苏格兰女王史实.doc

Mary Queen of Scots (Mary Stuart), 1542–87, only child of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. Through her grandmother Margaret Tudor, Mary had the strongest claim to the throne of England after the children of Henry VIII. This claim (and her Roman Catholicism) made Mary a threat to Elizabeth I of England, who finally had her executed. However, Marys son, James VI of Scotland, succeeded Elizabeth to the English throne as James I. Marys reported beauty and charm and her undoubted courage have made her a particularly romantic figure in history. She is the subject of Schillers great drama Maria Stuart, of an opera by Donizetti, and of plays by Vittorio Alfieri, A. C. Swinburne, and Maxwell Anderson. Early Life Born at Linlithgow in Dec., 1542, Mary became queen of Scotland on the death of her father only 6 days later. Mary of Guise betrothed her daughter to the French dauphin (later Francis II) and sent the girl to France in 1548 to be brought up by her powerful relatives the Guise family. In 1558, Mary and Francis were married under an agreement that would unite the crowns of Scotland and France if the union produced male issue. At the same time Mary signed a secret contract that bequeathed Scotland to France should she die without issue. The young couple was crowned in 1559, but Francis died the following year. The accession of Charles IX in France led to the fall of Marys Guise uncles. This situation, together with the recent death of her own mother, prompted Mary to return to Scotland in 1561. As a Frenchwoman and a Catholic, Mary faced a nation of hostile subjects, but her charm and beauty quickly won over many lords and commoners. She took as her principal counselors her illegitimate half brother James Stuart (later earl of Murray) and William Maitland, both friends of England, thus dispelling fears of a return of French interference in Scottish affairs. She also accepted the establishment of the Presbyterian Church and, under pressure from John Knox and his a