Historical note

The sixteenth-century world of Mary, Queen of Scots, was dominated by two extraordinarily powerful influences – the Renaissance and the Reformation. Both were movements that inexorably changed how humans viewed themselves in relation to the world and the societies in which they lived. The Renaissance, which literally means “rebirth” or “renewal of life and vigour”, was a renewal of learning and really reached its zenith during that century. It is considered to be a time of the greatest artistic achievement in Western Europe. Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, and poets such as Dante and Ronsard, flourished. New ways of thinking and new standards of thought, of beauty, and of artistic creation were introduced. Humans became central to many of these new values. Humanity was to be celebrated through art and architecture. Florence, Italy, home of Catherine de Medici, was considered one of the foremost centres of creativity during the Renaissance, and Catherine de Medici was indeed responsible for introducing into the French court arts, such as ballet, and fashion trends, such as high heels and perfume.

It was during the sixteenth century that the Catholic Church and the Pope had weakened as symbols of spiritual unity in Europe. Plagued by corruption and greed, the Church had lost much of its prestige. Because of this loss of influence, it became easier for new ideas to be introduced, ideas that emphasized the central value of humans and their potential to create lasting things on Earth. At the same time Protestant reformers who had objected to the worldliness and corruption of the Church gained strength. It was during this century that Martin Luther and John Calvin began a religious revolution that became known as the Reformation. On 31 October, 1517, Luther posted his ninety-five theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. The theses criticized the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences and stressed the spiritual inward character of the Christian faith. The posting of the theses to the church door is thought of as the beginning of the religious Reformation. Martin Luther’s reform ideas began to spread throughout Europe. By 1550, Lutheranism was a major force in northern Europe. In Scotland, men such as John Knox were rejecting the Catholic Church and Catholic monarchs, in attempts to make the country a Protestant one. The Protestantism that Knox established in Scotland – the Presbyterian faith – made possible the eventual union of Scotland with England. In England, Queen Elizabeth practised a religious tolerance that found favour with the reformers.

So the world into which Mary Stuart was born was one in which old orders were giving way to new ones. Art and humanism were becoming important. Religion and its connections with politics was being questioned. Monarchies were still strong, but the first hints that a separation of church and state might be advisable, that religious tolerance might be a good policy, were emerging. The culture was becoming more secular, and the people did not trust the old religion of the medieval era. Still, not all were ready for the Protestantism of the reform.

Henry VIII, angry with the Pope who would not give him a divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragon, did not embrace Luther or the reform movement but began his own church, the Church of England. His daughter, Mary Tudor, a devout Catholic, incensed by her father’s abandonment of the Church and her mother, during her reign became militant in her attempts to follow her faith. She ordered thousands of heretics (her word for anyone who was not a practising Catholic) burned. Her sister, Elizabeth, however, when she became queen declared that she did not want to “open windows in men’s souls”, meaning that she did not care to peer into people’s private religious beliefs.

When Luther’s works first appeared in Paris, King Francis I, father of Henry II, banned them. But by 1534 the people of France were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the Catholic Church. Many were followers of John Calvin, a French exile in Geneva. The French Protestants who followed Calvin became known as Huguenots. Henry II was no more lenient than his father, Francis I, but Protestantism continued to spread. Indeed it was Catherine de Medici, after her husband’s death, who decided that it was simply not practical to have a policy of religious repression. The uncles of Mary Stuart, however, the de Guises, were violently opposed to Catherine’s policies of conciliation. As le Balafré, Francis, duc de Guise, passed through Vassy with his partisans in March 1562, trouble erupted that resulted in the massacre of a Huguenot congregation. Thus the first civil war, a religious war, broke out in France.

Mary’s father, James V, was Catholic and the son of Margaret Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII. Both James V and his wife, Mary de Guise, were Catholics and had not embraced the Church of England. However, both Mary de Guise as Queen Regent and Mary Stuart, during the brief time she actually reigned, did practise religious tolerance and tried to come to some sort of settlement or agreement with John Knox and his followers. One might imagine that despite her profound devotion to Catholicism and despite her lack of political skills, and her own impulsiveness, Mary, Queen of Scots, like Elizabeth, had no interest in looking “into the windows of men’s souls”. Mary Stuart was pious but not intolerant. She had beliefs but she was not dogmatic. She was not cunning nor was she slavishly in the thrall of her advisers. But she was never given the time or the opportunity to truly explore her capacities and talents as a monarch. Her instincts were good but she was often a creature of impulse. This was her worst fault.