Episode 1
The killing of a Queen. - Shorter listen.
Audio • Season 2 • Episode 1 • The killing of a Queen. - Shorter listen.
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.
Transcript
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.
December:Nine months later, as the only surviving, legitimate heir to the Scottish throne, she was crowned in a ceremony at Stirling Castle, conducted by the Catholic Cardinal David Beaton.
During her childhood, Scotland was governed first by James Hamilton, the Earl of Arran, and later by her mother, Mary of Guise.
As England embraced the Protestant Reformation, English forces repeatedly invaded Scotland.
ld Mary was sent to France in:Growing up at the court of King Henri the second and Queen Catherine de’ Medici, she received an education alongside the French royal children.
In an effort to secure a dynastic claim to the Kingdom of Scotland, King Henri, planned to marry the young Mary to his eldest son, the even younger Dauphin, François the second.
April:Though both were teenagers, their union was politically significant, as any heir would have claims to the thrones of France, Scotland, and possibly England.
July:Following this tragic event, François took the throne.
September:His reign was marked by political and religious turmoil, as the powerful Guise family, used him to suppress the Huguenots.
Tragically, the French monarchy, was destined to face, still more sorrow.
December:Mary summed up the contemporary ideal of a Renaissance Princess with her tall, slender figure, red-gold hair, and amber eyes. Raised at the court of King Henri and Queen Catherine de Medici, she viewed herself more as a Frenchwoman than a Scot.
However, following the death of her husband, Mary was advised by the Guises, to return to Scotland.
St Giles' Cathedral, also known as the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a notable parish church of the Church of Scotland, situated in Edinburgh's Old Town.
ate status by Pope Paul II in:Mary returned to Scotland on 19 August 1561, during a tense time, when Protestantism, led by John Knox, was growing. As a Catholic queen raised in France, she encountered significant hostility. Settling in Holyroodhouse, her Catholic practices only increased tensions. Knox criticized her, stating, "A single mass is more fearful to me than 10,000 armed men," leading Mary to summon him to defend his sermons.
nitially ruled moderately. In:Mary's marriage to Lord Darnley in July 1565, started with promise, but quickly turned scandalous.
etary, David Rizzio, in March:Imprisoned at Loch Leven Castle, she escaped to England, seeking support from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth. Instead of sanctuary, Mary spent the next eighteen years moving between noble households and castles under guard.
As Mary Stuart's influence waned, so the number of her enemies multiplied.
In:The content of these letters, made it clear, that Mary had authorized the attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth.
At age 46, Mary Queen of Scots had already endured much of her eighteen years of confinement, at Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor.
She was now moved to Fotheringhay Castle, a journey that lasted four days, and concluded on 25 September. Fotheringhay Castle, was a grim Norman Motte-and-Bailey structure, located north of Oundle, a market town in Northamptonshire.
In October:Mary argued, that as a foreign, anointed monarch, she was not an English subject and could not be guilty of treason. As a result, the court suspended Mary's trial for private deliberations.
Four days later, they reconvened in the Star Chamber at Westminster, but this time Mary was not invited. On 25 October, Mary Queen of Scots was sentenced to death, with only Lord Zouche opposing the verdict.
Queen Elizabeth hesitated; knowing that executing a fellow monarch could set a dangerous precedent, and provoke retaliation from Mary's son, James VI, or other Catholic powers.
Seeking deniability, she discreetly asked Sir Amias Paulet, Mary's custodian, to find a way to shorten Mary's life. Paulet, however, refused to risk his conscience or legacy.
February:However, on 3 February, without either’s knowledge, Cecil convened a Privy Council meeting to push for Mary's execution.
February:In her final hours, she spent time in prayer, distributed her possessions, and prepared her will.
Before dawn, at 2 a.m. on 8 February, just six hours ahead of her execution, she penned a heartfelt letter to King Henri.
in:The entire letter is included; 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.
In late:
Philip II of Spain authorized payment for Mary’s servants, managed by his ambassador, Bernardino Mendoza.
The letter, likely remained in the French royal archives, before being given to the Scots College in Paris, becoming a relic of the martyred queen.
g purchased by subscribers in:It has been held in the National Library of Scotland since 1925.
When you visit Fotheringhay Castle today, you can walk where the privy lodgings and Great Hall once stood, with the inner bailey boundaries clearly marked.
that cold February morning in:The scaffold, set up at the high end of the Great Hall, was two feet high, twelve feet broad, draped in black cloth, and furnished with a block, a kneeling cushion, and stools for Mary and the Earls of Shrewsbury and Kent.
The executioner, Mr. Bull, and his assistant knelt before her, seeking her forgiveness, as was customary.
The iconic, posthumous portrait of Mary, depicting her as a Catholic martyr, details her garments.
She wore an "uppermost gown of black satin", with a ground-length train, and long sleeves trimmed with jet and pearl buttons. The design features, purple under-sleeves, symbolizing the liturgical colour of martyrdom in the Catholic Church.
As her servants, Jane Kennedy and Elizabeth Curle, as well as the executioner, helped her disrobe, she revealed a kirtle of black velvet with a crimson satin bodice and skirt.
Mary smiled, and remarked that she had "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:Mary, is shown three times: entering with two women, attended by her ladies-in-waiting, and kneeling by the block as the executioner's axe is 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 piece of sinew, which the executioner followed through, sawing through it 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, that she be buried in France, but Elizabeth refused to allow it.
August:When news of the execution reached Elizabeth, she asserted that her Secretary of State, William Davison, had disobeyed her orders. To distance herself from Mary Stuart's execution, she placed the blame on Davison. Although acquitted of malicious intent, he was still found guilty, fined, and imprisoned.
cots remains, were exhumed in:More than four centuries later, the death of Mary Queen of Scots still resonates, as a tale of ambition, betrayal, martyrdom, and the brutal politics of royal rivalry.
