Mary (8th December 1542 – 8th February 1587) was the only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland and his French second wife, Mary of Guise. She was six days old when her father died of an unknown fever or grief after the Battle of Solway Moss, and she acceded to the Throne of Scotland.
Initially it was arranged for Mary to marry the son of England’s King Henry VIII, who would succeed him as King Edward VI; but the Scots refused to ratify the agreement. None too pleased by this, Henry sought to change their mind through a show of force, the so-called ‘Rough Wooing’. However, in the middle of this, the wooing being carried on past King Henry's death, Mary was sent to France in 1548 to be the childhood friend and ultimately bride of Francis, the Dauphin, heir to King Henry II of France, in order to secure a Catholic alliance against Protestant England. She spent most of her childhood in France while Scotland was ruled by regents and, in 1558, she married the Dauphin. When her father-in-law died the following year, Mary became queen consort of France but Francis died 17 months later.
Widowed, Mary returned to Scotland in 1561 and, four years later, married her half-cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Despite a largely disastrous marriage, they had a son, James, in June 1566. In February 1567, Darnley's residence was destroyed by an explosion and he was found murdered in the garden. James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was generally believed to have orchestrated Darnley's murder, believed, in turn, to be revenge for having orchestrated the murder of the then pregnant Mary’s secretary, David Rizzio, out of jealousy.
Bothwell was acquitted of the murder charge in the following April, and, having had his then marriage annulled, the next month married Mary (believed to be Bothwell’s accomplice) by agreement with a number of Scottish bishops and noblemen called the Ainslie Tavern Bond. Following an uprising against the couple, Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle. On 24th July 1567, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son. After an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne, she fled southward seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Mary had once claimed Elizabeth's throne as her own and had used heraldry to express that claim, as we will see. Mary was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics, including participants in a rebellion known as the Rising of the North. She was also implicated in a number of plots, including the Babington Plot and the Casket Letters. Perceiving Mary as a threat, Elizabeth had her confined in various castles and manor houses within England. After eighteen and a half years in custody, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth in a trial at Fotheringhay Castle in 1586 and was beheaded the following year in the same hall there.10 July: Mary becomes Queen Consort of France when her husband's father, Henri II, dies in a jousting accident.
The first Shield shows Mary's Arms on marriage to Francis. They are Scotland on the sinister/female side impaled with Francis's Arms on the left/dexter side. By virtue of the marriage itself, not only did Mary become Dauphine of France (but kept Scotland alone because she already outranked herself by being Queen) but Francis became King Consort of Scotland. He therefore quartered the Scottish Arms with the Arms of a Dauphin. (A similar situation happened between Queen Mary I of England and King Philip II of Spain.) These Arms lasted only a year because Henry II died and Francis became King of France.
The second Shield is of Francis and Mary as Joint Sovereigns (although mainly just in name only) of France and Scotland. The Arms of France and Scotland are given equal weight. Technically, this Coat of Arms lasted barely 17 months as Francis was to die in December 1560. However, the following Coat of Arms was in use, as Mary and Francis were encouraged by French authorities to quarter the English Arms, up until the Treaty of Edinburgh in July 1560.
French troops were guarding Mary's mother, Mary of Guise, who was acting as Regent. They were also instrumental in upholding Mary's claim to the English Throne. Catholic nations could not accept Henry VIII's divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, which started the Reformation in England and a break away from the Pope. Therefore, they would believe that Henry's five further marriages, including with Elizabeth I's mother Anne Boleyn, to be bigamous and therefore Elizabeth to be illegitimate and not entitled to the Throne. However, English troops were invited by Scottish Protestants to remove the French troops. The Treaty of Edinburgh facilitated the removal of French and English troops and the discontinuation of the use of English heraldry by Mary and she reverted to the plain Shield of simply France and Scotland. (Mary's use of the English Coat of Arms was a reason for her being found guilty at her trail.)
When Francis died at the end of 1560 and Mary became a widow and Dowager Queen of France, her Arms changed slightly and France became dimidiated and not impaled. France's half of the Shield showed only half of France's Coat of Arms. The fashion of either impaling Arms (where the full Arms are used on both sides) and dimidiation (where half the Arms are used and both 'merge' into one another) is an often confusing topic in itself. The representations of Mary's Arms shown here are taken from Mary's seals and Scottish coins of the time. No coins were issued in Scotland however, between 1562 and 1565. Thereafter, only the plain Scottish Arms were used again as can be seen in the carving below.
King Francis II of France
Although there is no proof that he certainly did, this younger Francis would have been entitled to show the ermine Arms of Brittany quartered with those of France as was the custom. However, Francis's grandfather died in 1547 and so the three-year-old Francis became Dauphin and heir to his father who was now King Henry II. Francis's Arms therefore changed to those of a Dauphin.
Quarterly I and IV, Azure, three Fleurs-de-Lys or; II and III, Or, a Dolphin embowed azure, finned and langued gules.
Francis and Mary married in 1558 and, as was the tradition of the day, Francis became King Consort of Scotland, just as his grandfather had become Duke of Brittany. In those days, a man could not be outranked by his wife. Francis therefore quartered his Dauphin Arms with those of Scotland. Scotland is presumably in second place because the title was 'only' by right of marriage whereas his French title was by right of birth.
(This document is noted by the British Library as being sent out from France in July 1559, however Francis had already been King of France at that stage for over a year and the Arms depicted predate his ascension to the Throne of France. This would suggest that the (mis)use of the Arms of England had been going on for at least 2 years.
The English 'claim' to the French Throne will also be dealt with later, under Plantagenet Kings such as Edward III and Henrys IV, V and VI.)
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Whilst on the surface he was a handsome man and was able to fulfill his function by giving Mary an heir (the future James VI and I), it was apparent that the marriage was political. Darnley not only had a claim to the Throne of Scotland (or at least a position in the line of succession) but also a closer claim to the Throne of England, directly behind Mary and his mother in the Catholic line, which was thought would strengthen Mary's claim. Young Darnley was conscious of his status and inheritance, however, his parents were controversial figures and were exiled; his father became the main witness against Mary at her trial.
Also, Darnley had been born in Leeds. Any English nobleman was required to ask for the Queen’s permission before they married, which Lord Darnley did not seek. With his union with Mary strengthening her claim to the English throne and Elizabeth not being given the chance to refuse it, the English Queen was furious
The first sign that something was amiss occurred on Henry and Mary's wedding day when, having been raised a Catholic, but later influenced by Protestantism, Darnley refused to accompany Mary to the nuptial Mass after the wedding itself. Mary became aware of his vain, arrogant and unreliable qualities, which threatened the well-being of the state. Darnley was unpopular with the other nobles and had a violent streak, aggravated by his drinking. Mary refused to grant Darnley the Crown Matrimonial, which would have made him joint sovereign rather than 'just' King Consort and meant he would be successor to the Throne if she died childless.
The final straw came less than a year after the wedding with the murder of David Rizzio, Mary's private secretary, in front of the pregnant Queen. (It was rumoured that Rizzio was the actual father and also rumoured that Darnley arranged the murder out of jealousy). Mary no longer trusted her husband and he was disgraced. Even with the birth of a son and the succession somewhat secured, Darnley still insisted that he be awarded the Crown Matrimonial. He became increasingly sullen and resentful, pushing Mary into the arms of her new advisor, the brave but lecherous, brutal and power hungry James Hepburn, Lord Bothwell and Lord Admiral of Scotland.
Darnley was murdered eight months after James' birth, apparently smothered alongside his valet, whilst recovering from smallpox at a lodge at Kirk o' Field. Mary was 'conveniently' attending a wedding at Holyrood. It is suggested that the two men fled their bedchambers when two barrels of gunpowder, that had been placed in the small room under Darnley's sleeping quarters, exploded.
Lord Darnley's Arms were as follows:
Quarterly, 1st and 4th, grand quarterly, I and IV, Azure, three Fleurs-de-Lys or, a Bordure gules charged with eight buckles gold (Aubigny); II and III, or, a Fess chequy argent and azure, a Bordure engrailed gules (Stewart of Darnley); overall an Inescutcheon argent, a Saltire between four Roses gules (Lennox); 2nd, Gules, three Lions rampant argent (Earldom of Ross); 3rd, Gules, threee Legs triangular, in armour, couped at the thigh and conjoined in centre argent, with Garniture and Spurs or (Lordship of Man).
James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell
As Lord High Admiral of Scotland, Lord Bothwell visited Copenhagen around 1559 and is believed to have had a wife in Denmark/Norway. That same year, he helped defend Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise, as she acted as Regent in Mary’s absence. Bothwell appears to have met Mary, Queen of Scots when he visited the French Court in the autumn of 1560, having abandoned his alleged wife. In the August of the following year, he helped organise the widowed Mary’s return to Scotland in his naval capacity.
Despite a growing closeness with fellow Catholic Mary, he quarrelled with the majority Protestant Scottish nobility after Mary of Guise’s death and landed in prison at Edinburgh Castle in 1562, escaping later in the year.
He was accused of the murder of Mary's second husband, Lord Darnley, but was acquitted of the charge in one day (12th April 1567) after a seven-hour trial. He had married Lady Jean Gordon in February 1566 but they were divorced on 7th May 1567, citing his adultery. As expected, he married Mary, Queen of Scots, but only eight days later.
Their marriage was controversial and divided the country. Eight bishops, nine earls and seven Lords of Parliament signed what became known as the Ainslie Tavern Bond on 19th April 1567, declaring that Mary should marry a native-born subject. They handed it to Bothwell. 5 days later he abducted her on the way back to Edinburgh under the pretext of saving her from danger. It is uncertain whether she went willingly to Dunbar or not. However, on 12th May, Mary created Bothwell Duke of Orkney and Marquess of Fife, and on 15th May they were married in the Great Hall at Holyrood, according to Protestant rites.
In spite of this, a group of Lords signed another bond denouncing Mary and Bothwell, a month later. At Carberry Hill in the summer of 1567 they were confronted. Mary was made to surrender and Bothwell was allowed to flee to Shetland to fight his corner. Unfortunately, a storm meant he had to sail away from Shetland and landed in Norway (then under the possession of Denmark) in the very home town of his alleged first wife. Her family had him arrested and, when the Danish King got to hear about him, Bothwell was sent to Copenhagen. Unfortunately, Mary had by now been deposed and so the Danish King decided thatn Bothwell was insignificant and had him imprisoned in appalling conditions at Dragsholm Castle via Malmøhus Castle. A pillar to which he was chained for the last ten years of his life can still be seen. He is believed to have gone insane.
His Coat of Arms as Duke of Orkney are blazoned as follows:
Quarterly, 1st, Gules, on a Chevron Argent a Rose between two Lions combatant of the first (Hepburn); 2nd, Azure a Ship with Sails furled within with a Double Tressure flory, counterflory or (Duke of Orkney); 3rd, Ermine, three Chevronels gules (Lordship of Liddisdale); 4th, Or (maybe argent), a Bend azure (Vaus).
Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Or (maybe argent), a Bend azure (Vaus); 2nd and 3rd, Gules, on a Chevron Argent a Rose between two Lions combatant of the first (Hepburn); over all an Inescutcheon, Or, a Lion rampant with a Double Tressure flory, counterflory Gules (Scotland).