MARY STUART, QUEEN OF FRANCE AND SCOTLAND

Exceptional destinies

An episode from the series SECRETS OF HISTORY - PORTRAITS

Synopsis

Although Marie Stuart was born on December 8, 1542, in Scotland, she spent the first years of her life in France because her mother wanted to protect her from the warring Scottish clans and the scheming England.

Marie Stuart, who was promised the throne of Scotland, became Queen of France when she married the country's new king, the young François II who was only 15 years old. When he died a year later, Mary returned to the land of her ancestors where the Protestant religion was now dominant.

Not only did she lost her throne as Queen of Scotland but her cousin, Elizabeth I, considered her a dangerous rival to the English throne as well. She had her arrested and executed on February 8, 1587.