Beheaded for treason[91502.ftw]
Beheaded for treason
Beheaded for treason[91502.ftw]
Beheaded for treason
Note: Divorced
Alias:<ALIA> Bell the /Cat/, The Great, of Angus
Member of the Privy Council.Warden of the East Marches. High
Chancellor of Scotland.
Archibald was known as "The Great Earl" or "Bell the Cat" for leading
opposition to the favorites of King James III. He was one of the most
powerful and respected noblesin the kingdom.
Mary of Guise, 1515-60, queen consort of James V of Scotland and regent
for her daughter, Mary Queen of Scots . The daughter of Claude de
Lorraine, Duc deGuise , she was also known as Mary of Lorraine. Before
her marriage (1538) to James V she had been married (1534) to Louis
d'Orléans, 2nd Duc de Longueville, who died in 1537. When James died
(1542), shortly after his daughter's birth, James Hamilton , 2nd Earl of
Arran, became regent. He negotiated (1543)the betrothal of the infant
Queen Mary to Prince Edward (later Edward VI) ofEngland, but the queen
mother persuaded the Scottish Parliament to repudiatethe agreement.
After the outbreak of war with England, Mary of Guise arranged the
betrothal of her daughter to the French dauphin, and the young queen was
sent to France.
By 1554, with French aid, Mary of Guise had replaced theineffectual
Arran as regent, and she made no secret of her desire to bring France and
Scotland together. Meanwhile, Protestantism was spreading rapidly in
Scotland, and Mary, though at first conciliatory toward the reformers,
began a campaign of suppression. In 1559 the Protestants, exhorted by
John Knox, rose against the regent and declared her deposed. Mary
received French aid,but the Protestants, allied with the English, proved
the stronger force. Thecivil war was concluded shortly after Mary's
death by the Treaty of Edinburgh (1560), which ended the French
domination of Scotland and opened the way for the establishment of the
Protestant church.
Mary of Guise was born on 20 November 1515, eldest daughter of the
marriage of love between Antoinette of Bourbon and Claud, Count of Guise
Her father became somewhat of a hero but hismilitary career kept him
away from the family home at Joinville where she grew up. He
distinguished himself fighting in the Italian Wars and was createdDuc de
Guise by King Francis I. Her mother, far from being the subdued housewife
type, took a vivid interest in her husband's affairs and believed in
conveying that sense to her daughter. Claud's own mother, Philippa of
Gueldreswas a formidable woman with a devout nature who, sickly and aged
58, decidedto join a convent and make vow of poverty. Her son came to
her for advice when Martin Luther's revolutionary ideas began to spread
the Protestant movement, and she urged him to fight heresy. From this
moment onwards, Claud saw himself as the defender of the faith. It is
therefore not surprising that Antoinette wished for her daughter to
receive a strong Christian education, and whatbetter teacher than her
own grandmother. Mary was thus sent to Pont-au-Mousson to learn. However,
when aged 14, her uncle Antony and his wife paid her avisit and
recognised her father's looks and charms. Such a girl should no longer
languish in a convent but be introduced to the glamour of Francis's
court. It was thus that Mary had her first contact with the world of
courtiers with all its jealousy and insincerity. However, Mary remained
unmarried for some time although she divided her time between court and
the family home. Finally, on 4 August 1534, she married another
illustrious young man, Louis, Dukeof Longueville in the chapel of the
Royal Palace of the Louvres. Their unionwas a happy one and Mary found a
purpose in becoming the source of charity for local people. On 30 October
1535 her first son Francis was born. In the winter of 1536, she attended
the wedding of the King of Scotland, James V and the French King's eldest
daughter, Princess Madeleine. Princess Madeleine however, a tubercular,
could not withstand the rigours of the Scottish climate and died a couple
of weeks after her departure. Mary, who was once again pregnant shared in
the general sorrow which was soon to be her lot too. On 9 June 1537,
Louis her husband died at Rouens from an unclear epidemic and left her a
widow at the age of 21.
James V Stewart King of Scotland
James V, born 10th April 1512 and died 14th December 1542, was the
seventh Stuart king of Scotland (1513-42), the son of James IV. In 1514
James V's mother, Margaret Tudor, daughter of England's Henry VII,
married Archibald Douglas, 6th earl of Angus. John Stuart, duke of
Albany, became regent and a power struggle ensued among factions
controlled by Albany, Angus and Margaret. For atime, Angus, a
pro-English Protestant supporter, held James prisoner (1526-28). When
James reached his majority he sided with Scotland's pro-French Catholic
faction against the English. On 1st January 1537 he married Madeleine,
the daughter of Francis I of France, and received a large dowry. She died
thefollowing July, and James married (1538) Mary of Guise. His
aggressive, vindictive policies lost him the support of the nobility,
weakening his army andcontributing to his defeat by the English at
Solway Moss in 1542. Soon afterthis battle, he died at Falkland Palace
leaving a week-old daughter, Mary Queen of Scots to succeed him.
Far from thinking about remarrying, Mary mourned her late husband and
gave birth to her second son, Louis on 4 August 1537. However, James V of
Scotland having lost a first bride was well intent on procuring himself
another French spouse to further the interests of the Franco-Scottish
alliance against England.His uncle Henry VIII of England, getting wind of
his plans decided to prevent this dangerous union by asking for Mary's
hand for himself.Half-amused and half-disconcerted, Francis I of France
accepted James's proposals over Henry's and conveyed his wishes to Mary's
father Claud. Mary received the news with shock and alarm. She did not
rejoice at the prospect of leaving family and country to be married off
to a notoriously neurotic and unstable King.Especially now that she had
just lost little Louis aged only four months.Her father Claud was caught
in a diplomatic wrangle.He tried to delay matters as much as he could
until James, probably sensing her reluctance, wrote her a letter in which
he appealed to her for advice and support. Mary, finding once more a
sense of purpose, accepted the offer and hurriedplans for departure. On
9 May 1538 she was married to James in her castle ofChâteaudun through
Robert, Lord Maxwell acting as proxy. On 10 June, forcedto leave little
Francis behind, she embarked at Le Havres accompanied by herfather,
sister Louise and a household of French servants. Just like her daughter,
Mary Queen of Scots would later stare mournfully at the disappearing
French coast, so she did but also discovering that, like her, she was a
good sailor and remained unaffected by seasickness. On Trinity Sunday
Mary and herfleet touched Scottish soil at Balcomie near St Andrews.
Confirmation of hermarriage to James and rejoicings followed. Mary was
pleasantly surprised by the welcome that she got and by what she saw. She
had been led to believe thatScotland was barbaric and uncultivated but
visits to her new domains such asFalkland Palace, Linlithgow Palace,
Stirling Castle and Edinburgh Castle convinced her of the contrary.
Mary's task was now to prove to her new husband that she was worthy of
the life he offered her.She found that James had littletime for her and
kept his cards close to his chest, being used to a bachelorlife and to
directing his own affairs.Homesickness was worse than she had expected,
and she was shocked by the lack of reverence with which the nobility
treated James. However, keen to integrate herself within her new
surroundings, she resolved to learn everything there was to know about
Scotland.She encouraged marriages between members of her own household
and the Scots, learnedto speak Scot, and made herself indispensable to
James.Conversely, she also tried to introduce some Renaissance refinement
into the predominantly medievalScottish way of life.Soon, French fashion
and