Mary Queen of Scots
Thus wrote Mary Queen of Scots in the latter part of the sixteenth century regarding her mysterious and recurring ailment.
It caused, as she described, extreme pain in her left side, accompanied by weakness and vomiting.
The attacks occurred at frequent intervals,with symptoms of varying intensity.
A particularly grave crisis struck in 1566 when at the age of 24 years, the young queen suddenly developed excruciating pain in her left side and vomited more that 60 times until the vomitus was pure blood.
She became delirious, then blind and mute, convulsed and slipped into coma.
Yet 10 days later, Mary Queen of Scots woke up and felt perfectly fine.
Court record in 1570 described another distressing episode, the Scottish queen was
"molested with a continewall destillation from her head into her stomack, whereof hath growen such debilitie and weaknes in that part, the she nether hath desire to anie meate, neyther facultie to reteyne that long...
she is troubled also with incessant provocation to vomit...
with a greit inflammation and tension in her left side, under the short ribbes which retchith so farr every waie, that they yet doubt whether it be the inflammation of the stomack, the splene, the wombe, or all of those partes together."
The symptoms described above are characteric of the genetic disease called porphyria. Mary Queen of Scot suffered from porphyria all her life. Yet this brave Scottish queen managed to conduct an eventful and colorful life which ended tragically with her execution at the age of 45 years.
Mary Queen of Scots was born in 1542 and became Queen of Scotland at the tender age of 6 days,upon the death of her father, King James V.
MLinlithgow palace where Mary Queen of Scots was born
Mary Queen of Scots was born in 1542 and became Queen of Scotland at the tender age of 6 days,upon the death of her father, King James V.
Engaged at 3 years of age to Prince Francis, heir to the throne of France, she spent her childhood at the French court and married her prince when she was barely 15 years old.
Prince Francis of France
Mary Queen of Scots age12 years at the Court of France
When King Henri II of France sustained severe injury during a jousting match on the day celebrating the royal wedding and died several days later, the little Scottish Queen also became the Queen of France.
King Henri II of France
Jousting injury that killed King Henri II of France on the day celebrating the marriage of Prince Francis to Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots and Queen of France
age15 years with 14 year old King husband
The widowed queen returned to Scotland where she later married her first cousin Lord Darnley.
The marriage was unfortunately devoid of compatibility and bliss.
Lord Darnley was considered an imbecile and drunkard and generally rejected by the Scottish nobility, especially when he tried to elevate his position from royal consort to cosovereign of Scotland.
Not trusting her incompetent husband with the affairs of the state, the young queen surrounded herself with numerous male secretaries.
The marriage was unfortunately devoid of compatibility and bliss.
Lord Darnley
Mary Queen of Scots
Not trusting her incompetent husband with the affairs of the state, the young queen surrounded herself with numerous male secretaries.
One particular favorite, David Rizzio, provoked such jealousy that Lord Darnley had him murdered in front of the pregnant queen.
David Rizio
The vengeful queen in turn arranged the assassination of her husband through the Earl of Bothwell, who managed to forcefully smother Lord Darnley to death.
Earl of Bothwell
Her marriage to the murderer of her husband so disturbed the Scottish nobility that it eventually led to the confrontation between the army of the catholic Mary Queen of Scots and the army of the protestant confederate Lords of Scotland, led by her half brother Lord Moray.
Lord Moray
Mary Queen of Scots was overpowered by her opponents, captured and imprisoned at the Loch Leven castle.She was forced to abdicate and relinquish the throne to her 1 year old son, who became King James VI of Scotland.
Mary Queen of Scots and King James VI of Scotland
Lord Moray, her rival half brother, assumed the position of Regent and made himself de facto ruler of Scotland.
Shortly thereafter, Mary Queen of Scots escaped from Loch Leven castle, raised an army and fought against her half brother Lord Moray at the battle of Langside.
Mary Queen of Scots escaping from Loch Leven castle
Defeated in battle, Mary Queen of Scots escaped to England in a fishing boat.
The Earl of Bothwell was exiled from Scotland.
In exile, he was imprisoned in Danemark where he became insane and died 11 years later.
Mary Queen of Scots had fled to England in order to seek the protection of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I herself only reluctantly accorded royal protection to her Scottish cousin.
Mary Queen of Scots arriving in England
She was concerned because Mary Queen of Scots was the grandchild of the sister of her father, King Henry VIII.
Although Queen Elizabeth I was the daughter of King Henry VIII and Queen Anne Boleyn, she was declared illegitimate at the age of 2 years when her royal father ordered the decapitation of her mother for presumed adultery.
Mary Queen of Scots, on the other hand, was a more rightful heir to the British throne than Queen Elizabeth I by virtue of the fact that she was the legitimate granddaughter of the sister of King Henry VIII.
Indeed Mary Queen of Scots had in the past claimed that she was more entitled to the throne of England than Queen Elizabeth I.
The ambivalent but still kind Queen of England decided to keep her Scottish cousin in comfortable captivity in various castles and grand manors.
Mary Queen of Scots in captivity in England
Although residing comfortably and in royal style in her English captivity for 18 years, the Scottish queen was ungrateful and one day plotted to assassinate her protector and usurp the British throne for herself.
Arrest of Mary Queen of Scots
Arrival at the a Tower of London
Mary Queen of Scots being led to her execution
Mary Queen of Scots was put on trial, found to be guilty and beheaded in the year 1587 at the age of 45 years.
February 8,1587 was the day of her execution.
Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
The two executioners knelt before her to ask for forgiveness and the queen replied "I forgive you with all my heart, for now I hope you shall make an end of all my troubles."
As her outer garments were removed, revealing a velvet petticoat and a pair of sleeves in crimson brown, the liturgical color of martyrdom in the Catholic church, with black satin bodice and black trimmings, the Scottish queen smiled and said that she "never had such grooms before...nor ever put off clothes before such a company."
She was blindfolded with a white veil embroidered in gold. She knelt down upon the cushion, placed her neck on the block and stretched out her arms to signal to the executioners to strike.
Her last words were "Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit."
As her outer garments were removed, revealing a velvet petticoat and a pair of sleeves in crimson brown, the liturgical color of martyrdom in the Catholic church, with black satin bodice and black trimmings, the Scottish queen smiled and said that she "never had such grooms before...nor ever put off clothes before such a company."
She was blindfolded with a white veil embroidered in gold. She knelt down upon the cushion, placed her neck on the block and stretched out her arms to signal to the executioners to strike.
Her last words were "Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit."
The second strike severed the neck but it remained attached to the body by a tendon which the executioners had to cut again with the ax.
The principal executioner, named Bull, then picked up her head by the hair, held it aloft and declared "God save the Queen."
At that moment, the head fell to the ground becauses the tresses held by his hand turned out to be a wig, revealing her short grey hair.
A small dog, a Skye terrier, was inside the queen's skirt at the time of execution. It was covered with blood and had to be forcibly removed because it refused to leave the queen's decapitated body.
Death mask of Mary Queen of Scots
When Queen Elizabeth I died 10 years later, the rightful heir to the British throne was none other than the son of Mary Queen of Scots, King James VI of Scotland, who sailed across the ocean to rule Britain as King James I of England.
KING JAMES I OF ENGLAND
Tomb of Mary Queen of Scots
Excellent article!
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