Antonia Fraser was born August 27, 1932 in London, England. Since 1969 Antonia Fraser has written nine acclaimed historical works which have been international best-sellers. She began with Mary Queen of Scots (1969) and followed it with Crowell: Our Chief of Men (1973) and Charles II (1979). Three books featuring women’s history came next: The Weaker Vessel: Woman's Lot in the Seventeenth Century (1984); The Warrior Queens (1988) and The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1992). A study in religious extremism, The Gunpowder Plot: Terror in Faith (1996) was followed by two books set at the court of Versailles: Marie Antoinette: The Journey (2001) and Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of The Sun King (2006).
Among the many awards she has received are the Wolfson Award
for History; the James Tait Black Prize for Biography; the Crimewriters’
Non-Fiction Gold Dagger; the Franco-British Society Literary Award, and the
Norton Medlicott Medallion of the Historical Association. She was made DBE in 2011 for her services to
literature. [1]
Family Tree
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| Mary’s parents, James V of Scotland & Mary of Guise |
Mary, Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was born on December 8, 1542 at Linlithgow Palace in West Lothian, Scotland to King James V of Scotland and Mary Guise. She reigned as Queen of Scotland from December 14, 1542 to July 24, 1567 and Queen consort of France from July 10, 1559 to December 5, 1560. Six days after her birth Mary’s father died making the baby the new queen of Scotland and her mother queen regent.
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| Mary as a child |
In 1543,
Mary became betrothed to Henry VIII's son, Prince Edward of England. Being that England had left the Catholic
Church and Scotland was a Catholic country, the promise of Mary to Edward was annulled.
Mary Guise was from France, and the
Scots wanted an alliance with France, so Mary was betrothed to the 4-year-old
French heir, Frances Dauphin. In 1548, at
the age of five, Mary was sent to France, where she grew up in the French court.
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| Mary and her first husband, Francis II of France |
In 1558,
she married Francis, the eldest son of French King Henry II and Catherine de
Medicis. In 1559, Mary's husband was
crowned Francis II, making Mary his queen consort. Unfortunately, Francis died
from an ear infection the following year, leaving Mary a widow. They had no children, leaving no heirs, and
leaving no reason for Mary to stay in France.
Mary did not want to return to Scotland.
France was her home. She could
only procrastinate her departure until 1561.
Scotland was very different in 1561, her official religion had changed from
Catholicism to Protestantism. Mary was
an outsider but was determined to rule with religious tolerance.
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| Mary and her second husband, Henry Stuart Lord Durnley |
Mary and Henry Stewart, earl of Darnley married in 1565. He was her cousin, 2nd in line to the English thrown (only after Mary), and a Catholic. This marriage named him Henry King of Scots (not King consort) and heir to the throne if Mary was to die. This union made many angry. The Scottish Protestant ministry, for whom John Knox was the spokesman, were furious that Mary chose a Catholic husband instead of a Protestant making any heirs to the throne Catholic. Mary’s illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart, earl of Moray wanted power and Mary went against his advice not to marry Henry. The Hamilton’s were in line to the thrown and a new marriage meant possible heirs. Lastly Elizabeth I of England now found the next two in line for her throne wed. She felt this threatened her reign. They now all started to turn against her (all but Elizabeth who had been infuriated with her prior [see below]).
Mary’s marriage was not a happy one. Henry was mean, arrogant, indulgent, and a drunk. He was proven to be a part of the murder of Mary’s secretary. Shortly after the murder on June 19, 1566 Mary gave birth to her and Henry’s son James, heir to the English and Scottish thrones.
Henry was murdered on February 9/10, 1567. The initiator of that murder would become
Mary’s third husband a few months later.
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| Mary and her third husband, James Hepburn of Bothwell |
On May 15, 1567, Mary married
James Hepburn Earl of Bothwell. This is
said to be the first step on the “road to Fotheringhay.” (Fotheringhay Castle being the place of her
execution.) After having Mary’s second
husband killed James forced Mary into marriage so that he could gain power over
Scotland. Scottish nobility rose against
the couple and resulted in James being sent into exile, while Mary was imprisoned
in Lochleven Castle. In 1568, Mary
escaped and raised an army, but was quickly beaten. Mary then fled to England, to
seek safety from Elizabeth. Elizabeth
imprisoned Mary and held her captive for 18 years.
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| Mary and her son, James VI of Scotland & I of England |
Mary’s son, James VI of Scotland and I of England was born June 19, 1566, and died March 27, 1625. He reigned as king of Scotland from 1567 to 1625 and first Stuart king of England from 1603 to 1625. He named himself “king of Great Britain.” After her third marriage, to James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, Mary was defeated by rebel Scottish lords and renounced the throne leaving her one year old son to become king of Scotland on July 24, 1567. Mary left the kingdom on May 16, 1568, and never saw her son or Scotland again.
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| Mary and Elizabeth I of England |
In November 1558 Elizabeth
Tudor, became Queen Elizabeth I of England. However, many Roman Catholics
considered Elizabeth's rule to be illegitimate, as they did not recognize the
validity of Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's mother. Her illegitimacy made Mary England’s queen in
their eyes.
After Mary's imprisonment, she
became the focus of Catholic conspiracies to assassinate Elizabeth so that Mary
could take the throne. Mary corresponded with one of these men. When letters were discovered in 1586, Mary
was brought to trial and found guilty of treason.
Mary was executed in
Fotheringhay Castle, by beheading, on February 7, 1587. She was 44 years old.
Elizabeth had Mary buried in Peterborough Cathedral. James moved his mother's body to Westminster
Abbey in 1612.
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| Mary’s Death Mask |
"As a sinner I am truly conscious of having often offended my Creator and I beg him to forgive me, but as a Queen and Sovereign, I am aware of no fault or offence for which I have to render account to anyone here below." Mary, queen of Scots to her jailer, Sir Amyas Paulet; October 1586.
The world is still fascinated and
in love with Mary Queen of Scots. There
has been countless books, movies, TV series, and documentaries made about her. Below are a few more recent media sources
about her.
Reign - a newer television series on CW. Though this series in based in historical fact the creators do take creative liberties.
Mary Queen of Scots - Movie made in in 2013.
[1]
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd. (n.d.). Antonia
Fraser; Author. Retrieved from Antonia Fraser:
http://www.antoniafraser.com/
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