The Death Mask Of Mary Queen Of Scots

welcome to her remarkable history remember to support our Channel please subscribe The Haunting death mask of Mary Queen of Scots one of the most shocking executions of the Tudor period was when Elizabeth the first signed the death warrant of Mary Queen of Scots the former Scottish Monarch and the cousin of the English Queen was a thorn in the side of Elizabeth after she had been involved in a number of plots Mary Queen of Scots had been imprisoned in England for almost two decades before she came ingrained with the babington plot which was planned to Dethrone and assassinate Elizabeth and put the former Scottish Queen on the English throne Catholics Across the Nation would have loved this however Elizabeth then sanctioned Mary's death and execution it was inside the walls of fathering haycastle on the 8th of February 1587 that Mary made her way to The Executioner's block it was a remarkable moment in English History the queen ordering the execution of another queen but with The Executioner's ax Mary's life was no more but one curiosity which has emerged in the centuries after her death relates to a number of Death Masks taken of the Queen's face following her execution Mary would not be given a public funeral but she would be given a death mask this is a haunting image of the deceased former Queen of Scotland but what is the story behind it Mary was informed on the evening of the 7th of February 1587 that she would be executed in the following morning she remained in prayer in the final hours of her life and she wrote her will or whilst this was happening inside the Great Hall of fathering hay Castle a scaffold was being created which was being draped in Black cloth it was not huge and it had two or three steps to access it and it was also complete with a cushion for the queen to kneel on there were also three stalls for witnesses to observe the proceedings it would be an executioner named bull who would take the head of the former Scottish Monarch and he appealed for the Queen's forgiveness and Mary replied with I forgive you with all my heart for now I hope you shall make an end of all my troubles Mary was attended on by two loyal servants and ladies and they helped her take off her outer garments Mary was blindfolded by Jane Kennedy who placed a white material blindfold over her eyes and she then positioned her head on the low block the Executioner and his assistant would be directed by Mary stretching out her arms by giving the signal that this was time for the ax to fall but Mary's execution did not go straightforwardly and it was in a sense botched the first blow from the ax missed her neck completely and the ax was embedded in the back of her head this would have been excruciating and could have been enough to kill the former Queen of Scotland on its own but it's not known whether the Executioner who was considered skilled would have been nervous or would have lost his nerve in the final moments but the execution had been described as a somber occasion and that the Executioner followed all the proceedings of a high status execution at the time after the first blown Mist the second blow was more successful and the acts almost severed her neck but her head was still attached by a small part of sinew the Executioner then moved his ax blade forward and back a few times and the head of Mary Queen of Scots fell onto the wooden scaffold beneath the block following this the Executioner then picked up her head and shouted God Save the Queen and as this happened the Auburn wig she had on her head slipped and disturbingly the head of Mary fell onto the floor and Mary was shown to actually have short gray hair at the time of her death a witness would state that Mary's lips stirred up and down for a quarter of an hour after her head was cut off and as the blade of the ax fell the second time a small dog owned by Mary came out from under her skirt following the execution of Mary Queen of Scots a remarkable series of events took place Elizabeth the first turned in her opinion of the proceedings and she became greatly upset and angry at the execution she believed she had been superseded in the order by her privy Council however because of the anguish and upset Elizabeth would be hesitant to initially bury her former cousin in the moments after the execution the authorities took great steps to ensure that Mary Queen of Scots clothing possessions and belongings were not considered relics anything inside the Great Hall of futhering hay that had touched her blood was burned inside of the fireplace including the scaffold and this was done to stop Relic Hunters her clothing and even The Executioner's block was thrown into the fireplace of the Great Hall too it's not known whether The Executioner's ax was but it's probable as a possession of the Executioner and as his trusty weapon he was allowed to keep this but Mary Queen of Scots had wished to be buried inside of France with her first husband but sadly this was refused because of this after her death her body was embalmed and then it was left in a secure lead coffin until she would be buried months later at Peterborough cathedral in the July 1587. it's not known whether Mary's head was sewn back onto her body or not some Royal executions for example when Charles the First lost his head was performed when the ax fell but then the head was sewn back on before burial it is at some point whilst she was at fathering hay castle that she must have had her Death Mask cast on her face there have been a number of death masks that have emerged relating to Mary in the centuries after execution and it was tradition for kings and queens at the time it's believed that there were four Death Masks cast of her face after her death two of these are still in existence and can be seen today the Death Masks amazingly show the executed Queen of Scotland's face in a rather interesting State they show her with a peaceful and calm countenance and do not show any signs of trauma Panic anguish or stress her eyes remain closed her lips collapsed tight and her face looks almost as if she is asleep one of the Queen's Death Masks is referred to as Lennox love mask and it's belonged to the Duke of Hamilton and they kept it at their estate in Lennox love for over 250 years it was kept in a casket which also shockingly contains some of Mary's possessions inside of this casket along with the death mask was a sapphire ring and also the casket letters for centuries and decades the death mask had not been displayed in public but today it can be viewed the other death mask of Mary Queen of Scots that survives is known as the Jedburg mask this was first discovered in Peterborough when she was initially buried before she was taken to Westminster Abbey what is interesting is that the two Death Masks do not look the same it would have been believed that they would have been identical if inside the walls of fathering hay Castle the Death Masks were cast at the same time her face would not have changed expression or anything the Lennox love mask is smaller and is much more basic but the Jed bear mask was painted and it was decorated to make it look like Mary had makeup on during her death also it has a wig attached to it the Jedburg mask is displayed among other memorabilia belonging to Mary another document that the Mary Queen of Scots house in Jedburg where it's believed that she stayed when she rode to visit James Hepburn the Earl of Bothwell interestingly also on display here is a watch that belonged to the queen which was found in a bog and then in a mole hill the original appearance of jedberg death mask would have been white and unembellished when it was found in Peterborough by Dr Charles Hepburn of Glasgow it was said to have been hand printed today the authenticity of the Death Masks is questioned also the Death Masks would have been cast if legitimate in the hours directly after Mary Queen of scots's execution it would have been done before the coffin was sealed that contained her remains and she would after this have been laid to rest inside a room of fathering hay castle for some months it's believed that there are four death masks and today two of these remain lost to history but they may be in the collection of some Scottish household or Earl the death masks that do survive are very different but both cast a haunting figure of Mary Queen of Scots moments after her execution and the moments after her head had been brutally taken off by a blundering executioner but they show her almost in a Serene state of calm which is not in keeping with her final moments thank you for watching and to support please subscribe to her remarkable history thank you

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Id: jF3fy1-Jr2I

Length: 9min 31sec (571 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 26 2023