Quite a sad story, really.Mary Stuart, the only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland, spent her childhood in France, and married the French dauphin Francis when she was 16 to become the Queen consort. Widowed in two years, she returned to Scotland to rule as its Queen. Things weren't easy for her - she didn't get along with her lords and the Protestant clergy. After four years, she married her first cousin Henry Stuart, the Lord Darnley. He was no good for her, and the marriage ended in tragedy. There was an explosion in the house in the middle of the night, and he was found strangled to death in the garden. She later married Bothwell, who was the chief suspect in Darnley's death. She had no choice for Bothwell abducted her and brought her to Dunbar Castle, where he allegedly raped her. Some uprising followed, and Mary was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year old sone James VI. Meanwhile she fled to England to seek protection from Queen Elizabeth I. Seen as a threat to the English throne, Elizabeth had her arrested and imprisoned in various castles and manor houses. After 19 long years, she was tried and found guilty of treason for being party to the Babington plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. She was 44 when she was executed.
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