Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
lyrood Palace with John Knox. The great reformer harangued the young queen and she
later agreed to protect the budding Protestant Church in Scotland while continuing to hear
Mass in private.
She married Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, in the Chapel Royal at Holyrood and gave
birth to a son (later James VI) in Edinburgh Castle in 1565. Any domestic bliss was short-
lived and, in a scarcely believable train of events, Darnley was involved in the murder of
Mary's Italian secretary Rizzio (rumoured to be her lover) before he himself was
murdered, probably by Mary's new lover and third-husband-to-be, the Earl of Bothwell!
The Scots had had enough - Mary's enemies finally confronted her and Mary was
forced to abdicate in 1567 and thrown into prison at Castle Leven. She managed to es-
cape, and fled to England where she was imprisoned for 19 years by Queen Elizabeth I
before finally being executed in 1587.
Union of the Crowns
Mary's son, the infant James VI (r 1567-1625)
had meanwhile been crowned at Stirling, and a
series of regents ruled in his place. In England,
Elizabeth died childless, and the English, des-
perate for a male monarch, soon turned their at-
tention north. In 1603 James VI of Scotland be-
came James I of Great Britain and moved his
court to London. His plan to politically unite the
two countries, however, failed. For the most
part, the Stewarts (now spelled Stuart) ignored
Scotland from then on. Indeed, when Charles I
(r 1625-49) succeeded James, he couldn't be
bothered to travel north to Edinburgh to be
formally crowned as king of Scotland until
1633.
Historic Sites
1 BANNOCKBURN (
CLICK HERE
)
2 GREYFRIARS KIRK (
CLICK HERE
)
3 GLENFINNAN (
CLICK HERE
)
4 CULLODEN (
CLICK HERE
)
5 SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT BUILDING
(
CLICK HERE
)
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