“Mary’s story is one of “murder, sex, pathos, religion and unsuitable lovers.”
Antonia Fraser, author of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Despite your views on the current British monarchy and its issues with certain members, you cannot argue that the history dating back to its ancestors is incredibly fascinating. In this edition of The Agrippina Files, we’ll have fun and jump back to hundreds of years ago when Elizabeth I ruled England and fought a personal war over the English throne against her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. For those who know the loose story, we’ll skip over all the bad blood and focus on the fight over religion.
The religion of both queens is vital to the story. The information primarily comes from an article by Smithsonian Magazine in 2018, which discusses the events of the war between the two Queens and the then-upcoming film Mary, Queen of Scots. We also used The Crown Chronicles.
The Cousins That Never Met
The two Queens were related. However, they never met in person. According to The Crown Chronicles, the cousins only spoke via letter. They were connected via Margaret Tudor, the older sister of Henry VIII. Mary was Margaret’s granddaughter.
One of Margaret’s sons was James V of Scotland, Mary’s father, who died when his daughter was only six days old. He was the last monarch to die in Scotland until the current day when Elizabeth II also took her last breath on Scottish soil.
Going back to Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, for two cousins who never met, they sure were competitive to the point that it became bloody.
Mary, Queen of Scots: Dual Titled Queen
Unlike Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots had multiple titles. She was the Queen of Scotland in her own right and the Queen of France through her marriage to Francis II of France.
Mary and Francis were raised together when he was the dauphin of France. They married in April 1558 when the Queen of the Scots was just 16. She also had a claim to the English throne, as her great-uncle was King Henry VIII. However, the marriage did not last long, given that Francis died soon after.
Elizabeth I: The Bastardised Queen
Elizabeth I was considered a bastard after the beheading execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn, in 1536. Also, the Catholic church saw her as illegitimate, born from an “unlawful marriage” between Henry and Anne. Moreover, her older half-sister Mary Tudor (Mary I), was removed from her place in the line of succession after Henry VIII annulled his marriage to her mother, Catherine of Aragorn and formed the Church of England, which allowed the annulment to occur, when the Catholic church wouldn’t.
It also debated as to why Henry had the marriage to Anne annulled. Some believe it might’ve had something to do with his entanglement with Anne’s sister, Mary Boleyn.
The Virgin Queen, as Elizabeth I was known, was, at one point, third-in-line to be monarch behind her half-brother Edward VI and her half-sister, Mary I. However, both of her half-siblings had advantages over Elizabeth.
Edward was male, and that was all Henry wanted, a son to continue the Tudor lineage. But, then, we have Mary, who, despite being female, is older than her sister. So Elizabeth’s only chance of being monarch was if her surviving siblings died without an heir.
Neither Edward nor Mary had children, which left Elizabeth to take her place as Queen of England.
Religion Played A Large Part In The Elizabeth I And Mary, Queen’s Scot’s Feud
So, let’s get down to the gritty stuff. Why was there so much drama between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots? There were a ton of factors, but the biggest was their different practices of religion.
Elizabeth was Protestant. Mary was Catholic. The Church of England was created by Henry VIII to allow the annulment of marriages and permit divorce. At the time, the Catholic church didn’t allow this.
The catholic church saw Mary, Queen of Scots as the true heir to the English throne. They saw Elizabeth I as the bastard daughter of the king.
Religion was a big part of their lives for both Queens. Though, it also caused great upheaval in their respective nations. People were at odds over whom they wanted as their monarchs. The battle over the line of succession within palace walls wasn’t much different.
In modern times, Catholic members of the current British Royal Family are excluded from the line of succession. However, think about the history that precedes them. In that case, the exclusion of Catholics in the LoS shows that the family still takes their role in the Church of England seriously.
Reverend John Knox, a Protestant preacher, had issues with how Mary dressed too elaborately.
Men Were An Issue
Outside of their familial ties and for two women who never met face to face, Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I warred over men, but not in the way you’d think. The relationship between the Queens came to a boil when Mary married her cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.
Darnley would become the father of Mary’s son, James VI and I, who, in turn, would become the King of Scotland and England. Elizabeth was named the “protector” of the boy.
Given that the women lived in a society where men dominated everything, they had men in their pockets, so to speak, almost. Well, Mary did. She was married three times. The first time was to Francis II of France, as mentioned earlier. Then she married to Darnley, who was later murdered, and then her final husband was James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell.
Elizabeth never married, but she did entertain the idea.
Romanticised Figures
To end this edition of the Agrippina Files, we wanted to go over how both were romanticised figures and how they still are.
No one wants to hear how Mary, Queen of Scots, lost her head. Instead, almost every film and the story leaves this part out and shows all the carnage of their lovers and how their lives revolved around tragic love stories before they chose themselves.
One example is the story told in the 1998 film, Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett. It is depicted that Elizabeth I didn’t like the idea of marriage when the real Elizabeth I did entertain the notion.
Mary, Queen of Scots, is often romanticised on television. One example of this is Reign, starring Adelaide Kane. Mary’s romance with Francis is deemed tragic as she miscarries their child. She is then forced to watch as he has a child with one of her ladies-in-waiting. The illegitimate child was conceived after a brief fling. Mary is named as godmother.
Lola, the lady-in-waiting who has the child with Francis, is later executed on the orders of Elizabeth I for alleged treason. She is the second of the ladies-in-waiting to die. The first, Aylee, was murdered.
