General Interest
1587
Mary Queen of Scots beheaded
After 19 years of
imprisonment, Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England
for her complicity in a plot to murder Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1542, while just six
days old, Mary ascended to the Scottish throne upon the death of her father,
King James V. Her mother sent her to be raised in the French court, and in 1558
she married the French dauphin, who became King Francis II of France in 1559
but died the following year. After Francis’ death, Mary returned to Scotland to
assume her designated role as the country’s monarch.
In 1565, she married her
English cousin Lord Darnley in order to reinforce her claim of succession to
the English throne after Elizabeth’s death. In 1567, Darnley was mysteriously
killed in an explosion at Kirk o’ Field, and Mary’s lover, the Earl of
Bothwell, was the key suspect. Although Bothwell was acquitted of the charge,
his marriage to Mary in the same year enraged the nobility. Mary brought an
army against the nobles, but was defeated and imprisoned at Lochleven,
Scotland, and forced to abdicate in favor of her son by Darnley, James.
In 1568, Mary escaped
from captivity and raised a substantial army but was defeated and fled to
England. Queen Elizabeth initially welcomed Mary but was soon forced to put her
friend under house arrest after Mary became the focus of various English
Catholic and Spanish plots to overthrow Elizabeth. Nineteen years later, in
1586, a major plot to murder Elizabeth was reported, and Mary was brought to
trial. She was convicted for complicity and sentenced to death.
On February 8, 1587, Mary
Queen of Scots was beheaded for treason. Her son, King James VI of Scotland,
calmly accepted his mother’s execution, and upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603
he became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
Courtesy: HISTORY.com
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