Even more than 400
years after her death, the life and legacy
of Mary Queen of Scots remains fascinating to us. Her personal hardships
and political schemes inspired numerous
works of fiction, but none could possibly compete
with the true story that led to her demise. Today, we're going
to take a look at everything that had to
happen for Mary Queen of Scots to be executed. But before we get started,
be sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel. And let us know in the comments
below what other queens you would like to hear about. Now, "the meanest
hind in fair Scotland may rove their sweets amang. But I, the queen of a Scotland,
maun lie in prison strang." [MUSIC PLAYING] Born to King James V of
Scotland and his wife and queen consort, Marie de Guise,
on December 8, 1542, Mary was the couple's
only surviving child. As such, she was heir to the
throne when her father died of a sudden illness. She became queen when she
was only six days old. While Mary was
growing up, Scotland was ruled by a series
of regents, one of whom was her mother. When she was eight
months old, Mary was betrothed to
Prince Edward, the son of King Henry VIII and heir
to the throne of England. The marriage was
intended to calm tensions between
the two nations, but it had the opposite effect. Scotland's Catholic
nobility hated the idea, and the wedding was called off. Given that Mary's
father and grandfather had been fighting
Henry VIII for decades, her security was
always uncertain. So for Mary's protection
and to strengthen Scotland's connections
with the French, she was promised to Francis,
the heir to the French throne. In 1548, Mary went
to live in France, where King Henry II
would describe her as "the most perfect
child he'd ever seen." Huh. I wonder how many
children he'd seen. She would spend the next
12 years of her life there being honored
and served at court and getting an education
alongside her future husband, Francis. The two finally tie
the knot and seal the Scottish-French
alliance in 1558. In 1559, Francis became
King of France and Mary became the queen. However, King Francis
II's reign would come to a relatively
quick ending when he passed away
suddenly in 1560. Just a year later,
French Royalty would have Mary
returned to Scotland. Mary was a stranger
in her native land. As a Catholic, she
identified more closely with her French
upbringing than she did with her
Protestant-Scottish heritage. Nonetheless, she made no attempt
to push her religion or culture on her subjects and was
well received by them. On the other hand, her
cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, didn't take so well to
the returning queen. Elizabeth refused to acknowledge
Mary as her successor, and their relationship
was tense. In 1565, Mary
married her cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Their union strengthened
the Stuart claim to the English throne. And Mary was, at
first, fond of Darnley because he was a Catholic. The Protestant nobility, on
the other hand, was outraged. Over time, Mary would come to
find Darnley arrogant, weak, and immature. She started excluding
him from royal matters, and their marriage soured. In June of 1566, Mary gave
birth to a son, James. However, despite having
finally produced an heir, her relationship with
Darnley continued to suffer. Mary considered getting
out of the marriage, but such an action
could jeopardize the legitimacy of her son and
damaged her own reputation. It wouldn't be an
issue for long though. The exact circumstances of
Darnley's death remain unclear. What we do know is that
in February of 1567, Darnley fell ill. Rather than recover
in Edinburgh, he decided to travel to the
Collegiate Church of St. Mary in the fields, also
known as Kirk o'Field. Mary did not go with him,
which aroused suspicions when on the morning
of February 10 a gunpowder explosion destroyed
the house Darnley was staying in. Darnley was later found
dead but not in the house. The partially-clothed bodies of
Darnley and one of his servants were discovered in
a nearby orchard. They were untouched
by the explosion and had apparently been
strangled or smothered. Who knows? Maybe even strangled
and smothered. When the explosion
happened, Mary was in the company of James
Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. Her political enemies accused
the two of murdering Darnley and even put Bothwell on
trial in April of 1567. He eventually was acquitted. Just a month later,
Mary and James would marry despite the fact
Bothwell already had a wife. According to Claude Nau,
the queen's secretary, Bothwell told Mary
he was divorced or in the process of
getting a divorce. Mary, for her part, claimed
Bothwell had abducted her and forced her to marry him. It sounds like they were
made for each other. Whatever the case, in
the summer of 1567, the wildly unpopular
marriage caused Scotland to descend into unrest. Bothwell was accused
of usurping the crown by both Protestant
and Catholic nobility. And when it was all over,
he was sent into exile. He eventually fled to Denmark,
where King Frederick II had him jailed. Bothwell slowly went
mad and eventually died in solitary confinement in 1578. Mary was confined to
Loch Leven Castle. And on July 24, 1567, she was
forced to abdicate the throne to her infant son, James VI. Her half-brother, James
Stewart, Earl of Moray, would rule as regent
until James was of age. Mary would spend nearly
a year at Loch Leven. It's recorded that
while she was there, she had a miscarriage,
losing twins who were likely fathered by Bothwell. The cause of her
miscarriage was unknown. While a prisoner
at Loch Leven, Mary had been under the watchful
eye of one Sir William Douglas. Sir William's
brother, George, hated the way she was being treated
and resolved to free her. On March 25, Mary
swapped clothing with a laundress who
regularly visited the castle, and the two women
switched places. The queen covered
her face and carried some soiled linens to the boat
that awaited the laundress. She had nearly gotten away
when one of the men on the ship noticed her delicate
white hands, which exposed her true identity. Mary was recaptured. And the plot's masterminds,
George Douglas and his cousin Willie, were expelled
from the castle. In what has to be one of the
most questionable re-hirings in history, Sir
William eventually allowed Willie Douglas to
return to work at Loch Leven. Always check your new hire
references, especially if you're one of them. On the night of
May 2, 1568, Willie lifted the key to Mary's cell
off a drunken Sir William and whisked her from the castle. Mary was then taken by
boat to meet George Douglas and several other supporters. Soon, Mary was
returned to the company of the more than 6,000
nobles, churchmen, and commoners who were ready
to fight for their queen. They got their chance
on May 13, 1568, at Langside when Mary's forces
battled Scottish Protestant forces led by James Stewart,
First Earl of Moray, her half-brother-- half-sibling rivalry. Mary's army was routed
in less than an hour. After the defeat at
Langside, Mary fled south. She initially hoped to
find refuge in France with her former mother-in-law,
Catherine de Medici, but her odds of making
it to France were shaky. And even if she
got there, she was disliked in the French Court. That left her with
only one real option-- seek protection from her
cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. On May 16, 1568, Mary
crossed into England. Despite not being terribly fond
of her former daughter-in-law, Catherine de Medici
wrote to Elizabeth and implored her to show Mary
good and tender treatment. Mary's arrival was
met with skepticism. The Earl of Moray named
her as an accomplice to the murder of Lord Darnley
and proceedings overseen by Elizabeth were initiated. As an independent
sovereign, Mary refused to answer the charges. As a Catholic with a claim
to the throne of England, Mary was a particularly
dangerous person for Elizabeth to have around. Numerous plots against
the English monarch emerged, and many
appeared to involve her Scottish counterpart. One such conspiracy
was the Ridolfi Plot of 1571, which apparently
involved King Philip II of Spain and the Pope. Named after Roberto Ridolfi,
the Florentine banker who carried messages between
the major players, the plot aimed to
overthrow Elizabeth and put Mary on the throne. It was foiled when one
of Ridolfi's messengers was caught in England carrying
documents that implicated the Duke of Norfolk,
who was eventually executed for treason. There wasn't enough
evidence to determine if Mary was directly
involved, but she was placed under close watch. The Throckmorton
Plot of 1583 also aimed to replace
Elizabeth with Mary. A Catholic supporter of Mary
named Francis Throckmorton used exiled English
Catholics to enlist France and Spain in
an elaborate plan to rescue England
from Protestantism. It's as simple as that. The plotters
communicated with Mary, but they were discovered by
Elizabeth's secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham. Throckmorton, who was
executed for treason at 1584, implicated several of
his fellow conspirators, but there still
wasn't enough evidence to prove Mary was involved. The Parry Plot of 1585
was yet another conspiracy to place Mary on
Elizabeth's throne. The plot was named for its
architect, William Parry, who worked for the
English government but was accused of
being a double agent. He was executed in 1585. Still, there was
no evidence Mary had anything to do with it. With so many plots seeking to
replace Elizabeth with Mary, legislators decided to act. In 1584, the Privy
Council passed the Bond of Association, which pledged
that in the event of an attack on Elizabeth, its signers,
which ironically included Mary, would kill not only the
assassins but any claimant to the throne in whose
name the attack was made. Then in 1585, parliament
passed the act for the queen's
safety, which negated the rule of any
successor involved in a plot against the crown. Both resolutions were
directly addressed to the threat created by
Mary, justifying revenge against anyone who
endangered Elizabeth and laying the groundwork
for her rival's downfall. Finally, in 1586,
English authorities uncovered yet another plot to
replace Elizabeth with Mary. Known as the Babington
Plot, it came to light when Francis
Walsingham, a close advisor to the queen, intercepted
a coded letter written by Anthony Babington, a devout
Catholic with connections to various French factions. In the letter,
Babington informed Mary he had six
potential assassins to eliminate Elizabeth. Mary wrote back on
July 17, suggesting the assassins might be needed
and asking to meet with them. Babington and his
associates were sent to the gallows
in September of 1586. His letters gave
Walsingham the evidence he needed to finally
prosecute Mary. Mary's trial began
in October of 1586. At first, she refused to appear. But when she was informed
it would take place even in her absence, she
decided to attend. Mary defended herself by
pleading that Elizabeth was not her sovereign and that
neither England nor its laws had authority over her. Nonetheless, she was
found guilty of treason. It was worth a try. On February 8, 1587,
a crowd of hundreds gathered to watch the execution
of Mary Queen of Scots. According to observers, she
dressed in black, wore a veil, and met her end with bravery. To finish the job, it took three
blows from the executioner. Once it was done,
the executioner picked up Mary's head, displayed
it to those in attendance, and cried out, "God
save Queen Elizabeth. May all the enemies of the
true Evangel thus perish." So what do you think? Why is Mary Queen of Scots such
a beloved historical figure? Let us know in the
comments below. And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos from our Weird History. [MUSIC PLAYING]
