Chronology

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

 

1542	Dec. 8. Mary born at Linlithgow
	Dec. 14. James V dies at Falkland
1543	Sept. 9. Mary crowned Queen of Scots at Stirling
1547	Sept. 10. Battle of Pinkie
1548	July. Mary sails for France
	Aug. 13. Mary arrives in France
1558	April 19. Mary betrothed to the Dauphin Francis April 24. Mary marries the dauphin
1559	July 10. Mary becomes queen of France
1560	June 11. Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise, dies at Edinburgh
	Dec. 5. Mary’s husband, Francis II of France, dies at Orléans
1561	April. Mary meets her half-brother, Lord James Stuart, at St.-Dizier
	Aug. 19. Mary disembarks at Leith, near Edinburgh
1562	April. Bothwell imprisoned on spurious charges
	May–July. Meeting between Mary and Elizabeth planned
	Aug. Mary’s progress in northeastern Scotland
	Aug. 28. Bothwell escapes and goes into exile
	Sept. Mary creates Lord James Stuart to be Earl of Moray
	Oct. 28. Battle of Corrichie
1563	Feb. Chastelard hides under Mary’s bed and then enters her closet; Chastelard executed on Feb. 22
	Feb. 13. Mary sends Maitland to London and Paris about her proposed marriage to Don Carlos
	Feb. 18. Mary’s uncle the Duke of Guise is assassinated
	Aug. Cardinal of Lorraine proposes Archduke Charles as husband to Mary, but she rejects him
1564	March. Mary urged to marry Robert Dudley, later Earl of Leicester
	July. Mary’s progress to the far north
	Sept. Castelnau’s mission to Elizabeth and Mary; Lennox returns to Scotland
1565	Feb. 17. Mary meets Darnley at Wemyss
	July 19. Bothwell recalled by Mary
	July 29. Mary marries Henry, Lord Darnley
	Aug.–Sept. Chase-about Raid
	Sept. 17. Bothwell lands at Eyemouth
1566	March 9. David Rizzio murdered at Holyrood
	June 9. Mary summons the lords to hear her will
	June 19. Prince James (later James VI of Scotland and James I of England) born at Edinburgh Castle
	Oct. 15/16. Mary rides from Jedburgh to the Hermitage
	Oct. 17. Mary falls ill at Jedburgh
	Dec. 17. Baptism of James at Stirling
	Dec. 24. Mary pardons the Rizzio plotters
1567	Jan. Darnley is treated for syphilis at Glasgow
	Jan. 20/21. Mary rides to Glasgow to visit Darnley
	Feb. 10. Darnley assassinated at Kirk o’Field
	April 12. Bothwell acquitted of Darnley’s murder
	April 19/20. Ainslie’s Tavern Bond
	April 24. Mary abducted by Bothwell at Almond Bridge
	May 15. Mary marries Bothwell
	June 15. Mary and Bothwell confront the lords at Carberry Hill; Mary surrenders and Bothwell flees
	June 17. Mary imprisoned at Lochleven Castle
	July 24. Mary forced to abdicate
	July 29. James VI crowned at Stirling
	July/Aug. Bothwell sails to the Orkneys and Shetland, then escapes to Norway and Denmark
	Aug. 22. Moray proclaimed regent
1568	Jan. Bothwell taken to Malmö Castle
	May 2. Mary escapes from Lochleven
	May 13. Mary defeated at the battle of Langside
	May 16. Mary crosses the Solway Firth to Workington in Cumberland
	May 18. Mary is at Carlisle Castle
	July 13. Mary leaves Carlisle for Bolton Castle in Wensleydale
	Oct.–Dec. Commissioners to examine Mary’s “guilt” meet at York and Westminster, concluding at Hampton Court; Casket Letters produced by Moray
1569	Jan. 10. Mary neither found guilty nor exonerated
	Jan. 26. Mary sets out for Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire
	April 20. Mary taken to Wingfield Manor, Derbyshire
	May 25. Mary moved to Chatsworth
	June 1. Mary returns to Wingfield
	Sept. 21. Mary returns to Tutbury
	Nov. 25. Mary arrives in Coventry
1570	Jan. 2. Mary returns to Tutbury
	May 24/25. Mary moved to Chatsworth
	Oct. Mary visited by Cecil
	Nov. 28. Mary moved to Sheffield Castle
1571	Sept. Ridolfi plot discovered by Cecil
	[Nov.–Dec.] The case implicating Mary in Darnley’s murder published by Cecil in imitation Scots in Detection of the doings of Mary Queen of Scots . . . , including Casket Letters
1573	April 25. Mary taken to Sheffield Lodge (or Manor) in Sheffield Park
	June. Bothwell moved to Dragsholm Castle
	Aug. 21/22. Mary sets out for Buxton
	Sept. 27. Mary moves to Chatsworth
	Nov. Mary returns to Sheffield Castle
1574	June. Mary at Buxton again
	July 9. Mary returns to Sheffield
1575	June–July. Mary at Buxton
1576	March. Mary moves to Sheffield Lodge
	June. Mary at Buxton again
	July 30. Mary returns to Sheffield
1577	Jan. Mary back at Sheffield Lodge
	Feb. 11. Mary makes her will
	May. Mary at Chatsworth
	July. Mary back at Sheffield Lodge
	Sept. Mary at Chatsworth
	Nov. Mary returns to Sheffield Castle
1578	April 14. Bothwell dies at Dragsholm Castle
	Aug.–Sept. Mary at Chatsworth
	Oct. 5. Mary at Sheffield Lodge
1579	June. Mary at Chatsworth
	Sept. Mary at Sheffield
1580	May. Mary at Sheffield Lodge
	July 26. Mary goes to Buxton
	Aug. 16. Mary returns to Sheffield
1581	May. Mary at Sheffield Lodge
	July. Mary at Chatsworth
1582	June. Mary goes to Buxton
	July. Mary returns to Sheffield
1583	Throckmorton plot
1584	July. Mary at Buxton
	Aug. 8. Mary returns to Sheffield
	Aug. Sir Ralph Sadler replaces Shrewsbury as Mary’s custodian
	Sept. 2. Mary taken to Wingfield
	Oct. Bond of Association
1585	Jan. 4. Sir Amyas Paulet first named as Mary’s custodian
	Jan. 14. Mary arrives at Tutbury Castle
	April. Paulet arrives at Tutbury
	Dec. 24. Mary is taken to Chartley
1586	Spring–early summer. Babington plot
	July 17. Mary writes to Babington
	Aug. 11. Mary taken to Tixall, her papers and ciphers seized
	Aug. 25. Mary brought to Chartley
	Sept. 25. Mary arrives at Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire
	Oct. 8. Commission for Mary’s trial named
	Oct. 11. Commissioners arrive at Fotheringhay
	Oct. 12–15. Commission sits at Fotheringhay
	Oct. 14–15. Mary appears before the commission
	Oct. 15. Commission adjourned to Star Chamber
	Oct. 25. Commission sits in Star Chamber, finds Mary guilty
	Mid-Nov. Sir Drue Drury appointed to assist Paulet
1587	Feb. 1. Elizabeth signs Mary’s death warrant
	Feb. 2. Elizabeth expresses reservations about the warrant
	Feb. 3. Privy Council meets and decides to dispatch the warrant without telling Elizabeth
	Feb. 7. Robert Beale and the Earls of Shrewsbury and Kent arrive at Fotheringhay and tell Mary of her planned execution

 

EVENTS IN THE BRITISH ISLES AND FRANCE

 

1509	Accession of Henry VIII
1513	Death of James IV of Scotland; minority of James V
1542	English defeat the Scots at Solway Moss; death of James V; minority of Mary Queen of Scots
1543	Treaty of Greenwich between England and Scotland
1544	Henry VIII begins Rough Wooing of Scotland, campaign of terror to unite the crowns by marrying Mary to the future Edward VI
1546	Cardinal Beaton assassinated
1547	Death of Henry VIII; accession of Edward VI; death of Francis I; accession of Henry II; English defeat of the Scots at the battle of Pinkie
1553	Death of Edward VI; accession of Mary Tudor
1558	Death of Mary Tudor; accession of Elizabeth I
1559	Elizabethan religious settlement; treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis; death of Henry II; accession of Francis II; revolt of the Protestant Lords of the Congregation against Mary of Guise; Cecil sends covert aid to the lords; Bothwell steals money sent by Cecil
1560	Elizabeth sends expeditionary force to Scotland; treaty of Edinburgh; Scottish official Reformation; Protestant Kirk created; Catholic Mass abolished; death of Francis II; accession of Charles IX
1562	Elizabeth almost dies of smallpox; English intervention in the first War of Religion in France
1569	Northern Rising against Elizabeth I and in favor of Mary Queen of Scots
1570	Papal bull Regnans in Excelsis excommunicates Elizabeth and declares her deposed; assassination of the Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland; Earl of Lennox appointed regent
1571	Ridolfi plot to overthrow Elizabeth; Lennox killed and succeeded by the Earl of Mar
1572	Execution of the Duke of Norfolk; death of Mar; Earl of Morton appointed regent of Scotland; death of John Knox; massacre of St. Bartholomew in France
1574	Death of Charles IX; accession of Henry III
1578	Personal rule of James VI begins
1581	Trial and execution of Morton for Darnley’s murder
1583	Throckmorton plot to assassinate Elizabeth discovered
1584	William of Orange assassinated
1585	Elizabeth sends aid to the Dutch and so precipitates war with Philip II of Spain
1586	Babington plot to kill Elizabeth implicates Mary
1588	Philip II sends the Armada against Elizabeth
1589	Death of Catherine de Medici; assassination of Henry III