biography
| name: |
Mary, Queen of Scots
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| sex:
| female
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| lived:
| (1542–87)
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| biography:
| Queen of Scotland (1542–87) and queen consort of France (1559–60), born in Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian, EC Scotland, UK, the daughter of James V of Scotland by his second wife, Mary of Guise. Queen of Scotland at a week old, her betrothal to Prince Edward of England was annulled by the Scottish parliament, precipitating war with England. After the Scots' defeat at Pinkie (1547), she was sent to the French court and married the Dauphin (1558), later Francis II, but was widowed at 18 (1560) and returned to Scotland (1561). In 1565, ambitious for the English throne, she married her cousin, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, a grandson of Margaret Tudor, but became disgusted by his debauchery, and was soon alienated from him. The vicious murder of Rizzio, her Italian secretary, by Darnley and a group of Protestant nobles in her presence (1566) confirmed her insecurity. The birth of a son, the future James VI, failed to bring a reconciliation. While ill with smallpox, Darnley was mysteriously killed in an explosion at Kirk o' Field (1567); the chief suspect was the Earl of Bothwell, who underwent a mock trial and was acquitted. Mary's involvement is unclear, but she consented to marry Bothwell, a divorcé with whom she had become infatuated. The Protestant nobles under Morton rose against her; she surrendered at Carberry Hill, was imprisoned at Loch Leven, and compelled to abdicate. After escaping, she raised an army, but was defeated again by the confederate lords at Langside (1568). Placing herself under the protection of Queen Elizabeth, she found herself instead a prisoner for life. Her presence in England gave rise to countless plots to depose Elizabeth and restore Catholicism. Finally, after the Babington conspiracy (1586) she was brought to trial for treason, and executed in Fotheringay Castle, Northamptonshire. |
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