Introduction
1. Friedrich Schiller, author of the play Maria Stuart
1. Rough Wooing, 1542-47
1. John Knox, The History of the Reformation (ed. W. Croft Dickinson), Edinburgh, 1849 (hereafter referred to as Knox), vol. 1, p.28
2. Quoted by Gordon Donaldson, Mary Queen of Scots (1974), p.17. His book (pp. 10-22) contains the best summary of the early years of Queen Mary, usually treated cursorily, if at all, by other writers
3. Robert Lindesay of Pitscottie, The Historie and Cronicles of Scotland, Scottish Text Society, 1899-1911 (hereafter referred to as Pitscottie), vol. I, p.394
4. Bishop John Leslie, Historie (hereafter referred to as Leslie), vol. II, p.259 gives 7 December, whereas Knox, vol. I, p.39 gives 8 December. The former had access to special records. It is probable that the date of birth was conveniently moved to 8 December, the feast of the Virgin Mary. MQS herself always believed that she was born on 8 December
5. Knox, I, p.38
6. Letters of Lisle to Henry VIII from Alnwick, 12 December 1542. Chapuys, imperial ambassador in London, to the Queen of Hungary, 23 December, quoted in Hamilton Papers, (ed. Joseph Bain), vol. 1, p.328, and CSP Spanish, VI, p.189
7. State Papers of Sir Ralph Sadler, (ed. A. Clifford), Edinburgh, 1809, vol. I, p.88
8. Knox, I, p.50
9. Hamilton Papers, II, p.33
10. Leslie, II, p.310
11. Sir John Dalyell, Fragments of Scottish History, Edinburgh, 1798: The Late Expedition in Scotland, despatches to Lord Russell, Lord Privy Seal, 1544
12. Archive di Stati di Napoli, Carte Famesiane, tascio 709
13. Pitscottie, II, p.84
14. This was part of a general French takeover of Scotland at this time. Effectively, Scotland became a French protectorate for the next 13 years
15. CSP Scottish I, p.157
16. Hamilton Papers II, p.618
17. W.M. Bryce, ‘Voyage of Mary Queen of Scots in 1548’, in English Historical Review, XXII (1907)
2. France, 1548-60
1. Lettres de Diane de Poytiers, (ed. G. Guiffrey), Paris, 1866 (hereafter referred to as Guiffrey), p.33
2. Lettres de Catherine de Medicis, (ed. M. de la Ferrière), Paris, p.liv
3. Pierre de Brantôme, Oeuvres Complêtes (ed. Bouchon), Paris, 1823 (hereafter referred to as Brantôme), vol. II, p.135
4. Ibid., p.134
5. For conflicting accounts of this affair see A. Teulet, Relations, vol. I, pp.260-70, CSP Edward VI, p.97, and Francisque Michel, Lcs Ecossais en France, Paris, 1862, vol. 1, pp.114-15.
6. Quoted in translation by T.F. Henderson, Mary Queen of Scots, Edinburgh, 1900 (hereafter referred to as Henderson), vol. I, p.78
7. Brantôme, II, p.135
8. Guiffrey, p.10
9. Labanoff, Prince A., Lettres et Mémoires de Marie, Reine d’Ecosse, London, 1844 (hereafter referred to as Labanoff), I, p.42
10. Sir James Melville, Memoirs, hereafter referred to as Melville, p.21
11. Knox, Works, I, p.242. The original is in Scots and I have here rendered the text into English for the sake of clarity
12. CSP Venetian, VI, no. 552
13. A. Baschet, La Diplomatie Venetienne, Paris, 1862, p.486
14. Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, II, pp.504-19
15. Brantôme, II, p.136
16. For detailed accounts of the marriage ceremony and its attendant celebrations see Discours du Grande et Magnifique Triomphe, Rouen, 1558, reprinted by the Roxburghe Club, 1818; Teulet’s Relations, I, pp.302-11 and CSP Venetian, 1557-8, no. 1216.
17. The English claim to the French throne, in fact, dated from the reign of Edward III (1327-77) by virtue of his descent from the Valois kings through his mother Isabella. It was quietly dropped at the end of the eighteenth century, a few years after Louis XVI had lost his head during the French Revolution, when Britain was giving sanctuary to the surviving Bourbons
18. For the text of this correspondence see Labanoff, I, pp.62-5
19. Alphonse de Ruble, La Première jeuness de Marie Stuart, Paris, 1891, pp.187-8
20. CSP Venetian, 1558-60, nos. 207, 209 and 211
3. Widowhood, 1560-61
1. CSP Venetian, 1558-60, no. 215
2. Labanoff, I, p.91
3. CSP Venetian, 1558-60, no. 233
4. Brantôme, II, p.136
5. CSP Scottish, I, p.427
6. Ibid., I, pp.511, 518. See also Hardwicke State Papers, vol. I (1778), p.174
7. CSP Foreign, III, no. 833 (5)
8. Knox, Works, II, pp.142-3
9. CSP Scottish, I, p.534
10. CSP Foreign, III, no. 1030 (23)
11. J.H. Pollen, Papal Negotiations, Scottish History Series, 1901 (hereafter referred to as Papal Negotiations), pp.62-3
12. CSP Foreign, IV, no. 133
13. Labanoff, I, p.94
14. CSP Foreign, IV, no. 263 (3)
15. CSP Scottish, I, p.540
16. Ibid, p.541
17. British Library, Additional MSS 35,830 f.146
18. CSP Foreign, IV, no. 455
19. Knox, Works, II, p.264
20. Ibid., p.270
4. Mary and Elizabeth, 1561-62
1. Knox, Works, II, p.277
2. Ibid., p.288
3. Diurnal of Occurrents, hereafter referred to as Diurnal, p.67
4. Knox, Works, II, p.288
5. CSP Scottish, I, p.555
6. Edinburgh Town Council Records, 1557-71, p.215. The original text is in Scots which I have quoted in an English translation.
7. Knox, Works, VI, p.132
8. CSP Scottish, I, pp.322-3
9. Henderson, I, p.193
10. British Library, Additional MSS 35,125, f.8
11. Labanoff, 1, pp.123-7
12. CSP Scottish, I, pp.609-10
5. Hamiltons and Gordons, 1562-63
1. Knox, Works, 11, p.227
2. CSP Scottish, I, p.569
3. Ibid., p.597
4. Ibid., p.609
5. Knox, Works, II, p.325
6. Pollen, Papal Negotiations, p.154
7. French journal of James Ogilvy of Cardell, in Chalmers MSS, University of Edinburgh
8. CSP Scottish, 1, p.651 contains Randolph’s vivid, if badly spelled, description of MQS at Inverness
9. Ibid., I, p.656
10. Ibid., I, p.658
11. Ibid., I. p.665
12. Chalmers MSS, op. cit.
13. Papal Negotiations, p.156
14. CSP Spanish, 1558-67, p.270
15. Labanoff, I, pp.175-80
16. CSP Scottish, I, p.663
17. Ibid., p.666
18. CSP Spanish, 1558-67, p.263
19. CSP Scottish, I, pp.672-3
20. Knox, Works II, p.330
6. Marriage Prospects, 1563-65
1. CSP Spanish, 1558-67, p.314.
2. CSP Scottish, I, p.669
3. Knox, Works, II, p.368
4. According to Brantôme, II, p.148, who was not a witness. Widely circulated, this story appears in Knox, Works, II, p.369, whose version characteristically has its own insinuation: ‘O cruelle Dame; that is, cruell mistress. What that complaint imported, lovers may divine’.
5. Teulet, Relations, V, p.5
6. CSP Scottish, II, p.2
7. CSP Spanish, 1558-67, p.422
8. Ibid., pp.339-40
9. Ibid., pp.332-3
10. CSP Scottish, II, p.30
11. Henderson, I, p.269
12. Knox, Works, II, p.381
13. Ibid., p.382. I have rendered the text in English as the original Scots is particularly difficult to follow. Knox’s spelling tends to degenerate when he is unduly excited
14. CSP Spanish, 1558-67, p.315
15. CSP Scottish, II, pp.19-20
16. Ibid., p.23
17. Ibid.
18. CSP Spanish, 1558-67, p.371
19. CSP Scottish, I, p.59
20. Ibid., p.65
21. Ibid., pp.67-9
22. Melville, p.117
23. Ibid., p.129
24. CSP Scottish, II, pp.96-7
25. Ibid., II, p.118
7. An Ideal Husband, 1565
1. Melville, p.134
2. CSP Scottish, II, p.136
3. Henderson, I, p.310
4. CSP Scottish, II, p.40
5. Opinion is divided regarding Knox’s age, various dates of birth from 1505 to 1514 having been suggested
6. Ibid., p.54
7. Nicol Burne, Disputation concerning the Controversit Headdis of Religion, Edinburgh, 1581
8. CSP Scottish, II, p.140
9. Ibid., p.151
10. Ibid. p.159
11. Ibid. p.172
12. T. Wright, Queen Elizabeth and her Times, London, 1838, 1, pp.202-3
13. British Library Additional MSS 35, 123 f.14
8. The Riccio Affair, 1565-66
1. See John Glen, Early Scottish Melodies, Edinburgh, 1900, for a careful examination of this claim
2. CSP Scottish, II, p.101
3. Labanoff, VII, p.298
4. CSP Scottish, II, p.223
5. Report of De Foix, 13 October 1563, in Teulet’s Relations, II, p.243
6. CSP Scottish, II, p.216
7. Labanoff, I, pp.281-3; Papal Negotiations, pp.208-12
8. Papal Negotiations, pp.213-15
9. Labanoff, VII, pp.8-10
10. Teulet, Relations, p.267, as reported by De Foix
11. Melville, p.147
12. J. McCrie, Knox, Edinburgh, 1850, p.283
13. CSP Scottish, II, p.255
14. Ibid., p.258
15. Maitland Miscellany, III, pp. 188-91. Several MS variants of this bond exist
16. CSP Scottish, II, p.265
17. Ruthven’s Narration in MS Oo 7(47), Cambridge University Library
18. Randolph to Throckmorton from Berwick, 11 March 1566. British Library Additional MSS 35, 831 f.261
19. Ruthven, op. cit.
20. Melville, Memoirs, p.150
21. Labanoff, I, pp.341-50
22. Claude Nau, Memorials of Mary Stewart (ed. J. Stevenson), Edinburgh, 1883 (hereafter referred to as Nau), p.31
23. Ibid., p.16
24. Ibid.
9. Birth and Death, 1566-67
1. Diurnal, p.94
2. CSP Foreign, VIII, No. 298
3. CSP Scottish, II, p.278
4. Melville, p.154
5. CSP Scottish, II, p.284
6. Melville, p.158
7. CSP Scottish, II, p.289
8. Henderson, I, p.401
9. J. Robertson, Inventaires de la Royne d’Escosse, Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh 1883, p.xxvi
10. George Buchanan, Detection, MS Dd 3 (66), Cambridge University Library
11. Ibid.
12. CSP Scottish, II, p.300
13. Henderson, I, pp.404-5
14. On 16 October 1966 a pageant was staged to recreate Queen Mary’s ride, on its 400th anniversary
15. Quoted by P.E. Tytler, History of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1841, II, p.400
16. Quoted by Lady Antonia Fraser in Mary Queen of Scots, London, 1969, p.277, but without stating the source
17. CSP Spanish, 1558-67, II, p.597
18. Quoted by Henderson, I, p.417
19. Quoted in R. Keith, History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland down to 1567 (ed. J.P. Lawson), Spottiswoode Society, Edinburgh, 1844, I, p.xcviii
20. Diurnal, p. 105
21. Nau, p.34
22. R.H. Mahon, The Tragedy of Kirk o’ Field, Cambridge, 1930
23. Robert Gore-Brown, Lord Bothwell, London, 1937
24. Nau, p.34
10. Bothwell, February – June 1567
1. CSP Foreign, VIII, p.182
2. CSP Rome, II, p.273. Deathbed statement of John Hepburn to a fellow prisoner, Cuthbert Ramsay, who narrated it in 1576 in Paris at the hearing for the nullification of Bothwell’s marriage to Mary
3. CSP Venetian, 1558-80, no. 384; Jenny Wormald, Mary Queen of Scots: A Study in Failure (1988)
4. Knox, Works, II, p.550
5. Labanoff, II, p.3
6. Diurnal, p.108
7. Keith, II, p.562
8. Nau, p.37
9. Papal Negotiations, p.386
10. Melville, p.149
11. Labanoff, II, p.31
12. Phillips, Images of a Queen (1964), p.48. The ballad, by Robert Sempill, was entitled ‘An Declaration of the Lord’s Just Quarrel’, and is not untypical of the religio-pornographic balladry of the period
13. Andrew Lang, Mystery of Mary Stuart, Edinburgh, 1901, p.210
14. Hay Fleming, Mary Queen of Scots, Edinburgh, 1897, p.454
15. Papal Negotiations, p.387
16. Henderson, II, p.463
17. CSP Foreign, 1566-68, no. 1313; Teulet, II, p.303
18. Quoted in Laing, II, p.113
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Recorded by Sir William Drury in a letter to Cecil of 18 June 1567, now in the PRO
22. Laing, op. cit., p.114
23. Teulet, II, pp.311-12
24. Laing, p.114
25. CSP Foreign, 1566-68, no. 1313
11. Lochleven and Langside, 1567-68
1. Laing, The Works of John Knox, Edinburgh, 1895, II, p.117
2. CSP Scottish, II, 354
3. See, for example, N. Brysson Morrison, Mary Queen of Scots, London, 1960, pp.166-8. Lady Antonia Fraser, in Mary Queen of Scots, London, 1969, pp.385-408, has conclusively demolished any argument favouring authenticity. M.H. Armstrong Davidson, The Casket Letters, London, 1965, provides the most detailed study of this complex controversy
4. R. Keith, History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland down to 1567 (ed. J.P. Lawson), II, p.699
5. CSP Scottish, II, p.340
6. Ibid., p.370
7. Ibid., pp.380-1
8. Ibid.
9. Nau, pp.66-7
10. Ibid., p.49
11. CSP Venetian, 1558-60, p.406
12. CSP Foreign, VIII, no. 1778
13. Quoted in Robertson’s History of Scotland, II, p.417
14. CSP Scottish, I, p.394
15. Brantôme, V, p.99
16. Labanoff, II, p.117
12. First Trial, 1568-69
1. Historic Manuscripts Commission, V, Appendix to 5th Report, p.615. Ailsa Muniments, folio 17
2. CSP Venetian, VII, p.416
3. CSP Scottish, II, p.416
4. CSP Spanish, 1568-79, p.36
5. Teulet, II, p.369
6. CSP Scottish, II, pp.441-2
7. Ibid., p.428
8. Ibid., p.420
9. CSP Scottish, II, pp.431-5
10. Ibid., pp.465-6
11. Ibid., p.509
12. Ibid., p.457
13. Ibid., p.494. Mary’s letters to Elizabeth, for example, were written in French
14. W. Goodall, Examination of the Letters said to be written by Mary Queen of Scots to James, Earl of Bothwell (London, 1754), II, p.261
13. Captivity, 1569-84
1. CSP Scottish, II, p.605
2. For detailed accounts see Francis de Zulueta, Embroideries by Mary Stuart and Elizabeth Talbot at Oxburgh Hall, 1923, and M.S. Jourdain, English Secular Embroidery, 1910
3. Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquess of Salisbury at Hatfield House, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1883, hereafter referred to as Hatfield, I, p.400
4. CSP Spanish, 1568-79, p.97
5. Ibid., p. 167
6. Hatfield, I, p.414
7. CSP Spanish, p.183
8. Ibid., p.158
9. Ibid., p.189
10. CSP Scottish, II, p.677
11. The origin of the expression ‘sent to Coventry’ is not known. It is sometimes said to be derived from the Royalist prisoners sent thither from Birmingham during the Civil War, but I am inclined to think that the incarceration of MQS there is more likely
12. Labanoff, III, pp.5, 19 and 31
13. Ibid., p.354
14. Hatfield, I, p.564
15. Ibid., II, p.428
16. Labanoff, IV, p.428
17. Ida Macalpine and Richard Hunter, Porphyria, a Royal Disease, British Medical Association, London, 1968
18. Labanoff, IV, pp.94-8
19. Ibid., pp.129-30
20. Ibid., pp.183, 186 and 229
21. Ibid., p.186
22. Teulet, VI, p.122
23. Ibid., VI, p.393
24. Labanoff, V, p.61
25. Ibid., p.158
26. Ibid., VI, pp.36-42
27. Hatfield, III, pp.46-7
14. The Final Act, 1585-87
1. J. Morris, Letter-Books of Sir Amias Paulet, London, 1874, p.15
2. Ibid., p.6
3. Labanoff, VI, p.345
4. Bourgoing’s journal, in M.R. Chantelauze, Marie Stuart, son procès et son execution, Paris, 1874, p.467
5. Morris, op. cit., p.276
6. Ibid., p.267
7. Ibid., p.287
8. Labanoff, VII, p.36
9. Hon. Mrs Maxwell-Stuart, The Tragedy of Fotheringhay, founded on the Journal of Bourgoing and unpublished MS documents, Edinburgh, 1905, p.35
10. Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1854, VII, p.428
11. Chantelauze, op. cit., p.513
12. Ibid., p.520
13. J.H. Pollen, Mary Queen of Scots and the Babington Plot, Scottish History Series, Third Series, Edinburgh, 1922, p.cxcii
14. Labanoff, VI, p.477
15. Text in Samuel Cowan, The Last Days of Mary Stuart, London, 1907, pp.120-1
16. Robert S. Rait and Annie Cameron, King James’s Secret: Negotiations between Elizabeth and James VI Relating to the Execution of Mary Queen of Scots, Edinburgh, 1927, p.55
17. Morris, p.361
18. The actual execution warrant is no longer extant, although the letter from the Privy Council ordering the execution warrant exists with annotations by Robert Beale. It was sold at Sotheby’s, London in December 1996 for £45,000, the purchaser being the Church of England. There was a considerable outcry from the Scottish National Party that neither the National Library of Scotland nor the National Museums of Scotland had shown any interest in the sale
19. MS account of the execution by Robert Beale; purchased by the Church of England for £6,900 at Sotheby’s, December 1996
20. Lady Antonia Fraser states that Shrewsbury ‘could not speak, and his face was wet with tears’ (Mary Queen of Scots, p.635) without citing a source. It now turns out that this was pure invention on her part
21. D. Calderwood, History of the Kirk of Scotland (ed. T. Thomson), Edinburgh, 1842, IV, p.611
22. Dean Stanley, Memorials of Westminster Abbey, London, 1867, Appendix p.507
23. Angus, Duke of Hamilton, Mary Queen of Scots, the Crucial Years, Edinburgh, 1991, p.115