SCOTLAND’S CROWNING GORY
Feminist historian gives fresh take on Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots
MARY Queen of Scots is having a moment.
For those of us who live here, and can hardly pass an old building without being reminded that she once slept there, she is part of the landscape.
But thanks to the Netflix series Reign and the forthcoming movie starring Saoirse Ronan, the rest of the world is discovering the 16th century queen whose turbulent life ended when – spoiler for non-Scots alert – she was beheaded on the express orders of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth l, in 1587.
Now feminist historian Kate Williams has added her gold sovereign’s worth with a new book, Rival Queens.
Writers have been picking over the bones of Mary and Elizabeth’s reigns since their thrones were still warm but Kate has looked past tired stereotypes to give fresh insights into Mary’s tumultuous life and death.
The Restoration House presenter explained: “It’s rare enough that there’s one queen on the throne, let alone two. I was fascinated by the idea that there were two queens on one island, both surrounded by men who were trying to take their power.
“Mary is often seen as a very sad, tragic figure. But there were a lot of things that Elizabeth did that are seen as great statecraft that Mary did too.
“They both brought in religious tolerance, with Protestants and Catholics on both sides. It was brilliantly effective for Elizabeth, but for Mary it just didn’t work.”
The film, due for release in the new year, is written by House of Cards author Beau Willimon. It’s easy to see parallels between the violent power struggles of the White House and the heated plotting that followed Mary when she returned to Scotland.
She was just 18 and already a widow after the death of the her husband, the teenaged king of France.
Having lived there since she was five, she came back a foreigner. Queen Mary was a Catholic, spoke French and had no close friends, family or advisers to guide her through the warring factions in her name who had been running Scotland while she was away. Kate said: “Mary was betrayed from the beginning. You would never send a prince away from their country.
“Her mother was trying to keep her safe. If she was married to the future French king, then the French would send loads of troops so they’d get protection.
“So she was sold off in the way all women are sold off – swapped for money or for military backup.
“But sending her out of the country was disastrous for her future queenship.”
Kate says this is one of the key differences between Elizabeth and Mary’s reigns. She said: “By the time she took the throne, Elizabeth had gathered loyal men like her adviser Robert Cecil around her. Mary didn’t gather anyone loyal around her because she was in France the whole time. How could she?
“She didn’t understand the Scotland she came home to. Or the very complicated and bitter feuds between the different noble families that went back years and years and years.”
And although she was popular with the people, who thought that she was a true queen who might bring peace and stability, the warring factions just included her in their power struggles.”
Another key difference between the two cousins was their approach to men. Elizabeth never married. This made her rule more stable but meant she left no heir.
Mary made two disastrous choices but Kate argues that she had very few other options.
“Her cousin Lord Darnley was a bad choice but who really was there to marry? She couldn’t marry a foreign prince, then everything would be controlled by a foreigner. She couldn’t marry into one of the noble Scottish families because that would have sent everyone else off to war, showing favouritism to one but not the others.
“Elizabeth wanted her to marry Robert Dudley but he was seen by the whole of Europe as Elizabeth’s cast-off. He was also suspected of murdering his wife by pushing her down the stairs. Not very appealing.
“Darnley wanted to be king, he wasn’t content to be the prince consort. That caused endless ructions. They did manage to have a child together but he was a disaster. He was violent, he plotted with lords to imprison her. He stabbed her beloved private secretary Rizzio in front of her.”
When Darnley died, in an explosion in Edinburgh, suspicion fell on Mary. Later on she was clumsily framed for his murder.
A more likely candidate was Lord Bothwell, who also saw marriage to Mary as a route to personal power. When she turned him down, he used the conventions of the time to make sure she didn’t have a choice.
“When she didn’t choose him, he assaulted her. It was all very #metoo. She thought she was pregnant.
“She had no choice but to throw her lot in with him. In those days, if you were raped, you had to marry the rapist and make the best of it. It was an impossible circle for Mary to square.
All women of the age, even queens, wanted to get married. She also hoped, foolishly, that a husband might protect her from other predators.
“There were all these warring men, including her half brother the Earl of Moray, wanting to take her throne.
“She couldn’t trust him or any of her family. They were worse than anyone else. She thought marrying would strengthen her position and I can see her reasoning. It might have done if
she’d married someone with a stronger personality than Darnley.”
Towards the end of her when Mary was living under house arrest in England, it’s clear why Beau Willimon was attracted to her story.
Surrounded by a web of spies and informers, she was framed for the murder of Darnley and then trapped into writing the treasonous letter that finally forced her cousin’s hand.
Her hideous death overpowered the nuances of her story. (Liz Lochhead even included it in the title of her play Mary Queen Of Scots Got her Head Chopped Off.)
Kate said: “She’s porta either as a tragic heroine or was headstrong and reckless. But if you look at what she did, she was a very moderate queen. It’s just that she was so constantly undermined. She was blamed for problems that were not of her own making right from the beginning.
“She was a very intelligent and effective and, had it been a different country or a different situation, she could have ruled in a very effective way. Writing the book, I was surprised by just how bad a hand Mary was dealt.
“She was harassed, hounded by all these lords who wanted to seize her power, her agency was undermined from the beginning. She’s very effective and sensible with a lot of statesmanship but it can’t work because people have been used to getting their own way for too long. With the movie in January and Reign, we’re reevaluating her.”
Rival Queens, Kate Williams, Cornerstone, £25.
she didn’t understand the scotland she came home to KATE WILLIAMS FEMINIST HISTORIAN she was harassed, hounded by lords who wanted her power KATE WILLIAMS FEMINIST HISTORIAN