Mary Queen Scots; Elizabeth, her advisers, foreign powers and Mary

herself. To what extent was Mary responsible for her own death?

In 1567 Scotland rebelled against their Catholic Queen, Mary. She was imprisoned at Loch Leven castle where she remained until her escape in May 1568 when she fled to England. This was the action which triggered a series of events leading to her eventual execution on February 8th 1587.

Before her arrival in England, Mary's reputation had already been tarnished by allegations of her involvement in the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley. This, coupled with the fact that she was Elizabeth's cousin and heir to the throne made her arrival potentially problematic. Her religion also posed a threat to Elizabeth. Catholics regarded Mary as the rightful Queen ('[we] accept her for the true and right Heir apparent of this Realm of England') and were ready to serve her.

After taking these points into careful consideration the Privy Council advised Elizabeth to keep her as a prisoner until she could explain why sh

Foreign powers and influences limited Elizabeth's options; Mary could not be allowed to return to France because of the danger that she might raise support for her earlier claim to be Queen. She could not be sent back to Scotland, either, because any attempt Mary made reassert herself was doomed to failure and result in the Protestant Lords executing her. This effectively forced Elizabeth to allow Mary to remain in England either under imprisonment or as at citizen.

In 1571 the problem of Mary Queen of Scots reached its climax. The Florentine, Ridolfi plotted to bring Mary to the throne with the Duke of Norfolk as her consort. This proved that Elizabeth's earlier reaction to this relationship had been the right one. Again, the rebellion failed but this time the Duke of Walsingham managed to intercept a letter proving that both Mary and Norfolk were key figures in the plot.

In 1569 rumours of an ideal opportunity to make Mary's stay in England more acceptable to the government spread; a plan to marry her to the Duke of Norfolk. This would have been an ideal solution to the growing problem as the people of Engla

Some common words found in the essay are:
Cecil Queen, England Elizabeth's, Bolton Sheffield, Duke Norfolk, Protestant Lords, Loch Leven, Scots Elizabeth, Lord Darnley, Privy Council, Elizabeth Catholics, rightful queen, queen scots, foreign powers, mary queen, mary queen scots, privy council, duke norfolk,
Approximate Word count = 755
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)