September 9, 1543: A (baby) Queen of Scots is Crowned

When Mary, Queen of France and Queen of Scotland, also claiming the title Queen of England, was born on December 8, 1542 at Linlithgow Castle, her father, James V was mortally ill after a resounding defeat by the English in November of that year. When hearing that his second wife, Mary of Guise had been delivered of a girl, he is said to have turned in face to the wall in bed, saying only "It came from a woman; it will end in a woman" referring to the Stewart claim to Scotland's throne.

When James V died on the 14th of December, 1542, Mary became Queen of Scotland as an infant, only six days old. She was crowned in the chapel at Stirling Castle on September 9, 1543. The painting at the right is by William Ewart Lockhart, a Victorian era painter trained at the Royal Scottish Academy.

Her cousin, James Hamilton the Earl of Arran served as regent and arranged the marriage of Mary to Edward, Henry VIII's heir which would have led to the uniting of England and Scotland under Tudor rule. But Mary of Guise and other Catholic supporters opposed this treaty; they removed Mary to Stirling Castle and Parliament repudiated the agreement James Hamilton had made.
Henry VIII was then enraged and sent an army to invade and pillage Scotland--the "Rough Wooing" of 1544 that only strenthened the Scots' resolve to oppose the marriage. Eventually, a marriage was arranged between Mary and Francois, the Dauphin of France, and thus Mary went to live at the French Court, guided by her mother's family, the House of Guise.

The Queen of Scotland Returns

The infant Mary was crowned Queen of Scotland when she was six days old after her father was defeated at died after the battle of Solway Moss. (James V was also an infant when he came to the throne after the defeat and death of his father, James IV, at the battle of Flodden. His mother, Margaret Tudor, was regent during his minority.)

Henry VIII wanted the young Mary to marry his son Edward, the Prince of Wales, but her mother, being French, sought a strengthening of the "ould alliance" between Scotland and France, and Mary was betrothed to Francis, the Dauphin, or heir of Henri II. Henry VIII conducted some "Rough Wooing" along the border of England and Scotland in protest. Mary grew up in France, encountering the great French renaissance and experiencing the factional court of Henri II. She reigned briefly as Queen consort of Francis II when Henri II died after a jousting accident.

On August 19, 1561, she returned to Scotland, arriving at Leith. Her homeland and kingdom had changed greatly since she went to France. While her mother Mary of Guise was regent, many of the Scots nobles had allied with John Knox to establish the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland. As Queen of Scotland, the returning Mary required only that she be allowed to practice her Catholic faith; she did not support the Catholic factions of nobles, but accommodated the prevailing Protestant lords.

When she left France, Mary stayed on the deck of her ship watching the coastland of her adopted country fade in the distance. Having lost both her mother and her husband so recently, Mary mourned the loss of France, weeping as she knew she would never return. Remember: she was only 18 years old!