Mary Sources

Primary and Secondary Sources - terms include name and date, definitions include key points

A Rhime in Defence of the Queen of Scots Against the Earl of Moray, 1568

Removal of regalia -> Removal of status

Anti-Moray: implied he has bad intentions, compares to Richard III

Moray makes any attempt to defame Mary - Guise accusation

Allinson, 2008

Mary's execution challenged the traditional criminal body in execution by her identity as a woman and a Queen

Becket, 2009

Leslie wrote: The defence of the honour of… the Princesse Marie of Scotland, Treatise touching the Right, Title and Interest to the succession to the Croune of England and Women's Right to Rule to defend Mary

Blakeway, 2024

David Chalmers wrote a specific version of Scottish history published in 1571 to show Mary's legitimacy and Scotland's relative strength to England

Bond of Association 19 Oct 1584

Commitment against treason and treason-doers and pledge to not assist in coups or unlawful succession in recognition of threats to Elizabeth

Prosecution of leavers

Despatches of M. Courcelles 4 Oct 1586

French ambassador - English interception

Discussion between James and Lord Hamilton, George Douglas:

Nobles: James needs to defend honor of Queen and mother,

James: political concerns (succession, Mary threat) and indifferent to/ underestimates events

Doran, 2000

James tried to prevent the execution but his reaction was inconsistent and ineffective

Execution had a negative effect on Anglo-Scottish relations to 1588 - James' succession was not inevitable

Draft letter from James VI to Elizabeth 1 March 1587

Accepts Liz's version of execution in exchange for leverage on succession

Grant, 2008

Scotland was in a strong position to create the Treaty of Berwick due to James' positive relationship with opposition while England was in a weaker position due to their continental isolation

Historie and Life of King James the Sext on Personal Rule

Chronology of James' rule - rise of Arran and Lennox, nobles opposition to Lennox and the Ruthven Raid

James opposed to Mary's return due to impact on legitimacy

Holmes, 1987

Mary was not a threat to Elizabeth - plots were small and consistently caught by spy network, she had limited agency

Liz's treatment of Mary was directly related to Anglo-Scottish relations - when relations were good but tenuous, it was invested interest to keep Mary imprisoned

Instructions from Mary to James Beaton Archbishop of Glasgow, October 1581

Mary's instructions for negotiations of the Association

Points for legitimacy - deposition was by force, new coronation or confirmation in Parliament for James, Mary on coins, no more defamation

For rule - council of advice chosen by both, Mary's advice for foreign policy and James' marriage

Religious toleration

In return: foreign recognition

Instructions to the Earl of Shrewsbury and Sir Ralph Sadler 1583

Moving Mary from Shrewsbury to Sadler

Need to prepare a place appropriate for her status and security Mary's non-compliance - to use persuasion rather than force

Security

Leslie, A Treatise concerning the defence of the honour of the right high, mightie and noble Princesse, Marie Queen of Scotland

Written against e.g. De Marian Regnum Scotia

Extent of propaganda - seditious accusations

Mary didn't kill Darnley + Casket letters false - no proof for Mary's defamation

Leslie, The History of Scotland, vernacular ~1569-1573

Written for good of Scotland and dedicated to Mary Ends at Mary's return - defense against propaganda is too much for the volume

Mary has been unable to defend herself Anti-Moray - Moray ruled 1560s not Mary

Everything went wrong in 1559

Letter from James VI to Mary, May 1582

In response to Association Recognises his mother and thankful for gifts from Guises

Promises to help but Council may disagree

Letter from Robert Bowes to Francis Walsingham, May 1583

Bowes - ambassador to Scotland

Reports James' dislike of association - prejudicial to him, dislikes her Catholic and French policy, sees her as duplicitous

Letter from Robert Cecil to James VI

Cecil positions himself as an English advisor

Advises James to write to Liz

Signs as if subject of James - pledge to assist succession

Lord Burghley's Papers - Description of Execution

Eyewitness account, draft for publication

Procedure: local authorities, public, cleaning

Mary: union as a political ideal, resistance to events, performance of Catholicism and status

Mary's Final Letter to Henry III 8 Feb 1587

Prepares images as Catholic martyr - suffering, innocence, behaviour

Requests to sort affairs

Private Instructions to Ralph Sadler about Keeping Mary 1583

Security Measures:

• Security of house - keys

• Security in nearby areas

• Controlled movements of Mary + household

• Controlled but permitted visits and communication e.g. receiving books Conditions to not appear more harsh

Reid, 2013

James showed agency in resistance of Ruthven Raid

Raiders were infleunced by Protestant elective kingship - used Privy Council to legitimise

Reid, 2023

Mary's negotiations for Association were unrealistic and desperate, influenced by lack of awareness of her place in Scotland

Warrender Papers - Correspondence between James VI and Elizabeth 17 Dec 1586

Political instructions to Master of Grey

Arguments to present to Elizabeth on Mary's execution: threat to sovereignty of princes, insight of Catholic factions, Mary is not a threat compared to other potential Catholic leaders

Wilkinson, 2004

Mary's execution was a key theme in propaganda by the Leaguers in France