Mary, Queen of Scots
Born 1542 AD, Queen of Scotland 1542-1567 AD, Died 1587 A.D.
Billon (low-grade silver) Bawbee
Obverse: Crowned thistle dividing M R
Reverse: St. Andrews cross crowned in center
Mint of Edinburgh, 1542-1548 AD
Mary Stuart was born in 1542, the daughter of James V, King of Scotland and
Mary of Guise (of the French royal family). Six days after her birth her father
died, and she became queen of Scotland. From her infancy, Scotland's
rival pro-English and pro-French factions plotted to gain control of Mary and
Scotland.
To add further complication and intrigue, many Roman Catholics recognized Mary as Queen of England after the Protestant Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne. Mary was granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII. To the Roman Catholics, Mary's claim appeared stronger than Elizabeth's because they viewed Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn as illegal.
Mary spent her early years in France as part of the French royal family. In April 1558 she married the dauphin, Francis; she secretly agreed to bequeath Scotland to France if she should die without a son. In July 1559, Francis succeeded his father, becoming King Francis II, and Mary became queen of France as well as of Scotland. However, Francis died after a reign of 17 months. Soon after, in 1561, Mary decided to return to Scotland.
Upon her arrival in Scotland, she was caught up in intrigue between Protestant reformers and Roman Catholics. Subsequent events were highly complex and not entirely known, and defy any kind of brief summary. Suffice it to say that events involved a marriage to her cousin which angered the Protestants, the souring of her marriage, the murder (in her presence) by the Protestants and her husband of her trusted advisor, the murder of her husband (probably without but possibly with Mary's knowledge), and the subsequent marriage by Protestant rite of Mary to one of the suspects in her former husband's murder.
In 1567, nobles opposed to Mary and her new husband imprisoned her and forced her to abdicate in favor of her son, James VI of Scotland (later James I of England).
Mary escaped from prison and, in 1568, lost in battle to the Protestants. She fled to England to beg support from her cousin, Elizabeth. Always a threat to Elizabeth because she was a magnet for plots by Catholics to regain the throne, Mary was imprisoned in England for 19 years and eventually beheaded.