Background
Martin Luther's 'protest' against certain practices in the Church in Western Europe (hence 'Protestant') led to a desire for a wider reform of the Church (hence 'Reformation'). This led many reformers to break with Rome and its religious teachings. In a series of meetings, those clergy who adhered to Rome made an effort to counter the protest movement by removing what they considered to be abuses and to define its religious teachings. This movement (usually referred to as the 'Counter-Reformation') led to a revival of the Roman Catholic Church. Religious rivalries between Protestants and Catholics in Scotland, England and Europe played an important part in the life of Mary.
Protestant ideas spread to Scotland from the Low Countries. The rising interest in religion was matched, in many cases, by a growing dismay at the perceived decay in the state of the Church in Scotland. The Catholic Church did make vigorous efforts to put its house into order but, at the same time, England became Protestant and it began to encourage Protestantism in Scotland.
One effect of the Reformation was to make some nobles question the gifts their ancestors had made to the Church because, they argued, these gifts had been made under false pretences. It is difficult to decide whether spirituality or avarice was the dominant motive of these nobles - but it does go some way to explain their interest in the Church lands.
John Knox was horrified at this development. He had ambitious plans to use the wealth of the Church to extend its role in society, eg: into education for everyone.
Knox had good reason to doubt the strength of Protestantism in Scotland. While it had some vociferous adherents, it was not securely based among ordinary people and, in many places, Protestants had difficulty in filling all the available posts. Knox feared that people would easily revert to Catholicism - hence his strong opposition to Mary being allowed to hear Mass at Court.
In fact, Knox's suspicion and opposition to Mary was so strong that many important Protestants fell out with him for being too extreme. Knox believed that Mary had beguiled them into a false sense of security and that she intended to re-assert Catholicism in Scotland when she felt that the moment was right.
Knox and the more extreme Protestants could not be reconciled to Queen Mary and felt that the sooner she was out of power the better.
Sir David Lindsay, an outspoken supporter of the religious reformers, wrote this work to be produced in front of King James V. It was revised and performed several times including a performance in front of Mary of Guise in 1542.
Being a satire, this piece depends upon exaggerating and caricaturing types whom the audience would recognise and, of course, it was written to cause amusement. For that reason, it must be treated with caution as a reliable source about the state of the Church in early sixteenth century Scotland. It was, after all, no more than an early version of 'Spitting Image'. Whether it was accurate in reflecting the state of the church and public opinion is a matter of conjecture.
In the first place this was not a 'proper' Parliament because a ruler did not summon it. The second area of controversy was the appearance of a number of lesser landowners who, although technically entitled to attend Parliament, had never done so before. They are usually referred to as 'bunnet lairds' because they could not afford the proper hats, or chapeaux, of the great lords. The suggestion is that these 'bunnet lairds' attended this gathering to ensure the success of the reformers.
While Scotland and France had an 'Auld Alliance' (the old alliance) and England was, in Scots' eyes 'the Auld Enemy' (the old enemy) things were not so clear by the time of King James V.
Some Scots felt that they were being 'used' by France - especially after the disaster at Flodden (1513). Their reluctance to support the Auld Alliance contributed to Scotland's defeat at Solway Moss, which preceded and perhaps precipitated the early death of King James V. These people felt that closer relations with England would benefit Scotland far more.
England's conversion to Protestantism also encouraged a change in attitude to it; especially since the French supported Catholicism.
Henry VIII's plan to marry his son, Edward, to the infant Mary Queen of Scots was, at first, welcomed by the Scottish Government under Hamilton. Some deft work by pro-French, pro-Catholic Scots brought this plan to an end and led to an English invasion of Scotland ('The Rough Wooing') which was finally blocked by French aid. The young Queen Mary was sent to France where she was betrothed to marry the Dauphin and, in the fullness of time, she became Queen of France. The plans were that the two thrones would be united and that Scots and French nationality would become interchangeable.
The French, however, in supporting Mary of Guise, who had been made Regent for her daughter, overplayed their hand and antagonised the Scots. There were rumours that Scots were to be driven out of parts of their country and Frenchmen would replace them.
Protestant England encouraged antagonism towards France and the Catholic Church. The last few years of the Regency saw growing confrontations between rival factions and the more direct involvement of both France and England. At the height of the crisis, Mary of Guise died; the French were forced to withdraw and the Protestants seized control of the church and government.
The death of Queen Mary's husband, Francis II, broke the dynastic link with France, but the return of a Queen who had been brought up as a Catholic in France dismayed many Protestants in Scotland.
Mary was Elizabeth's closest living relation. Her grandfather, King James IV of Scots had married Henry VIII's sister, Margaret Tudor in 1502. The death of Henry VIII's other two children, Edward VI and Mary Tudor left Elizabeth as his sole surviving child and so succession would be through his sister's family.
After the death of King James IV at Flodden, Margaret Tudor remarried and her eldest grandson was James Stewart, Lord Darnley, whom Mary married in 1565.
Religion gave an added twist to the succession. Henry VIII had divorced Catherine of Aragon to marry Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn. Catholics did not accept this divorce and considered Elizabeth to be illegitimate and, consequently, barred from the succession. For that reason they considered Mary, Queen of Scots to be the legitimate ruler of England. This view was shared by Roman Catholic rulers in Europe and by the Pope.
Mary had already asserted her claim to the English throne and, in doing so, had offended Elizabeth. Throughout her reign, Mary was anxious to have Elizabeth recognise her as her heir. On the other hand, Elizabeth was determined not to do so; it would offend her Protestant subjects and Elizabeth felt that by doing so she might hasten her own death. This fear was shared by many of the English ruling class especially as the Counter-Reformation gathered strength and Elizabeth's enemies became more determined to defeat her.
The problem of legitimate succession and religion was solved when Mary was executed because her son, James VI, was a Protestant.
Mary's religious policy was unique in Europe where the general rule was cujus regio ejus religio (the ruler chooses the religion) and religious tolerance was rare.
Mary appeared to be prepared to allow her subjects to follow the Protestant religion but she asserted her right to remain Catholic and to hear the Mass wherever she was. Militant Protestants were concerned that this would give Scottish Catholics a focus and encourage them to continue to follow the 'Auld Religion'. Their initial efforts to prevent the Mass being said were frustrated and Mary continued to hear Mass throughout her reign. This caused problems when Protestant lords were expected to attend Catholic ceremonies of national importance eg: Mary's marriage and the christening of her son, James.
While Mary followed her own religion she did direct funds to support the Protestant church in Scotland. Some historians consider this to be a genuine attempt at religious tolerance but Mary's enemies - especially Knox - doubted her sincerity.
The role of Knox in establishing of Protestantism in Scotland has been exaggerated. For example, he was not a Calvinist Presbyterian - Andrew Melville was more responsible for establishing these ideas in Scotland.
Knox, however, wrote the History of the Reformation in Scotland and, in doing so, probably over-emphasised his own importance. Consequently, the value of his account of events must be questioned and, where possible, be balanced by other accounts of the same events.
For a while during Mary's reign, Knox was shunned by leading reformers for being too extreme in his criticism of Mary. Subsequently, after her failure, he was able to claim 'I told you so', but he may be guilty of interpreting events to suit his own perspective.
While Knox denounced Mary's way of life, her ultimate failure may be more due to public suspicions about her role in the murder of Darnley than her religious policy.
In choosing a husband Mary would have to consider the following:
- Social status - somebody with royal blood was preferable to a nobleman; besides, marrying a Scottish noble could intensify rivalries within the Scottish nobility.
- Religion - her Scottish subjects would be alarmed if she married a Catholic, but her Catholic relations would be angered if she married a Protestant.
- Nationality -if she married a foreigner, her husband could influence Scottish foreign policy - Elizabeth was especially concerned about this because Scotland could become a base for Spanish or French attacks on England.
Darnley appeared to be a reasonable compromise - he had royal blood because, like Mary, he was a grandson of Margaret Tudor and was next in line to the English succession after Mary. He also avoided the dangers caused by marrying a foreigner and he was prepared to be married in a Catholic ceremony. He was also tall and good looking - something which was important to Mary because she was tall herself.
Elizabeth, however, was not pleased - although there is evidence that she encouraged this match. It is possible that Elizabeth would have objected to anyone Mary married.
The marriage brought about the downfall of Mary. While Darnley wanted the status and perks of being King, he was not interested in any of the work. He also antagonised the team of nobles who had worked for Mary, eg: her half-brother, Moray. It is not clear if this was because of noble rivalries or because they appreciated what he was like long before Mary did so.
Moray turned against Mary, who pursued him in what became known as the 'Chaseabout Raid' and drove him out of the country into England.
Relations between Darnley and the Queen deteriorated and noble factions in Scotland began to exploit this. Darnley was persuaded that Mary's secretary, David Riccio, was responsible for his exclusion from positions of influence - and possibly even more! A number of nobles involved Darnley in a plot to murder Riccio. They got Darnley's signature on a document and, when they killed Riccio, they left Darnley's knife in the corpse just to prove his involvement. Mary wrote a vivid account of the murder.
As is always the case with Mary, there has been much speculation about the real purpose of the murder plot, especially since it was known that she was pregnant. Various suggestions are that the Queen was also to be murdered, or the unborn child was to be killed, or Mary was to be abducted and, in time, replaced as monarch by her child (which, is approximately what really did happen to her in the future).
Mary, however, outwitted her captors by convincing Darnley that his best chance lay with her rather than with his co-conspirators. She was soon back in power and she also pardoned and recalled some of the nobles involved in the Chaseabout Raid.
There was, however, still the problem of Darnley who even refused to attend the christening of his son.
This is the greatest unsolved murder in Scottish history.
Darnley, partly because he feared for his own safety after betraying his colleagues in the Riccio plot, and partly because he was ill, had retreated to his father's estates near Glasgow. In time, Mary suggested that he should come back to Edinburgh which he agreed to do. Because of this, Mary has been accused of luring her husband to his death.
Darnley was not allowed to return to Holyrood because he was still convalescing and, possibly, he could pass on the infection to his infant son. Instead, he was lodged at a house at Kirk o'Field, which was just outside Edinburgh (Edinburgh University is now built on the site).
Mary furnished the house and visited it regularly. In fact, she intended to stay there on the night of the crime, because it was to be Darnley's last night there before rejoining her in Holyrood. However, late that evening, Mary realised that she had to attend a wedding reception in the Castle and she left Darnley and his servants alone at Kirk o'Field.
There has been a lot of conjecture about this decision; was Mary furnishing herself with a good alibi for Darnley's murder, or was she intended to be a victim along with Darnley, or was Darnley planning to murder his wife to take power on behalf of his infant son?
During the night, the house at Kirk o' Fields was blown up. Darnley's body was found in the garden. He had been strangled.
If Mary was not responsible for her husband's death - then who was? Possible culprits were: his Riccio co-conspirators finally getting their revenge on him; Moray (who conveniently left the country just at that time); and Bothwell, who wanted to curry favour with Mary. There are even more elaborate suggestions - Darnley planned to blow up Mary, but when that plan failed he tried to escape but ran into some people who murdered him and then blew up the house to cover their tracks.
There were several trials or attempts at trials for the murder of Darnley. They were usually stage managed by noble factions who wanted to blame others for what had happened. Witnesses were usually tortured into making confessions and then executed before they could be cross-examined. In that way there is a huge amount of evidence about the murder of Darnley and much of it is contradictory.
Shortly after Darnley's death, Mary married Bothwell who was commonly blamed for the murder. This was taken as direct evidence that Mary was a harlot who had arranged the murder of her husband so she could marry her lover. It was this simple accusation (summed up by the Mermaid posters which appeared in Edinburgh) which was largely responsible for Mary's downfall.
Apologists for Mary suggest that she had some form of nervous breakdown and that Bothwell took advantage of that to advance himself. They allege that Bothwell abducted, raped and married Mary. Mary's accusers claim that the abduction was 'arranged' to make her appear more innocent than she was.
Besides, the marriage to Bothwell was carried out in a Protestant ceremony. This antagonised Mary's supporters in England and in Europe. Without foreign support and facing a scandalised population, Mary was unable to maintain herself in power and was forced to surrender to her rebellious subjects. Mary was lodged in Loch Leven Castle where her half-brother, Moray, forced her to abdicate in favour of her infant son. Moray became Regent.
While Mary was able to escape from Loch Leven Castle and was able to rally greater forces than Moray, she was unable to defeat him in the battle at Langside.
It is difficult to understand why Mary was so foolish as to go to England and expect help from Elizabeth. Mary may have expected one ruler to help another, but Elizabeth saw matters in terms of having her Catholic rival safely under her control and securing a sympathetic Protestant government in Scotland. Mary's alternative plan - to make her way through England to France to secure aid from there, was even less likely to secure support from Elizabeth.
Elizabeth's greatest problem was that Mary was her apparent heir. She was reluctant to disinherit her, because that would be an attack on primogeniture and the laws of succession. At the same time, Elizabeth's Protestant subjects were worried about having another Catholic queen (like 'Bloody Mary' Tudor) while her Catholic subjects looked forward to her death.
The problem was that some people wanted to hasten Elizabeth's death. There were several conspiracies, some with foreign support, to replace Elizabeth or, at least, to liberate Mary. Elizabeth's ministers grew increasingly alarmed about these plots and were finally able to intercept a letter which, they claimed, proved that Mary approved of Elizabeth's murder. Of course, Mary's apologists have disputed the quality of the evidence.
In that way Mary remains the centre of controversy as supporters, sympathisers and apologists all reconsider the evidence which her detractors produced to bring about her downfall.
