the impact of mary queen of scots and james VI

How much of a threat was Mary queen of Scot’s prior to her arrival?

She was still a significant indirect threat due to her legitimate claim (Henry V11s granddaughter) and by 1558 she had married Francis II (king of France) meaning she had french support for her claim, however her threat was reduced due to lack of presence in England (unlike English catholics would plot to replace her with Mary at this point and she was away from any influential nobles who might support her). It was also limited because in 1560, Francis died meaning she didn’t have that foreign support anymore and since Protestant lords took control of the Scottish gov, she held very little power and was imprisoned in local even castle throughout 1567-68. However her threat increased much more upon her arrival to England in 1568

MQS threat throughout Elizabeth’s reign while in England

Legitamite claim to the throne and provided an alternative figurehead, (however Elizabeth was in a difficult position as sending her back to Scotland or a foreign country could allow her to gain more power and become a greater threat however while in England she would be a direct major threat). ,many saw her as better alternative to Elizabeth as she was catholic, had a claim to the throne-Henry vii granddaughter, and had produced an heir (therefore had dynastic claim), aswell she had support of catholic- within only one year of her arrival northern earls rebelled in 1569, and this was heightened in 1570 when Elizabeth was excommunicated meaning catholics had no loyalty to her, fueling the following plots, additionally Mary had foreign support from strong catholic powers e.g. Spain and France, this is evident in ridolfi plot 1571 as alba was willing to send 10000 Spanish troops

Why was MQS executed?

Throughout Elizabeth’s reign its evident Mary was a threat however Elizabeth was hesitant to execute her- however there was a lot of pressure from parliament continuously and councillors like Francis walsingham worked to ensure there was enough evidence to have her executed e.g spy network, bond of assossiation, deciphering letters following babington plot (her reluctancy and delay after the plot shows it was parliament who left her no choice, she even attacked the council saying the death warrant went against her authority however this could have been to ease tensions with Spain and France), additionally the long levity of the catholic threat throughout the whole 17 years she was in England- northern earls only a year after her arrival (however only agreed to have Norfolk executed), 1570 papal bull( no loyalty to Elizabeth encouraging further rebellion), the plots (ridolfi, throckmorton babington), assassination of Dutch William of orange in 1584 increased fears of Elizabeth’s assaination, however it could be argued babington was most significant as it directly led to the execution and provided the legal evidence needed to execute Mary of treason following the bond of assossiation

Impact of James vi

Although MQS was the direct threat throughout Elizabeth’s reign, it was James that provided Mary with an heir giving her a more dynastic claim and ultimately successeded the throne to continue Mary’s bloodline and introduce a catholic regime. This therefore undermines Elizabeth’s religous succession and control over succession despite his limited contribution in fueling plots and rebellion within her reign