The Scotsman

Mary Queen of what? Most Britons can’t recognise Scotland’s most famous queen

- By DAN BARKER newsdeskts@scotsman.com

More than half of Britons cannot identify Scotland’s most famous queen, new research has shown.

Some 51 per cent of people questioned could not identify who Mary, Queen of Scots was from her portrait, a survey commission­ed by the University of Glasgow found.

And beyond her red hair, the survey found that Britons know very little about the Linlithgow Palace-born monarch and her history, despite her standing in popular culture thanks to films including the recent Mary, Queen of Scots starring Saoirse Ronan.

Married three times and widowed twice before she was 25, Mary’s third husband was believed to have killed her second husband, before forcing her to marry him.

But her trauma did not end there. She was betrayed and imprisoned by her cousin, Elizabeth I of England, for 19 years before she was beheaded at the age of 44.

However, according to the survey, only 27 per cent of people could correctly state how old she was when she died and 18 per cent knew she was just six days old when she became queen of Scotland.

A total of 62 per cent were able to identify her famous red hair, and 63 per cent of people who were asked knew that she was accused of killing her second husband, Lord Darnley.

The University of Glasgow has now launched a new course, The Life and Afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots, which is free to access.

Dr Steven Reid, a senior lecturer in Scottish history at the university, and the course leader, said: “We’ve found over 2,000 different objects, ranging from art to personal relics, that tell us how Mary was remembered and how stories about her were told throughout centuries.

“These stories tell us as much about the cultural biases of the people who tell them – their views on gender, on religion, and on power, for example – as they do about how Mary has lived on in the popular imaginatio­n.”

The three-week course is available on the Futurelear­n platform, and Astrid deridder, the director of content at the company, said it “dives into the fascinatin­g life and legacy of Mary Queen of Scots”.

The Life and Afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots will introduce students to Scotland and Europe in the 16th century, right in the middle of the most important time which shaped Mary’s reign when the Protestant Reformatio­n radically reshaped political alliances and had a direct impact on Mary’s own period as the Catholic ruler of a firmly Protestant nation.

The course will explore Mary’s own life, the complex forces that led to her rise and fall from power, and her imprisonme­nt at the hands of a fellow monarch.

Astrid deridder, director of content at Futurelear­n, said: “At Futurelear­n, our mission is to transform access to education.

“We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new course built in partnershi­p with the University of Glasgow’s leading academics, which dives into the fascinatin­g life and legacy of Mary Queen of Scots.

“With hundreds of courses available and over 17 million learners globally, Futurelear­n’s social learning platform is the ideal platform to help educators and learners broaden their skills and learn new and exciting subjects.”

 ?? ?? ↑ Saoirse Ronan played Mary Stuart in the recent film Mary Queen of Scots, opposite Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I
↑ Saoirse Ronan played Mary Stuart in the recent film Mary Queen of Scots, opposite Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I

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