120-621: The Casket letters were eight letters and some sonnets said to have been written by Mary, Queen of Scots , to the Earl of Bothwell , between January and April 1567. They were produced as evidence against Queen Mary by the Scottish lords who opposed her rule. In particular, the text of the letters was taken to imply that Queen Mary colluded with Bothwell in the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley . Mary's contemporary supporters, including Adam Blackwood , dismissed them as complete forgeries or letters written by
240-508: A balladin , taught her to dance. Her future sister-in-law, Elisabeth of Valois , became a close friend of whom Mary "retained nostalgic memories in later life". Mary's maternal grandmother, Antoinette de Bourbon , was another strong influence on her childhood and acted as one of her principal advisors. 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,
360-423: A civil war against Regent Moray and his successors. As an anointed queen, Mary refused to acknowledge the power of any court to try her. She refused to attend the inquiry at York personally but sent representatives. Elizabeth forbade her attendance anyway. As evidence against Mary, Moray presented the so-called casket letters —eight unsigned letters purportedly from Mary to Bothwell, two marriage contracts, and
480-756: A joust , fifteen-year-old Francis and sixteen-year-old Mary became king and queen of France. Two of the Queen'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 . In Scotland, the power of the Protestant Lords of the Congregation was rising at the expense of Mary's mother, who maintained effective control only through
600-463: A Protestant government in Scotland, without either condemning or releasing her fellow sovereign. In Fraser's opinion, it was one of the strangest "trials" in legal history, ending with no finding of guilt against either party, one of whom was allowed to return home to Scotland while the other remained in custody. Ainslie Tavern Bond The Ainslie Tavern Bond (also known as the "Ainslie Band", or
720-493: A Scottish Parliament held at a nunnery near the town agreed to the French marriage treaty . With her marriage agreement in place, five-year-old Mary was sent to France to spend the next thirteen years at the French court. The French fleet sent by Henry II, commanded by Nicolas de Villegagnon , sailed with Mary from Dumbarton on 7 August 1548 and arrived a week or more later at Roscoff or Saint-Pol-de-Léon in Brittany . Mary
840-650: A better claim than Mary. In late 1561 and early 1562, arrangements were made for the two queens to meet in England at York or Nottingham in August or September 1562. In July, Elizabeth sent Sir Henry Sidney to cancel Mary's visit because of the civil war in France . Mary then turned her attention to finding a new husband from the royalty of Europe. When her uncle, the Cardinal of Lorraine , began negotiations with Archduke Charles of Austria without her consent, she angrily objected and
960-506: A complete set. There are incomplete printed transcriptions in English, Scots, French, and Latin from the 1570s. Other documents scrutinised included Bothwell's divorce from Jean Gordon. Moray had sent a messenger in September to Dunbar to get a copy of the proceedings from the town's registers. Mary's biographers, such as Antonia Fraser , Alison Weir , and John Guy , have concluded that either
1080-544: A daughter, ruefully exclaimed, "It cam wi' a lass and it will gang wi' a lass!" His House of Stuart had gained the throne of Scotland in the 14th century through "a lass"—via the marriage of Marjorie Bruce , daughter of Robert the Bruce , to Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland —and it would be lost from his family "wi' a lass". This legendary statement came true much later – not through Mary, but through her great-great-granddaughter Anne, Queen of Great Britain . Mary
1200-591: A decisive conclusion. This conversation came to light, having been found in Lesley's correspondence, and was cited in the charges of treason against Norfolk in January 1571. He was also charged with planning to marry the Scottish Queen, and asking Moray to suppress evidence against her at York. In November 1571, Lesley testified that he had spoken with Norfolk in a gallery at York, after conferring with Lethington, and Norfolk
1320-510: A devout Catholic, she was regarded with suspicion by many of her subjects, as well as by the Queen of England. Scotland was torn between Catholic and Protestant factions. Mary's illegitimate half-brother, the Earl of Moray , was a leader of the Protestants. The Protestant reformer John Knox preached against Mary, condemning her for hearing Mass , dancing, and dressing too elaborately. She summoned him to her presence to remonstrate with him but
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#17328873242051440-614: A duty to obey her. The early years of her personal rule were marked by pragmatism, tolerance, and moderation. She issued a proclamation accepting the religious settlement in Scotland as she had found it upon her return, retained advisers such as James Stewart, Earl of Moray (her illegitimate half-brother), and William Maitland of Lethington , and governed as the Catholic monarch of a Protestant kingdom. Mary married her half-cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley , in 1565, and in 1566 she bore him
1560-410: 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. Mary was eloquent, and especially tall by 16th-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
1680-457: 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. On the night of 9–10 February 1567, Mary visited her husband in the early evening and then attended the wedding celebrations of a member of her household, Bastian Pagez . In the early hours of the morning, an explosion devastated Kirk o' Field. Darnley
1800-481: 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 John Elliot of Park . 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
1920-407: A love sonnet or sonnets. All were said to have been found in a silver-gilt casket just less than one foot (30 cm) long and decorated with the monogram of King Francis II. Mary denied writing them and insisted they were forgeries, arguing that her handwriting was not difficult to imitate. They are widely believed to be crucial as to whether Mary shared the guilt for Darnley's murder. The head of
2040-576: A potential match between their son and Mary. Both Mary and Darnley were grandchildren of Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII of England, and patrilineal descendants of the High Stewards of Scotland . Darnley shared a more recent Stewart lineage with the Hamilton family as a descendant of Mary Stewart, Countess of Arran , a daughter of James II of Scotland . They next met on Saturday 17 February 1565 at Wemyss Castle in Scotland. Mary fell in love with
2160-550: A secret conspiracy with Protestant lords, including the nobles who had rebelled against Mary in the Chaseabout Raid. On 9 March, a group of the conspirators accompanied by Darnley stabbed Rizzio to death 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 11–12 March, Darnley and Mary escaped from
2280-446: A serious illness that included frequent vomiting, loss of sight, loss of speech, convulsions and periods of unconsciousness. She was thought to be dying. Her recovery from 25 October onwards was credited to the skill of her French physicians. The cause of her illness is unknown. Potential diagnoses include physical exhaustion and mental stress, haemorrhage of a gastric ulcer, and porphyria . At Craigmillar Castle , near Edinburgh, at
2400-701: A silver box engraved with an "F" (perhaps for Francis II of France ), containing the Casket letters and a number of other documents, including the Mary-Bothwell marriage certificate. Morton passed the casket and letters into the keeping of Regent Moray on 6 September 1568. Morton declared he had not altered the contents and Moray promised to kept them intact and available to Morton and the Confederate Lords in order that they could explain their actions in future; "quhen-so-evir thai sal haif to do thair-with, for manifesting of
2520-462: A son James . But their marriage soured after Darnley orchestrated the murder of Mary's Italian secretary and close friend David Rizzio . In February 1567, Darnley's residence was destroyed by an explosion, and he was found murdered in the nearby garden. 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 in
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#17328873242052640-457: A statement in preparation for the Parliament to enact Mary's abdication, which stated the letters demonstrated Mary's involvement in the murder; in so far as by diverse her previe letters writtin and subscrivit with hir awin hand and sent by hir to James erll Boithvile chief executor of the said horrible murthour, ... it is maist certain that sche wes previe, art and part (complicit) and of
2760-456: A subtle argument that the various surviving copies and translations of the casket letters could not be used as evidence of their original authorship by Mary. Historian Antonia Fraser similarly argues that the documents were whole or partial forgeries, pointing to various inconsistencies in the texts, both with the Queen's known style and with details of geography, date, and relationships with persons mentioned. The Queen's husband, Lord Darnley ,
2880-446: Is about is blak, quhilk [which] signifyis the steidfastnes of hir that sendis the same. The teiris ar without number The phrases and metaphors in this letter, and the equation of the precious stone and Mary's heart, can be compared with the verses associated with Mary's previous gift of a ring to Elizabeth I in 1562. John Guy concludes the original letter may have been from Mary to Darnley. The French sonnets, said to have been found in
3000-498: 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. 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. On
3120-598: Is likely to have been an accomplice in Bothwell's designs. On 10 February 1567, the bodies of Darnley and his servant were discovered in Kirk o'Field in Edinburgh . Suspicion immediately fell on Bothwell. On 12 April 1567, he was formally acquitted of involvement in Darnley's murder, but suspicions about the nature of his trial were not allayed by the fact that he had attended the meeting of
3240-611: The Ainslie Tavern Bond , in which they agreed to support his aim to marry the queen. Between 21 and 23 April 1567, Mary visited her son at Stirling for the last time. 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. 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
3360-493: 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. Mary refused his request and their marriage grew strained, although they conceived by October 1565. He was jealous of her friendship with her Catholic private secretary, David Rizzio , who was rumoured to be the father of her child. By March 1566, Darnley had entered into
3480-608: The Earl and Countess of Mar , who were the keepers of James VI at Stirling Castle , to counter rumours that Moray had made speeches and secret treaties in England to ensure that he would become King of Scotland to the prejudice of the young King. The charges against Queen Mary, known as Hay's Articles, or the Book of Articles , were drawn up in November 1568; they state that the Earl of Bothwell, while planning his escape from Scotland, sent his servant, or "chalmerchild" George Dalgleish, to fetch
3600-638: The Earl of Erroll , the Lord Glamis , the Lord Fleming and the Archbishop of St Andrews , with the Bishops of Aberdeen , Whithorn (Galloway) , Dunblane , Brechin , Ross, and Orkney . Julian Goodare notes that one copy of the bond text derives from the recollection of John Reid, an associate of the Earl of Morton. Goodare suggests that the signatories named by Reid were those aristocrats who planned and discussed
3720-993: The Earl of Glencairn ; and the Earl of Caithness with the Lord Boyd ; the Lord Seton ; the Lord Sinclair ; the Lord Sempill ; the Lord Oliphant ; the Lord Ogilvie of Airlie ; the Rosse-Hacat (sic); Carleil of Torthorwald ; the Lord Herries ; the Lord Home ; and the Lord Innermeath . The Bishop of Ross and the Lord Elphinstone slipped away without signing. Other copies add
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3840-624: The Lord Keeper , the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Bedford , the Earl of Leicester, the Lord Admiral , William Cecil, Ralph Sadler , and Walter Mildmay . The letters, sonnets, divorce and marriage contract were examined at Hampton Court on 14 December 1568, and the handwriting compared with Mary's letters to Queen Elizabeth. The evidence produced by the Scottish Earls, who were now sworn to secrecy by
3960-519: The Privy Council at which the trial had been arranged. Following his acquittal, Bothwell invited the leading temporal and spiritual peers to a dinner in an Edinburgh tavern, kept by one Ainslie, as a result of which the event became known as "Ainslie's Supper" and the document associated with it "the Ainslie Tavern Bond". The bond was subscribed by eight bishops, nine earls and seven lords. It
4080-602: The Rough Wooing . Mary married Francis in 1558, becoming queen consort of France from his accession in 1559 until his death in December 1560. Widowed, Mary returned to Scotland in August 1561. The tense religious and political climate following the Scottish Reformation that Mary encountered on her return to Scotland was further agitated by prominent Scots such as John Knox , who openly questioned whether her subjects had
4200-519: 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 led by Richard Lowther took her into protective custody at Carlisle Castle . Mary apparently expected Elizabeth to help her regain her throne. Elizabeth was cautious, ordering an inquiry into the conduct of
4320-575: The Tower of London , said that Lethington had sent copies of the casket letters to Mary (who was at Bolton Castle ), but Lethington's messenger, Robert Melville, denied it. Lesley also alleged there had been a plot to murder Moray on his return as he passed through North Allerton , but because Norfolk had persuaded Moray to be more favourable, the assassination was called off. After the York-Westminster conference, on 22 January 1569, Queen Elizabeth wrote to
4440-601: The " Association ". In November 1582, the English diplomat Robert Bowes heard from James Douglas, Prior of Pluscarden , that both the coffer and the "originals of the letters betwixt the Scottish Queen and the earl of Bothwell" had been delivered to the Earl of Gowrie , who was leading the government of Scotland at that time. Bowes had been trying to find the whereabouts of the originals for Francis Walsingham . Bowes asked Gowrie if he would send them to Elizabeth, saying that he had made previous arrangements for this, and established that Gowrie got them from Sanders Jordan. Jordan
4560-508: The "Ainslie Tavern Band") was a document signed on about 20 April 1567 by a number of Scottish bishops and nobles. The bond approved the Earl of Bothwell's acquittal on 12 April of implication in the murder of Lord Darnley , recommended him as an appropriate husband for Mary, Queen of Scots , and pledged to assist in defending such a marriage. Lord Darnley had married Mary on 29 July 1565, but their marriage proved disastrous. On 9 March 1566, Mary's Italian private secretary, David Rizzio ,
4680-433: The "long lad", as Queen Elizabeth called him since 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. 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 brought
4800-483: The 30th, Moray entered Edinburgh but left soon afterwards, having failed to take the castle. Mary returned to Edinburgh the following month to raise more troops. In what became known as the Chaseabout Raid , Mary with her forces and Moray with 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
4920-455: The Confederate Lords' viewpoint. The articles say that the Lords were trapped at the supper into signing the bond. The Earl of Morton became Regent of Scotland , and in 1581 he was put on trial and executed. Before he was beheaded, he told some kirk ministers that he had signed the bond on the queen's orders, "therefore I subsryvit to the quenis marriage with the erle Bothwell, as sindrie utheris of
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5040-467: The English Privy council, was perhaps bewildering; the whole writings lying altogether upoun the counsel table, the same were showed one after another by hap [chance], as the same did ly on the table, than with any choyse made, as by the natures thereof, if time had so served might have been. For overriding political reasons, Queen Elizabeth neither wished to accuse Queen Mary of murder nor acquit her of
5160-501: The Protestant leaders from the reformation crisis of 1559–1560: the Earls of Argyll , Glencairn , and Moray. Only four of the councillors were Catholic: the Earls of Atholl , Erroll , Montrose , and Huntly , who was Lord Chancellor . Modern historian Jenny Wormald found this remarkable and suggested that Mary's failure to appoint a council sympathetic to Catholic and French interests
5280-490: 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 and raised their own army. 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
5400-438: The Queen's servant Mary Beaton . The authenticity of the letters, now known only by copies, continues to be debated. Some historians argue that they were forgeries concocted in order to discredit Queen Mary and ensure that Queen Elizabeth I supported the kingship of the infant James VI of Scotland , rather than his mother. The historian John Hungerford Pollen , in 1901, by comparing two genuine letters drafted by Mary, presented
5520-593: The Reformer Henry Bullinger in Geneva . According to the document called "Hay's Book of Articles ," compiled by Alexander Hay for the Confederate Lords in November 1568, which narrates events from Darnley's murder to Moray's Regency, the casket and letters were found and made known before Queen Mary agreed to abdicate, and public opinion after their discovery had brought her to that decision. Moray convened his Privy Council on 4 December 1567. They made and signed
5640-548: The Scots took Mary to Dunkeld for safety. 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 . 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. King Henry II of France proposed to unite France and Scotland by marrying
5760-621: The Scottish Lords who had deposed Queen Mary the year before. Moray came to England and showed the "casket letters" to Queen Elizabeth's officers. Nearly a year later, in October 1568, the Earl of Moray produced the Casket letters and the " Ainslie Tavern Bond " at a conference in York , headed by Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk . Moray produced the schedule of accusations known as the " Book of Articles " on 6 November 1568 at Westminster , and showed
5880-565: The Scottish edition of Buchanan's Detectioun appears to preserve the original French opening lines of the letters introducing their translations, while the complete French texts seem to be merely translations from printed Latin or English copies. Four other copy letters and other copy documents were preserved in the English state papers and the Cotton Collection . These were printed in the Calendar of State Papers, Scotland , Volume 2. One of
6000-498: The actuale devise (plot) and deid of the foir-nemmit murther of her lawful husband the King our sovereign lord's father. Mary escaped from Lochleven and made her way to England in May 1568. Her status was uncertain, as she had been accused of crimes and misrule. Elizabeth I of England ordered an inquiry into the question of whether Queen Mary should be tried for the murder of Darnley, as accused by
6120-513: The bond before the supper meeting. On 24 April 1567, Bothwell waylaid Mary on the road from Stirling (whether with or without her connivance) and conducted her to Dunbar Castle , where he allegedly ravished her. There remained significant obstacles to performance of the bond, not the least of which was the fact that Bothwell had married Lady Jean Gordon on 24 February 1566. Their marriage was formally annulled on 7 May 1567. A week later, on 15 May 1567, Bothwell and Mary were married at Holyrood, to
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#17328873242056240-646: The casket letters again on 7 December. The letters were contained in "a small gilded coffer of not fully one foot long, being garnished in many places with the Roman letter F set under a R. crown". On 8 December, Moray showed the commissioners seven papers written in French in the "Roman hand" or italic, including a "sonnet" beginning, "O Dieux ayez de moy". Copies and translations were made of these papers, which Moray claimed showed his sister's love for Bothwell and her involvement in Darnley's murder. A marriage contract between Mary and Bothwell made at Seton Palace on 5 April 1567
6360-675: The casket was bought, for £1.8m, by National Museums Scotland (with funding from a range of donors including the Scottish Government , the National Heritage Memorial Fund , and Art Fund ) and will be displayed at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Four translated copies were preserved by the descendants of William Cecil . The copies do not reproduce signatures or dates, and they contain endorsements made by
6480-620: The casket, were printed in Anderson's Collections , Volume 2, with Scottish translations . Walter Goodall reprinted the twelve poems in Examination , Volume 2. The sonnets can be evaluated as French literature. Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland , was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scotland , Mary
6600-500: The commission of inquiry, the Duke of Norfolk , described them as horrible letters and diverse fond ballads. He sent copies to Elizabeth, saying that if they were genuine, they might prove Mary's guilt. The authenticity of the casket letters has been the source of much controversy among historians. It is impossible now to prove either way. The originals, written in French, were possibly destroyed in 1584 by Mary's son. The surviving copies, in French or translated into English, do not form
6720-517: The confederate lords and the question of whether Mary was guilty of Darnley's murder. In mid-July 1568, English authorities moved Mary to Bolton Castle , because it was farther from the Scottish border but not too close to London. Mary's clothes, sent from Lochleven Castle, arrived on 20 July. 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
6840-483: The copyist that indicate how the letters were to be used against Queen Mary. Versions of some of the letters and sonnets were printed in George Buchanan 's polemic Detectio Mariæ Reginæ and Detectioun , and reprinted by James Anderson in 1727. Walter Goodall , in 1754, printed parallel English, French, and Latin versions without the clerk's endorsements. The 18th-century historian William Robertson pointed out that
6960-584: The couple failed to have children, the temporary union would dissolve. Cardinal Beaton rose to power again and began to push a pro-Catholic pro-French agenda, angering 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 . The Earl of Lennox escorted Mary and her mother to Stirling on 27 July 1543 with 3,500 armed men. Mary
7080-424: 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. Their children, if any, would inherit an even stronger, combined claim. 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 [Queen Mary]
7200-408: The course of the commission, although he denied it when Elizabeth alluded to his marriage plans, saying "he meant never to marry with a person, where he could not be sure of his pillow". The majority of the commissioners accepted the casket letters as genuine after a study of their contents and a comparison of the penmanship with examples of Mary's handwriting. Elizabeth, as she had wished, concluded
7320-461: The deed in hand or do it, they should defend." Darnley feared for his safety, and after the baptism of his son at Stirling and 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. He remained ill for some weeks. In late January 1567, Mary prompted her husband to return to Edinburgh. He recuperated from his illness in
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#17328873242057440-527: The destruction of Scotland's leading Catholic magnate, Lord Huntly, in 1562, after he led a rebellion against her in the Highlands . Mary sent William Maitland of Lethington as an ambassador to the English court to put the case for Mary as the heir presumptive to the English throne. Elizabeth refused to name a potential heir, fearing that would invite conspiracy to displace her with the nominated successor. However, she assured Maitland that she knew no one with
7560-424: The documents were complete forgeries, or incriminating passages were inserted into genuine letters, or the letters were written to Bothwell by a different person or written by Mary to a different person. Guy points out that the letters are disjointed and that the French language and grammar employed in the sonnets are too poor for a writer with Mary's education but certain phrases in the letters, including verses in
7680-458: The end of November 1566, Mary and leading nobles held a meeting to discuss the "problem of Darnley". Divorce was discussed, but 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
7800-499: The finding of a letter in Mary's own handwriting to Bothwell which implicated her in the murder of Lord Darnley. He had not revealed this to Queen Elizabeth. By the end of August 1567, Edmund Grindal , Bishop of London , had heard that letters in Mary's handwriting urging Bothwell to hurry up with the killing of Darnley had been found in a box of Bothwell's papers, and the Bishop sent this news to
7920-531: The following month he married Mary. Following an uprising against the couple, Mary was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle . On 24 July 1567, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son James VI. After an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne, she fled southward seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Elizabeth I of England . As a great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England , Mary had once claimed Elizabeth's throne as her own and
8040-506: The following year at Fotheringhay Castle . Mary's life and execution established her in popular culture as a romanticised historical character. Mary was born on 8 December 1542 at Linlithgow Palace , Scotland, to King James V and his French second wife, Mary of Guise . She was said to have been born prematurely and was the only legitimate child of James to survive him. She was the great-granddaughter of King Henry VII of England through her paternal grandmother, Margaret Tudor . Margaret
8160-479: The general scandal of Europe. The marriage divided Scotland into two camps and led to the Battle of Carberry Hill on 15 June 1567, at which Mary was defeated and captured, though Bothwell escaped. The bond of 19 April 1567 was discussed in at the York Conference in October 1568, and mentioned in the document called " Hay 's Book of Articles ", which narrates events from Darnley's murder to Moray's regency from
8280-463: The ground and equitie of their procedingis." The letters seem to have been retained by the Douglas family after the sudden arrest and execution of Regent Morton in 1581. There were hints that George Douglas, brother of William Douglas of Lochleven , had merchandise of letters "worth the sight" in 1582, but this may refer to his attempts to negotiate for Queen Mary's return to Scotland at this time, called
8400-428: The inquiry with a verdict that nothing was proven against either the Confederate lords or Mary. For overriding political reasons, Elizabeth wished neither to convict nor to acquit Mary of murder. There was never any intention to proceed judicially; the conference was intended as a political exercise. In the end, Moray returned to Scotland as regent and Mary remained in custody in England. Elizabeth succeeded in maintaining
8520-408: The inquisition of her right and title to be our next cousin and heir". The proposal came to nothing, not least because the intended bridegroom was unwilling. In contrast, a French poet at Mary's court, Pierre de Boscosel de Chastelard , was apparently besotted with Mary. In early 1563, he was discovered during a security search hidden underneath her bed, apparently planning to surprise her when she
8640-465: The letters from Edinburgh Castle , so that the "ground of the cause should never come to light". However, after recovering the letters, Dalgleish was captured by Mary's enemies, among them James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton . Morton testified in December 1568 that on 20 June 1567, Dalgleish offered, under the threat of torture, to take his captors to a house in Potterrow, Edinburgh. Under a bed, they found
8760-439: The letters invokes the imagery of the gift of a memento mori ring or locket in the context of Bothwell's absence and Mary's regret. as a token not of mourning, but of her love, steadfastness, and their marriage. A French version of the letter describes the object as a jewel containing his name and memory joined with a lock of her hair, comme mes chevaulx en la bague . The Scottish text of the letter includes: I have send yow ...
8880-524: The letters to review or to study them. Yet, as Queen Elizabeth had wished, the inquiry reached the conclusion that nothing was proven. The outcome of the enquiry was to prolong doubts about Mary's character that Elizabeth used to prevent the Queens meeting. The meeting at York was established as a conference to negotiate an Anglo-Scottish treaty. John Lesley , Mary's secretary, heard from one of her accusers, William Maitland of Lethington , that Elizabeth's purpose
9000-408: The letters were. The originals of the letters were probably destroyed in 1584 by James VI. Only copies exist; one is in French, and the others are translations from the French into Scots and English. The nature of these documents – authentic, forged , or only partly forged – has been the subject of much discussion for more than four hundred years. An ornate silver casket, purportedly Queen Mary's,
9120-571: The negotiations foundered. Her own attempt to negotiate a marriage to Don Carlos , the mentally unstable heir apparent of King Philip II of Spain , was rebuffed by Philip. Elizabeth attempted to neutralise Mary by suggesting that she marry English Protestant Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester . Dudley was Sir Henry Sidney's brother-in-law and the English queen's own favourite , whom Elizabeth trusted and thought she could control. She sent an ambassador, Thomas Randolph , to tell Mary that if she married an English nobleman, Elizabeth would "proceed to
9240-485: The opportunity of the regency to propose marriage between Mary and his own son and heir, 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. The treaty provided that the two countries would remain legally separate and, if
9360-562: The ornament of the heid, quhilk is the chief gude of the uther memberis, ... the remnant cannot be bot subject to yow, and with consenting of the hart, ... I send unto yow a sepulture of hard stane, colourit with black, sawin [sown] with teiris and banes. The stane I compare with my hart, ... your name and memorie that ar thairin inclosit, as is my hart in this ring, never to cum forth quhill [till] deith grant unto yow to ane trophee of victorie of my banes, in signe that yow haif maid ane full conqueist of me, of myne hart, ... The ameling [enamel] that
9480-588: The palace. They 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. Mary's son by Darnley, James , was born on 19 June 1566 in Edinburgh Castle . However, the murder of Rizzio led to the breakdown of her marriage. In October 1566, while staying at Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders , Mary made
9600-428: The part of the Scots to produce the letters and their destruction in 1584, whatever their content, constitute proof that they contained real evidence against Mary. In contrast, Weir thinks it demonstrates that the lords required time to fabricate them. At least some of Mary's contemporaries who saw the letters had no doubt that they were genuine. Among them was the Duke of Norfolk, who secretly conspired to marry Mary in
9720-550: The return of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell , from exile in France. Unable to muster sufficient support, Moray left Scotland in October 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 ). Before long, Darnley grew arrogant. Not content with his position as king consort, he demanded
9840-406: The same, so the conference was intended as a political show. Queen Mary was refused the right to be present, though her accusers, including Moray, were permitted to be present. The outcome was that the Casket letters were accepted by the English commissioners as genuine after a study of the handwriting, and of the information contained therein. However, Queen Mary's commissioners were refused access to
9960-441: The senior surviving legitimate descendant of Henry VII through her grandmother, Margaret Tudor . Henry II of France proclaimed his eldest son and daughter-in-law king and queen of England. 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. When Henry II died on 10 July 1559, from injuries sustained in
10080-532: The style of Ronsard , and some characteristics of style are compatible with known writings by Mary. The casket letters did not appear publicly until the Conference of 1568, although the Scottish privy council had seen them by December 1567. Mary had been forced to abdicate and held captive for the better part of a year in Scotland; the letters were never made public to support her imprisonment and forced abdication. Historian Jenny Wormald believes this reluctance on
10200-532: The use of French troops. In early 1560, the Protestant lords invited English troops into Scotland in an attempt to secure Protestantism. A Huguenot uprising in France, the Tumult of Amboise , made it impossible for the French to send further support. Instead, the Guise brothers sent ambassadors to negotiate a settlement. On 11 June 1560, their sister, Mary's mother, died, and so the question of future Franco-Scots relations
10320-409: 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. By the end of February, Bothwell
10440-535: 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. In February 1548, Mary was moved, again for her safety, to Dumbarton Castle . The English left a trail of devastation behind them once more and seized the strategic town of Haddington . In June, the much-awaited French help arrived at Leith to besiege and ultimately take Haddington . On 7 July 1548,
10560-436: Was Henry VIII 's older sister so Mary was Henry VIII's great-niece. On 14 December, six days after her birth, she became Queen of Scotland when her father died, perhaps from the effects of a nervous collapse following the Battle of Solway Moss or from drinking contaminated water while on campaign. A popular tale, first recorded by John Knox , states that James, upon hearing on his deathbed that his wife had given birth to
10680-420: 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 . Shortly before Mary's coronation, Henry arrested Scottish merchants headed for France and impounded their goods. The arrests caused anger in Scotland, and Arran joined Beaton and became a Catholic. The Treaty of Greenwich
10800-406: Was "not to end her cause at this time, but to hold the same in suspense". Maitland had heard this from the presiding officer at York, the Duke of Norfolk , while they were out riding together to Cawood on 16 October 1568. The contemporary historian, George Buchanan , who was present at York amongst the Scottish commissioners, described Norfolk and Lethington's ride, and their agreement not to reach
10920-444: 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. France recognised Elizabeth's right to rule England, but the seventeen-year-old Mary, still in France and grieving for her mother, refused to ratify the treaty. Francis II died on 5 December 1560 of a middle-ear infection that led to an abscess in his brain. Mary
11040-462: Was accompanied by her own court including two illegitimate half-brothers, and the "four Marys" (four girls her own age, all named Mary), who were the daughters of some of the noblest families in Scotland: Beaton , Seton , Fleming , and Livingston . Janet, Lady Fleming , who was Mary Fleming's mother and James V's half-sister, was appointed governess. When Lady Fleming left France in 1551, she
11160-652: Was acquired by Mary Gordon, wife to the 1st Marquis of Douglas . Following her death, it was sold to a goldsmith, but was later reacquired by her daughter-in law, Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton . The casket originally had the Queen's arms engraved upon it, but was replaced successively by the arms of the Marchioness, then the Duchess. The casket was formerly on display at Lennoxlove House in East Lothian (known previously as Lethington House), Maitland's family home. In 2022
11280-411: Was alone and declare his love for her. Mary was horrified and banished him from Scotland. He ignored the edict. Two days later, he forced his way into her chamber as she was about to disrobe. She reacted with fury and fear. When Moray rushed into the room after hearing her cries for help, she shouted, "Thrust your dagger into the villain!" Moray refused, as Chastelard was already under restraint. Chastelard
11400-439: Was an indication of her focus on the English throne, over the internal problems of Scotland. Even the one significant later addition to the council, Lord Ruthven in December 1563, was another Protestant whom Mary personally disliked. In this, she was acknowledging her lack of effective military power in the face of the Protestant lords, while also following a policy that strengthened her links with England. She joined with Moray in
11520-455: Was christened 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 Jean Sinclair , and wrote, "it is as goodly a child as I have seen of her age, and as like to live." As Mary was an infant when she inherited the throne, Scotland
11640-501: Was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics , including participants in a rebellion known as the Rising of the North . Perceiving Mary 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 captivity, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth in 1586 and was beheaded
11760-405: Was convinced that the publication of the letters would dishonour Mary forever. When Norfolk was questioned about the conversations at York, he said that Lethington had told him he was working for Mary. Lethington, said Norfolk, began to make him think Mary was innocent and planted the idea that he should marry her. Nevertheless, Norfolk was executed for treason in 1572. Lesley, who was a prisoner in
11880-474: Was driven into exile. He was imprisoned in Denmark, became insane, and died in 1578. On 2 May 1568, Mary escaped from Lochleven Castle with the aid of George Douglas, brother of Sir William Douglas , the castle's owner. 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
12000-531: Was exhibited. This document may have been a contemporary forgery. The next day, the Earl of Morton submitted a signed declaration about the finding of the casket. On 10 December Moray, the Bishop of Orkney , the Commendator of Dunfermline and Patrick Lord Lindsay signed a document swearing the letters were in Mary's handwriting, and on 12 December at Hampton Court , Moray's secretary John Wood showed this statement to
12120-409: 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
12240-501: Was generally believed to be guilty of Darnley's assassination. Lennox, Darnley's father, demanded that Bothwell be tried before the Estates of Parliament , to which Mary agreed, but Lennox's request for a delay to gather evidence was denied. In the absence of Lennox and with no evidence presented, Bothwell was acquitted after a seven-hour trial on 12 April. A week later, Bothwell managed to convince more than two dozen lords and bishops to sign
12360-422: Was given safe passage from the field. The lords took Mary to Edinburgh, where crowds of spectators denounced her as an adulteress and murderer. The following night, she was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle on an island in the middle of Loch Leven . Between 20 and 23 July, Mary miscarried twins. On 24 July, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son James . Moray was made regent, while Bothwell
12480-448: 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. Mary returned to Scotland nine months later, arriving in Leith on 19 August 1561. Having lived in France since the age of five, Mary had little direct experience of the dangerous and complex political situation in Scotland. As
12600-478: Was imprisoned at Lochleven Castle , and on 24 July 1567 abdicated . Her infant son was crowned as James VI of Scotland on 29 July 1567 and Moray was made Regent of Scotland . At this time rumours spread that Mary had abdicated because of the discovery of letters which incriminated her. At the end of July 1567, the Earl of Moray, who was in London, told Guzman de Silva, Spanish ambassador to England, that he had heard of
12720-470: Was killed in mysterious circumstances at the Kirk o'Field in Edinburgh on 10 February 1567, and she married the Earl of Bothwell on 15 May 1567. Bothwell was widely thought to be the main suspect for Darnley's murder . The Earl of Moray , Mary's half-brother, and the 'Confederate Lords' rebelled against Queen Mary and raised an army in Edinburgh. Mary surrendered at the Battle of Carberry Hill on 15 June 1567,
12840-497: Was known as one of Regent Morton's confidential servants and had been forced to testify at Morton's trial. Gowrie explained that the letters were still relevant to those who deposed the Queen. Bowes argued that recent events and establishments were confirmed by acts of parliament and public instruments and the letters were not now significant. Gowrie would not give him the letters. Bowes asked Gowrie again later in November, and wrote to Walsingham saying he had told Gowrie that Queen Mary
12960-409: Was murdered in the Queen's presence at Holyrood . The murderers were led by Lord Ruthven , but it was widely believed that the murder arose from Darnley's jealousy. There followed a carefully choreographed series of events, aimed at substituting Bothwell for Darnley as Mary's husband. The extent of Mary's own complicity was and remains intensely controversial, but the preponderant view has been that she
13080-405: Was now claiming they were forgeries, and was hoping to obtain them herself to deface and destroy them (perhaps to further the "Association".) Bowes argued that Mary had the means to steal them from Scotland and they would be safer in England. Gowrie said he would have to tell the King about the request and Bowes preferred not. In their next interview, Gowrie told Bowes that James VI already knew where
13200-486: Was rejected by the Parliament of Scotland in December. The rejection of the marriage treaty and the renewal of the 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. In May 1544, the English Earl of Hertford (later Duke of Somerset ) raided Edinburgh, and
13320-625: Was ruled by regents until she became an adult. From the outset, there were two claims to the regency: one from the 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 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. Henry VIII of England took
13440-502: Was six days old when her father died and she inherited the throne. During her childhood, Scotland was governed by regents , first by the heir to the throne, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran , and then by her mother, Mary of Guise . In 1548, she was betrothed to Francis , the Dauphin of France , and was sent to be brought up in France , where she would be safe from invading English forces during
13560-497: Was subsequently alleged that Mary had previously on 19 April 1567 signed a warrant authorising the Lords to sign the Bond. Other sources suggest that the Bond was ratified by the Queen following its execution. The historian Julian Goodare notes that only one of various texts of the bond mentions "Aynsley's supper". He suggests an alternative reading, that the Lords convened to discuss the bond in Bothwell's lodging in Edinburgh and Ainslie
13680-501: Was succeeded by a French governess, Françoise de Paroy . Vivacious, beautiful, and clever (according to contemporary accounts), Mary had a promising childhood. At the French court, she was a favourite with many people, except Henry II's wife Catherine de' Medici . Mary learned to play lute and virginals , was competent in prose, poetry, horsemanship, falconry, and needlework, and was taught French, Italian, Latin , Spanish, and Greek , in addition to her native Scots . Jehan Paulle,
13800-523: Was succeeded by her only surviving sibling, Elizabeth I . 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 was the rightful queen of England, as
13920-471: Was the caterer who provided the supper. Chronicle writers including James Melville of Halhill and Claude Nau describe a meeting in Bothwell's house or lodging in Holyrood Palace . According to a note sent to William Cecil , the signatories were the Earl of Moray ; the Earl of Argyll ; the Earl of Huntly ; the Earl of Cassillis ; the Earl of Morton ; the Earl of Sutherland ; the Earl of Rothes ;
14040-408: Was the sister of Lord Huntly, had divorced twelve days previously. Originally, Mary believed that many nobles supported her marriage, but relations quickly soured between the newly elevated Bothwell (created Duke of Orkney ) 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
14160-615: Was tried for treason and beheaded. Maitland claimed that Chastelard's ardour was feigned and that he was part of a Huguenot plot to discredit Mary by tarnishing her reputation. Mary had briefly met her English-born half-cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley , in February 1561 when she was in mourning for Francis. Darnley's parents, the Earl and Countess of Lennox , were Scottish aristocrats as well as English landowners. They sent him to France ostensibly to extend their condolences, while hoping for
14280-453: Was unsuccessful. She later charged him with treason, but he was acquitted and released. To the surprise and dismay of the Catholic party, Mary tolerated the newly established Protestant ascendancy, and kept her half-brother Moray as her chief advisor. Her privy council of 16 men, appointed on 6 September 1561, retained those who already held the offices of state. The council was dominated by
14400-539: Was unusually short. Henry commented: "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". 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. Twenty days later, she married the Dauphin at Notre Dame de Paris , and he became king consort of Scotland. In November 1558, Henry VIII 's elder daughter, Mary I of England ,
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