Royals Revealed - Mary, Queen of Scots - Part 2

Murder of her second husband Darnley:

By 1567 Lord Darnley had become isolated at court and had becoming ill, possibly due to Syphilis. His wife, the Queen, had arranged for him to stay in a house called Kirk o'Field which was near Edinburgh (now it is just the ruins) and in February 1567 the house suddenly exploded! It is literally where Mary’s life blew up and changed completely. Her politics and her personal life collided in the worst possible way for her.

At around 2am at Kirk o’Field a violent gunpowder explosion destroyed the house. The blast was so loud it woke the city of Edinburgh. The walls were found to have been blown outward. The house was demolished, but NOT burned. The weirdest part was the bed that Darnley slept in was barely damaged, this raised the alarm bells of those saw the scene, it was apparent it was a crime… But Henry was not to be found in it. Instead, the body of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley was found outside of the ruins, in an orchard. He was in just his nightshirt; his body had no visible burns or injuries you’d expect during an explosion bad enough to leave the home a ruin. There were also no knife wounds. The body of his servant, William Taylor, was beside him in the orchard too. By their bodies there was a cloak, a chair and a dagger. They appeared to have been placed there deliberately placed, rather than thrown there during a wild explosion.

It was apparent that he had been either suffocated or strangled. It was obvious to those that witnessed it that the explosion was a cover up for the murder, rather than the cause of it. It was a countermeasure to destroy evidence, delay an investigation into the crime and to provide plausible deniability.

Suspicion fell upon James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell who was a nobleman who had grown closer to the Queen prior to this catastrophic event. The evidence against him was; His servants Kirk o’Field around the time of the crime, he was in control of the city’s guards that night, he behaved as if he was “untouchable” after. But possibly the biggest clue for me is the fact that the gunpowder came from stores which were under Bothwell’s authority. Although these as circumstantial and could be a great way to frame someone who was now getting close to the Queen of Scots.

Other names implicated were;

·       Archibald Douglas

·       James Balfour

·       William Powrie

·       Thomas Nelson (who was Darnley’s servant – believed to have acted under pressure)

Several of these later confessed and they did implicate Bothwell, but they may have made the confessions under dubious circumstances.

 So now the age-old question… Did Mary know and was she complicit?

Well, we do know that she visited Darnley the evening before the explosion, she left early as she was attending a wedding celebration. So, she did not stay the night. She had heard of the possibility of threats on Darnley and did nothing to try to protect him. This could be in part still her anger at him for the murder of her friend and Italian secretary. Or she didn’t believe the threats credible.

 There was of course an investigation into this explosion/her husbands’ death. But it wasn’t exactly top notch investigating. It was a failure really. Bothwell was tried, but he was acquitted of the crime. The trial was very obviously rushed and evidence manipulated.

 Third husband - James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell:

Mary first met James Hepburn, 4^(th) Earl of Bothwell when he attended the French court in 1560 to pay homage to her and her first husband Francis II, who was King Consort of Scotland as the husband of the Queen of Scots. So, she had known Bothwell for many years, and he had a reputation as a bold, rather aggressive nobleman who was a good military commander. Therefore, he was the opposite of her 1st husband, the shy, sickly and weak-willed Francis. Bothwell was known for being rough, forceful, decisive and quite feared among those who knew him.

 When Mary came back to Scotland from Fance age just 18 and a young widow with no children, Bothwell was a key ally for her. One of her biggest supporters. He helped her against rebels, notably he also assisted her escape from the scene after Rizzio’s murder, which ensured she felt safe around him.

 Kidnap victim - or willing accomplice?

Following the extremely suspicious death of her 2^(nd) husband in February 1567 (Mary now 24-year-old Queen, with a young son to protect) Bothwell was the primary suspect. It is claimed he abducted the newly widowed (for a 2^(nd) time) Queen of Scots. In April 1567 Bothwell intercepted her as she was travelling and took her to “Dunbar Castle”. It is alleged that whilst there he raped Mary, which in turn made her feel as though she had no choice but to marry him, for fear of her reputation being ruined and no one believing her that it wasn’t her choice.

There are questions over whether this is the truth. OR was Mary a person who went there of her own free will, married and had sex with James Hepburn (Bothwell) and maybe regretted it when the Lords found out about the marriage and the rebellion began. Maybe she hoped blaming Hepburn when it became obvious how royally they had messed.

 Some historians believe she was coerced. Others believe she cooperated under pressure from a man who had just committed a heinous act. The minority believe she was emotionally involved with Hepburn and therefor was a willing accomplice to it all, including the murder of her husband. Most lean towards at least some degree of coercion though.

 Downfall of a Queen - Forced abdication;

The Lords began to rebel against their Queen. So, Mary and her new husband confronted them at “Carberry Hill”; Unfortunately for Mary, her strong and brave husband fled and left her, so she surrendered.

 Mary got imprisoned at Lochlevan Castle which is where she was forced by the Lords to abdicate her position as Scottish monarch, in favour of her infant son, now King James VI of Scotland. She was just 24 when she was forced by that group of grown men to abdicate.

 Whilst imprisoned she would sadly miscarry twins that had been conceived during her short marriage to Bothwell.

 Escape to England:

Mary managed to escape Lochlevan Castle in 1568 and she managed to raise an army despite having been imprisoned, but the forces loyal to Mary were defeated.

 Feeling desperate, Mary believed she had no other option than to flee south of the border to England, that was ruled by cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. Unfortunately, Mary had misjudged Elizabeth’s thoughts on their kinship, she was imprisoned almost immediately. 

Imprisonment in England - The execution of a Queen Regnant:

Mary would remain a prisoner being moved between various castles, palaces and stately homes of members of the English nobility who were loyal to Queen Elizabeth. Usually at the expense of her temporary jailer.

 What didn’t help Mary’s cause was the fact that she became the focus of many Catholic plots to have a Catholic on the throne of England. This didn’t help Elizabeth’s trust in her cousin, who she had never met, but knew Mary has often declared her right to the throne of England during her early reign whilst over in France. She had her letters intercepted and read during her imprisonment, in 1586 her code got cracked and the letters implicated the former Queen in the “Babington Plot” – Who’s aim was to assassinate Elizabeth and replace her with Mary.

 She would remain imprisoned in England for a total of 19 YEARS!

 In 1587 after the Babington Plot Mary was tried on “14*^(th)-15^(th)* October 1586” at “Fotheringhay Castle” for Treason, she was not permitted any legal counsel. She was executed at the same venue in the castles “Great Hall” on “8*^(th)* February 1587”. Around 300 spectators witnessed her death. She was just 44 years old.

 At her execution Mary was dressed in a dark gown. Under that she wore a red petticoat, the colour of Catholic martyrdom. Many witnesses gasped when they saw her outfit and that many would say she was dying for her faith, not for her crimes against the Queen of England. She remained extremely calm, even though sadly for her (through no fault of her own) it was to become grim, theatrical and full of awfully unsettling moments – So much so it was written about for years after. Even her harshest critics admitted that Mary died with incredible dignity. She never cried or panicked. She maintained her composure the who

 Mary forgave the executioner as was commonplace for the time. During my research I saw 3 completely different names given as possible executioner. They were; “Robert Wingfield”, “Robert Beale” and “Bull” given as a surname. She then prayed in both EnI bet Mary wished she could have taken the forgiveness back, as sadly for her the execution was botched by the executioner takin 3 attempts to sever her head. The 1^(st) blow missed her neck, striking the back of her head or shoulders which would have been extremely painful, but NOT fatal. The 2^(nd) severed most of the neck. But left some parts of the necks tissue. 3^(rd) was the executioners apprentice who stepped forward to finish the job with a knife. When it was finally free from her body, Mary’s head was held aloft by her hair, unfortunately for Mary, this became yet another embarrassment as the hair he was holding was a wig, so her head fell to the ground and rolled. Which again caused a stir among the audience with shock. What was left was her short, grey hair. This must have shattered the image of an ever-youthful former Queen. Many compared her “natural beauty” to that of Elizabeth who was known to wear a LOT of “Venetian Ceruse” – a white, lead based face paint – to hide the scars from her bout with “Smallpox”. Another moment I can only imagine was eery for a moment was when the Queen’s skirts began to move. Then a small black and white dog (covered in their owner’s blood) came out. Believed to have been a small spaniel or terrier type dog. It was loyal as it refused to leave Mary’s body. This moved many of the spectators.

 Her lips and eyes continued to twitch after death, a common reflex but I’m sure no less creepy when it did happen. This execution was said to be so gruesome and bloody that the executioners’ clothes had to be thrown away after! The blood soaked into the floor so much, they had to be scrubbed many times.

 The scaffold and most of the things Mary touched during her execution was broken up and burned to prevent the items becoming relics of her martyrdom. But there are some locks of her hair that became relics.

 Queen Elizabeth I was said to be uncontrollable upon hearing of the execution being carried out. She tried to claim that she never meant for it to be carried out. But it didn’t make many believe her as why would she sign the death warrant if she didn’t want it to be acted upon?!

 James VI:

Mary never saw her son since her abdication. James was brought up a Protestant and understandably he was politically cautious. His close correspondence with the woman who had signed his mother’s death warrant would pay off though – As when Queen Elizabeth I of England died on [X date], it was James who was chosen as her heir even though she had always refused to name an heir. He was the natural choice as he was the most senior legitimate descendant of Elizabeth’s father’s (who was the youngest son) eldest sister – Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots.

 Fun facts:

·       Bothwell's father Patrick Hepburn divorced his first wife as he thought there was a possibility of marriage to Mary of Guise - Mary, Queen of Scots mother.

·       During her year mourning period for her first husband King Francis II of France gained a nickname - "La Reine Blanche" - "The White Queen".

·       She was an accomplished poet, working on some works during the mourning period for her first husband. One poem that is believed to have been from this such time is “En mon triste et doux chant” – “In my sad and sweet song”.

·       Her motto was: “In my end is my beginning”.

·       She actually only ruled Scotland in person for just 6 YEARS!

·       She spoke Scots, but she had a French accent. So when you hear people moan certain actresses shouldn’t play Mary as they’re Irish (Saoirse Ronan) – Mary never sounded Scottish. So, you’d be more accurate getting a French woman to play her.

 

Kirk O'Fields - Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley's murder

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell

By Royally-Inspired/Jade Welch