated with the monogram of King Francis II.

Mary denied writing them, arguing that her handwriting was not difficult to imitate, and insisted they were forgeries. They are widely believed to be crucial as to whether Mary shares the guilt for Darnley's murder. The chair of the commission of inquiry, the Duke of Norfolk, described them as horrible letters and diverse fond ballads, and sent copies to Elizabeth, saying that if they were genuine they might prove Mary's guilt. Read Less Timeline of The Life of Mary, Queen of Scots Mary is born at Linlithgow Palace in West Lothian. January 1543 Cardinal Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews, is appointed Chancellor. July 1543 0.7 James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, negotiates terms for peace with Henry VIII and the marriage of Mary to his son Edward VI at Greenwich. 9 September 1543 0.9 Mary is crowned Queen of Scotland at Stirling Castle . Her mother, Mary of Guise rules as regent aided by Cardinal Beaton. December 1543 1 Arran and the Scottish Parliament repudiate the Treaties of Greenwich. Catholic revival supported by Huntly, Lennox and Bothwell.

1544 2 Henry VIII begins a series of raids against Scotland known as the "Rough Wooing", led by the Earl of Hertford. Abbeys of Holyrood Palace, Jedburgh, Kelso and Dryburgh are looted and burnt. Crops and ships are stolen. 1545 3 As a result of the destruction of the Douglas tomb at Melrose , the Earl of Angus with Scott of Buccleugh and Lesley of Rothes defeat and slaughter the English at Ancrum Moor near Jedburgh. 1546 4 Beaton has protestant George Wishart burnt at the stake at St Andrews . He is in turn assassinated by Norman Leslie, James Melville and Kirkcaldy of Grange and his naked body is hung outside of the window of St Andrews Castle. January 1547 4 Henry VIII dies and the crown passes to Edward VI but England is governed by Hertford, now Duke of Somerset. 9 September 1547 4 Hertford engages battle with the Scots at Pinkie near Musselburgh. 10,000 Scots are killed and 1,500 taken prisoners.

Mary is sent to Inchmahome Priory near Stirling for safety. 1548 5 English troops burn Dunbar Castle , Musselburgh (near Edinburgh), Dalkeith and Haddington in East Lothian. Mary is moved to Dumbarton Castle . French troops help the Scots besiege Haddington. Henri II of France promises safety for Mary in return for her marriage to his son, Francois The Dauphin. 7 July 1548 5 Treaty of Haddington is signed between the French and the Scots at the Nunnery of Haddington. Mary is betrothed again. 7 August 1548 5 From Dumbarton Castle, Mary sails down the Clyde Estuary to France with the French fleet. Also with her are her guardians, the Lords Erskine and Livingston, her nurse Jean Sinclair, her governess Lady Fleming, the four Maries, Ladies Fleming, Seton, Livingston and Beaton, three of her half-brothers and other children of the Scottish nobility. Six days later the fleet arrives at Roscoff in France.

March 1550 8 Treaty of Boulogne: peace between England and France is negotiated followed by peace between England and Scotland in June 1551. Mary of Guise visits her daughter in France and asks the French to help her replace Arran as regent. July 1553 Edward VI of England dies. Catholic Mary Tudor succeeds him. April 1554 11 Arran is finally "persuaded" to resign his post with the bribe of the Dukedom of Ch�telherault along with an annual pension. December 1557 15 Earls of Glencairn, Argyll and Morton and John Erskine of Dun sign the first Bond designed to overthrow the Catholic Church. Dec 1557 - April 58 15 Ongoing negotiations between the Scots and the French over the Mary-Fran�ois wedding. Mary of Guise sends Lord James Stewart (Mary's half-brother) and Erskine of Dun as commissioners. 11 April 1558 15 Mary and Fran�ois are officially betrothed in the Great Hall of the Louvres Palace in Paris.

24 April 1558 15 Mary and Fran�ois are married in Notre Dame Cathedral . The marriage contract secretly gives away Scotland to France should Mary die. 17 November 1558 Mary Tudor dies and Elizabeth is crowned Queen of England. April 1559 16 England, France and Spain sign the Treaty of Cateau-Cambr�sis whereby peace in Europe is to be achieved through the marriage of Mary's sister-in-law Princess Elisabeth de Valois to Phillip II of Spain. September 1559 16 Henri II dies in a jousting tournament and Francois is crowned King of France at Rheims. Mary is Queen of France. More French troops are sent to Scotland to help Marie of Guise against Ch�telherault and the Protestant Lords but the confrontation reaches a stalemate. February 1560 17 Elizabeth of England signs the Treaty of Berwick with the Protestant Scots promising them to help their rebellion against Mary's mother. March 1560 The siege of Leith begins. Marie of Guise moves to Edinburgh Castle on 1st April.

11 June 1560 Marie of Guise dies of dropsy, an accumulation of fluid in the body. 6 July 1560 17 The Treaty of Edinburgh is signed. The purpose that French and English troops would withdraw from Scotland but Mary and Fran�ois were to agree to give up claim to the English crown and recognize Elizabeth as rightful Queen. November 1560 17 After a day's hunting Fran�ois gets an ear infection which leaves him dangerously ill. Rumour has it that he may have been poisoned. 5 December 1560 17 Fran�ois dies and Mary loses the French crown. Her mother-in-law Catherine of Medici moves in for the kill. She becomes regent on behalf of her other son, Charles IX. 25 July 1561 18 Following the Scottish proposals advanced by James Stuart, her half-brother, Mary leaves Paris for Calais accompanied by friends, three uncles, household servants and the four Maries. 14 August 1561 18 Not able to delay her departure any further while waiting for Elizabeth's safe passage permission, she sets off.

19 August 1561 Mary's ships sail into Leith Harbour at about nine o'clock in the morning. January 1562 Mary attends her half-brother, Lord John's wedding to Lady Janet Hepburn at Crichton Castle . 10 August 1562 to November 1562 19 Mary goes to Linlithgow Palace followed by Stirling , Perth, Coupar Angus, Glamis Castle , Edzell Castle and Aberdeen. Next she visits Darnaway, Inverness, Spynie Palace , Aberdeen again, Dunnottar Castle , Montrose, Stirling again and finally back to Edinburgh. She also stays at Balvenie Castle and Arbroath Abbey . 28 October 1562 19 Lord James, now Earl of Moray and Maitland of Lethington meet up with the Gordons at Corrichie near Aberdeen following George Gordon, Earl of Huntly's rebellion against Mary. Sir John Gordon is executed and Huntly convicted of treason post-humously. 11 February 1563 20 Mary leaves for Rossend Castle.

Pierre de Ch�telard, a young French poet infatuated with Mary travels along although banished from court for having been found hiding under her bed at Holyrood. At Rossend he barges into her room while she is being disrobed and assaults her until Moray comes to the rescue. He is tried and executed at St Andrews. She continues to Falkland and then back to Edinburgh on 18 May. 1 July 1563 20 Mary travels to Dunipace, Glasgow, Hamilton, Dumbarton Castle, Inveraray Castle, Dunoon, Eglington. Then on to Ayr, Dunure , Ardmillan, Ardstinchar, the Abbey of Glenluce, the Priory of Whithorn , Kenmure Castle, St Mary's Isle, Dumfries, Drumlanrig Castle, Crawfordjohn, Couthalley, Neidpath Castle , Borthwick Castle , Dalhousie and Roslin. She returns to Edinburgh in September 1563 after a visit at Craigmillar Castle . 21 July 1564 21 Mary embarks on her northernmost progress.

She visits Linlithgow again, then Perth, Blair Castle , Inverness, Beauly Priory , Dingwall, Gartly Castle, Aberdeen and Dundee. She is back by 15 September. 16 January 1565 22 Mary visits Falkland again, Balfour Castle, Ballinbreich Castle, Balmerino Abbey and St Andrews. Then on to Struthers, Lundin Tower, Wemyss Castle, Dunfermline Abbey . She is back in Edinburgh by 24 February 1565. 16 February 1565 22 Mary meets Darnley for the first time since her return to Scotland at Wemyss Castle. He re-joins her in Edinburgh after a quick visit to his father in Dunkeld. April 1565 22 Mary nurses Darnley through a bout of measles. Moray, Ruthven, Morton, Glencairn and Ch�telherault sign a bond to prevent the Mary-Darnley marriage. May 1565 22 Mary makes Darnley Earl of Ross.

Lord Robert Stewart is made Earl of Orkney and Shetland and Lord Erskine, Earl of Mar. July 1565 22 Mary issues a proclamation declaring that she will not interfere in religious matters. She also seeks a papal dispensation for her marriage as her and Darnley are blood relatives, but she does not wait for it to arrive. 16 July 1565 22 Mary and Darnley ride to Seton Palace and stay two nights there. The following Sunday their banns are announced. 29 July 1565 Mary and Darnley are married in the chapel of Holyrood Palace . 26 August 1565 22 Mary sets out towards Stirling to confront Moray and the rebellious Lords. This is the start of the Chaseabout Raid. 22 September 1565 After a visit at Huntingtower Castle , Mary returns to Edinburgh to muster more support. 8 October 1565 22 Mary with her forces and Darnley arrive at Lochmaben Castle where they attend a banquet. Meanwhile, Moray crossed the English border when he realized that there was to be no English help.

In Dumfries, Mary met the Earl of Bothwell and made him her lieutenant-general when he joined her campaign. March 1566 23 For fear of reprisals, the Lords involved in the Chaseabout Raid and Darnley sign a bond with the object of upholding the protestant faith, remove David Rizzio, Mary's Secretary and convey the crown matrimonial to the by now estranged Darnley. Maitland carefully avoids signing. 9 March 1566 23 David Rizzio is savagely stabbed to death at Holyrood, in front of the heavily pregnant Mary by the Patrick Ruthven, accompanied by Darnley and the Earl of Morton's men. Mary is detained at Holyrood while the Lords issue a proclamation in Darnley's name that the Chaseabout Raid rebels were pardoned. Moray conveniently returns from exile and expresses surprise at the murder. 12 March 1566 23 With the help of Bothwell and her equerry Arthur Erskine, Mary and Darnley escape unnoticed out of Holyrood to Dunbar Castle.

She is joined there by Huntly, Fleming, Seton, Atholl, Balfour and Bothwell. She offers to pardon the perpetrators of the Chaseabout Raid but not those of the murder of Rizzio. Morton, Lindsay and Ruthven retreat to England, Maitland flees north and Knox west. 18 March 1566 23 Mary returns to Edinburgh and accepts Moray, Glencairn and Argyll back into her Council. She awaits the birth of her child at Edinburgh Castle for safety. 3 June 1566 23 In preparation for the birth Mary sends for the midwife, Margaret Aestane and for the relics of St Margaret of Scotland. 19 June 1566 After a long and painful labour which started the day before, James VI is born. August 1566 23 Mary goes on a hunting trip to Traquair House with Darnley but sends the baby to Stirling for safety. October 1566 23 Progress to Jedburgh where she hears of Bothwell's injury by "Wee Jock Elliot". She rides to Hermitage Castle and back to see him and falls very ill as a result.

Bothwell visits her but not Darnley. November 1566 23 After stopping at Kelso, Hume Castle, Langton Castle, Eyemouth, Dunbar and Tantallon Castle , Mary and her advisers discuss what to do about Darnley at Craigmillar Castle. It is suggested to Mary that Darnley should be assassinated, a plan which Mary rejects. 17 December 1566 24 James VI is baptized at Stirling Chapel. Darnley does not attend the ceremony. The godparents are the King of France, the Duke of Savoy and Elizabeth I. 24 December 1566 24 Mary pardons the Rizzio murderers and spends some days at Drummond Castle accompanied by Bothwell, while Darnley retreats to Glasgow suffering of syphilis. January 1567 Mary visits Darnley in Glasgow and persuades him to return to Edinburgh with her. 1 February 1567 24 Mary and Darnley arrive in Edinburgh and Darnley is put up at Kirk o'Field, a house owned by the Hamiltons, for fear of contaminating the baby.

Mary is cordial to him and it is agreed that he should return to Holyrood. 9 February 1567 24 Mary attends one of her page's wedding at Holyrood but also spends some time with Darnley. At 10 p.m. she remembers that she promised to attend the masque and leaves again. At about 2 a.m. an explosion destroys Kirk o'Field. Darnley's naked body and that of his servant's are found strangled in the orchard. March 1567 24 Mary goes to mourn at Seton Castle. The Earl of Lennox, Darnley's father, openly accuses Bothwell of the murder. 12 April 1567 24 Bothwell attends his trial at the Tolbooth in Edinburgh but Lennox fears to show himself. For want of witnesses the prosecution has no case and Bothwell is acquitted. 19 April 1567 24 Mary tries to regain support among her Lords while Bothwell gets 29 of them to sign the Ainslie Tavern Bond in which they agree to support his claims to marry Mary.

24 April 1567 24 Mary visits her son at Stirling for the last time. On her way back to Edinburgh she is abducted willingly or not by Bothwell and his men and taken to Dunbar Castle where she may have been raped by him. 6 May 1567 Mary and Bothwell return to Edinburgh after staying at Hailes Castle . 7 May 1567 Bothwell obtains a divorce from his wife, Lady Jean Gordon. 14 May 1567 The marriage contract is signed. 15 May 1567 24 Mary and Bothwell are married according to Protestant rites at 10 a.m. The couple retires to Borthwick Castle . Meanwhile, the Lords having once again turned against Bothwell organize an army to meet them on the way. Mary and Bothwell escape from Borthwick and move on to Dunbar. 15 June 1567 24 Mary and Bothwell with the support of Huntly and Crawford confront the Lords at Carberry Hill . There is no battle but Mary agrees to follow the Lords on condition that they let Bothwell go.

But the Lords break their promise and take her to the Lord Provost's House in Edinburgh and then to Lochleven Castle as their prisoner. 24 June 1567 24 Mary abdicates in favour of her son under duress. James VI is crowned at Stirling and Moray becomes regent. July 1567 24 Mary suffers a miscarriage. The father was most probably Bothwell but the date of conception is unclear. 2 May 1568 25 Mary escapes from Lochleven with the help of two of the young Douglases. She is met by Lord Seton on the other bank and travels to Niddry Castle and then Cadzow Castle. She gathers 6,000 men. 13 May 1568 25 Mary's troops meet those of Moray at Langside but are defeated. She flees to Terregles Castle and then to Dundrennan Abbey . Against the advice of Lords Herries, Fleming, Livingston, Boyd and George Douglas, she decides to seek help from England.

16 May 1568 25 Disguised as an ordinary woman, Mary crosses the River Solway and lands at Workington. She spends her first night at Workington Hall owned by a friend of Lord Herries. 18 May 1568 Mary is escorted to Carlisle Castle after spending a day at Cockermouth. 8 June 1568 25 Elizabeth finally sends her emissary Middlemore to announce that she will not receive Mary in London until she has been cleared of all accusations against her at an enquiry to be set up by Elizabeth. Mary is moved to Bolton Castle shortly after, stopping at Lowther Castle and Wharton for two nights. Ocotber 1568 25 The Conference of York opens with Moray producing the forged " Casket Letters " to prove Mary's guilt in the murder of Darnley. Mary is neither allowed to see the evidence nor attend in person. 11 January 1569 26 The Conference of Westminster concludes that although Moray had produced insufficient evidence, Mary had not managed to prove that the Scottish Lords had rebelled against her unjustly, and she is remanded in custody.

3 February 1569 26 Mary reaches the depressing Tutbury Castle after a long journey during which she is ill between Rotherham & Chesterfield. 12 May 1569 Mary's health seriously deteriorates at Chatsworth Castle. June 1569 26 Mary applies to the Pope for a divorce from Bothwell in view of a possible marriage with the Duke of Norfolk . July 1569 26 At the Perth Convention, Moray turns down Mary's restoration proposal by a vote of 40 to 9. Elizabeth discovers the marriage plot and sends Norfolk to the Tower and Mary back to Tutbury in a rage. November 1569 26 The Catholic Rising by the Earls of Northumberland & Westmorland fails. Although Mary did not approve, she is sent further away from the rebels to Coventry Castle but stays at an inn instead, followed by a house in the centre of town. 11 January 1570 27 Moray is shot dead by a Hamilton. Mary rewards the assassin of her treacherous half-brother with a pension.

May 1570 27 Mary is taken back to Chatsworth and another ill-conceived plan to liberate Mary is hatched by Sir Thomas Gerard, local catholic squire, two brothers Francis & George Rolleston, John Hall and Edward & Thomas Stanley. Mary also disapproves of this one which is betrayed by one of the Rollestons and nipped in the bud. August 1570 Norfolk is released from the Tower. October 1570 27 Cecil & Mildmay visit Mary at Sheffield Castle to propose a long list of articles aiming at an alliance with Elizabeth. Mary is enthusiastic and willing to compromise but nothing comes out of the proposals. August 1571 28 The Scottish Regent Lennox, Darnley's father, is killed during a raid on Stirling. Morton takes over. September 1571 Norfolk is arrested once more for his involvement in the Ridolfi Plot . January 1572 Norfolk is tried for High Treason and executed in June. 24 August 1572 In France, Mary's Guise uncles instigate the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of Protestant Huguenots.

October 1572 The Earl of Mar is dead - Morton is confirmed as Regent in name and deed. May 1573 30 Edinburgh Castle still held by Marian supporters falls under the English gunners. Kirkcaldy is executed and Maitland dies either of natural causes or suicide. August 1574 31 Augustine Raullett, Mary's secretary, dies and is replaced by Claude Nau. Mary enters a quiet period in her confinement. 1577 34 There are plans to marry Mary to Philip of Spain's illegitimate brother, Don John of Austria but her marriage to Bothwell has still not been annulled. Mary makes a will in which she wishes her son James to marry a Spanish princess and convert to Catholicism. April 1578 35 Bothwell dies in his Danish prison, followed by Don John six months later, and with him Mary's hopes of freedom. 1581 - 1584 39 Mary launches the idea of the "Association" whereby her and James would rule jointly in Scotland.

She enlists the help of Patrick Gray to negotiate, but he finds it more profitable to convince James that an alliance with and subsidy from Elizabeth would be more beneficial to his advancement. However, in July, James falsely welcomes Mary's idea. 1581 39 The English Government passes the Act of Persuasions which makes it high treason to reconcile to the Catholic Faith. November 1583 40 Walsingham, Elizabeth's new secretary of state, uncovers the Throckmorton Plot . Francis Throckmorton, cousin of Nicholas Throckmorton, is arrested for carrying secret correspondence to Mary. He confesses and incriminates her. Summer 1584 41 Mary visits Buxton baths for the last time. She carves a farewell message on the window pane with a diamond. September 1584 41 Mary is taken out of the care of her jailer Shrewsbury and handed into that of Ralph Sadler, following domestic scandals. 28 November 1584 41 Nau draws up 28 heads of proposals on the Association in which Mary sacrifices a great deal in exchange for freedom.

January 1585 42 Mary is once more moved to Tutbury Castle, into the care of the unsympathetic Amyas Paulet . March 1585 42 James officially repudiates the Association with his mother. Mary is devastated but blames mostly Patrick Gray. Spring 1585 42 The English Parliament enact the " Bond of Association " (external site), a statute whereby Mary is to be held responsible for any plot instigated in her name, be it with or without her knowledge or approval. Christmas Eve 1585 43 Mary is moved to Chartley Hall and severely ill, takes to bed for over four weeks. 16 January 1586 43 Walsingham starts off the first part of his plan to ensnare Mary. She receives her first correspondence in months through Gilbert Gifford, Walsingham's agent and the connivance of a local brewer also bought by Walsingham. 25 June 1586 43 Mary is introduced via letter to Anthony Babington, young and zealous catholic whose plan to liberate Mary becomes entangled with Walsingham's set up at this point.

14 July 1586 43 Babington sends Mary a letter in which he unwisely discloses the details of his plot, including "the dispatch of the usurping Competitor" (the assassination of Elizabeth). 17 July 1586 43 Against her secretaries' advice, Mary replies approving all his plans. Walsingham's decipherer, Phelippes, draws the gallows sign on the letter. A postcript is added (to be later removed) asking for the names of all those involved in the plot. 14 August 1586 Babington is arrested and sent to the Tower. He confesses all on the 18th. 11 August 1586 43 Mary, still unaware, is offered by Paulet to go for a ride outdoors. This is so that Elizabeth's emissary can arrest her en route. Nau and Curle, Mary's secretaries are taken to London while Mary and her physician, Bourgoing, are marched towards Tixall. A fortnight later, she is removed to Chartley where her possessions were seized. Nau and Curle confess.

Nau is sent to France and Curle remains in prison for another year. 25 September 1586 43 Mary arrives at Fotheringhay Castle after spending one night at Hill Hall near Abbot's Bromley and two nights at Leicester, house of the Earl of Huntingdon. 1st October 1586 43 Paulet announces to Mary that she will be interrogated and should own up to her misdeeds. She refuses. 8 October 1586 43 The Commissioners assemble at Westminster to hear the evidence, and agree to try Mary under the Act of Association. 11 October 1586 The Commissioners start arriving at Fotheringhay. 14 October 1586 43 Mary yields to pressure and agrees to appear in person to answer the single charge of plotting Elizabeth's assassination. 15 October 1586 43 Mary enters the room directly above the Great Hall at nine o'clock for the first day of the trial. When it finishes the next day, no verdict is reached as Elizabeth has ordered it to be prorogued pending her decision. 25 October 1586 The Commissioners reconvene in the Star Chamber in London.

1st November 1586 43 Paulet rudely interrupts Mary in prayer but fails to extract from her the confession desired by Elizabeth. 19 November 1586 43 Lord Brockhurst breaks the news to Mary of her forthcoming execution but obtains no repentance or confession either. Mary spends the next two days doing her correspondence. 4 December 1586 43 Parliament obtains a public proclamation from Elizabeth of the sentence of death. All attempts on Mary's behalf are annihilated by Walsingham, and Mary's farewell letter to Elizabeth is not dispatched. 11 December 1586 44 Mary again writes to Elizabeth to urge her to speed her execution but Paulet refuses to send the letter. 1st February 1587 Elizabeth finally signs the Death Warrant. 7 February 1587 Mary and her remaining servants are finally notified of the date of the execution. 8 February 1587 44 Mary is executed in the Great Hall of Fotheringhay between the hours of nine and ten in the morning.

Question: In which Scottish castle was Mary Stuart crowned Queen of Scots in 1543?
Answer: STIRLING