Jan 03 2009
Mary Stuart - another queen who lost her head.
Like Marie Antoinette, whom I was writing about yesterday, Mary Queen of Scots, also ended executed and beheaded. What lead to her fate? Ambition, politics and a paranoid Queen Elizabeth I of England seems to be the answer.
Mary was born in 1542 and only aged 5 or 6 days became queen of Scotland. Her mother reigned for her, but nevertheless, at age 9 months (!) young Mary was crowned. It’s a pity that no contemporary painting exists, because the curious mind of a historian would have loved to see if a tiny crown was actually placed on her head.
Political reasons called for an alliance with France and Mary was engaged to Francis, the French Dauphin and later King Francois II. At age 5, she was sent to live at the French court, where she was received very well and enjoyed a splendid education. Mary spoke Latin, Greek, Italian and French and was an accomplished horsewoman as well as well versed in literature, poetry and needlework. She was quite tall (5′11′), had auburn hair and was a very pretty woman. Francis by contrast was short and stuttered, but by all accounts, they got on well. He became king in 1559. When he died in 1561, Mary, now a widow, returned to Scotland to reclaim her kingdom.
The root of all her troubles lay in the succession to the throne of England. Elizabeth I, who was a cousin of her father, had become queen at age 18, but remained childless. Many saw her as illegitimate anyway and Mary was her successor according to the will of Henry III.
Elizabeth didn’t approve of the idea and wanted a successor of her choice to the throne. She was always conscious of her precarious situation and feared Mary, who might conspire to usurp her thorne during her lifetime and plot to assessinate her.
Mary meanwhile faced problems of her own at home. She married Lord Darnley in 1565 which infuriated Elisabeth because he was an English subject and her permission had not been obtained. The Protestant Elizabeth was also suspicious of the Catholic Mary. For various reasons and because Darnley became very arrogant and demanding, he died in mysterious circumstances. Mary was accused of his murder.
She then proceeded to marry husband number 3, Bothwell, this time in Protestant rite to appease her Lords. It didn’t help though, she was forced to abdicate and imprisoned. She succeeded to escape and fled, of all places, to England. Elizabeth imprisoned her and Mary spent the next 18 years of her life in various prisons. Even so, Elizabeth felt usafe and after the failed Babington plot, instigated an investigation and trial of Mary for her alleged involvement in it. The trial, conducted by 40 Lords of the realm, convicted Mary and sentenced her to death. Elizabeth did however have qualms to have her executed and even asked Mary’s guardian to simply murder her, but he refused.
Finally, in 1587, Mary was beheaded. Several stories revolve about her final moments. It appears that two strikes of the ax were needed to sever her head. When the excutioner finally managed to kill her, he grabbed the head by the auburn hair, whereup it fell off and rolled on the ground, exposing Mary’s own short and gray hair. Another story revolves about a tiny, white pet dog, which hid in her skirts and refused to leave after her death. Like Marie Antoinette, but contemporary accounts, Mary faced her execution with great dignity.
