Queen Mary’s ReignI. Historic events A. K

Queen Mary’s Reign
    Good morning, everyone. In today’s lecture on British history, I would like to relate to you an inside story of Queen Mary, that is, how she was brought up to the throne and how it was going.
    At the beginning, King Henry VIII had plans for his grandniece, the infantry Mary. He wanted her to marry his son Edward, and serve the ancient ties between Scotland and France. On July 1, 1543, Scottish nobles who were allied with the English king signed a treaty agreeing to the marriage. But Mary’s mother, Marie of Guise, was a shrewd stateswoman, and she had plans of her own.
    Most of Scottish considered England an enemy. Both France and England wanted to make Scotland a dependant state to their countries. England had tried repeatedly to take control of Scotland if for no other reason than that it, too, considered England an enemy. The French-Scottish alliance committed the two nations to helping each other against England aggression. Meanwhile, Marie of Guise and Cardinal David Beaton worked to have Mary crowned queen of Scotland and France to the next level. This would be through a marriage between Mary and King Henry II’s eldest son, the Dauphin Francis. Mary’s uncles, the brothers of Marie of Guise, aided in the discussions. The Scottish Parliament, which prefeixed an alliance with France to any connection with its arch enemy England, consented to the marriage.
    Then, Mary’s life had gone to another page. Mary was sent to France in August 1548 —both for her own safety and to prepare for the ceremony. Then, with France’s help, the Scots were able to defeat the England. Mary was educated at the French court in a manner befitting a queen. Treated as a member of the royal Valois family, she was surrounded by extravagance, art, culture, Catholicism, and her influential uncles. Her closest companion was her future husband, the sickly Francis, for whom she felt genuine affection.
    Before her marriage, Mary signed official promises to safeguard the liberties of Scotland. Many historians believe that she also signed three secret documents in which she gave the kingdom of Scotland to France if she did not produce an heir.
    In April 1558, almost 10 years after her arrival in France, Mary married Francis. Her father-in-law boldly proclaimed the couple the king and queen of England, even though Elizabeth I ascended to the throne that same year. According to England’s succession laws, Mary had no legal claim to the throne. Upon Henry II’s death the following year, Francis became king of France, and Mary, queen. She now officially wore two crowns.
    And there comes the return of Mary. A thick fog hugged the ship sailing into Harbor on August 19, 1561. Eighteen-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, was returning home. She had been away for 13 years. Mary was returning to a land torn by civil war.
    After Mary’s husband Francis died in December 1560, her Protestant half-brother, Lord James Stewart, invited her to rule Scotland. If Mary did not promote Catholicism publicly, he said, the lords would allow her to practice her religion privately. They hoped that Mary would convert to Protestantism. At first, Mary went along with the lords and allowed Protestantism to continue as the official religion of Scotland, while she herself remained Catholic. She probably thought that once she gained enough political support, she could restore Catholicism to Scotland. Many Scots, she knew, still believed in the "Auld Faith".
    If the foggy weather on her arrival dismayed Mary, the warm welcome she received must have cheered her. An eyewitness noted how the queen’s "beauty, youth and stately carriage" excited the throngs who turned out to see her. They lighted joyful bonfires that night and serenaded the queen with Psalms.
    On the first Sunday after her return, however, Scottish nobles saw a priest preparing to celebrate Mass and tried to disrupt the service. James had to block them at the chapel door. At a ceremony a few days later, a child gave Mary a Bible in England. Mary was shocked to receive this reminder of the importance Protestants put on reading scripture.
    For four years, Mary kept her promise not to make any alteration or innovation of the state of religion. She even warred against a powerful Catholic lord who challenged her loyalty to her half-brother James. Further, she arrested an archbishop for saying Mass.
    At the same time, however, she secretly looked for a husband, preferably a Catholic ruler of a strong military power. With the help of someone like the crown prince of Spain, for instance, she might bring Scotland back into the Catholic fold. She might also gain the throne of England, where many Catholics did not consider Elizabeth the legitimate ruler. But Mary’s quest for a foreign alliance failed.
    In 1565, a new opportunity knocked. Mary’s cousin, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, returned from England to his father’s estate in Scotland. Darnley was Catholic. Like Mary, he was descended from the sister of Henry VIII and had a strong claim to the English throne. Even better, he was tall, young, and handsome, and he shared Mary’s love for dancing, playing the lute, horseback riding, and hawking.
    In July, over the objections of her council, Mary wed Darnley. That fall, they chased their opponents—including James—out of Scotland. Mary must have felt that, at last, she was really queen, free to form her own policies. The fog that greeted her arrival had finally lifted.
    That’s it for today. Thank you for listening.