On Wednesday morning, Aug 23, we had to pack our bags and leave our flat. It was a good 2 days of being in Edinburgh and I was a bit sad that we had to leave already. There were so many other places I would have liked to see.
There was one specific place, Holyrood House where Mary Queen of Scots lived that I really, really wanted to see. I was able to talk our van full into stopping by before heading to Aberdeen. I had read several different books about Mary Queen of Scots and found her to be quite fascinating. She had an incredibly hard life! Her dad died when she was about week old. This made her Queen but due to her age Scotland was ruled by regents instead. To protect this young Mary she was sent to France to live. As an infant she we was betrothed and eventually married when she about 16 to the French King's son. I'd like to believe this was a happy union. Unfortunately, less than 2 years later her husband was killed in battle I believe. So she was sent back to Scotland. Several years later Mary was forced to marry her older cousin, something she did NOT want to do. Several years later there was an explosion at home and the cousin, her husband, was found dead. It was around this time that Mary had given birth to a son, James VI. It was rumored that while being married she had picked up a lover. Supposedly it was the lover who killed Mary's husband. Many believed that Mary was very aware that there would be an "accident" that would take her husbands life. However it has never been proved, just rumored. Soon after her husbands death she married this man. Scotland was outraged. The Regents took her son and forced Mary into "imprisonment" aka house arrest in a castle far away. Eventually she had to awknowledge that she was would not be Queen but allow her son to reign under the Regents authority. When she did this she was released and ran to England where her cousin was Queen, Queen Elizabeth I for help. She was hoping her cousin would help her get her country back so that she could reign as the rightful Queen and raise her son to be the future King at her death.
*** Just a quick history lesson; King Henry VIII (of England) had a sister that was betrothed and married to the Scottish King. It was this sister that gave birth to Mary Queen of Scots. King Henry VIII married and had one daughter that survived childhood, Mary. King Henry fathered another surviving daughter with his mistress, she was named Elizabeth. When King Henry died he actually had a illegitimate son that he "legitimized" to rule after his death. His son was very sickly and soon died after he became King. This then made Mary, his oldest and only legitimate daughter Queen, Queen Mary I. When Mary died his illegitimate daughter Elizabeth was dubbed Queen, Queen Elizabeth I. There were many people in England who refused to see Elizabeth as their queen, she was a bastard child. They wanted and supported Queen Mary of Scots to forcefully take the thrown from Queen Elizabeth. After all she was the only legitimate heir technically left.***
So when Mary Queen of Scots got to England, her own cousin Queen Elizabeth, imprisoned her once again to many different castles and manors. She was basically under house arrest for about 20 years. After years of rumors and different uprisings Queen Elizabeth found her cousin, Queen Mary of Scots guilty of "plotting to assassinate" her and had her beheaded. I just found this Queen absolutely fascinating to learn about.
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