Elizabethan revision resource (AQA GCSE)

Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary's background:

Mary was Elizabeth's cousin and she was a potential heir to the throne

Mary was born in December 1542, the only child of James V of Scotland and his French wife, Mary of Guise. When she was six days old her father died and she became queen. Her mother acted as regent.

Due to violence and instability in Scotland, the Scots betrothed (arranged a marriage) the young queen to Francis, the four-year-old heir to the French crown, and sent Mary to be raised at the court of Henry II in France.

In April 1558, the young couple were duly married and Francis became king in 1559, briefly uniting the French and Scottish crowns. However, Francis died from an ear infection the following year.

A widow at just 18, Mary returned to Scotland where she faced many challenges. As a Catholic in a country that was officially Protestant, she was regarded with suspicion by some of her subjects.

Civil war broke out in Scotland and Mary was forced to abdicate in July 1567 and her infant son James was made king.

Mary comes to England

Mary fled to England to seek help from her cousin, Elizabeth I.

Mary had hoped Queen Elizabeth would support her cause but her arrival in England put her cousin in a difficult position. The Catholic Mary also had a strong claim to the English throne so Elizabeth her under house arrest in isolated locations in the North and the Midlands.

Over the next 19 years, Mary became the focus of four Catholic plots to assassinate Elizabeth and put her on the English throne. As Mary was not directly involved in these plots Elizabeth was reluctant to act against her.

PLOT 1: The Northern Rebellion, 1569

In 1569, the arrival of Mary, Queen of Scots, in England triggered a Catholic rebellion in the north of England.

The Duke of Norfolk played a central role. He did not like Cecil's power as Chief Minister and as a Catholic sympathiser, disapproved of Cecil's policies towards Spain.

Norfolk planned to marry Mary and set her up as Elizabeth's heir in order to gain greater influence himself. He had the support of other leading Catholic nobles – The earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland.

He enlisted the help of two of Elizabeth's courtiers, Throckmorton and Robert Dudley, who was both Elizabeth's favourite and a Puritan. Dudley was also keen to reduce Cecil's power, but he soon confessed all to the Queen and Cecil.

Northumberland and Westmoreland were supported by an army of about 4,500.

The rebels captured Durham and Barnard Castle. However, when the royal army arrived, they were easily defeated. Promised international help from Spain never appeared.

Northumberland was eventually executed in 1572, whilst Norfolk was imprisoned in the Tower of London, but was released after just nine months.

After the Northern Rebellion, the Catholics were not strong enough to attempt an open rebellion.

PLOT 2: The Ridolfi Plot, 1571

In 1571 a plot was discovered involving Philip II of Spain, Pope Pius V and the Duke of Norfolk, as well as Mary's advisor, the Bishop of Ross, and Mary herself. The plot was again an attempt to restore Catholicism in England.

At its heart was Roberto Ridolfi, a Florentine banker based in London. Ridolfi travelled to Rome and Madrid to raise support for an invasion of eastern England and an uprising of Catholics, which would be followed by the marriage of the Duke of Norfolk (who has been released from prison) to Mary, Queen of Scots, who would seize the English throne.