Mary Queen of Scots

• Queen of Scotland from 1542 to 1567
• She became Queen at 6 days old.
• MQS was in an arranged marriage to Francis, heir to the French throne.
• Between 1558 and 1560 Mary was queen of both Scotland and France.
• In 1560, Mary returned to Scotland and was still the Queen despite being absent for 13 years.
• Married her cousin Lord Darnley in 1565.
• MQS and Darnley had a son, James who later became king of Scotland (James VI) and England (James I).
• Darnley died in 1567.
• MQS married again, this time to Lord Bothwell who was disliked by the nobles.
• The Scottish Nobles made MQS give up her throne and she was placed in prison.
• After she abdicated her throne, Mary's son James became the King of Scotland at one years old.
• Mary managed to escape prison and fled to England.
• Mary fleeing to England made Elizabeth scared as Mary was considered the legitimate heir to the English throne by Catholics and so she put Mary on house arrest for 19 years.
• In 1587, Mary was put on trial for treason as she was found to have been plotting against Elizabeth.
• At her trial, Mary was found guilty and executed.
• When Mary was executed in 1587, the Queen signed the papers but hadn't sealed them meaning the death warrant wasn't legally binding. The Privy Council decided to seal the papers without Elizabeth's permission, there was no going back. Despite being angry at her council, Elizabeth felt guilty and believes she committed regicide.
• Regicide: A monarch killing another monarch.