Name: Mary Stuart / Mary Queen of Scots / Queen Mary of Scotland
Title/s: Queen Regnant of Scotland / Queen Consort of France / Lady Darnley / Countess of Bothwell
Birth / Death: 8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587 (executed)
Spouse: Francis II of France 1544-1560 / Henry Stuart Lord Darnley 1545-1567 / James Hepburn Earl of Bothwell 1534-1578
Children: James VI of Scotland and I of England 1566 – 1625 (by Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley)
Parents: James V of Scotland 1512 – 1542 & Mary of Guise 1515 – 1560
Siblings: James, Duke of Rothesay 1540-1541 / Robert, Duke of Albany 1541
Noble Connections: Mary was the grand-niece of Henry VIII through his favourite sister, Mary. She also had a claim to the French throne through Claude, the Duke of Guise. Her husband, Lord Darnley, was descended from Henry VII as well, through his other sister, Margaret.
Events of their Lifetime: Almost betrothed to Edward VI of England which would have joined the two countries, imprisonment in England under Elizabeth I, death of Henry VIII and accession of Edward VI 1547, death of Edward VI and accession of Mary I 1553, Jane Grey’s nine-day reign 1553, death of Mary I, and accession of Elizabeth I 1558.
Controversy: She had a claim to the English throne, which rivalled that of her cousin, Elizabeth I. There was controversy surrounding Elizabeth as she signed Mary’s death warrant in 1587.
Works of Fiction:
George, Margaret, Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles (1992)
Gregory, Philippa, The Other Queen (2008)
Plaidy, Jean, Royal Road to Fotheringhay (1955)
Plaidy, Jean, The Captive Queen of Scots (1963)
Portrayals on Screen:
Stephanie Beacham, The Queen’s Traitor, 1967, 5 episodes
Adelaide Kane, Reign, 2013-2015, 36 episodes
Samantha Morton, Elizabeth: the Golden Age, 2007, directed by Shekhar Kapur
Clemence Poesy, Gunpowder, Treason and Plot, 2004, directed by Gillies MacKinnon
Vanessa Redgrave, Mary Queen of Scots, 1971, directed by Charles Jarrott
Further Reading:
Bowen, Marjorie, Mary Queen of Scots (1971)
Doran, Susan, Mary Queen of Scots: an Illustrated Life (2007)
Fraser, Antonia, Mary Queen of Scots (1961)
Goodare, Julian, ‘The First Parliament of Mary Queen of Scots’, Sixteenth Century Journal, 36 (2005)
Guy, John, My Heart is My Own: the Life of Mary Queen of Scots (2012)
Guy, John, Queen of Scots: the True Life of Mary Stuart (2004)
Marshall, Rosalind K., Mary Queen of Scots: In My End is My Beginning (2013)
Plowden, Alison, Two Queens in One Isle: the Deadly Relationship of Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots (1984)
Pollen, J.H., Mary Queen of Scots and the Babington Plot (1922)
Porter, Linda, Crown of Thistles (2013)
Porter, Linda, Tudors Versus Stuarts: the Fatal Inheritance of Mary Queen of Scots (2015)
Warnicke, Retha, Mary Queen of Scots (2006)
Weir, Alison, Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley (2003)
Wormald, J., Mary Queen of Scots: a Study in Failure (1988)
Arms:
Portraits:
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