70 Fun Facts About Mary, Queen of Scots

Where was Mary born on 8 December 1542?

She was said to have been born prematurely and was christened at the nearby Church of St Michael.

How old was Mary when she became Queen of Scotland on the death of her father?

Her father James V may have died of a nervous collapse after the defeat at Solway Moss.

In a tale first recorded by John Knox, what did the dying king say on hearing he had a daughter?

The Stuarts had won the crown through Marjorie Bruce; the prophecy was fulfilled by Queen Anne, not Mary.

Who was the queen's mother, who later served as regent of Scotland?

Her brothers, the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorraine, dominated France during Mary's brief reign as its queen.

Through which grandmother, sister of Henry VIII, did Mary derive her claim to the English throne?

That made her Henry VIII's great-niece and, to many Catholics, the rightful queen of England.

The 1543 Treaty of Greenwich promised the six-month-old Mary in marriage to whom?

When the Scots repudiated it, Henry VIII launched the Rough Wooing to enforce the match by force.

After the Scottish defeat at Pinkie in 1547, Mary's guardians hid her for up to three weeks where?

They then turned to the French for help.

From which castle did the five-year-old Mary sail for France in August 1548?

The French fleet under Villegagnon landed her in Brittany a week or more later.

What were the surnames of the 'four Marys' who accompanied the queen to France?

They were daughters of some of Scotland's noblest families, all named Mary and all her own age.

Which member of the French royal family notably disliked the young Mary at court?

Elisabeth of Valois, her future sister-in-law, became a close friend.

How tall was Mary as an adult, exceptionally so for the 16th century?

Her first husband, the Dauphin, stuttered and was unusually short.

Before her 1558 wedding, Mary secretly signed away what to France if she died childless?

She married the Dauphin at Notre Dame de Paris on 24 April 1558.

How did Henry II of France die in July 1559, making the teenage Mary Queen of France?

Fifteen-year-old Francis and sixteen-year-old Mary became king and queen.

What killed Francis II in December 1560, ending Mary's time as Queen of France?

Catherine de' Medici became regent for his ten-year-old brother, and Mary went home nine months later.

Which 1560 agreement recognising Elizabeth's right to rule did Mary refuse to ratify?

She was still in France, grieving for her mother, and the refusal remained a sticking point with Elizabeth.

At which port did Mary land on her return to Scotland on 19 August 1561?

She had lived in France since the age of five and knew little of Scottish politics.

Which fiery reformer preached against Mary for hearing Mass, dancing and dressing too elaborately?

She charged him with treason, but he was acquitted.

Which illegitimate half-brother did Mary keep as her chief adviser on her return?

He led the Protestants, later rebelled against her marriage, and became regent after her abdication.

Which French poet was found hiding under Mary's bed in 1563 and was later beheaded for treason?

Two days after being banished he forced his way into her chamber again; she cried out for Moray to stab him.

Whom did Mary marry at Holyrood on 29 July 1565, without a papal dispensation for first cousins?

Elizabeth called him the long lad, since he stood over six feet tall.

What nickname did Elizabeth give Darnley?

The English ambassador reported that Mary seemed bewitched.

What was the 1565 campaign in which Mary's forces and Moray's rebels never actually fought called?

Mary rode with a pistol called a dagg on her saddle; Moray fled to England.

What did Darnley demand that Mary refused, souring the marriage?

It would have made him co-sovereign with the right to keep the throne if he outlived her.

Which Italian secretary was stabbed to death in front of the pregnant Mary in 1566?

Darnley, jealous of the friendship, took part; he was rumoured to be the child's father.

Where was Mary's son James born on 19 June 1566?

He would be crowned King of Scots at thirteen months and King of England at 36.

In October 1566 Mary rode from Jedburgh to visit the wounded Bothwell at which castle?

Enemies later cited the ride as proof they were lovers, though she went with councillors and guards.

At which house was Darnley staying when it was destroyed by an explosion in February 1567?

He was found dead in the garden, apparently smothered, with no marks of violence.

How long did the trial that acquitted Bothwell of Darnley's murder last?

Darnley's father was denied time to gather evidence and did not attend.

What did over two dozen lords and bishops sign backing Bothwell's plan to marry the queen?

He then abducted Mary on the road from Stirling and took her to Dunbar.

According to which rites was Mary married to Bothwell on 15 May 1567?

Catholics rejected both his divorce and the service, and everyone was shocked she married the man accused of killing her husband.

What ducal title was Bothwell given on marrying the queen?

He ended his days imprisoned and insane in Denmark, dying in 1578.

At which hill did Mary and Bothwell face the confederate lords in June 1567, only for her army to melt away?

Crowds in Edinburgh then denounced her as an adulteress and murderer.

In which island castle was Mary imprisoned and forced to abdicate in July 1567?

She miscarried twins there days before signing away the throne to her one-year-old son.

What did Mary lose in her island prison between 20 and 23 July 1567, days before her abdication?

Moray was made regent and Bothwell was driven into exile.

Which member of the castle-owning family helped Mary escape from her island prison in May 1568?

She raised 6,000 men but lost to Moray at Langside eleven days later.

At which 1568 battle did Moray's smaller army defeat Mary's, sending her fleeing to England?

She spent a night at Dundrennan Abbey and then crossed the Solway Firth in a fishing boat.

How did Mary cross into England on 16 May 1568?

She landed at Workington and was taken into protective custody at Carlisle Castle two days later.

What did the silver-gilt casket produced at the 1568 inquiry supposedly contain?

They came in a silver-gilt casket bearing the monogram of Francis II; she called them forgeries.

What verdict did Elizabeth's inquiry into Darnley's murder reach in January 1569?

Antonia Fraser called it one of the strangest trials in legal history: one party went home, the other stayed a prisoner.

Which duke, who headed the inquiry, secretly schemed to marry Mary and was executed after the 1571 Ridolfi Plot?

He denied it to Elizabeth, saying he would never marry where he could not be sure of his pillow.

From 1569 Mary was held in the custody of which earl and his formidable wife Bess of Hardwick?

His houses included Tutbury, Sheffield Castle, Wingfield Manor and Chatsworth, all far from the sea.

How many carts did Mary need to move her belongings from house to house in captivity?

Her chefs offered a choice of 32 dishes on silver plates and her bed linen was changed daily.

What French motto did Mary have embroidered on her cloth of state?

In my end lies my beginning: apt for a queen whose son would inherit England.

At which spa town was Mary allowed to spend seven summers during her English captivity?

By the 1580s rheumatism had left her lame, perhaps worsened by porphyria or lack of exercise.

Which pope endorsed a 1570s plan to marry Mary to John of Austria, who would then invade England?

John was Philip II's illegitimate half-brother and governor of the Low Countries.

In 1584 Mary proposed an 'association' to share power. Which person rejected it and allied with Elizabeth instead?

She offered to renounce her claim to England and the papal bull; her only condition was easier captivity.

Scores of Mary's ciphered letters to which French ambassador were discovered and decrypted in 2022–2023?

Three amateur codebreakers cracked a code that had kept its secrets for 445 years.

From which moated manor house were Mary, Queen of Scots' letters smuggled out in Walsingham's trap?

She thought the letters secure; in fact Walsingham was reading every one.

Which 1586 conspiracy to assassinate Elizabeth provided the evidence that convicted Mary?

Her letters showed she had sanctioned the attempt.

How many noblemen sat in judgment at Mary's treason trial in October 1586?

She argued that as a foreign anointed queen she had never been an English subject and could not commit treason.

Which was the only commissioner to express any dissent when Mary was sentenced to death?

Elizabeth still hesitated for months, fearing the precedent of killing a queen.

What did Elizabeth ask Mary's final custodian, Amias Paulet, to do, which he refused?

He would not make a shipwreck of his conscience or a blot on his posterity.

When Mary's outer garments were removed on the scaffold, what colour was her petticoat?

It is the liturgical colour of martyrdom in the Catholic Church.

What were Mary's last words?

She spoke them in Latin: In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum.

How many blows of the axe did it take to behead Mary?

The first blow missed her neck and struck the back of her head.

What happened when the executioner lifted the severed head aloft by its auburn tresses?

Her real hair was very short and grey; a small dog was reported hiding in her skirts.

Which privy councillor was imprisoned for sending on the death warrant after Elizabeth claimed she never authorised it?

He was released after nineteen months when Cecil and Walsingham interceded.

Where was Mary first buried, in a service of the reformed church, in July 1587?

Her request to be buried in France was refused; her entrails were secretly buried inside Fotheringhay Castle.

In 1612 Mary's son had her reinterred where?

Her tomb was opened in 1867 in a search for James, who turned out to be lying with Henry VII.

Whose 16th-century life of Mary do modern historians call 'almost complete fantasy'?

Camden's officially sanctioned life under James I stressed her evil fortunes rather than her evil character.

Which 20th-century biographer's life of Mary was hailed as more objective, free of adulation or attack?

Wormald dissented, calling Mary a tragic failure rather than a pawn of scheming noblemen.

What letter was engraved on the silver box found under a bed in Edinburgh in June 1567?

Possibly for Francis II of France; Bothwell's servant Dalgleish led his captors there under threat of torture, and the box also held the Mary–Bothwell marriage certificate.

Who is thought to have destroyed the original Casket letters in 1584?

Only copies survive, one in French and the rest translated into Scots and English, so their authenticity is still debated.

At which East Lothian stately home was a silver casket said to be Mary's once displayed?

Acquired by Mary Gordon, Marchioness of Douglas, it passed to the Duchess of Hamilton, who had her own arms engraved over the Queen's.

Which cryptographer decoded Babington's letters and forged a postscript asking for names?

On Walsingham's orders he kept Mary's original letter and sent a doctored copy; Babington was arrested before he could answer.

Which Jesuit priest recruited the young recusant Anthony Babington into the plot?

Ballard was arrested on 4 August 1586 and under torture implicated Babington; both were executed on 20 September.

What punishment did the Babington conspirators receive for treason?

The first group of seven included the poet Chidiock Tichborne; a second seven were tried shortly afterwards.

Where in Staffordshire was Mary held under Sir Amias Paulet's strict guard from 1585?

She was barred from all correspondence, which is exactly why Walsingham needed a secret channel to trap her.

Which future king was born at Fotheringhay Castle, where Mary was later executed?

It was a favoured residence of his father Richard, Duke of York; by 1635 the castle was ruinous and was soon demolished.

At which Yorkshire castle and manor did Mary spend much of her 18 years of English imprisonment?

Her final days were at Fotheringhay, used as a state prison for her trial and execution.