Prof Ian Douglas

Mary Queen of Scots Prof Ian Douglas

Mary Queen of Scots returned from France to Scotland in a royal fleet to rule as queen, aged only eighteen. She left seven years later, exhausted and terrified, in a small fishing boat. Mary had tried to rule Scotland during one of the most turbulent times in Scotland's history. Scotland was a land of warlords and had just gone through the Protestant Reformation. But Mary was Catholic, and for a short time had been Queen of France. Her cousin, Elizabeth I, considered her a threat as she had a strong claim to the English throne. Mary's personal life was turbulent too. She had been married three times by the age of twenty-four. Her first marriage was probably unconsummated and was to the future King of France. Mary was to become Queen of France until her husband died. Her second marriage was to her cousin Lord Darnley, and the third to the Earl of Bothwell, a clan warlord. Neither was the type of man any parent would want their daughter to marry!This book describes the life of this fascinating and ultimately tragic queen, who lived and tried to rule at a momentous time in Scotland's history.