Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I of England will always remain the most famous frenemies in the history of mankind. Two cousins (both queens were granddaughters of legendary Henry VII) exchanged letters and gifts for appearances’ sake, but in fact remained sworn enemies, were sick with jealousy for one another and represented complete opposites in any imaginable way.
Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I: The Early Years
Although Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I were as different as two women can possibly be, they certainly shared royal dignity and extreme ambition. While Elizabeth was famous for her wisdom and common sense, Mary Stuart followed her passionate heart. The two future queens had strikingly different childhood experiences – while Mary was pronounced queen of Scotland at the age of a week and grew up a cherished golden princess, Elizabeth was as a bastard child, an unwanted daughter of king Henry VIII, a seed of her mother’s tragic death. Elizabeth learned the art of politics very early – she desperately needed it for her very survival.
Two Queens of England
At the age of fifteen Mary Stuart married a French dauphin Francis and they soon became king and queen. During her short reign as a French Queen she made the most fatal mistake of her entire life and purchased a deadly enemy. While according to English Protestant religion the marriage of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII was considered legal, French Catholics pronounced it null and void. So according to them Elizabeth (already a queen at the time) was an illegitimate heir, while the only legal one was Mary Queen of Scots. So to Elizabeth’s major indignation Mary’s royal emblem stated “the queen of France, Scotland and England”.
Virgin Queen Vs Femme Fatale
At the very beginning of her reign Elizabeth made a wise choice that she paid a very dear price for. She swore to never marry which was a politically brilliant decision making her the sole ruler “Both King and Queen of England” (Lindsay 1992). Elizabeth was a woman of strong passions and giving up a natural happiness of love and motherhood that millions of regular women enjoyed was devastating for her. Her famous statement: “The queen of Scots is lighter of a fair son and I am but a barren stock!” pretty much says it all.
Mary Stuart, however, was not a wise politician, but a truly seductive woman that lived her life to the fullest. At the age of 18 Mary returned to Scotland as a widow of a French king (Francis II died several months before that), but still a queen of Scots. Her beauty and passionate temper made a failure of her political career in just a few years. First Mary married a young and handsome lord Darnley who stayed completely mesmerized by her charms till the day he died. Darnley was very ambitious, but not exceptionally smart and lacking character – he soon became very unpopular among Scottish people. Mary in turn was disappointed with her new husband and a father of her only son James, rejected him and started a passionate affair with Earl of Bothwell a brave, decisive and violent man who initiated Darnley’s murder in order to marry the queen. Mary’s biographer Stefan Zweig firmly believed she was involved in plotting the murder. Darnley’s death lead to an uprising and in 1568 Mary left Scotland and headed to England seeking Elizabeth’s help.
The Legendary Execution
Although politically speaking Mary’s escape to England was Elizabeth’s triumph, in reality the situation became rather sticky. Mary Queen of Scots was believed by Catholics to be a true heir to the English throne. Elizabeth was a kind ruler and never executed Catholics as heretics. Thousands of law obedient Catholics lived in England. With the appearance of Mary the situation changed dramatically. Elizabeth panicked and made one of her worst decisions as a queen. She kept Mary in England in a beautiful palace, but refused to help her and guarded her cousin as a prisoner. Mary in turn became furious and started political intrigues against Elizabeth with all of the Catholic countries. The two women obviously couldn’t breathe the same air anymore.
By 1587 Elizabeth’s advisor’s strongly recommended the execution of her fellow queen, which was unheard of at a time. Mary queen of Scots became a first ruler of royal blood to ever be executed. Elizabeth was agonizing over that decision for months and made it clear to Mary that she will be spared if she stops the political activities.
But Mary Stuart valued her royal dignity much more than her life and followed her passion one last time. She knew her execution would make history and destroy Elizabeth’s reputation. On February 8th 1587 Mary Queen of Scots made her first and only brilliant political performance – she appeared at her scaffold wearing a gorgeous scarlet dress showing no sign of fear. Her execution was a triumph of Mary Stuart’s royal dignity and even her sworn enemies admired her. Mary Stuart’s motto “My end is my beginning” appeared to be a prophecy.
Bibliography:
Zweig, Stefan. Mary Stuart. Moscow: Literature, 2006.
Lindsey, Karen. Divorced Beheaded Survived. New York: DeCapo Press, 2001.
Anna Inger - My name is Anna Inger. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, spent most of my life in Israel and for the last few years I've been ...
