Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587)

[An Ard Ri]

Mary's half brother François III d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville is all but forgotten ,he was the only surving son of Marie de Guise and her 1st husband,Louis II d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville.The Duke died aged 16 in September,1551 .

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

A lot of things Mary did baffle me. Someone called her son James the "wisest fool in Christendom." He came by the "fool" part honestly. [emoji2]

I don't know a lot about James but considering his parents idiocy he truly does seem wise. I don't know why it seems Mary was smarter in France than she was in Scotland. I know Scotland is a hard place for a Catholic woman to rule but Mary didn't make it any easier.

 

[Lucy63]

I can’t think of even one good decision Mary ever made.

 

[Erin9]

I can’t think of even one good decision Mary ever made.

Well she didn’t try to make Scotland catholic. But, yeah, she made a lot of poor decisions.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Keeping her half brother Lord Moray as her chief advisor wasn't a bad move nor was her acceptance of the Protestant Lords over the Catholic ones,her early personal rule started off well but it didn't last.

She was not like her steely mother or shrewd ,cunning able mother in law.

 

[Curryong]

Probably the worst decision Mary ever made was to allow herself to be 'kidnapped' by Bothwell. That was the beginning of the end for her. And the lethargy and despair she fell into after Darnley's murder at the Kirk o' Fields resembled her father's similar behaviour in the last weeks of his life. I just can't imagine Elizabeth behaving like Mary did at several points, ever. But then Elizabeth had experienced a very different childhood and adolescence that had steeled her.

 

[Gawin]

I don't know a lot about James but considering his parents idiocy he truly does seem wise. I don't know why it seems Mary was smarter in France than she was in Scotland. I know Scotland is a hard place for a Catholic woman to rule but Mary didn't make it any easier.

That's true, I'd forgotten that James's father was a fool too. ?
I wonder, was marriage to Darnley the first of Mary's disastrous decisions? Did everything begin to snowball from there?

 

[Ista]

Probably the worst decision Mary ever made was to allow herself to be 'kidnapped' by Bothwell. That was the beginning of the end for her. And the lethargy and despair she fell into after Darnley's murder at the Kirk o' Fields resembled her father's similar behaviour in the last weeks of his life. I just can't imagine Elizabeth behaving like Mary did at several points, ever. But then Elizabeth had experienced a very different childhood and adolescence that had steeled her.

I think you put your finger on one of the big differences between Mary and Elizabeth: Elizabeth understood from a very early age that life was precarious, and that she could lose everything. Because, in fact, she had been in great danger herself numerous times in her childhood and early adulthood. Mary had lived a comparatively insulated and privileged life, and in addition was imbued with the whole "divine right" thing. I don't think she ever really comprehended how her decisions didn't operate in a vacuum, and that choices she made could have disastrous consequences. In addition, I don't think she grasped how she was viewed by the Scottish nobility, or saw them as being as dangerous until was too late. Otherwise she would have been a very great deal more cautious about many, many things.

 

[Lucy63]

Yes, Mary had been told she was queen since birth, really, and of England just as much as France and Scotland. Elizabeth never knew what was she was from day to day. I do think Elizabeth had far more strength anyway, a lot coming from her mother Anne. Mixed with Henry’s blood, she was never going to be the ditzy girly girl Mary was for much of her life. Mary had faced few true disasters, while Elizabeth lived them from aged two. But deep down, Elizabeth was simply smarter, more cautious, more able to look ahead, than Mary ever was.

 

[Lucy63]

Mary of Scots had in common with Mary I, in both being very unsuccessful as queens. Though in very different ways and Mary of Scots did produce an heir at least, though hardly a great one.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Lord Bothwells second wife,Lady Jean Gordon was the daughter of the staunchly Catholic Earl of Huntly,her uncle was also the Archbishop of Glasgow.

Lady Jean outlived them all and died in 1629 in her 80's.

​

 

[Humbugged]

That's true, I'd forgotten that James's father was a fool too. ?
I wonder, was marriage to Darnley the first of Mary's disastrous decisions? Did everything begin to snowball from there?

Her mother taking over as Regent was when the snowball started rolling .


By the time Mary turned up the damage was already done .Her mother had filled government positions with Frenchmen and imported French troops to impose her will ( the troops was what finally turned the previously loyal Arygyll and Moray against her ). Giving the Scottish Crown to the French as a dowry tipped it even further.



So by the time she turned up in 1561 it was rolling .Marrying Darnley in itself wasn't the bad decision (though done to spite Elizabeth) ,refusing to name him Heir after having done it for Francis ( a decision which would have left Charles IX with the crown in the event she had died childless) was the killer

 

[Humbugged]

Well she didn’t try to make Scotland catholic. But, yeah, she made a lot of poor decisions.

Her mother tried though .


"Where is now John Knox's God? My God is now stronger than his, yea, even in Fife."


6 months later she was dead and 6 years later the Lords of Convention ousted Mary and Scotland was a Calvinist Kingdom



And the stupidity (due to piety ) was hereditary .Her grandson tried to impose his brand of neo Catholicism and that ended with him a head shorter .Her great grandson tried the full on version and he lost his crown when Claverhouse got stuck with the pointy end at Killicrankie . His grandson tried it in '45 with the tiny Jacobite rump that was left and that ended on a moor outside Inverness

 

[An Ard Ri]

The flip flopping alliances of the previous Regent The Earl of Arran and the ensuing squabbles over his appointment as Regent really showed how Scotland needed a strong capable Regent.

Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox himself was descended from James II and was at one stage trying to woo the widowed Marie de Guise ,imagine a Regency team consisting of the Earl of Lennox and Marie de Guise!

 

[Humbugged]

The flip flopping alliances of the previous Regent The Earl of Arran and the ensuing squabbles over his appointment as Regent really showed how Scotland needed a strong capable Regent.

Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox himself was descended from James II and was at one stage trying to woo the widowed Marie de Guise ,imagine a Regency team consisting of the Earl of Lennox and Marie de Guise!

Scotland as a French puppet kingdom ,more Protestants sent to the galleys or burnt at the stake like Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart



That wasn't hard

 

[An Ard Ri]

The murder of Cardinal Beaton .Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a fatal blow to the Regency Government during queen Mary's minority.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Mary, Queen of Scots at Loch Leven Castle
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-ci...n-of-scots-at-loch-leven-castle-62557157.html

 

[eya]

A quiz for Mary , Queen of Scots, how well do you know the monarch?
Me.... not at all , my score 5/17 and mostly by luck!

https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/...ll-do-you-know-the-scottish-monarch-1-4857934

Dr David Starkey unveils a rare portrait of Mary Queen of Scots as it goes on public display at Hever Castle for the first time.

https://www.rexfeatures.com/livefee...f_scots_goes_on_display_at_hever_castle,_kent

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

8/17 for me! Could've done better after 2 years of studying the Tudors and Mary Queen of Scot's plots

 

[An Ard Ri]

11 out of 17 for me ,back to the history books I think!

 

[Biri]

My results: 12/17

 

[Osipi]

By the time I got to the 8th question, I was embarrassing myself and getting that red x too often so I have to admit I need to learn my Mary, Queen of Scots history. The ones I did get right were by sheer, dumb luck. ?

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Thirteen out of seventeen for me. Oh well....!

 

[Countessmeout]

13 out of 17. Guess been too long since I studied the Tudor/Stewart periods.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Hever Castle what an odd choice seeing as it once belonged to the Boleyns

Yesterday was the anniversary of Mary's execution in 1587

https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/downfall-mary-queen-scots-execution-murder-lord-darnley/

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Thank you eya...I have seen that photo many times..I assumed it was a famous and well known painting.

I wonder why they are calling it "rare"?

And yes An Ard Ri. ...Hever was the ancestral seat of the Boleyns....the maternal family of Mary's arch-rival and nemesis Elizabeth I.

Odd location to display Mary's portrait.

 

[Denville]

Hever was As I recall a royal property because it went to the King when the Boleyns died out... and was lived in by Anne of Cleves

 

[An Ard Ri]

Sir Geoffrey Boleyn bought the castle in 1462,it passed to his son Sir William Boleyn and to his son Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire.Lady Margaret Butler ,the paternal grandmother of Anne Boleyn was the last of the family to live there soon after her death it was given to Anne of Cleves.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

In what year did Lady Margaret Butler die?

 

[Countessmeout]

In what year did Lady Margaret Butler die?

1539, the same year as her son Thomas.

The family had three homes. Hever castle, Rochford Hall and Blickling Hall. While Hever was claimed by the king after Margaret died, much of the family estate remained with the remaining Boleyn, Mary. Mary and her husband lived at Rochford Hall until her death in 1543. It was sold in 1550 to Lord Rich.