Mary Queen of Scots

Threat to the Throne

  • Mary had a legitimate claim to the throne as the great-granddaughter of King Henry VII, and was Elizabeth’s second cousin

  • She had the support of two powerful allied nations, Scotland and France, being the queen of Scotland and having her family’s close relationships to powerful French families

  • Mary was a Catholic, making her a more favourable option to Catholic nobles as a Queen

Treaty of Edinburgh - 1560

  • in 1560, Elizabeth helped Scottish Protestant lords to defeat Mary of Guise, who was ruling Scotland for Mary whilst she was in France

  • The Scottish Lords rebelled as they didn’t like the French-Catholic influence of Mary of Guise

  • The rebellion ended with the Treaty of Edinburgh which said that Mary would give up her claim to the English throne - Mary never approved the treaty herself

Fleeing to England - 1568

  • Mary came to England in 1568 after her husband was murdered the year before, supposedly by the Earl of Bothswell, who Mary went on to marry

  • This scandal caused the Scottish lords to rebel again and forced Mary to give up her throne to her baby son, James. She was then imprisoned on an island in the middle of a lock, but escaped in 1568 and raised and raised an army to try and take her throne back, and she fled to England to seek Elizabeth I’s help

Reasons for execution

  • Act of Preservation of the Queen - 1585

    • This act stated that if Elizabeth was assassinated, Mary would be barred from succession

    • Any action against Mary was only to take place once a commission had investigated her role in the plot and found her guilty (which it would go on to do for the Babington plot)

  • Walsingham

    • Sir Francis Walsingham gathered information surrounding the plots, and had enough evidence from his spy network to ensure a trial under the act of preservation

    • His evidence proved her guiltiness in the plot ensuring the trial would put her to death

  • Phillip II

    • by the start of 1587 it was clear to Elizabeth and her privy council that Phillip II was planning a major attack against England.

    • in January 1587 there were rumours of Spanish troops landing in Wales and that Mary had escaped - these rumours showed that Mary’s existence posed a threat to England

    • The execution of Mary gave Phillip even more reason to invade, as she gave her clain to the English throne to him