Mary of Guelders (; c. 1434/1435 – 1 December 1463) was
Queen of Scotland by marriage to King
James II of Scotland. She ruled 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 ...
of Scotland from 1460 to 1463.
Background
She was the daughter of
Arnold, Duke of Guelders
Arnold of Egmond (14 July 1410 – 23 February 1473) was Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen.
Life
Arnold was born in Egmond-Binnen, North Holland, the son of John II of Egmond and Maria van Arkel.
On 11 July 1423, Arnold, still a boy, su ...
, and
Catherine of Cleves. She was a great-niece of
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
Burgundian court
Philip and his wife
Isabella of Portugal at first planned to have Mary betrothed to
Charles, Count of Maine
Charles du Maine (1414–1472) was a French prince of blood and an advisor to Charles VII of France, his brother-in-law, during the Hundred Years' War. He was the third son of Louis II, Duke of Anjou and King of Naples, and Yolande of Aragon.
...
, but her father could not pay the dowry. Mary stayed on at the Burgundian court, where Isabella frequently paid for her expenses. Mary attended Isabella's daughter-in-law
Catherine of France, while she herself was attended upon by ten people. The duke and duchess then started negotiations for a Scottish marriage. Philip promised to pay her dowry, while Isabella paid for her
trousseau.
William Crichton came to the Burgundian court to escort her back to Scotland.
Queen of Scotland
Mary landed in Scotland in June 1449. Her arrival was described by
Mathieu d'Escouchy Mathieu d'Escouchy (Le Quesnoy, Nord (French department), Nord, 1420 – 1482) was a Picardy, Picard chronicler during the last stages of the Hundred Years War.
His ''Chronique'' was a continuation of the chronicle of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, with ...
. She first visited 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 ...
and the shrine of
St Adrian. Then she came 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 ...
and rested at the Convent of St Anthony. Both nobles and the common people came to see her as she made her way to
Holyrood Abbey in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
. Mary married King
James II of Scotland at Holyrood Abbey on 3 July 1449. A sumptuous banquet was given, while the Scottish king gave her several presents. Immediately after the marriage ceremony, she was dressed in purple robes and crowned queen by Abbot Patrick. It had been agreed that any sons they might have would have no right to the duchy of
Guelders.
Queen Mary was granted several castles and the income from many lands from James, which made her independently wealthy. In May 1454, she was present at the siege of
Blackness Castle
Blackness Castle is a 15th-century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth.
It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s. At this time, Blackne ...
, and when it resulted in the victory of the king, he gave it to her as a gift. She made several donations to charity, such as when she founded a hospital just outside Edinburgh for the indigent; and to religion, such as when she benefited the Franciscan friars in Scotland.
Regency
After her husband's death, Mary ruled 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 ...
for their son
James III of Scotland
James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburgh ...
until her own death three years later. Mary was drawn into the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
taking place in England at this time. She appointed
Bishop James Kennedy as her chief advisor; their companionship was described as well-functioning despite the fact that the bishop favoured an alliance with the
Lancastrians, while Mary at first wanted to continue playing off the warring parties in England against each other.
While Mary was still mourning the death of her husband, the English queen of the
House of Lancaster,
Margaret of Anjou, fled north across the border seeking refuge from the Yorkists. Mary sympathetically aided Margaret and took
Edward of Westminster
Edward of Westminster (13 October 1453 – 4 May 1471), also known as Edward of Lancaster, was the only son of King Henry VI of England and Margaret of Anjou. He was killed aged seventeen at the Battle of Tewkesbury.
Early life
Edward was born ...
into her household to keep them out of Yorkist hands. Mary's dealings with Margaret were mainly to provide aid to the deposed queen. Mary gave a number of Scottish troops to help Margaret and the Lancastrian cause. Mary and Margaret also organised a betrothal between Margaret's son,
Edward, and Mary's daughter Margaret in 1461. In return for her support, Mary asked for the town of
Berwick on the Anglo-Scottish border, which Margaret was willing to give up. Relations between the two women deteriorated, however, with the increasingly friendly alliance between King
Edward IV of England and Duke Philip of Burgundy. Any support by Mary for Margaret, Edward IV's enemy, threatened the alliance that Philip wanted with Edward IV against King
Louis XI of France.
Edward IV tried to put a stop to Mary's support of Margaret by proposing marriage to the widowed queen, which Mary rejected. Mary's uncle, Duke Philip, pressured her to call off the betrothal of her daughter and Margaret's son, to Margaret's disappointment. In 1462, she paid the Lancastrian royals to leave Scotland and made peace with Edward IV. She also hinted at the possibility of a marriage between herself and the new English king. Mary, reportedly, had several affairs during her period as regent, notably one with the Lord Hailes.
Mary went ahead with James II's plan to build a castle on land at
Ravenscraig, designed to withstand the use of artillery, and lived in it while it was under construction until her death.
Trinity College Church
Mary founded
Trinity College Church ca. 1460 in memory of her husband. The church, located in the area now known as Edinburgh's
Old Town, was demolished in 1848 to make way for
Waverley station, although it was partially reconstructed on a different site in 1870 under the name Trinity Apse.
Upon her death, Mary was at first interred at Trinity College Church, but her body was moved to
Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh when discovered in 1848. David Laing, a member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1848, stated that the move was made on July 15 of that year. However, Laing raised the possibility that the first female skeleton discovered at Trinity College Church and assumed to be the queen was not, in fact, Mary of Guelders. He argues that the second female skeleton discovered, which was in a more prominent location in the church and more likely to have been the site of a royal burial, could well have been Mary. That person was also reinterred at Holyrood. The first reinterment was in the royal vault; the second, near the entrance. Daniel Wilson, last surviving member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, disputed Laing's theory and maintained that the first reburial was indeed that of Mary of Guelders. Wilson also explained that since Mary died before the building of the
collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...
was finished, her obsequies had been held at
Brechin Cathedral
Brechin Cathedral dates from the 13th century. As a congregation of the Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, the church is not technically a cathedral, in spite of its name.
It is in the Pointed style, but suffered maltreatment in 1806 at ...
before the burial at Trinity College Church.
Issue
James and Mary had seven children together:
*An unnamed son. (Both born and died on 19 May 1450).
*
James III of Scotland
James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburgh ...
(1451–1488).
*
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 ...
(May 1453-May 1488), who married first
Thomas Boyd, 1st Earl of Arran
Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran (died c. 1473) was a Scottish nobleman.
Thomas was the son of Robert, 1st Lord Boyd, who was a regent during the minority of King James III of Scotland. His father was able to have Thomas created Earl of Arran and Ba ...
, and secondly
James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton. She became the mother of
James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran.
*
Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany
Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany (7 August 1485), was a Scottish prince and the second surviving son of King James II of Scotland. He fell out with his older brother, King James III, and fled to France, where he unsuccessfully sought help. In 1 ...
(c. 1454 - 1485).
*
David Stewart, Earl of Moray (c. 1455 - 1457). He was created
Earl of Moray on 12 February 1456.
*
Margaret (c. 1456 - ca. 1480/1500?), who married William Crichton, 3rd Lord Crichton of Auchingoul. She became the mother of Margaret Crichton and mother-in-law of
George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes.
*
John Stewart, 1st Earl of Mar and Garioch (c. 1459 - 1479).
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
* Richard Oram: ''The Kings and Queens of Scotland''
* Timothy Venning: ''The Kings and Queens of Scotland''
* Mike Ashley: ''British Kings and Queens''
* Elizabeth Ewan, Sue Innes and Sian Reynolds: ''The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women''
External links
Biography*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guelders, Mary of
1430s births
1463 deaths
15th-century Scottish women
15th-century viceregal rulers
15th-century women rulers
Burials at Holyrood Abbey
Mary of Guelders
Mary of Guelders
Medieval Dutch nobility
Medieval Dutch women
People from Grave, North Brabant
Mary of Guelders
Mary of Guelders
Queen mothers