Episode 1
The killing of a Queen.
Audio • Season 2 • Episode 1 • The killing of a Queen.
There are some writings which Seethe, with a barely concealed anger, even after more than four centuries.
Two memoranda by Robert Beale, Clerk to the Privy Council under Queen Elizabeth the first, exemplify this; in them, he expresses his outrage at Elizabeth’s efforts to shift the blame for the death of Mary Queen of Scots.
After agreeing to the assassination of Mary, Elizabeth would later blame Secretary of State William Davison and the Privy Council, for executing the very death warrant, she had signed.
Artwork • The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots at Fotheringhay Castle on 8 February 1587, drawn by Robert Beale (1541-1601), Clerk of the Privy Council to Queen Elizabeth I, who wrote the official record of the execution to which he was an eyewitness.
The evening before the execution he had read-out to Mary her death warrant and informed her that she was to be executed the following morning.
Key to numbers: George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and Henry Grey, 6th Earl of Kent are seated to the left (1 & 2) and Sir Amias Paulet, one of Mary's guards, is seated behind the scaffold (3)
Music • Christum wir sollen loben schon, 1586 · Württemberg Chamber Choir
Lyricist: Martin Luther. Composer: Lukas Osiander.
Martin Luther initially adapted his melody from the Latin hymn melodies associated with 'A solis ortus cardine' by Caelius Sedulius to make it suitable for his German verse.
The chorale text and melody first appeared in print in Erfurt 'Enchiridion' in 1524.
Transcript
Series 2
Episode 1
The Killing of a Queen
The year is:In 1586, Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, was placed in command of the English expeditionary force in Holland, with the understanding that his advice to the Dutch on political matters would have its limits.
Over the next two months, bad weather in the North Sea severely hampered his communications with England.
As the days turned into weeks without any contact, Dudley’s resourcefulness and resilience were put to a significant test.
Feeling perhaps abandoned by his government, Dudley accepted the position of Governor-General that the Dutch authorities offered him.
January:Upon learning of this, Queen Elizabeth was deeply angered and demanded that Leicester resign from his position.
He responded by blaming Davison for the advice he received.
In response, the Queen immediately recalled Davison, requiring a full explanation of his actions.
Davison and his support team, including Brewster, quickly departed from the port of Flushing, heading to England to face Queen Elizabeth.
Upon his arrival in England, Davison encountered the Queen's wrath, despite having previously received her praise for his exceptional diplomatic skills.
Her anger was directed at Leicester's decision to accept the Governorship in Amsterdam, as she felt that both Leicester and Davison had acted with too much independence.
In response, Davison, unyielding, chose to wait for Queen Elizabeth to reconsider her stance, believing there was no need to apologise.
However, she did not change her mind.
Consequently, Davison, his assistant William Brewster and their group, were forced to leave Queen Elizabeth's court under challenging circumstances.
While working with Davison, Brewster learned about the Dutch government's progressive and welcoming approach, getting a firsthand look at the lively atmosphere of Dutch cities and towns.
In Leiden, he was able to observe how the locals lived their everyday lives, building lasting connections with local leaders, while noting how the Dutch Reformed Church operated and thrived in its community.
Despite his background in Anglicanism, Brewster found himself intrigued by the simplicity of their liturgies and the congregation's autonomy in its policies and practices.
In the:He accomplished this through his writings, such as "The Survey of Pretended Holy Discipline," as well as through sermons and the enforcement of church rules and regulations.
During this period, the Church of England started to see John Udall's unwavering commitment to strict adherence to biblical principles conflicting with their widely held theories and doctrine.
As a result, Thomas Cooper, Bishop of Winchester, and William Day, Dean of Windsor, summoned Udall to the Court of High Commission at Lambeth, where he was subsequently dismissed from his ministry.
The Countess of Warwick, Anne Dudley, and Sir Drue Drury appealed on Udall's behalf and successfully sought his restoration.
At this time, John Field, Walter Travers, and Thomas Cartwright had returned to England.
United by a common goal, they aimed to propose a new order for the Church of England.
In:However, once again, the Puritan effort failed to pass.
In:As he walked past a London church, he was drawn in by the sound of a preacher delivering a spirited sermon.
Without hesitation, he entered the church, completely captivated by the shared religious message.
Little did he know that this single experience would change his life forever.
Filled with determination to atone for his past mistakes, he decided to devote himself entirely to studying Scripture and exploring good books and literature.
July:This position allowed him to enter a new phase in his life, which included marriage.
Richard Clyfton and his wife Anne, had three daughters who died in infancy, as well as three surviving sons, all born in Babworth.
here he earned his MA in July:By this time, he had adopted Protestant beliefs with notable Puritan influences.
He therefore chose not to pursue ordination, and instead became licensed as a University Preacher.
After Robert Browne's health improved, he resumed writing and preaching illegally, which led some local clergy to report him to the authorities.
Bishop Howard of Peterborough summoned Browne to answer these charges, but Browne refused to attend, and subsequently faced excommunication.
However, later in the year, and entirely unexpectedly, Robert, Troublechurch Brown decided to recant.
He quickly requested absolution and signed a submission form to the Church of England and the Episcopate.
Browne submitted his case to the Church of England, perhaps hoping to end the relentless scrutiny he had faced.
Was the threat of excommunication the catalyst for his change of attitude, or did his role as the father of nine children also influence his decision?
Despite his submission, doubts still lingered in his mind, casting a shadow of uncertainty over his future.
From:However, his journey took a different turn, as he eventually returned to the Church of England.
ve's School in Southwark from: Stamford Grammar School from:Even so, Browne continued to engage in disputes and debates with those who maintained their original separatist positions and who now viewed him as a renegade.
In particular, he responded multiple times to criticisms from John Greenwood and Henry Barrow.
f God,” was written between:This work, offers valuable insight into the evolution of his subsequent beliefs.
In:Their objective, was to restore the Catholic faith in England, by orchestrating an invasion aided by the Spanish forces of King Philip II and the Catholic League of France.
However, Elizabeth's intelligence chief, Sir Francis Walsingham, uncovered the plot.
With this information, he successfully trapped Mary, eliminating her as a potential heir to the English throne.
August:Tixall is a small village and civil parish located in the English county of Staffordshire.
Tixall Hall served as the residence of the Aston family, who were devoted Roman Catholics and held the title of Lord Aston of Forfar, Scotland.
Sir Francis Walsingham had previously arranged for the interception of Mary’s letters from Chartley, where she was living, with the intent to incriminate her.
Walsingham, successfully deceived Mary into believing her correspondence was secure, all the while meticulously deciphering and reading her letters.
The content of these letters made it evident, that Mary had authorised the attempted assassination of Queen Elizabeth.
At the age of 46, Mary Queen of Scots had already endured much of her eighteen years of confinement at Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor.
She was now transported to Fotheringhay Castle, a journey that lasted four-days, concluding on 25 September.
Fotheringhay Castle, was a grim Norman Motte-and-Bailey structure, situated to the north of Oundle, a market town in Northamptonshire, at that time, functioning as a state prison.
In the early October of:Her trial lasted two days.
During the proceedings, Mary exhibited a spirited defence, denying all allegations against her and admonishing the court by stating,
“Examine your consciences and recognise that the confines of the entire world extend beyond the borders of this kingdom of England.”
She asserted that the authorities had deprived her of the opportunity to review the evidence, had unlawfully confiscated her documents, and had denied her access to legal representation.
Furthermore, Mary proclaimed her status as a foreign, legally anointed monarch, contending that she had never been an English subject and, as a result, could not be deemed guilty of treason.
At this juncture, the court, adhering to its procedures, decided to suspend her trial for further private deliberations.
Four-days later, the court met again in the Star Chamber at Westminster. This time, however, Mary was not invited to be present, which only added an unsettling feeling to the proceedings.
On 25 October, Mary Queen of Scots was declared guilty and sentenced to death, with only one person, Lord Zouche, speaking out against the decision.
However, despite increasing pressure from the English Parliament to carry out the verdict, Elizabeth hesitated to authorise Mary's execution.
Her hesitation was understandable, as she was concerned about the potential repercussions of executing a queen.
In particular, she feared retaliation from Mary's son, James, who might ally himself with Europe's Catholic powers and attempt to invade England.
Thus, Elizabeth discretely approached Sir Amias Paulet, Mary's final custodian, asking him to contrive a covert way to shorten the life of Mary, which he took to mean murder.
He refused, explaining that he did not wish to make a shipwreck of his conscience, or leave a great blot on his future generations.
In: had only joined the group in:Greenwood's previous ordination and his experience as chaplain in a Puritan household contributed to his prominence within the group.
Barrow, whom Greenwood had introduced to the assembly, gained recognition as a leader as well, attributed to his strong personality.
Browne emphasised the importance of separating from the Church of England, though disagreements regarding the organisation of the new church persisted among the members.
While the church's authority technically rested with the congregation, the elders held their office as a trust, wielding absolute authority within the church.
However, the two men preferred a more autocratic leadership style, expecting members to be meek and submissive.
ch would not take place until:Gathering early on Sundays, and meeting by prior agreement, they would spend the entire day in prayer and discussion of their faith.
They didn't follow traditional church ceremonies or rituals like Baptism and Communion, and wanted to keep outside authorities out of their worship.
During their meetings, they collected money to cover their expenses and used what was left to help members who were in jail and support their families.
These gatherings were joyful for them, bringing them together through their shared beliefs.
Unfortunately, this unity was short-lived, as the Archbishop's spies constantly watched.
Whitgift, had already managed to shut down some Puritan groups, he was now to focus, on this small, emerging group of Separatists.
Queen Elizabeth, took more than two months to decide whether to sign Mary’s death-warrant. Ultimately, it was only through the insistence of William Cecil that she finally added her signature to the document.
February:Mistakenly believing everything was secure, Davison passed the now-sealed warrant to William Cecil for safekeeping.
On 3 February, without the knowledge of either Queen Elizabeth or Davison, William Cecil convened a meeting of ten members of the Privy Council of England. Having gained possession of Mary’s death-warrant, he sought to persuade the Council members to agree to carry out her execution.
February:Mary spent the last hours of her life, praying in the castle's small chapel, distributing her possessions to her household, and prepared her will, along with a letter to King Henri of France.
February:Six hours later, she was to mount the scaffold at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire.
away from an ear infection in:For the sake of completeness, the entire letter is included.
The last letter of Mary Queen of Scots.
It was originally written in French. This is the English Translation.
Mary, Queen of Scotland.
February:Sire, my dear brother-in-law, having by God's will, for my sins I think, thrown myself into the power of the Queen my cousin, at whose hands I have suffered much for almost twenty years, I have finally been condemned to death by her and her Estates.
I have asked for my papers, which they have taken away, in order that I might make my will, but have been unable to recover anything of use to me, or even get leave either to make my will freely or to have my body conveyed after my death, as I would wish to, Your kingdom, where I had the honour to be Queen, your sister and old ally.
Tonight, after dinner, I have been advised of my sentence.
I am to be executed like a criminal at eight in the morning.
I have not had time to give you a full account of everything that has happened, but if you will listen to my doctor and my other unfortunate servants, you will learn the truth, and how, thanks be to God, I scorn death, and vow that I meet it, innocent of any crime, even if I were their subject.
The Catholic faith and the assertion of my God-given right to the English crown are the two issues on which I am condemned, and yet I am not allowed to say that it is for the Catholic religion that I die, but for fear of interference with theirs.
The proof of this is that they have taken away my chaplain, and although he is in the building, I have not been able to get permission for him to come and hear my confession and give me the Last Sacraments, while they have been most insistent that I receive the consolation and instruction from their own minister, brought here for that purpose.
The bearer of this letter and his companions, most of them your subjects, will testify to my conduct at my last hour.
It remains for me to beg Your Most Christian Majesty, my brother-in-law and old ally, who have always protested your love for me, to give proof now of your goodness on all these points: firstly by charity, in paying my unfortunate servants the wages due them - this is a burden on my conscience that only you can relieve.
Further, by having prayers offered to God for a queen, who has borne the title Most Christian, and who dyes a Catholic, stripped of all her possessions.
As for my son, I commend him to you, in so far as he deserves, for I cannot answer for him.
I have also taken the liberty of sending you two precious stones, talismans against illness, trusting that you will enjoy good health and a long and happy life.
Accept them from your loving sister-in-law, who, as she dyes, bears witness of her warm feelings for you.
Again I commend my servants to you.
Give instructions, if it please you, that for my soul's sake part of what you owe me should be paid, and that for the sake of Jesus Christ, to whom I shall pray for you tomorrow as I die, I be left enough to found a memorial mass and give the customary alms.
Written, this Wednesday, two hours after midnight.
Your very loving and most true sister, Mary Regina.
To the most Christian king, my brother-in-law and old ally.
Mary's letter finally reached France.
It was not until late:Dominique Bourgoing was a French physician in the household of Mary Queen of Scots.
He is known for authoring an influential account of Mary's captivity and execution.
However, it was Philip II of Spain who authorised the payment of outstanding wages and pensions to Mary's servants, carried out through his ambassador Bernardino Mendoza.
The letter most likely remained in the French royal archives.
Later, at an unspecified date, it was given to the Scots College in Paris, a Catholic seminary for Scottish priests, probably as a relic of the martyred queen.
There it stayed until the French Revolution, when the college was dissolved, and its archives were dispersed.
Mary's letter then passed through various owners, before eventually becoming part of the illustrious collection of autographs, formed by the renowned 19th-century collector Alfred Morrison.
In: the Advocates Library, until: February:Inside Fotheringhay Castle’s Great Hall.
Today, when you visit the ruins of Fotheringhay Castle, the boundaries of the inner bailey are clearly marked, making it easy to walk where the privy lodgings and Great Hall once stood.
that cold February morning in:Mary entered the hall to the sound of a crackling fire, and the chatter of around 300 witnesses.
Contemporary accounts, describe the scaffold as being set up at the high end of the castle’s Great Hall.
It was two feet high and twelve feet broad, draped in black cloth and accessible by two or three steps.
The scaffold, was simply furnished with a block, a cushion for kneeling, and three stools--one each for her, and for the Earls of Shrewsbury and Kent, who were there as witnesses to her execution.
Mr. Bull, the executioner, and his assistant knelt before her, requesting her forgiveness, as was customary for executioners before carrying out their duty.
Mary replied, “I forgive you with all my heart, for now, I hope you shall end all my troubles”.
A contemporary description of the garments worn by Mary on the eventful day is documented in a posthumous and now iconic portrait of the queen, depicting her as a Catholic martyr.
The account, describes Mary’s "upper most gown of black satin’, which had some print upon it, and with a train which ran to the ground".
Her sleeves were "long hanging and trimmed with acorn buttons of jet and pearl".
The design allowed the under-sleeves of purple--representing the liturgical colour of martyrdom within the Catholic Church--to be visible.
Her servants, Jane Kennedy and Elizabeth Curle, and the executioner helped Mary remove her outer garments, revealing her kirtle of black velvet with a bodice of crimson satin and her skirt of crimson velvet.
As she disrobed, Mary smiled, remarking, …she "never had such grooms before ... nor ever put off my clothes before such a company".
In a gesture of care, her servant Jane Kennedy blindfolded her using a white veil adorned with gold embroidery.
February:Beale served as the Clerk of the Privy Council to Queen Elizabeth and documented the official record of the execution, having witnessed the event firsthand.
The official witnesses present were George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, and Henry Grey, 6th Earl of Kent, who are depicted seated on the scaffold to the left and identified as numbers 1 and 2.
Sir Amias Paulet, Mary’s jailer, is marked as number 3, sitting on the left below the rear raised platform.
February:This photograph is included, recording a print of the original manuscript from the papers of Robert Beale, Clerk of the Privy Council, which is now preserved in the British Library.
The drawing illustrates the layout and sequence of the execution, and depicts those onlookers surrounding the platform.
Mary is depicted three times, showing the progression of the event.
First, she enters on the left with two female figures.
Then, Mary is being attended to, by her ladies-in-waiting, as they stand in the centre of the platform.
Finally, the drawing captures the moment of her death, with the Queen kneeling by the block, with the executioner’s axe raised.
Kneeling on the cushion, she slowly positioned her head on the block before her.
Stretching out her arms to the side, her last words were; "In manus tuas Domine, commendo Spiritum Meum"; into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit.
Unfortunately the executioner did not behead Mary Queen of Scots with a single strike.
His first axe blow missed her neck, striking the back of her head instead.
The second blow severed her neck, except for a small piece of the sinew, which the executioner followed through, sawing it through with his axe.
Afterwards, and in keeping with tradition, the executioner held Mary's head aloft, declaring "God save the Queen".
At that moment, the auburn tresses in his hand turned out to be a wig, and the head, falling to the ground, revealed that Mary, aged 45 had very short grey hair.
February:Mary had requested to be buried in France, but Elizabeth had refused.
For almost five months, they did not bury her.
August: at Peterborough Cathedral in:Mary’s entrails, removed as part of the embalming process, were buried secretly within the grounds of Fotheringhay Castle.
When news of the execution reached Elizabeth, she became upset and indignant.
She asserted, that Davison had disobeyed her instructions by parting with the warrant, and claimed that the Privy Council had acted without her authority.
Following their recent disagreement over the Dutch governorship issue, this would quickly become a significant problem for Davison.
Elizabeth's hesitation and her deliberately vague instructions gave her plausible deniability, allowing her to evade direct responsibility for Mary Stuart's death.
To conceal her complicity in Mary Stuart's execution, Elizabeth accused her Secretary of State, William Davison, of mishandling the death-warrant and other documents presented to her for signature.
Davison was to be her scapegoat.
He faced charges of misprision and contempt before the Star Chamber.
While he was acquitted of any evil intent, he was found guilty of misprision, which refers to the neglect or improper execution of official duties.
The court imposed a fine of 10,000 marks and ordered his imprisonment at the Queen's discretion.
In England, the Mark was not circulated as a coin, but was utilised as a unit of account.
The term "At the Queen's pleasure" denotes the uncertain duration of a prisoner's sentence.
son was released in September:Walsingham is generally regarded as having supported Cecil’s plan regarding the execution of the Queen of Scots.
ueen of Scots, was exhumed in:Many of her descendants, including Elizabeth of Bohemia, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and the children of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, were also laid to rest in her vault.
Later, in:Eventually, King James's burial spot was rediscovered at Westminster Abbey in the vault that contains the coffins of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York.
There are some writings, which Seethe, with barely concealed anger, even after more than Four-centuries.
Two such documents are memoranda by Robert Beale, Clerk to the Privy Council of Queen Elizabeth the First.
They reveal not only anger but also astonishing bluntness from a prominent and loyal state official.
Beale was infuriated by Elizabeth’s attempts to shift the blame for the death of Mary Queen of Scots onto others.
First, she encouraged her subjects to kill Mary, and then she blamed Secretary of State William Davison and the Privy Council for the delivery of a death-warrant that the Queen herself had signed.
Robert Beale, was the man who delivered the death-warrant to Fotheringhay and read it at Mary’s execution.
Mary Queen of Scots, was a significant figure in Beale’s career.
He was sent Four-times to negotiate with the imprisoned Scottish queen.
Since at least:Beale had seen the personal messages, which Elizabeth had added to the formal letters he carried to Mary.
May:"Your cousin, who is the one that desserts you, still might have affection for you".
Beale collected original or copied versions of many important documents and polemics regarding Mary over the years.
Much of his collection on Mary is now preserved in a single volume, from which three items are displayed in the exhibition titled "Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens”.
taken by loyal Englishmen in:The second item is Beale’s copy of the proclamation, declaring Mary’s guilt, accompanied by his notes about its reading in the City of London.
The third item is Beale’s own drawing of Mary’s execution.
Earlier, we mentioned that we would encounter Judge Wray again.
Like many gentlemen from the north, Wray was likely a Catholic at heart, but he navigated his role with caution.
In the spring of: lliam Lord Vaux, and later in: In October:Although he attended the proceedings, he did not actively participate.
March:He announced the court's harsh sentence, coldly criticising Davison as; "Good, but not that-Good", due to his indiscreet zeal.
May:He was buried at St. Michael's Church in Glentworth Lincolnshire.
In:That same year, Queen Elizabeth requested Sir Christopher Hatton, to lead an attack against the ideas of Thomas Cartwright.
Hatton began his argument, by stating that the introduction of a Presbyterian system would essentially mean the establishment of a theocracy;- where political power, would be held by either the clergy or the laity.
This, he argued, would put the patronage rights of landowners at serious risk.
ht of the Garter, was born in:He was an English politician and served as the Lord Chancellor of England.
Notably, he was one of the judges who found Mary Queen of Scots, guilty of treason.
Additionally, Hatton was an investor in some of Francis Drake's voyages.
During Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, he renamed his ship The Golden Hind in honour of Hatton, as it reflected the design on Hatton's coat of arms.
Today, Hatton Garden is at the centre of the UK's trade in cut diamonds.
The area, is named after Sir Christopher Hatton, who established a mansion there, acquiring the garden and orchard of Ely Place which had previously served as the London residence of the Bishops of Ely.
In: as completed and published in: In early:"The Equity of a Humble Supplication, on behalf of the country of Wales that some order may be taken, for the preaching of the Gospel among those people," addressing this issue.
February to March:In response to his perceived criticism within the treatise, Archbishop Whitgift issued a warrant for Penry's arrest, and directed the Stationers' Company to confiscate all copies of the publication.
One consequence of Penry’s encounter with Episcopal authority, was that his Treatise would be the only one, of his many publications to be printed openly in England.
The rest were published in secret presses or Puritan printing centres, such as Middelburg, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam.
At the age of 24, Penry found himself before the Court of High Commission for examination, and was sentenced to twelve days in prison, during which he ultimately remained for an entire month.
Earlier, in:This decree gave Whitgift control over the Stationers' Company and their printing presses, allowing him to suppress any literature he deemed slanderous or seditious.
Whitgift would later use this decree, to censor Puritan writings, labelling them heretical.
The Star Chamber was an English court that operated at the royal Palace of Westminster from the late 15th century to the mid-17th century.
The court is believed to be named for its ceiling decorations, which featured gold stars set against a blue background-- a typical medieval design for the ceilings of richly adorned rooms.
ed in "Old and new London" in:The Star Chamber was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to enhance the judicial functions of both common-law and equity courts in civil and criminal cases.
Initially, the authorities established the Star Chamber to ensure the fair enforcement of laws against socially and politically influential individuals, whose offences might be challenging to prove in regular courts.
However, the chamber quickly became associated with social and political oppression, due to the arbitrary use and abuse of its power.
The Privy Council of England was an advisory body to the Sovereign of the Kingdom of England, playing a significant role in advising the Sovereign on crucial state matters, including the Royal Prerogative and the granting of Royal Charters.
Its members typically included senior officials from the House of Lords and the House of Commons, prominent church leaders, judges, diplomats, and military figures.
In February: The Book, written in:In addition, the bill proposed to void all former laws, customs, statutes and constitutions that define England's religious practices and ecclesiastical organisation.
twerp by Thomas Cartwright in:He was a leading voice in London's Puritan/Presbyterian movement, which also supported the bill.
It was at this moment, that Queen Elizabeth, acted to stop, Sir Anthony Cope’s Bill.
Cope and three others, along with MP Sir Peter Wentworth who had supported him by presenting specific articles related to members' liberties in the House of Commons were imprisoned in the Tower for twenty-five days.
They were all charged with interfering with the Royal Ecclesiastical Prerogative.
The Royal Prerogative is one of the most significant elements of the UK Constitution.
Today, the Prerogative allows Ministers to perform various functions, such as deploying the armed forces, making and unmaking international treaties, and granting honours.
The concept of prerogative power, originates from the medieval kings, who acted as the heads of their kingd
