Mary of Guise (french: Marie de Guise; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was a
French noblewoman of the
House of Guise
The House of Guise (pronunciation: ɥiz Dutch: ''Wieze, German: Wiese'') was a prominent French noble family, that was involved heavily in the French Wars of Religion. The House of Guise was the founding house of the Principality of Joinvil ...
, a
cadet branch
In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, tit ...
of the
House of Lorraine
The House of Lorraine (german: link=no, Haus Lothringen) originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Fra ...
and one of the most powerful families in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. She was
Queen of Scotland
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...
from 1538 until 1542, as the second wife of King
James V. As the mother of
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
, she was a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that marked mid-16th-century
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, ruling the kingdom as
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
on behalf of her daughter from 1554 until her death in 1560.
The eldest of the twelve children born to
Claude, Duke of Guise
Claude de Lorraine, Duke of Guise (20 October 1496 – 12 April 1550) was a French aristocrat and general. He became the first Duke of Guise in 1528.
He was a highly effective general for the French crown. His children and grandchildren were to ...
, and
Antoinette de Bourbon
Antoinette of Bourbon (25 December 1494 – 22 January 1583), was a French noblewoman of the House of Bourbon. She was the wife of Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Guise.
Life
Antoinette de Bourbon was born on 25 December 1494 at the Chateau de Ha ...
, in 1534 Mary was married to
Louis II d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville Louis II d'Orléans, duc de Longueville and comte de Dunois (1510 – 9 June 1537) was a French aristocrat and the first husband of Mary of Guise, who later became queen consort of Scotland and mother to Mary, Queen of Scots. He was the second son ...
, the
Grand Chamberlain of France
The Grand Chamberlain of France (french: Grand Chambellan de France) was one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, a member of the '' Maison du Roi'' ("King's Household"), and one of the Great Offices of the Maison du Roi during the Anc ...
. The marriage was arranged by King
Francis I of France
Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...
, but proved shortlived. The Duke of Longueville died in 1537, and the widower kings of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and Scotland,
Henry VIII and James V, both sought the Duchess of Longueville's hand. After much persuasion from Francis I and James V, who wrote a personal letter pleading for her hand and counsel, Mary eventually relented and agreed to marry the King of Scots. Following the new queen's arrival in Scotland, James and Mary were married in person in June 1538 at
St Andrews Cathedral
The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese of ...
. Mary was
crowned queen at
Holyrood Abbey on 22 February 1540, and the marriage produced three children in quick succession:
James, Duke of Rothesay; Robert, Duke of Albany; and
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
. Both sons died in April 1541, and when James V himself died in December 1542, his only surviving heir, Mary, became Queen of Scots at the age of six days old.
James V's death thrust Mary of Guise into the political arena as mother of the infant Queen of Scots, with the government of Scotland entrusted to
James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambigua ...
, as regent during the early years of the minority and the
Rough Wooing
The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the ...
. With the
Treaty of Haddington in 1548, the child queen Mary was betrothed to
Francis, the
Dauphin of France, and was sent to be brought up in France under the protection of King
Henry II. Mary of Guise replaced Arran as regent in 1554, and her regency was dominated by her determination to protect and advance the dynastic interests of her daughter, maintain the Franco-Scottish alliance, and reassert the power of the Scottish crown. Throughout her regency, Mary displayed tolerance towards the religious reform movement, and implemented a policy of accommodation towards her
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
subjects, though she was ultimately unable to prevent the
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Scotland broke with the Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterian in its outlook. It was part of the wider European Protestant Refor ...
.
Early life
Mary was born at
Bar-le-Duc
Bar-le-Duc (), formerly known as Bar, is a Communes of France, commune in the Meuse (department), Meuse Departments of France, département, of which it is the capital. The department is in Grand Est in northeastern France.
The lower, more moder ...
,
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...
, the eldest daughter of
Claude, Duke of Guise
Claude de Lorraine, Duke of Guise (20 October 1496 – 12 April 1550) was a French aristocrat and general. He became the first Duke of Guise in 1528.
He was a highly effective general for the French crown. His children and grandchildren were to ...
, head of the
House of Guise
The House of Guise (pronunciation: ɥiz Dutch: ''Wieze, German: Wiese'') was a prominent French noble family, that was involved heavily in the French Wars of Religion. The House of Guise was the founding house of the Principality of Joinvil ...
, and his wife
Antoinette de Bourbon
Antoinette of Bourbon (25 December 1494 – 22 January 1583), was a French noblewoman of the House of Bourbon. She was the wife of Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Guise.
Life
Antoinette de Bourbon was born on 25 December 1494 at the Chateau de Ha ...
, herself the daughter of
Francis, Count of Vendome, and
Marie de Luxembourg
Marie of Luxembourg-Saint-Pol (died 1 April 1547) was a French vassal. She was, as Marie I, the ruling Countess Regnant of Soissons and Saint-Pol in her own right by inheritance from her father between 25 October 1482 and 1 April 1547. She was ...
. Among her 11 siblings were
Francis, Duke of Guise
Francis de Lorraine II, the first Prince of Joinville, also Duke of Guise and Duke of Aumale (french: François de Lorraine; 17 February 1519 – 24 February 1563), was a French general and statesman. A prominent leader during the Italian War of ...
;
Claude, Duke of Aumale
Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Aumale (18 August 1526, Joinville – 3 March 1573, La Rochelle) was the third son of Claude, Duke of Guise and Antoinette de Bourbon. He was a prince of Lorraine by birth.
Biography
As part of the Treaty of Boulog ...
;
Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine
Charles de Lorraine (c. 1525 – 26 December 1574), Duke of Chevreuse, was a French Cardinal, a member of the powerful House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of Lorraine, after the death o ...
; and
Louis I, Cardinal of Guise
Louis de Lorraine, cardinal de Guise et prince-évêque de Metz (21 October 1527, in Joinville, Champagne – 29 March 1578, in Paris) was a French Roman Catholic cardinal and Bishop during the Italian Wars and French Wars of Religion. The third s ...
.
When Mary was five, she was godmother to her younger sister Louise. Not long afterward, she joined her grandmother
Philippa of Guelders
Philippa of Guelders (; 9 November 1464 – 28 February 1547), was a Duchess consort of Lorraine. She served as regent of Lorraine in 1509 during the absence of her son. She was the Great-Grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots.
Life
Philippa was born ...
in the convent of the
Poor Clares
The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...
at
Pont-à-Mousson
Pont-à-Mousson () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are known as ''Mussipontains'' in French. It is an industrial town (mainly steel industry), situated on the river Moselle. Pont-à-Mous ...
. Mary grew to be exceptionally tall by the standards of her time and reached a height of . Her mother mentioned that she suffered from bad colds. When she was about 14 her uncle
Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, and aunt
Renée of Bourbon
Renée of Bourbon, Duchess of Lorraine (1494 – 26 May 1539), also called, Renée, Lady of Mercœur, was a Duchess consort of Lorraine. She was a daughter of Gilbert de Bourbon, Count of Montpensier by Clara Gonzaga, and sister of Charles de ...
visited her. Impressed by their niece's qualities and stature, they took her away from the convent and prepared her for life at the French court. In 1531, Mary made her first appearance and debut at the wedding of
Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to:
* Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407)
* Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450
* Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547
* Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...
and
Eleanor of Austria
Eleanor of Austria (15 November 1498 – 25 February 1558), also called Eleanor of Castile, was born an Archduchess of Austria and Infanta of Castile from the House of Habsburg, and subsequently became Queen consort of Portugal (1518–1 ...
. She established a friendship with the king's daughters
Madeleine (whom she would later succeed as Queen of Scots) and
Margaret.
Duchess of Longueville
![Coat of arms of Marie of Guise (mother of Mary, Queen of Scots) as Duchess of Longueville](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Coat_of_arms_of_Marie_of_Guise_%28mother_of_Mary%2C_Queen_of_Scots%29_as_Duchess_of_Longueville.png)
On 4 August 1534, at the age of 18, she became
Duchess of Longueville by marrying
Louis II d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville Louis II d'Orléans, duc de Longueville and comte de Dunois (1510 – 9 June 1537) was a French aristocrat and the first husband of Mary of Guise, who later became queen consort of Scotland and mother to Mary, Queen of Scots. He was the second son ...
, the
Grand Chamberlain of France
The Grand Chamberlain of France (french: Grand Chambellan de France) was one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, a member of the '' Maison du Roi'' ("King's Household"), and one of the Great Offices of the Maison du Roi during the Anc ...
, at the
Louvre Palace.
[David Potter, ''A History of France, 1460–1560: The Emergence of a Nation State'', (St. Martin's Press, 1995), 373.] Their union turned out to be happy, but brief. On 30 October 1535, Mary gave birth to her first son,
Francis,
but on 9 June 1537, Louis died at
Rouen and left her a pregnant widow at the age of 21. For the rest of her life, Mary kept the last letter from her ''bon mari et ami'' (her good husband and friend) Louis, which mentioned his illness and explained his absence at Rouen. It can still be seen at the
National Library of Scotland. On 4 August 1537, Mary gave birth to their second son, who was named Louis after his deceased father. Louis died very young, but Francis wrote letters to his mother in Scotland. On 22 March 1545 he sent a piece of string to show how tall he was, and on 2 July 1546 he sent her his portrait.
Residence
Rather than live in Edinburgh, Mary primarily lived in
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
where a garrison of French troops were stationed. Her two houses in Leith were firstly just off the Shore at the Paunch Market, on what (until unification with Edinburgh) was called Queen Street in her honour. The beautifully ornate building was demolished in 1849 and now is simply a car park. The site lies at the south-west section of Shore Place, the new name for Queen Street. Secondly she had a small palace on Rotten Row (now called Water Street). After her death this went into the ownership of Andrew Lamb, and it is almost certainly for this reason that her daughter
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
visited "the house of Andro Lamb beit the space of ane hour" on her return to Scotland in 1561. The house was demolished in 1830 to build a whisky warehouse, but the her memory lived on in the name of the linked building which was named the "Mary of Guise Buildings" carved in stone. The latter was demolished around 1995 and was replaced by a small block of flats. Her former (Shore Place) residence housed
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
in 1651.
Queen of Scots
![Arms of Mary of Guise, Magdalen Chapel, Edinburgh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Arms_of_Mary_of_Guise%2C_Magdalen_Chapel%2C_Edinburgh.JPG)
Later, in 1537, Mary became the focus of marriage negotiations with
James V of Scotland
James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and du ...
, who had lost his first wife,
Madeleine of Valois
Madeleine of France or Madeleine of Valois (10 August 1520 – 7 July 1537) was a French princess who briefly became Queen of Scotland in 1537 as the first wife of King James V. The marriage was arranged in accordance with the Treaty of Rouen ...
, to tuberculosis, and wanted a second French bride to further the interests of the
Franco-Scottish alliance
The Auld Alliance ( Scots for "Old Alliance"; ; ) is an alliance made in 1295 between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England. The Scots word ''auld'', meaning ''old'', has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting a ...
against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. According to a 17th-century writer,
William Drummond of Hawthornden
William Drummond (13 December 15854 December 1649), called "of Hawthornden", was a Scottish poet.
Life
Drummond was born at Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian, to John Drummond, the first laird of Hawthornden, and Susannah Fowler, sister of the ...
, James V had noticed the attractions of Mary when he went to France to meet Madeleine and
Mary of Bourbon
Mary of Bourbon or Marie de Bourbon (29 October 1515 – 28 September 1538) was a daughter of Charles, Duke of Vendôme, and Françoise d'Alençon, daughter of René, Duke of Alençon. Mary was the subject of marriage negotiations of James V of ...
, and she was next in his affections. It is known that Mary had attended the wedding of James and Madeleine.
The recently widowed
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
, in attempts to prevent this union, also asked for Mary's hand. Given Henry's marital history—banishing his first wife and beheading the second—Mary refused the offer. In December 1537, Henry VIII told
Castillon, the French ambassador in London, that he was big in person and had need of a big wife. Biographer
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (' Pakenham; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and p ...
writing in 1969 said Mary replied, "I may be a big woman, but I have a very little neck."
This was apparently a tribute to the famously macabre jest made by Henry's French-educated second wife,
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...
, who had joked before her death that the executioner would find killing her easy because she had "a little neck".
King
Francis I of France
Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...
accepted James's proposal over Henry's and conveyed his wishes to Mary's father. Francis had a marriage contract prepared that offered James a dowry as large as if Mary had been born a princess of France. Mary's mother found the contract "marvellously strange", because the king had included Mary's son's inheritance in the dowry. Mary received the news with shock and alarm, as she did not wish to leave family and country, especially as she had just lost her first husband and her younger son. It has been said that her father tried to delay matters, apparently until James, perhaps sensing her reluctance, wrote to her, appealing for her advice and support. However, the authenticity of this letter, which was first produced in 1935, has been questioned.
David Beaton
David Beaton (also Beton or Bethune; 29 May 1546) was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish cardinal prior to the Reformation.
Career
Cardinal Beaton was the sixth and youngest son of eleven children of John Beaton (Bethune) of Bal ...
(who was made a cardinal in 1538) travelled to France for the marriage negotiations. He wrote to James V from
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
on 22 October 1537 that Mary was "stark (strong), well complexioned, and fit to travel". Beaton wrote that the Duke of Guise was "marvellous desirous of the expedition and hasty end of the matter", and had already consulted with his brother, the
Duke of Lorraine
The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of ...
, and Mary herself, who was with her mother in
Champagne
Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...
waiting for the resolution of the negotiations. The marriage contract was finalized in January 1538, with James V receiving a
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
of 150,000
livres
The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France.
The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...
. As was customary, if the king died first, Mary would retain for her lifetime her
jointure
Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the de ...
houses of
Falkland Palace
Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, providing an escape from political and religious turmoil. Today it is under the stewardship of ...
,
Stirling Castle,
Dingwall Castle
Dingwall Castle was a medieval fort and royal castle in the town of Dingwall, eastern Ross-shire, Scotland.
The castle is believed to have been established by Norse settlers in the area in the 11th century.
Wars of Scottish Independence
During t ...
and
Threave Castle
Threave Castle is situated on an island in the River Dee, west of Castle Douglas in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland.
Built in the 1370s by Archibald the Grim, it was a stronghold of ...
, along with the rentals of the earldoms of
Fife,
Strathearn
Strathearn or Strath Earn (, from gd, Srath Èireann) is the strath of the River Earn, in Scotland, extending from Loch Earn in the West to the River Tay in the east.http://www.strathearn.com/st_where.htm Derivation of name Strathearn was on ...
,
Ross and
Orkney, and the lordships of
Galloway
Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway.
A native or ...
, Ardmannoch and
the Isles.
![Arms of Mary of Guise](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Arms_of_Mary_of_Guise.svg)
Finally, Mary accepted the offer and made hurried plans for departure. The
proxy
Proxy may refer to:
* Proxy or agent (law), a substitute authorized to act for another entity or a document which authorizes the agent so to act
* Proxy (climate), a measured variable used to infer the value of a variable of interest in climate ...
wedding of James V and Mary of Guise was held on 9 May 1538 in the Sainte Chapelle at the
Château de Châteaudun. Some 2,000 Scottish lords and barons came from Scotland aboard a fleet of ships under
Lord Maxwell to attend. Lord Maxwell himself stood as proxy for James V.
Maxwell, and the other lords and barons who had come to France, travelled back to Scotland with Mary,
who sailed from
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
on 10 June 1538, leaving behind her three-year-old son, Francis, Duke of Longueville. She landed in Scotland 6 days later at
Crail
Crail (); gd, Cathair Aile) is a former royal burgh, parish and community council area (Royal Burgh of Crail and District) in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland.
The locality has an estimated population of 1,630 (2018).
Etymology
The name ''C ...
in
Fife. She came in a fleet of three French galleys commanded by Jacques de Fountaines, Sieur de Mormoulins. She was formally received by the king at
St Andrews few days later amid pageants and plays performed in her honour.
James and Mary were married in person at
St Andrews Cathedral
The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese of ...
on 18 June 1538. James's mother
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and successfully fought to extend her regency. Ma ...
wrote to Henry VIII in July, "I trust she will prove a wise Princess. I have been much in her company, and she bears herself very honourably to me, with very good entertaining." In August Mary went into the Highlands with James on a hunting trip to
Glen Finglas
Glen Finglas ( gd, Gleann Fhionnghlais) is a glen in the Trossachs, in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It is an area of forest in Highlands of the former county of Perthshire, north of Brig o' Turk, close to Callander in Menteith. T ...
, with six
ladies-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...
.
The Duchess of Guise sent her masons, including
Nicolas Roy, miners and an armourer. She had a French painter,
Pierre Quesnel
Pierre Quesnel () was a 16th-century French artist who worked in Scotland.
Pierre worked in Scotland for Mary of Guise and James V. He is listed as an Usher in Guise's household and is identified as the "queen's painter" in the Scottish ''Treas ...
, to decorate her palaces. Her household included a
dwarf
Dwarf or dwarves may refer to:
Common uses
*Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore
* Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...
and a
fool
Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to:
*A jester, also called a ''fool'', a type of historical entertainer known for their witty jokes
*An insult referring to someone of low intelligence or easy gullibility Arts, entertainment and media Fictio ...
who were both dressed in green. On 24 August 1539 Mary and James V made a pilgrimage to the
Isle of May
The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is about long and wide. The island is owned and managed by NatureScot as a national nature reserve. There are now no ...
in the
Forth
Forth or FORTH may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine
* ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008
* ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw
* Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...
. They took three ships, the ''Unicorn'', the ''Little Unicorn'' and the ''
Mary Willoughby''. It was believed that a visit to the
shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...
of
St Adrian could help a woman become pregnant, and Mary of Guise made a note of her pilgrimages in Scotland.
She was crowned queen at
Holyrood Abbey on 22 February 1540. Preparations for her coronation had begun in October 1539 when the jeweller
John Mosman made a new crown from Scottish gold and her silver
sceptre
A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty.
Antiquity
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
The '' Was'' and other ...
was gilded. Payments made for the ceremony include the hanging of
tapestries
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...
; carrying church furnishings from the Palace chapel into the Abbey; the attendance of eleven chaplains; boards for stages in the Abbey; and messengers sent to summon the ladies of the kingdom. A salute of 30 guns was fired from David's Tower in
Edinburgh Castle, and there were fireworks devised by James and made by his royal gunners.
James and Mary had two sons:
James, Duke of Rothesay (born 22 May 1540 at St Andrews), and Robert, Duke of Albany (born and baptised on 12 April 1541); however, both died on 21 April 1541, when James was nearly one year old and Robert was nine days old. Mary's mother Antoinette de Bourbon wrote that the couple was still young and should hope for more children. She thought a change of
wet nurse
A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, or if she is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cu ...
and over-feeding contributed. The third and last child of the union was a daughter
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
, who was born on 8 December 1542. King James died six days later, making the infant Mary Queen of Scotland.
Arran's regency
The government of Scotland was first entrusted to
James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambigua ...
, as
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
. Henry VIII of England wished the infant Queen Mary to marry his son,
Prince Edward. This led to internal conflicts in Scotland between those who favoured the marriage and those who preferred the
alliance with France and led to an English invasion, the so-called
Rough Wooing
The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the ...
. Guise told English diplomat
Ralph Sadler
Sir Ralph Sadler or Sadleir PC, Knight banneret (1507 – 30 March 1587) was an English statesman, who served Henry VIII as Privy Councillor, Secretary of State and ambassador to Scotland. Sadler went on to serve Edward VI. Having signed the d ...
that Regent Arran was a "simple man" and she could easily find out his "whole intent".
At first Mary of Guise stayed at
Linlithgow Palace. Sadler visited her on 22 March 1543 to see the infant queen for the first time. Guise showed him the queen out of her swaddling, to show the child was healthy, because Arran had spread rumours the child was sickly. Sadler wrote that the infant queen was "as goodly a child I have seen, and like to live". Guise reminded him of Regent Arran's plans to have his son
James Hamilton to marry
Princess Elizabeth. Guise tried to get Sadler to intercede with
Regent Arran
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...
to release her ally
Cardinal Beaton
David Beaton (also Beton or Bethune; 29 May 1546) was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish cardinal prior to the Reformation.
Career
Cardinal Beaton was the sixth and youngest son of eleven children of John Beaton (Bethune) of Bal ...
from imprisonment, alleging his political expertise could be employed to mutual benefit.
In April 1543, Arran heard a rumour that Henry VIII now wished to make Mary of Guise his sixth wife. He confronted Mary with this and she prevaricated, learning from him (as she had already guessed) that he told everything to Sadler. She then sent her confidant
Lord Fleming
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...
to Sadler to report the conversation. In turn, Sadler relayed to Henry VIII his account of "every man's tale whereby your grace may perceive the perplexed state of affairs in Scotland."
In July 1543 she moved with the infant Queen to
Stirling Castle. When Ralph Sadler spoke to her again in August, Guise assured him the English marriage would go ahead when Mary was ten years old. In the meantime Mary was safe at Stirling; Guise said she was glad to be at Stirling, and "much she praised there about the house."
It soon became clear to Henry VIII that Mary and Edward would not be married, despite Scottish promises and the
Treaty of Greenwich
The Treaty of Greenwich (also known as the Treaties of Greenwich) contained two agreements both signed on 1 July 1543 in Greenwich between representatives of England and Scotland. The accord, overall, entailed a plan developed by Henry VIII of E ...
, and at the end of 1543 he launched the war now called the Rough Wooing, hoping to turn the situation around. In 1544 she spearheaded an unsuccessful attempt to replace Arran as regent.
After a Scottish defeat at the
Battle of Pinkie
The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crow ...
in September 1547, French military aid weakened English resolve and increased the power base of Mary of Guise, who remained in Scotland. Equipped with a newly painted spear for her royal standard, Mary came to view the progress of the
siege of Haddington
The sieges of Haddington were a series of sieges staged at the Royal Burgh of Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, as part of the War of the Rough Wooing, one of the last Anglo-Scottish Wars. Following Regent Arran's defeat at the battle of P ...
in July 1548. On 9 July her party came in range of the English guns and sixteen of her entourage were killed around her. Following this terrifying incident, Mary gave one of her gunners at Haddington, Andro Straitoun, a reward of a month's wages, £4
Scots.
By the resolution of the Scottish Parliament at Haddington on 7 July, the child Queen Mary was sent to France in August 1548 to be raised with her husband-to-be, the dauphin
Francis, son of
Henry II of France
Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...
. Guise first planned to sail with her daughter from
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
as far as
Whithorn
Whithorn ( ʍɪthorn 'HWIT-horn'; ''Taigh Mhàrtainn'' in Gaelic), is a royal burgh in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about south of Wigtown. The town was the location of the first recorded Christia ...
where she would make pilgrimage. Instead, she returned for a council meeting in Edinburgh.
At this time, the dedication of the Scottish book, ''
The Complaynt of Scotland
''The Complaynt of Scotland'' is a Scottish book printed in 1549 as propaganda during the war of the Rough Wooing against the Kingdom of England, and is an important work of the Scots language.
Context and authorship
The book was part of the wa ...
'', recalled Mary of Guise's descent from
Godfrey de Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of prince ...
and claimed her courage and virtue exceeded those of the ancient heroines
Tomyris
Tomyris (; grc, Τόμυρις, Tómuris; Latin: ) also called Thomyris, Tomris, or Tomiride, reigned over the Massagetae, an Iranian Saka people of Central Asia. Tomyris led her armies to defend against an attack by Cyrus the Great of ...
,
Semiramis
''Samīrāmīs'', hy, Շամիրամ ''Šamiram'') was the semi-legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and Ninus, who succeeded the latter to the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who dr ...
and
Penthesilea
Penthesilea ( el, Πενθεσίλεια, Penthesíleia) was an Amazonian queen in Greek mythology, the daughter of Ares and Otrera and the sister of Hippolyta, Antiope and Melanippe. She assisted Troy in the Trojan War, during which she w ...
.
After negotiating on Christmas Day 1549 at Stirling Castle for more French guns for the siege of
Broughty Castle
Broughty Castle is a historic castle on the banks of the River Tay in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland. It was completed around 1495, although the site was earlier fortified in 1454, when George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus, received permission t ...
, she showed more prudence by watching the successful assault on Wednesday 6 February 1550 from a vantage point across the Tay.
Paul de Thermes
Paul de La Barthe de Thermes or de Termes (1482–1562), also Paul de Terme or Maréchal de Thermes, was a French Army Marshal ("Maréchal").
Reign of Henri II Rough Wooing
In June 1549, de Thermes was sent to Scotland to help in the war agains ...
led the French troops, 240 were injured and 50 killed. The garrison surrendered six days later at midnight. Mary of Guise was triumphant, writing that "the English had left nothing behind but the plague."
The peace process began and Scotland was included in the
Treaty of Boulogne
The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the ...
of 24 March 1550. As part of the treaty, Mary's brother
Claude, Marquis de Mayenne, was one of six French hostages sent to England. After their father died on 12 April 1550, Claude was allowed to come to Scotland with a passport from
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
dated 11 May. Claude wrote from Edinburgh on 18 May that he would survey the fortifications of the realm. After the Treaty was signed, Mary was able to travel to France to see her family.
Travels in France and England
Mary left Scotland on 6 September 1550 and arrived at
Dieppe
Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France.
Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...
in time to participate in a festival with the French court at
Rouen with her daughter on 1 October 1550. At Rouen, Mary and the Queen of Scots rode in procession behind soldiers carrying banners depicting Scottish fortresses recently defended and recovered by the French. She brought with her a large retinue of Scottish gentlemen, including the earls of
Huntly
Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...
,
Cassillis,
Sutherland,
Marischal and
Wigtown
Wigtown ( (both used locally); gd, Baile na h-Ùige) is a town and former royal burgh in Wigtownshire, of which it is the county town, within the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland. It lies east of Stranraer and south of Newton Stewart. ...
, plus lords
Home and
Maxwell, and the bishops of
Caithness and
Galloway
Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway.
A native or ...
. Historians have analysed the Scottish retinue as a team-building exercise for Mary.
Over the winter she stayed with the French court at
Blois
Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours.
With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...
, then spent the summer with Henry II visiting
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
,
Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...
and
Nantes. At
Amboise
Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court.
Geography
Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about away ...
in April, Mary was sickened by news of a plot to poison the young queen of Scots. A Scottish would-be poisoner, Robert Stewart, discovered in London was delivered to the French in May. Throughout her time in France, Mary was anxious to gain the best settlement for her daughter's marriage to the dauphin and financial support for herself in Scotland. At Tours in May, a cynical English observer,
John Mason, who scanned the Scottish retinue for signs of dissent, reported, "the Dowager of Scotland maketh all this court weary of her, such an importunate beggar is she for herself. The king would fain be rid of her. The trucking is about money matters."
While accompanying her to Dieppe on her return, her son Francis died at
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
. In October 1551, she met Edward VI in England. Mary landed at
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and was given, by the King, an escort of gentlemen to accompany her to London. She stayed her first night at
Southwick Priory
Southwick Priory or Our Lady at Southwick () was a priory of Augustinian canons founded in Portchester Castle on Portsmouth Harbour and later transferred north to Southwick, Hampshire, England. It ceased at the Dissolution of the Monasteries ...
. On her way to London she stopped at
Warblington,
Cowdray,
Hampton Court
Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...
, where she was entertained by the
Marquess and Marchioness of Northampton, and
Fulham Palace
Fulham Palace, in Fulham, London, previously in the former English county of Middlesex, is a Grade I listed building with medieval origins and was formerly the principal residence of the Bishop of London. The site was the country home of the ...
. At his meeting with Mary at
Whitehall Palace
The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. H ...
, Edward gave her a diamond ring. The ring, "sett with a fayer table diamount", had belonged to
Catherine Parr.
The Princess Mary Tudor declined to attend her visit, though
the Princess Elizabeth was present, and according to
John Aylmer, unlike the other women at Edward's court she did not try to emulate the novel French "
frounsed, curled and double-curled" hairstyles of Guise's Scottish retinue.
On her way north to Scotland
Ralph Sadler
Sir Ralph Sadler or Sadleir PC, Knight banneret (1507 – 30 March 1587) was an English statesman, who served Henry VIII as Privy Councillor, Secretary of State and ambassador to Scotland. Sadler went on to serve Edward VI. Having signed the d ...
conveyed her through
Hertfordshire, and she stopped at Robert Chester's house at
Royston Priory and the house of the
Dowager Duchess of Suffolk at
Grimsthorpe Castle
Grimsthorpe Castle is a country house in Lincolnshire, England north-west of Bourne on the A151. It lies within a 3,000 acre (12 km2) park of rolling pastures, lakes, and woodland landscaped by Capability Brown. While Grimsthorpe is not a ...
near
Stamford. Arran summoned some of the barons of
East Lothian to meet her at Berwick, and the gentlemen of
Selkirk,
Jedburgh
Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in s ...
and
Duns, Scottish Borders,
Peebles
Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...
and
Lauder
The former Royal Burgh of Lauder (, gd, Labhdar) is a town in the Scottish Borders in the historic county of Berwickshire. On the Southern Upland Way, the burgh lies southeast of Edinburgh, on the western edge of the Lammermuir Hills.
Etymo ...
, Haddington,
Dunbar
Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...
and
North Berwick
North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable ...
were summoned to meet her at
Our Lady Kirk of Steill on 24 November 1551. Six cart loads of breech-loading cannon chambers were brought from the armoury at
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
up to Edinburgh Castle to fire salutes on her return.
Regent of Scotland
![YoungMaryStuart](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/YoungMaryStuart.jpg)
In December 1552,
Mary of Austria, Queen of Hungary
Mary of Austria (15 September 1505 – 18 October 1558), also known as Mary of Hungary, was queen of Hungary and Bohemia as the wife of King Louis II, and was later governor of the Habsburg Netherlands.
The daughter of Queen Joanna and ...
, sister of
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infa ...
, pointed out to Mary that her diplomatic complaints had no force and must come from Arran. Furthermore, she was dissatisfied by Mary's evident friendship with France. Mary's power was increasing. In May 1553, the imperial ambassador in London,
Jean Scheyfve
Jean or Jehan Scheyfve, (c.1515-13 July 1581), Lord of Sint-Agatha-Rode, was Chancellor of Brabant, head of the civilian administration of the Duchy of Brabant, from 1557 to 1579. He had earlier served as the ambassador of Charles V, Holy Roma ...
, heard she had challenged Arran's regency and proposed
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (c. 1531 – 23 January 1570) was a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland. A supporter of his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, he was the regent of Scotland for hi ...
, her illegitimate step-son, as a replacement. Mary herself became regent on 12 April 1554.
Henri Cleutin
Henri Cleutin, seigneur d'Oisel et de Villeparisis (1515 – 20 June 1566), was the representative of France in Scotland from 1546 to 1560, a Gentleman of the Chamber of the King of France, and a diplomat in Rome 1564-1566 during the French Wars o ...
is said to have placed the crown on her head. The eleven-year-old Queen Mary sent her congratulations to "la Royne, ma mere" ("the Queen, my mother") from the
Château de Meudon
Meudon Castle, also known as the Royal Castle of Meudon or Imperial Palace of Meudon, is a French castle located in Meudon in the Hauts-de-Seine department. At the edge of a wooded plateau, the castle offers views of Paris and the Seine, as we ...
at Easter, where she was staying with her grandmother and her uncle, the
Cardinal of Lorraine.
In many affairs, Mary of Guise consulted her brothers in France—the Cardinal of Lorraine, and
Francis, Duke of Guise
Francis de Lorraine II, the first Prince of Joinville, also Duke of Guise and Duke of Aumale (french: François de Lorraine; 17 February 1519 – 24 February 1563), was a French general and statesman. A prominent leader during the Italian War of ...
, both of whom held government positions in France—so that Scotland and France worked as allies in dealing with other nations. Henry II's representative in Scotland from 1546 to 1560 was an ambassador resident,
Henri Cleutin
Henri Cleutin, seigneur d'Oisel et de Villeparisis (1515 – 20 June 1566), was the representative of France in Scotland from 1546 to 1560, a Gentleman of the Chamber of the King of France, and a diplomat in Rome 1564-1566 during the French Wars o ...
, who had been effectively in charge of Scotland during her trip to France. During her regency (1554–60), Frenchmen were put in charge of the treasury and the
Great Seal, while the French ambassador sometimes attended the
Privy Council. Yves de Rubay was Master of Requests and
Keeper of the Seals
The title keeper of the seals or equivalent is used in several contexts, denoting the person entitled to keep and authorize use of the great seal of a given country. The title may or may not be linked to a particular cabinet or ministerial offi ...
and
Bartholomew de Villemore was
Comptroller and Receiver-General of Revenue. Although Cleutin seems to have been universally popular, the resentment of the Scottish nobility at these appointments fuelled the coming crisis.
Mary quickly began to deal effectively with Scottish affairs. In July 1554, she travelled to
Jedburgh
Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in s ...
to hold a
Justice Ayre
Justice Ayre was a judicial circuit north and south of the River Forth in Scotland through the mainly English speaking areas.
The justiciar traveled this circuit to conduct Criminal trial, criminal trials and other legal proceedings. This was a f ...
for a fortnight, hoping to quell the longstanding feud between the
Scott and
Kerr
Kerr may refer to:
People
*Kerr (surname)
*Kerr (given name) Places
;United States
*Kerr Township, Champaign County, Illinois
*Kerr, Montana, A US census-designated place
*Kerr, Ohio, an unincorporated community
*Kerr County, Texas
Other uses
...
border clans. She was escorted by armed horsemen commanded by Cleutin. In the autumn she paid for a ship, troops and a cannon to help the
Earl of Sutherland
Earl of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created circa 1230 for William de Moravia and is the premier earldom in the Peerage of Scotland. The earl or countess of Sutherland is also the chief of Clan Sutherland.
The origin ...
arrest
Iye du Mackay, Lord Reay, who had caused mischief in Sutherland. With much less success the Earls of
Huntly
Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...
and
Argyll
Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
were despatched to pass with fire and sword to
Moidart
Moidart ( ; ) is part of the remote and isolated area of Scotland, west of Fort William, known as the Rough Bounds. Moidart itself is almost surrounded by bodies of water. Loch Shiel cuts off the eastern boundary of the district (along a sout ...
and
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
. Huntly's failure led to his imprisonment. During another progress in 1556 she visited
Inverness, Ross,
Elgin,
Banff and
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
. These domestic efforts were hampered by the outbreak of international conflict in January 1557. An apparent set-back occurred in October, when Guise went south to
Hume Castle
'
, partof =
, location = Hume, Berwickshire, Scotland
, image = Hume Castle - geograph.org.uk - 812984.jpg
, image_size =
, caption =
, map_type = Scotland Scottish Borders
, map_size =
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Shown within Scotland Scot ...
and sent an army towards England. Instructed to cross the border and attack Wark Castle, the Scottish lords held their own council at
Eckford and returned home.
Conflict with Protestants
Mary's regency was threatened, however, by the growing influence of the Scottish
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
s. To an extent she had tolerated the growing number of Protestant preachers. She needed to win support for her pro-French policies, and they could expect no alternative support from England at a time when
Mary Tudor ruled. The marriage of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, to the dauphin of France on 24 April 1558 was quickly followed by Mary Tudor's death and the succession to the throne of England by
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
on 17 November 1558. Mary Stuart's claim and rights of succession to the English throne depended in part on the Papal view of Elizabeth's legitimacy. If
Henry II of France
Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...
was to pursue Mary's claim with the Pope, as part of an ambitious plan that Scotland and England would succumb to French domination, he needed Scotland to be a secure Catholic country. Some modern historians such as Pamela E. Ritchie believe that the change to Guise's policy was not dramatic, but both Catholic and Protestant would perceive and react to the tense political situation. As the Scottish Reformation crisis was developing, Henry II died on 10 July 1559, and Mary Stuart became Queen Consort of France. In France, Mary and Francis II began to publicly display the arms of England in their
blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...
. This too was a motivation for English intervention in Scottish affairs.
In 1557, a group of Scottish lords who became known as the "
Lords of the Congregation
The Lords of the Congregation (), originally styling themselves "the Faithful", were a group of Protestant Scottish nobles who in the mid-16th century favoured a reformation of the Catholic church according to Protestant principles and a Scotti ...
" drew up a covenant to "maintain, set forth, and establish the most blessed Word of God and his Congregation". This was followed by outbreaks of
iconoclasm
Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be conside ...
in 1558/59. At the same time, plans were being drawn up for a Reformed programme of parish worship and preaching, as local communities sought out Protestant ministers. In 1558, the Regent summoned the Protestant preachers to answer for their teaching, but backed down when lairds from the west country threatened to revolt.
![Mary of Guise arms (1560), South Leith Parish Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Mary_of_Guise_arms_%281560%29%2C_South_Leith_Parish_Church.JPG)
The accession of the Protestant Elizabeth in England in 1558 stirred the hopes and fears of Scottish Protestants. Elizabeth came to secretly support the Lords of the Congregation. In January 1559, the anonymous ''Beggars' Summons'' threatened
friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...
s with eviction in favour of beggars. This was calculated to appeal to the passions of the populace of towns who appeared to have particular complaints against friars. Fearing disorder and now determined by circumstance to show less tolerance, the Regent summoned the reformed preachers to appear before her at Stirling on 10 May. Insurrection followed. The men of
Angus
Angus may refer to:
Media
* ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film
* ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record''
Places Australia
* Angus, New South Wales
Canada
* Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario
* East Angus, Quebec
Scotland
* An ...
assembled in
Dundee to accompany the preachers to Stirling, and on 4 May they were joined by
John Knox, who had recently arrived from France. Stirred by Knox's sermons in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
and Dundee, the mob sacked religious houses (including the tomb of
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
in Perth). In response, the Regent marched on Perth, but was forced to withdraw and negotiate when another reformed contingent arrived from the west at
Cupar Muir.
Among the Regent's ambassadors were the
Earl of Argyll
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...
and
Lord James Stewart, Earl of Moray, both professed Protestants. When the Regent stationed French mercenaries in Perth, both abandoned her and joined the Lords of the Congregation at St Andrews, where they were also joined by John Knox. Even Edinburgh soon fell to them in July, as Mary retreated to
Dunbar
Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...
. The Congregation Lords made a truce with Guise and signed the
Articles of Leith
The Articles of Leith were the terms of truce drawn up between the Protestant Lords of the Congregation and Mary of Guise, Regent of Scotland and signed on 25 July 1559. This negotiation was a step in the conflict that led to the Scottish Refor ...
at
Leith Links
Leith Links ( gd, Fìghdean Lìte) is the principal open space within Leith, the docks district of Edinburgh, Scotland. This public park is divided by a road into two main areas, a western section and an eastern section, both being largely flat ...
on 25 July 1559 which promised religious tolerance, then withdrew to Stirling.
In September, the previous regent, the 2nd Earl of Arran, with the safe return of
his son, accepted the leadership of the Lords of the Congregation and established a provisional government. However, Mary of Guise was reinforced by professional French troops. Some of these troops established themselves at
Kinghorn
Kinghorn (; gd, Ceann Gronna) is a town and parish in Fife, Scotland. A seaside resort with two beaches, Kinghorn Beach and Pettycur Bay, plus a fishing port, it stands on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, opposite Edinburgh. Accordin ...
in Fife, and after they destroyed
the house of
William Kirkcaldy of Grange
Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange (c. 1520 –3 August 1573) was a Scottish politician and soldier who fought for the Scottish Reformation but ended his career holding Edinburgh castle on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots and was hanged at the co ...
, according to Knox, Mary declared, "Where is now John Knox's God? My God is now stronger than his, yea, even in Fife." In November, the rebels were driven back to Stirling. Fighting continued in Fife. All seemed lost for the Protestant side until an English fleet arrived in the
Firth of Forth in January 1560, which caused the French to retreat to
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
.
Negotiations with England then began, from which Knox was excluded; in particular his earlier tract ''
The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women'', although it had been aimed at Mary Tudor, rendered him unacceptable to the female English monarch. The resulting
Treaty of Berwick in February was an agreement between the Earl of Arran and the English to act jointly to expel the French. As a result, the newly crowned Queen of England, Elizabeth I, sent an English land army into Scotland to join their Scottish allies in
besieging the French at Leith. As the fighting continued the English ambassador in France
Nicholas Throckmorton
Sir Nicholas Throckmorton (or Throgmorton) (c. 1515/151612 February 1571) was an English diplomat and politician, who was an ambassador to France and later Scotland, and played a key role in the relationship between Elizabeth I of Englan ...
praised Guise for having the "hart of a man of warre" and the English bishop
John Jewel
John Jewel (''alias'' Jewell) (24 May 1522 – 23 September 1571) of Devon, England was Bishop of Salisbury from 1559 to 1571.
Life
He was the youngest son of John Jewel of Bowden in the parish of Berry Narbor in Devon, by his wife Alice Bel ...
described her as "a woman with a man's courage."
Death
After an English assault on Leith was repulsed with heavy losses, some of the leaders of the Lords of the Congregation came to Edinburgh Castle on 12 May 1560 and had dinner with Mary and the keeper of the castle,
Lord Erskine. They discussed a plan that had been made before the troubles, in which Mary would have travelled to France and met Elizabeth in England, and her brother would have been made
viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...
in Scotland. The Lords again complained about Frenchmen being appointed to Scottish government posts. Negotiations to end the siege of Leith and demolish new fortifications at
Dunbar Castle
Dunbar Castle was one of the strongest fortresses in Scotland, situated in a prominent position overlooking the harbour of the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian. Several fortifications were built successively on the site, near the English-Scotti ...
continued. But the next day, the talks ended when permission was refused for the French commanders in Leith to come to the castle to discuss the proposals with Mary.
While continuing to fortify Edinburgh Castle, Mary became seriously ill, and over the course of the next eight days her mind began to wander; on some days she could not even speak. On 8 June she made her will. She died of
dropsy
Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...
on 11 June 1560.
She lay in state in the castle for a time, wrapped in
cerecloth and covered with a white sheet, on a bed hung with black satin, attended by her ladies-in-waiting. Her body was then wrapped in lead and rested in a coffin on a bier in
St Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh Castle for several months.
[Rosalind K. Marshall, ''Scottish Queens: 1034–1714'' (John Donald: Edinburgh, 2007), p. 123.] The chapel was hung with black cloth with a white taffeta cross above the body. On 18 March 1561, it was secretly carried from the castle at midnight and shipped to France. Mary, Queen of Scots attended her funeral at
Fécamp
Fécamp () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France.
Geography
Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is aroun ...
in July 1561. Mary of Guise was interred at the church of
Saint-Pierre-les-Dames, Reims, where Mary's sister Renée was
abbess
An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey.
Description
In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...
. A marble tomb was erected with a bronze statue of Mary, in royal robes, holding a sceptre and the rod of justice in one hand.
The tomb was destroyed during the French revolution. Of Mary's five children, only her daughter
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
survived her.
In modern times, there has been speculation that Mary was assassinated (by
poisoning), either by order of Queen
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
or possibly by others protecting the Queen's interests without any direct order from the Queen. However, no evidence supports such allegations, and there was an
autopsy the day after she died. Mary's death was evidently from natural causes, since she herself complained she had become lame from the swelling of her legs in April and diagnosed herself as having dropsy. The swelling was confirmed by her enemy, John Knox, who wrote that in May, "began hir bellie and lothsome leggis to swell." Even in the paranoid political climate of the 16th century, in which many royal deaths were suspected to have been murders, none of Mary's contemporaries saw signs of "foul play" in her death.
The Regent's death made way for the
Treaty of Edinburgh
The Treaty of Edinburgh (also known as the Treaty of Leith) was a treaty drawn up on 5 July 1560 between the Commissioners of Queen Elizabeth I of England with the assent of the Scottish Lords of the Congregation, and the French representatives ...
, in which France and England agreed they would each withdraw their troops from Scotland. Although the French commissioners were unwilling to make a treaty with the insurgent Lords of the Congregation, they offered the Scots certain concessions from King Francis and Queen Mary, including the right to summon a parliament according to use and custom. The effect of the treaty was to leave power in the hands of the pro-English Protestants.
Household
Amongst records of her expenses and household there is a list of her ladies-in-waiting. The names (modernised) of the "dames" or married women are; Lady Arran, Lady Cassillis (senior), Lady Erskine, Lady Elphinston, Lady Livingston and Coullombe (senior). The unmarried "demoiselles" were Margaret Hume, Margery Livingston, Jean Elphinston, Jean Murray,
Annabell Murray, Margaret Steward, Anne Scot, Margery Kirkcaldy, Coullombe, Barbara Sandilands, Barbara Kennedy, Cassillis, Crespy, Crespanville, with Elizabeth Murray the wife of
Alexander Durham
Alexander Durham (died 1584) was a Scottish courtier and administrator.
His appointments included, clerk in the Exchequer, administrator of John Stewart of Coldingham, and Master of the Wardrobe to King James VI. He was also known as "Sandy Durha ...
, the daughter of Lady Livingston, and two female fools.
Her household included a female fool or jester, called Serat, who wore a red-and-yellow gown with a green skirt. Jane, or Jean, a dwarf, wore a light-purple velvet.
[James Balfour Paul, ''Accounts of the Treasurer'', vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. xlv.]
Legacy
Apart from her bitter enemy John Knox, the leader of the Scottish reformation, views by historians have generally been favourable. Marshall says that "her biographers, Strickland in the nineteenth century, McKerlie and Marshall in the twentieth,
ave
''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...
been unanimous in praising her intelligence and fortitude" as have most other scholars.
In evaluating her life, historian
Rosalind K. Marshall says:
Sacrificing her own comfort, interests, and ultimately her life, Mary of Guise had fought a long, desperate, and, in the end, hopeless struggle to preserve Scotland as a pro-French, Roman Catholic nation for her daughter....Charming, highly intelligent, and hard-working, with a diplomatic manner and an ability to fight on regardless of hostility, disappointment, and ill health, Mary was never merely a pawn of the French king.
Portrayal in fiction
* Marie de Guise is the principal character in ''The Five Year Queen'' by Janet Walkinshaw
* Mary de Guise appears in volumes 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the ''
Lymond Chronicles
The ''Lymond Chronicles'' is a series of six historical novels written by Dorothy Dunnett and first published between 1961 and 1975. Set in mid-16th-century Europe and the Mediterranean area, the series tells the story of a young Scottish noblem ...
'' by
Dorothy Dunnett
Dorothy, Lady Dunnett (née Halliday, 25 August 1923 – 9 November 2001) was a Scottish novelist best known for her historical fiction. Dunnett is most famous for her six novel series set during the 16th century, which concern the fictiti ...
. Most notably, the events around her visit to her daughter in France in 1550 are portrayed in the second volume, ''Queens' Play''.
* In the 1998 film ''
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
'', Mary was played by the French actress
Fanny Ardant
Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two César Awards and a Lumières Award.
Early life
Ardant was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, ...
. Her death was depicted as assassination at the hands of
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster".
Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...
.
* In
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
series ''
Reign
A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, List of Belgian monarchs, Belgium, Co-prince of Andorra, Andorra), of a people (e.g., List of Frankish kings, the Franks, List of ...
'',
Amy Brenneman portrays Marie de Guise.
Ancestry
References
Further reading
* Joseph Bain, ed.
''Calendar of the State Papers relating to Scotland and Mary Queen of Scots 1547–1603'', vol. 1, H.M. General Register House Edinburgh, (1898)*
* Annie I. Cameron, ''The Scottish Correspondence of Mary of Lorraine'', Scottish History Society (1927).
* John G. Harrison, , Kirkdale Archaeology / Historic Scotland (2008).
* Rosalind K. Marshall, ''Mary of Guise: Queen of Scots'', abridged, NMS Publishing, Edinburgh (2001).
* Marcus Merriman, ''The Rough Wooings'', Tuckwell (2000)-
* Pamela E. Ritchie – ''Mary of Guise in Scotland, 1548–1560: A Political Study'' (2002).
Strickland, Agnes, 'Mary of Lorraine' in ''Lives of the queens of Scotland and English princesses'', vol. 1, Blackwood (1850)pp. 337–406, to 1542.
Strickland, Agnes, 'Mary of Lorraine' in ''Lives of the queens of Scotland and English princesses'', vol. 2, Blackwood (1851)pp. 1–206, continued.
*
*
*
Marguerite Wood
Marguerite Wood (30 August 1887 – 19 August 1954) was a Scottish historian and archivist who specialised in Scottish history. She served as Keeper of the Burgh Records of Edinburgh and was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member o ...
, ''Foreign Correspondence with Marie de Lorraine: the Balcarres Papers'', Scottish History Society, 2 vols (1923, 1925).
*
''Balcarres Papers'' vol.1 SHS (1923)the Internet Archive.
External links
Sally Rush, 'Looking at Marie de Guise', ''Études Epistémè'', 37 (2020)Mary of Guise – World History Encyclopedia
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mary Of Guise
1515 births
1560 deaths
Scottish Roman Catholics
16th-century French women
16th-century Scottish women
16th-century viceregal rulers
16th-century women rulers
People from Bar-le-Duc
Scottish royal consorts
Regents of Scotland
House of Stuart
Princesses of Lorraine
House of Guise
Scottish people of French descent
Court of James V of Scotland
Scottish Reformation
Duchesses of Longueville
Deaths from edema
Scottish people of the Rough Wooing
People of Stirling Castle
People of Linlithgow Palace
People of Falkland Palace
Queen mothers