Mary was now in love with James Bothwell she wanted to avenge the death of Rizzio and get rid of Henry.

James VI of Scots

Events leading to his accession.

Mary’s marriage to Lord Darnley in July 1565 upset the power structure in Scotland, she had maintained with the help of her half-brother, James Stewart, earl of Moray. Queen Elizabeth & her privy council disapproved this marriage. She warned Mary against it. Morey revolted against her, but she married for love, not for politics. They had met in France. She created Darnley, earl of Ross this title was reserved for the son of a Scottish king. They got married on July 29th 1565; in a catholic ceremony. This was very offensive to Scottish protestant. Soon Mary was disappointed by her choice. Darnley was vain, arrogant, he liked the company of his male friend.

• The Murder of Rizzio.

On March 9th, 1566, Darnley led a group of man into Mary’s private apartments at night. Rizzio was with the queen, they ceased him and murdered him in front of her. Later Darnley betrayed his accomplices, he gave her the name of the people. In their turn, they showed her the letter written by Darnley agreeing to the murder of Rizzio. Mary granted a general pardon for the sake of gaining time. On June 19th, 1566, she was delivered of a baby boy called James.

• The murder of Lord Darnley

Mary was now in love with James Bothwell she wanted to avenge the death of Rizzio and get rid of Henry.

Early in 1567, she joined Darnley in Glasgow, she convinced him he was ill and to go back to Edenborough, they stopped outside Edenborough in an old monastery named Kirk o’ field.  Then she pretended she had promised to attend the wedding of one her maids of honor, and she left Darnley. During the night of the 9th to 10th of February a huge explosion completely destroyed Kirk of field. In the rumble the body of Darnley was found not burnt but garroted, strangle with a thin rope. He had been murdered either before or just after.

• Marriage to Bothwell

James Bothwell was immediately suspected of the murder, and the father of Lord Darnley accused him of murder and wanted a trial. Mary accepted but Bothwell was in Edenborough with a small army and he was acquitted by the jury. Bothwell was already married, in May 1567, he obtained a divorce, then they arranged for their marriage, as she was returning to Edenborough Bothwell abducted her? And took her to Bumbar where he ravished her, because it was a serious fault it can only be repaired by marriage which she accepted but it was all play acting. Before the marriage, Mary created Bothwell duke of Orkney and Shetland. The marriage took place on the May 15th, 1567, in a cozy, private ceremony. But as soon as the Scottish people about this marriage, they rebelled throughout Scotland.

• A coalition of Catholic and Protestant Lords (nobles)

Mary and Bothwell faced a collation of catholic and protestant nobles, they saw Bothwell as a usurper. They faced the rebels with a small army near Edenborough but her soldiers refused to fight. She surended on condition that Bothwell be allowed to escape, which he did, he managed to reach Denmark where he was put in prison and he died insane in 1578.

In 1570, Mary had obtained an annulment of their marriage by the pope. She could remarry.

• Mary was deposed in May 1567

She was taken to Edenborough as a prisoner and then she was taken to the island of Loch Leven, property of the Hamilton family. There she abdicated in favor of her one year old son.

The regent was her half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Morey.

• Mary’s escape

She stayed on the island for about a year before the Hamilton’s organized her escape because they planned to use her to increase their power in Scotland. She wanted to escape to France via the northern routes. She was stopped by her half-brother, so she fled south and sought protection from Elizabeth, in England. Mary was an embarrassment to Elizabeth because Elizabeth could not allow Mary to escape to France, but at the same time Mary could not stay in England because Elizabeth was accused of being an illegitimate child therefore a usurper. The first time Elizabeth refused to act against her distant cousin, but eventually Mary was executed on February 8th, 1587.

The deposition of Mary created a situation of civil war.

• The King’s Lords and the Queen’s Lords

The king’s Lords supported the legitimacy of James and the Queen’s Lords claimed that Mary was the only legitimate sovereign. This created a situation of quasi civil war and it created problems for the regent, Earl of Morey, who could not implement his policies. Many regents were assassinated. This happened to the Earl of Morey in January 1570 by somebody who favored Queen Mary. The next regent was the Earl of Lenox, Lord Darnley’s father, who was also assassinated.

James grew up in a very complicated political situation, he was isolated, he received a strict protestant education which made him a fairly good theologian but also underlined, for him, the fact that the royal family in Scotland hasn’t got much power.

• King James VI as a writer

He published a treaties on Scottish prosody.

In 1597, he published a treaties entitled Daemonologie, in response to a book published by Reginald Scott entitled the Discovery of Witchcraft. Scott argued that if believed that somebody can walk through a wall you must be very naïve, a bit childish in your head. Women who were called witches were old ladies suffering from mental disorders, they needed treatment. For James, on the contrary, devil was very powerful and spirits are to be feared.

...