Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots
Whom Mary Queen of Scots should marry had always been a problematic question. There was no doubt that she had to marry, to secure the succession, but although it would appear that a young and beautiful Queen could take her pick, in fact her choice was problematic. Should she marry a Catholic and please her relatives, or should she attempt to reconcile all her subjects by choosing a Protestant? Should she marry someone who had his own country to rule? Or choose a subject, risking the jealousy of the surrounding nobles? And how would Elizabeth I of England feel about her choice? Mary was generally considered to have a greater right to the English crown than Elizabeth, and was desperate to be named as her successor.
Mary had initially favoured marriage with Don Carlos, the Spanish heir, since he had the resources to claim the English throne by force. Elizabeth would have been horrified by this, although Moray and Maitland supported marriage negotiations with Spain as a way of applying pressure to get Elizabeth to name Mary as her heir. Thes negotiations were doomed, however, as Don Carlos fell down the stairs and fractured his skull in autumn 1562. His sight and movement were restored following a trepanning operation done by the renowned anatomist Vesalius, but he was still subject to homicidal rages, and had to be imprisoned by his father in 1568.
In Scotland the only appropriate match was the Earl of Arran, but this would have increased the political power of his Hamilton family, with no advantage to Mary herself. Other Europen candidates were the twelve year old King Charles of France, and Archduke Charles of Styria, the younger son of Emperor Ferdinand. He was a favourite of Mary's uncle, the Cardinal of Loraine, but an alliance with him would have been of questionable advantage to Mary.
Elizabeth let it be known that no Catholic marriage would be acceptable to her and offered Lord Robert Dudley as her preferred suitor. He was not of royal blood and his family was tainted with treason. He was also Elizabeth’s own favourite and had been accused of murdering his first wife. Outright rejection was not possible for Mary, since she knew this would mean she would be excluded from the English succession, so she remained unmarried - probably Elizabeth's intention all along. In addition, it meant the Elizabeth could avoid marrying Dudley herself, without rejecting him outright.
The Spanish Ambassador, Bishop Alvaro de la Quadra wrote to Philip II of Spain, 'Many people think that if the Queen of Scots does marry a person unacceptable to this Queen [Elizabeth], the latter will declare as her successor the son of Lady Margaret [Lennox], whom she now keeps in the palace and shows such favour as to make this affair probable.'
This son was Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, a cousin of Mary Queen of Scot, a grandson of Henry VII with his own claim to the English throne. The Lennoxes were in such favour with Elizabeth that she requested that Mary consider restoring the Earl of Lennox's estates in Scotland, which had been confiscated when he defected to the English side during Mary's minority. His lands were restored on 9th October, but only the Earl himself was allowed to go to Scotland, as Elizabeth had heard that he and his wife intended taking Lord Darnley with them, and withdrawn her permission. In Scotland, rumours that Lennox's wife and son would be joining him led to open rumours of the possibility of a marriage between Darnley and Mary. Elizabeth certainly suspected a plot to marry them, as she commented to Melville regarding Robert Dudley, 'you like better of yonder long lad', referring to Darnley.
The match between Mary and Dudley seemed doomed to failure after the Berwick Conference on 18th November 1564. Moray and Maitland were determined that Mary would only marry Dudley on condition that she was accepted as Elizabeth's heir, ratified by the English parliament. Otherwise there was no advantage to her. The English would not agree to this.
In early 1565, Darnley was granted permission by Elizabeth I to travel north to Scotland for three months. His mother had sought a match with Mary before, sending him hot-foot to France on the death of Francois II. Now Elizabeth allowed him to pursue his suit under the pretext of helping his father with legal technicalities. She kept the Countess of Lennox in England as 'hostage' and also presumably thought the threat of confiscation of Lennox lands would ensure his return. She may also have been hoping to maintain her aim of keeping Mary undecided and unwed, but this was a dangerous policy, given Darnley's claim to her throne and English birth.
Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley
Mary and Darnley met for the first time in four years at Wemyss Castle on 17th February 1565. Darnley made a good impression on Mary, if only because he was taller than her. Initially Moray encouraged the match, either because he thought Darnley was approved of by Elizabeth, or because he mistook him for a biddable youth. Soon they were sworn enemies, since Moray heard from his brother, Robert Stewart, that Darnley had described the extent of Moray's estates as 'too much'. There were rumours of plots by one against the other, and Mary and Darnley were convinced that they escaped an ambush one day whilst out riding, the possibly imaginary 'Raid of Beith.' In any case, Darnley may well have remained just another contender in the race to be her consort, but for two events.
In March Elizabeth I announced that she would not pronounce on her succession until she herself wed, or decided never to marry. Mary wept, as she realised that she had been humiliatingly strung along. But now she had not reason to consider Leicester, or to refuse Darnley.
Further, Darnley had fallen ill with what was diagnosed as measles and an ague in April. Mary nursed him, and fell violently and hopelessly in love, becoming determined to marry him. She sent Maitland to seek approval for the match, but Elizabeth forbade the marriage, sending Throckmorton swiftly to Scotland demanding the return of Darnley and Lennox, and stating that her claim to the English succession would only be considered if she married Leicester. By now Mary was wise to Elizabeth's tactics and sent an envoy to intercept the returning Maitland with a letter to be conveyed to Elizabeth, saying that she would no longer be fed with 'yea or nay', and withdrawing her request for approval in defiant terms. Maitland pocketed the letter, fearing it would shatter relations between England and Scotland, and this caused a souring of his relationship with the Queen.
Of course, Darnley and his father refused to leave Scotland, and so the Countess of Lennox was thrown into the Tower.
Elizabeth was not the only one to object - Mary's family felt that Darnley wasn't good enough for her, and Moray could see the marriage bringing to an end his hopes to rule through Mary and even succeed her. John Knox did not approve, and even the Queen's own 'Maries' were against the match.
Mary’s love for Darnley blinded her to the defects of his character, and she was able to ignore the fact that he was universally despised at court. She was aware that Moray was a particular problem and summoned him to Darnley's bedside to sign a paper approving the marriage. He refused, using religion (Darnley was a Catholic) as an excuse. Realising that Mary needed to create a party to support her against Moray, she created Darnley Earl of Ross and Lord of Ardmanoch on 15th May, allowing him to create fourteen knights who would support them. She also called a Convention of Estates in Perth on 10th June to officially approve the marriage. She also proclaimed that there would be no alteration in the religion of Scotland as a result of her marriage.
Her preparations for the marriage hastened when she recieved a letter from Elizabeth summoning Lennox and Darnley, and 'requiring' Mary to issue a safe conduct. This acted as provocation. She sought the approval of Philip II of Spain and Charles IX of France. What she didn't know was that her uncle the Cardinal had delayed applying for the required papal dispensation for the marriage (since she and Darnley were step-first cousins), as he thought Darnley was not a suitable match.
There were rumours that the couple had married secretly on 9th July 1565, but it is more likely that a private espousal 'per verba de praesenti' had taken place. This would have allowed consummation of the union. The banns were published in the Kirk of the Canongate as a gesture of appeasement to the Potestant kirk. By this time Mary had recieved a letter from the Pope, which she allowed people to think was her dispensation. More likely he was warning her that he had recieved no application, but Mary decided to go ahead without waiting for it. On the 22nd July Darnley was created Duke of Albany, and on 29th July Mary and Darnley (now King Henry of Scotland) were officially married in the Chapel Royal at Holyrood.
Mary wore a mourning costume of 'deuil blanc' - a black gown with white hood and veil - to indicate that she came to the wedding as a widow. The marriage took place under Catholic rites, however, Darnley left before the nuptial Mass. This did not seem to surprise or upset Mary, and so must have been planned in advance. Once the religious ceremonies were completed Mary removed her black clothes, and the usual festivities took place.
On the 1st September the Pope addressed the Vatican, announcing his intention to grant the Dispensation to Mary and Darnley, and it was issued two weeks later, but luckily was backdated to 'viii kal Junii' (25th May), although Antonia Fraser believed that the marriage was technically invalid anyway, for reasons she does not make clear.