MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
also known as Mary Stuart, she was born on 8 December 1542
she spent her childhood in France, where she married the Dauphin Francis and became queen consort
after Francis's death, she returned to Scotland and married her cousin HENRY STUART, LORD DARNLEY
Mary and Henry gave birth to James in 1566
in 1567 Henry was found murdered in their garden; Lord James Bothwell was believed to have orchestrated his death
JAMES BOTHWELL, after being acquitted of the charge, managed to marry Mary with the Ainslie Tavern Bond, a document signed by lords and bishops which recommended him as an appropriate husband
James VI and I later reunited the crowns of Scotland, England and Ireland
the marriage proved to be deeply unpopular and was considered controversial by both Catholics and Protestants
26 Scottish peers raised an army against them; Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle and forced to abdicate in favour of her one year old son James
after escaping Loch Leven Castle she expected Elizabeth to help her regain her throne, but she didn't; Mary was moved to Bolton Castle
her supporters fought a civil war against Moray, the regent of Mary's son
during the inquiry of York, Moray, as evidence against Mary, presented the casket letters: eight unsigned letters purportedly from Mary to Bothwell, two marriage contracts, and a love sonnet said to have been found in a casket decorated with the monogram of King Francis II
the casket-letters were later proved to be forgeries
in the end, Moray returned to Scotland as its regent, and Mary remained in custody in England
Elizabeth considered Mary's designs on the English throne to be a serious threat and so confined her in the interior of England halfway between Scotland and London, and distant from the sea
in 1584, Mary proposed an "association" with her son, James: she was ready to stay in England, abandoning her pretensions to the English Crown. For Scotland, she proposed a general amnesty, agreed that James should marry with Elizabeth's knowledge, and agreed that there should be no change in religion. Her only condition was the immediate alleviation of the conditions of her captivity.
James went along with the idea for a while but then rejected it and signed an alliance treaty with Elizabeth, abandoning his mother. Elizabeth also rejected the association, because she did not trust Mary to cease plotting against her during the negotiations.
After eighteen and a half years in custody, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth in 1586, and was beheaded the following year at Fotheringhay Castle.
her last words were, In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum ("Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit")
Mary's request to be buried in France was refused by Elizabeth; her body was exhumed in 1612, when her son, King James VI and I, ordered to reinter it in Westminster Abbey in a chapel opposite the tomb of Elizabeth
Mary, the only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland, was six days old when her father died and she acceded to the throne
many Catholics considered her the rightful queen of England as the senior surviving legitimate descendant of Henry VII through her grandmother, Margaret Tudor
Mary's claim to the English throne was a perennial sticking point between her and Elizabeth I Queen of England