Issues faced by Queen Mary Flashcards
Religion
Mary was a Catholic Queen in a Protestant country, which was very unusual for her time period.
This led to Mary facing issues because protestant nobles and especially John Knox did not trust her and believed she was plotting to reverse the reformation and burn the heretics like her mother did.
This also led to Mary facing issues because Catholics in both Scotland and England expected her to bring back catholicism to Scotland, but Mary made several laws against the hearing of mass, and executed the Earl of Huntley’s son which showed the masses that being catholic did not excuse disobedience, which made the catholic in Scotland turn against her.
Relationship with John Knox
John Knox was superstitious of Mary and believed that Mary was waiting for the right time to strike and bring back catholicism to Scotland.
This led to Mary facing difficulties in ruling Scotland because Knox openly denounced Mary’s rule and convinced people she was against the protestant cause which made people turn against her.
Gender
During Mary’s time, women were generally regarded as being intellectually and physically inferior to men. John Knox wrote ‘the First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monsterous Reign of Women’ which critiqued multiple female rulers including Mary.
This led to Mary having difficulties ruling Scotland because people disregard Mary’s rule and her laws because of negative stigmas towards women.
Relationship with Queen Elizabeth
Catholics in England still believed that Queen Mary was the rightful queen of England as Elizabeth was an illegitimate child.
This led to Mary having difficulties ruling because Elizabeth wanted her subjects to obey their ruler. Elizabeth was also a protestant, and might help Scottish protestant nobles against the catholic queen Mary.
Marriage
Mary had married Lord Darnley, a protestant noble living in England. Lord Darnley’s family was pro-english during the rough-wooing.
This led to Mary having difficulties ruling because although having voiced no opinion, Elizabeth was enraged by this marriage between Lord Darnley and Mary, as Elizabeth feared Darnley might reverse the reformation. As a result, Queen Elizabeth officially announced that she would now announce her successor to the throne of England until she was married or officially declared she was not going to marry- which made Mary lose the opportunity of being the future Queen of England after Elizabeth.
Relationship with other nobles
Upon making her protestant half-brother, Lord James, the Earl of Moray due to his support for her, the Earl of Huntley- James’ rival- was furious and his son threatened to kidnap and forcefully marry Mary. Huntley and his soldiers marched on Aberdeen.
This led to Mary having difficulties in ruling Scotland because Mary’s choice in making her protestant brother the Earl of Morray displeased other catholic novels and Huntley’s revolt encouraged them to also revolt against her in hopes of getting her position, which turned people against her.
Relationship with the Earl of Morray
When Mary had married Darnley, Lord James was upset as he thought that Darnley wanted to remove his power. Now that Mary had a husband, Morray lost influence. Thus, Moray and other nobles started a rebellion against Mary.
This led to Mary having difficulties in ruling Scotland because Mary had lost a great source of support for her and Darnley was intellectually unfit to rule, which left Mary to rule by herself.
Nationality
Mary was brought up in France, and upon her arrival back to Scotland had surrounded herself with French courtiers.
This led to Mary having difficulties in ruling Scotland because it brought back the worry they Frenchmen would take lots of money from Scotland, which made Mary lose support.
Relationship with David Rizzio
David Rizzio was Mary’s private secretary and good friend. He often bragged about his familiarity with the Queen and it was rumoured that Mary was having an affair with him. This encouraged Lord Darnley, Mary’s husband, to drag him brutally out of Mary’s room and stab him to death.
This led to Mary having difficulties ruling because Mary was very traumatised by the death of her friend by her husband, which limited her ability to rule.
