1542-1587. Queen of Scotland 1542-67. Also
known as Mary Stuart, she was the daughter of
James V. Mary's connection with the English
royal line from Henry VII made her a threat
to Elizabeth I's hold on the English throne,
especially as she represented a champion of
the Catholic cause. She was married three
times. After her forced abdication she was
imprisoned but escaped 1568 to England.
Elizabeth I held her prisoner, while the
Roman Catholics, who regarded Mary as
rightful queen of England, formed many
conspiracies to place her on the throne, and
for complicity in one of these she was
executed. Mary's mother was the French Mary
of Guise. Born in Linlithgow (now in Lothian
region, Scotland), Mary was sent to France,
where she married the dauphin, later Francis
II. After his death she returned in 1561 to
Scotland, which, during her absence, had
turned Protestant. She married her cousin,
the Earl of Darnley, in 1565, but they soon
quarrelled, and Darnley took part in the
murder of Mary's secretary, Rizzio. In 1567
Darnley was assassinated as the result of a
conspiracy formed by the Earl of Bothwell,
possibly with Mary's connivance, and shortly
after Bothwell married her. A rebellion
followed; defeated at Carberry Hill, Mary
abdicated and was imprisoned. She escaped in
1568, raised an army, and after its defeat at
Langside fled to England, only to be
imprisoned again. A plot against Elizabeth I
devised by Anthony Babington led to her trial
and execution at Fotheringay Castle in 1587.