Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley by Alison Weir

This lesson contains a History Hook starter video to hook students into the lesson. The letters seem to show that Mary was in love with Bothwell and was planning to murder her husband.

Meanwhile, in 1568, a group of Scottish Earls ‘found’ a number of letters in a silver casket, supposedly written by Mary to Earl Bothwell. Elizabeth I took her prisoner – and a prisoner she stayed for the next 19 years. Mary was driven out to England and her infant son James was made king. When Mary married Bothwell three months later it looked as though the suspicions were right. However, many people suspected that Mary and her friend Earl Bothwell had arranged the murder. The list of suspects was long, because Darnley had many enemies. Something had frightened him so badly that he had escaped from the house before it exploded, but someone saw him fleeing, caught up with him, and strangled him. He was found half-naked – not in the rubble of the house, but in the garden outside the town walls. Darnley was killed, but not by the explosion. At about two am, a massive explosion reduced Kirk o’ Field House to rubble. On the night of 10 February, Mary left to attend a wedding party while Darnley stayed at home. Darnley was sick and decided to stay at at Kirk o’ Field House in Edinburgh. Their son´s birth was very important because not only was he heir to the Scottish throne, but he was also the heir to the English throne.Įarly the following year, Mary managed to persuade Darnley that she had forgiven him for the murder of Rizzio. On 16 June Mary gave birth to a son: James. Mary had few people to turn to during this time except James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell.

Meanwhile Mary was held captive by her husband and forced to make him king in his own right. Over 50 dagger wounds were counted on his body. Rizzio was dragged from the room and killed. On 9 March 1566 Mary was having supper with David Rizzio when her husband burst in. She began to spend most of her time with David Rizzio, her secretary, and this stirred the jealousy of Darnley. He soon made himself very unpopular among the Scottish nobles and Mary soon grew to hate his bullying ways. Although handsome and elegant, Darnley was weak, vain and spoilt. In 1565 Mary married Lord Darnley, a Catholic, and great-grandson of Henry VII. The story of Mary Queen of Scots and her marriage to Lord Darnley shows both the romantic and the brutal side of politics in the 16th century.

Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley by Alison Weir