Elizabeth VS Mary Queen of Scots
I have loved Anne Boleyn and British history since I was 10 years old. My love for Anne transferred over to her daughter Elizabeth. Since I've spent years reading and watching all that i could get my hands on. From fiction to biographs, tv and movies to documentaries. I’ve heard almost every side of the story, while i don't consider myself an expert, i do think that i know a lot about those people and that time.
For my high school senior paper, i wrote about Anne Boleyn and how her memory is being twisted by the blatant bias in which authors write about her. My senior year in university i wrote about how media is changing societies perception of historical woman in a bad way. My professor repeatedly asked me of it really matter and what i hoped the reader learns or takes away from that paper. I wanted to highlight that the way historical women are portrayed still has an effect on young girls. While promoting untrue historical events does not change the events that occurred, it does change the perception in which the people and event is seen in.
Recently, i ran two polls on two different social medias, asking which person you like better Elizabeth 1 or Mary Queen of Scots. I had thought that Elizabeth would win both easily, because she is the first reigning queen to rule herself and be successful. To my surprise both polls showed Mary winning. I questioned why? Some replied that they'd seen so many bad things in film about Elizabeth that it created a dislike for her and sympathy for Mary. Hollywood has come along way is some aspects, in other ways there is still a long way to go.
I recently saw the movie Mary Queen of Scots, while i thought it was good, i was disappointed in the lack of historical accuracy and they way they portrayed Mary and Elizabeth's relationship. It seems that men writers can not understand the complicated relationship between these cousins. When men write these stories they either favor one queen over the other, they seem incapable of understand, let alone writing that both women were both smart, strong, strong in their beliefs, strong in their authority and equal political players. In Mary queen of Scots, Mary is portrayed as being politically savvy and Elizabeth is seems weak willed. In Reign, Mary is portrayed as strong, outspoken and i the right and Elizabeth is boy crazy, having affairs, being reckless and being cruel. When in fact the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
I enjoy watching historical shows and movies however i usually know not to believe everything and to look the truth up. Elizabeth 1 and Mary Queen of Scots have one of the most complicated relationships in British history. Cousins by birth, enemies by situation. Their entire conflict can be traced back to two distinct things, religion and Henry VIII’s annulment to Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn.
The thing you have to understand about this time is that religion was everything. People believed in their religion absolutely, it was the center of life. Each person believed their religion was the right one, there was no question. For a long time most of the world was catholic. When Henry VIII sought to set aside his wife, he first asked the pope for a divorce, that wasn’t unusual. Divorces and annulments had been given to kings before in order to free then from childless marriages, so that they could marry again and have children.
Henry’s VIII’s situation was more difficult for a couple reasons. 1) The previous pope had given Henry a dispensation to marry Catherine. 2) Catherine's nephew was the holy roman emperor. He had one of the best military at the time and he sacked Rome insuring that the pope couldn’t rule in Henry's favor. 3) Henry wanted to marry Catherine’s lady in waiting. It was unheard of for a king to set aside a royal bride in favor of a common born woman.
All of these reasons caused Henry to have to wait for seven years before he could dissolve his marriage to Catherine. When the pope ruled that the marriage would stand, Henry decided to split with the catholic church. It's not an exaggeration to say that his actions shook the world. Henry declared himself head of the church of England and declared his marriage to Catherine annulled and their daughter a bastard. From then on until his death, his country and his children to come were raised in the new faith.
Three years after Henry annulled his marriage and remarried Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's mother. He declared his marriage to Anne was invalid and declared Elizabeth a bastard and had Anne arrested for treason and executed. Henry did this, little realizing that his choice to disinherit his daughter and slander her name by charging her mother with treason, would give everyone else reason to slander her for the rest of her life.
Elizabeth was thirteen when Mary Queen of Scots was born. Mary was the daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary De Guise. Mary’s father died three days after she was born, she had been queen since she was a child. Her mother Mary de guise betrothed her to the heir of the french throne, Francis. Scotland while Mary was young and France where both catholic. Mary had been raised catholic, she believed that was the only true religion. Something i think people overlook is that Elizabeth believed just as strongly in her religion as Mary did.
When Henry VIII died, the order of succession was in this order, Edward, Mary Tudor, Elizabeth, Jane Grey, Catherine Grey, Mary Grey and Margaret Clifford. Mary queen of Scots and her entire blood were excluded in Henry VIII’s will. By my logic it would seem that Mary had no claim to the throne of England. That's not how she saw it or those around her saw it.
When Elizabeth came to the throne, she never overturned her fathers act of parliament that branded her a bastard and her mother a traitor. It's been theorized that she did this in order to not bring attention to her her mother and that act, she always strived to make herself seen as her father's daughter. Her enemies used this as proof that she was bastard and therefore was ineligible to the throne and needed to be replaced with a sovereign that was catholic and more controllable than Elizabeth was.
Although Mary had been on her throne since she was six days old, she was sent to France at a young age to marry Francis and her mother was her regent. Mary did not start ruling Scotland her until after the death of her first husband Francis and her expulsion from France. During her mother's regency, Scotland nobles had grown increasingly restless and the country moved from being a catholic nation to being a protestant one.
When Mary returned to rule Scotland, none of the noble were thrilled with the idea of a women ruler and one that was catholic was worse. Mary unlike Elizabeth was eager to marry and thought it would help solidify her power. Mary's return to Scotland started the lifelong conflict between the cousins. Mary wanted Elizabeth to name her heir to England, Elizabeth would never name a succor in fear that her people would start to look to the future instead of the present.
During their discussions surrounding this, it was said that Elizabeth would agree to name Mary her heir if she married a man of Elizabeth's choosing. Mary clearly resented that, she wanted to marry for love, which she did and her choice of husband is what doomed her. The Lennox family were minor royalty that nobody really thought twice about. Lord Darnley had clam to thrones of Scotland and England. He was both Elizabeth and Mary’s cousin. Inter Family marriage was common at the time, especially with royalty.
Elizabeth understood something that Mary did not. She understood how entrusting men were of a women ruler and how fearful they were of the queen's husband taking control of her and that of the country. So Elizabeth made a vow to never marry so that no man would have power over her or her country. Mary believed that a husband would add to her power and give her an heir that Elizabeth would never have.
Mary was right about one of those things and wrong about the other. Mary married Lord Darnley against Elizabeth's wishes. Elizabeth could see that Darnley and his family were only trying to gain power and not because Darnley honestly loved Mary. historians believe that Mary thought she was making a love match with Darnley, that illusion did not stay long. Very soon after the wedding Darnley showed his true colors, by demanding the crown matrimonial that would make him, king, in more than name. It would make him Mary's equal in the eyes of the law, and in the eyes of her council above her.
That was unacceptable to Mary, she wanted to rule. Her council and her country did not agree with her choice of groom either. Darnley was catholic and highly unliked by the nobles and the common people.Mary was a catholic queen to a protestant country, it was hard waters. Darnley Only made things worse for her instead of better. Mary might have been better off marrying a protestant, she could preach all she wanted about being tolerant and not punishing protestants, but her people needed more than words. If she had married a protestant that would have shown them that she was tolerate.
Instead, she married a catholic against the wishes of her counsel and Elizabeth. From the moment after their wedding Darnley was trying to steal power from Mary and because he was a man it was working. Her council were happily willing to use him to downgrade her power. When Mary said she would never give Darnley any power, he and the council staged a coup. Darnley and them stormed Mary's chambers and butchered her secretary David Rizzio in front of her and took her hostage.
The nobles that did this intended to dispose her and place Darnley on the throne, as king. Mary outsmarted then that time, she managed to escape the castle and reached her army, she retake the castle. For reason i can't fathom, she pardoned all nobles involved including Darnley. All was calm for a little while after that, Mary had her baby a son she named James.
Soon after the birth of her son, Darnley was found murdered. Although there is little proof linking Mary to his murder many believe that she played a part in it. This belief would taint her name forever. Many of the nobles began to doubt her even more than they already did.
She was taken prison by her general Lord Bothwell, raped by him and forced to marry him. Women in this age did not understand what rape was, why it's never their fault and most times if this did happen to a women she was forced to marry her rapist in order to preserve her reputation. That was extra important for a queen, queen's could never have their reputation blacked, it could cost them their thrones and their lives.
Although there is little proof and only speculation that this occurred, it would explain why Mary married Bothwell so soon after Darnley's death. Its was this rapid remarried that turn the country against her. With the common people against her, it didn’t take long for her nobles to do the same. Mary was forced to abdicate her throne in favor of her infant son James, she was then kept prisoner in her own country.
For the second time in her life, Mary escaped her captures and made a desperate run to England where she asked her cousin for aid and sanctuary. Elizabeth had offered Mary sanctuary, unknowing that she was being blamed for the death of her husband Darnley. There is no proof that Mary was involved in his murder. Elizabeth’s enemies had never stopped trying to supplant her with the catholic Mary. Whether Mary was aware of it or not she would always be a danger to Elizabeth's throne and country. England by this point had been through a break with Rome, an hard change to protestant, a switch back to Catholicism and then another hard change back to protestant, i'm not sure that country could handle another religious change.
Since Mary had legally abdicated her throne, there was no precedent on how she was to be treated or where she fell in the rank of woman at court. How should Elizabeth address her? No one really knew, because Mary was not technically a monarch anymore, they could not speak privately, that was reserved for monarch to monarch. Mary asked Elizabeth to send troops into Scotland to get her throne back. Elizabeth could not do that, because one her counsel would object and she would not leave England unprotected in order to get Mary her throne back when she had no proof that Mary would stop trying to take her throne.
Elizabeth was actually powerless to help Mary get her throne back all she could offer was protect within England. Elizabeth's version of protection isn't what Mary wanted. The only way Elizabeth could protect Mary and also protect herself, was to basically place her on house arrest. Elizabeth did this not be cruel or to keep Mary prisoner it was to protect them both.
If Elizabeth had allowed Mary to walk free and join her court, it would have lead to a big confused mess. Where would Mary stand? Would people be referred to treat her a royalty or just a high born woman? If Elizabeth had given her English titles, it would have made her nobles angry because they would say that she was taking away from good English people to reward a foreign traitor. Again, there was no way for Elizabeth to know that Mary wouldn't use her money to fund either a army in Scotland (which would have laid the blame at Elizabeth's door, and made the nobles ruling Scotland, hostilel towards England) or to fund an army to take England.
There was also a fear that Mary would be abducted by either Scottish nobles in order to bring her back or by agents of Rome or Spain in order to use to supplant Elizabeth. So it was in everyone's best interest of Mary was kept safe but out of the way. Mary was allowed to send letters to anyone she wished and it was these letters that would doom her. May would spend nineteen year in England, in relative peace, she would never stop fighting to reclaim her throne. What she didn't seem to understand was that her people didn’t want her, and they would never accept her back on the throne.
None of her allies, France, Spain or Rome would help with reclaiming Scotland or gaining her freedom from England. So Mary was getting desperate, at least that what some believe. The proof that was used to show her guilt in a catholic plot to murder was Elizabeth was shaky then and is mostly believed to be false today, however Elizabeth had no choice but to order her execution. This choice haunted Elizabeth and she struggled with the decision for a long time, they worried about her soul in ordering her “sisters” execution and what kind of president that would set, for an anointed queen to be executed, even though her own father had already set that president with her own mothers execution.
After months of deliberation and pressure from her Councillors, Elizabeth finally signed the death warrant. Her Councillors knew that she was so indecisive and unwilling to go through with this that as soon as she signed it, they had Mary executed three day later, to insure that it was done, even though Elizabeth had order that they stall it. Elizabeth was furious with them, but Mary was dead.
History and Hollywood have painted this picture of a cold hearted Elizabeth that sent her cousin to death because of petty jealousy and a Mary that was amazingly beautiful, kind, strong and railroaded for no reason. When the truth lies somewhere in the middle. It's hard for us to believe that they were both complicated, strong woman that didn’t hate each other, their circumstances and the men around them push them into being enemies when they didn’t need to be. Elizabeth worked her whole life to be taken seriously, she refused to give the men around her the power to control her, she had been given the education of a prince, she was known as one of the most learned woman in the world, she came to her throne ready to rule.
Mary had been a queen since she was six days old, her country was ruled by her mother and her counsel then her half brother. Her country didn’t know her, she was engaged to Francis as a young child and sent to live in france where she was raised and taught to be a consort not a monarch in her own right because no one ever really intended for her to rule alone. Not even Mary herself, she wanted that power that Elizabeth had but she also felt that she need a husband and it was her choice in husband that brought her downfall. Since her time in france, she had been calling herself queen of england and Elizabeth a bastard. It should not have been a surprise to hear that elizabeth view her as a threat.
There are so many little things that could have gone slightly different that would have saved Mary’s life. A protestant husband, if Darnley’s death had been different, if she hadn’t have a son, if her brother had not sided with her council, if Knox had not been against her from the start, if Elizabeth had named her hair, if elizabeth had sent an army to scotland. There is a million what if’s, but the truth of it is, both of these women were in a place of power at a time that women were viewed as less than. That meant they need to be extra careful to not given the men in their counsel reason to think them less or to get rid of them. Only one of them succeed.
