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Now a major film, this is a dramatic reinterpretation of the life of Mary Queen of Scots by one of the leading historians of this period. For centuries, Mary, Queen of Scots has been a figure of scholarly debate. Where many have portrayed her as the weak woman to Elizabeth's rational leader, John Guy reassesses the young queen, finding her far more politically shrewd than previously believed. Crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months old, Queen of France by age sixteen and widowed the following year, Guy paints Mary as a commanding and savvy queen who navigated the European power struggles of the time to her advantage. Her life was one of drama and conflict - Scottish lords constructed labyri...
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The acclaimed Scottish historian offers a provocative reassessment of one of British royalty’s most famous figures in this authoritative biography. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, has long been portrayed as one of history’s romantically tragic figures. Devious, naive, beautiful and sexually voracious, often highly principled, she secured the Scottish throne and bolstered the position of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Her plotting, including probable involvement in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley, led to her flight from Scotland and imprisonment by her equally ambitious cousin and fellow queen, Elizabeth of England. Yet when Elizabeth ordered Mary’s execution in 1587 it was an act of exasperated frustration rather than political wrath. Unlike previous biographies of Mary, this masterly study eschews her romantic persona in order to shine a light on her role as a renaissance monarch. A leading historian of the period, Jenny Wormald traces the roots of Mary’s downfall to her way of dealing, or failing to deal, with the problems facing her as a ruler. She was tragic because she was born to supreme power yet wholly incapable of coping with its responsibilities.
On 10th February 1567, an explosion devastated the Edinburgh residence of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary Queen of Scots. This investigation into Darnley's murder sheds light on the actions and motives of the conspirators and, in particular, the extent of Mary's own involvement.
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, was one of history's romantically tragic figures. Devious, naive, often highly principled, beautiful, and sexually voracious, this was a woman who secured the Scottish throne and bolstered the position of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Her endless plotting, including a likely involvement in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley, eventually led to her flight from Scotland and imprisonment by her equally ambitions cousin and fellow queen, Elizabeth of England. And yet when Elizabeth ordered her unpredictable rival and kinswoman to be beheaded in 1587 she did so in resigned frustration rather than as act of political wrath.Was the beheading of a cousin truly nece...