Mary, Queen of Scots was one of the most fascinating and controversial monarchs of the 16th century Europe. At one time, she claimed the crowns of four nations Scotland, France, England and Ireland. Her physical beauty and kind heart were acknowledged even by herenemies, Yet she lacked the political skills torule successfully in Scotland. Her life ended intragedy.

In November, 1542, King James V of Scotland, lay dying at his beloved Falkland Palace. He was devastated by his armys defeat by the English at Solway Moss and sawlittle hope for the future. At Falkland, he wastold that Mary de Guise, his French born wife once wooed by Henry VIII, had given birth to a daughter on December 8. James died within a week of Marys birth and, before she was evena year old, the child was crowned queen of Scots. Her mother acted as regent in her stead.

The regents of Scotland made a treaty with Henry VIII in which Edward, Henrys long-awaited and precious son, would wed Mary. But the treaty broke in the end. The scots sentthe five-year-old Mary to France, her mothershomeland. They had agreed to her marriage with Francis, the heir of Henry II, king of France.

Mary was given a royal welcome in France by King Henry II. She was educated in the traditional manner of French princesses； she spoke French and learned Latin, Italian, Spanish and a little Greek. She learned to dance, sing and play the lute. Exceptionally tall for a woman in the 16th century, Mary was considered to be the most beautiful princess in Europe. In 1558, she married the Dauphin in an incredible celebration and Francis becameking in 1559, briefly uniting the French and Scottish crowns. However, Francis died froman ear infection the following year.

A widow at just 18, Mary returned to Scotland where she faced many challenges. The Scots received their new queen with great joy and celebration. Mary was determined that there would be no religious persecution under her rule. She tried her best to help the poor. She also attempted to strengthen the power of the Crown against Scotlands notoriously difficult to control nobles. As a result, she was popular with the common people but not the nobility.

In 1565, Mary married her cousin, the Earl of Darnley. Their relationship quickly broke down and as the spoiled and petulant Darnley spent less time with Mary, she became increasingly close to her advisor, the Earl of Bothwell.

After the birth their son, James in June1566, Darnley and Marys relationshipcontinued to deteriorate. In February, 1567, his residence was destroyed by an explosion, and Darnley was found murdered in the garden.5D6F4EC6-F3DA-457C-BB98-97EE264847E2

By waiting mere three months before marrying the Earl of Bothwell, Mary turnedthe Scottish nobility against her. Bothwell wasexiled and Mary forced to abdicate in July, 1567. She was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle and her infant son James was made king. Having escaped from Lochleven in 1568, Mary fled to England to seek refuge from her cousin, Elizabeth 1.

Mary had hoped Queen Elizabeth would support her but her arrival in England put her cousin in a difficult position. The Catholic Mary also had a strong claim to the English throneso Elizabeth had her imprisoned for 19 years. Then in 1587, Mary was tried for treason and executed at the age of 44.

Marys son, James went on to succeed Elizabeth in 1603.

蘇格蘭女王瑪麗是16世紀(jì)歐洲最令人著迷卻也最受爭議的一位君主。她曾有望繼承四個國家的王位——蘇格蘭、法國、英格蘭和愛爾蘭。即便是她的敵人，也不得不承認(rèn)她的美貌和善良。但她缺乏統(tǒng)治者所必需的政治才能，所以最終結(jié)局頗為悲慘。

1542年11月，蘇格蘭國王詹姆斯五世躺在他最喜歡的?？颂m宮殿的病榻上，奄奄一息。在索爾維·摩斯一役中，他的軍隊被英格蘭擊敗，他深受打擊，對未來再不抱希望。也是在?？颂m宮殿，他被告知他的妻子瑪麗·德·吉斯——法國血統(tǒng)的她曾受到亨利八世的追求——12月8日給他生了個女兒?，旣惓錾蟛坏揭粋€星期，詹姆士逝世，不到一歲的她成為蘇格蘭的女王，她的母親代為攝政。

蘇格蘭的攝政者和亨利八世達成合約，將瑪麗嫁給亨利的寶貝兒子愛德華。但最后合約被打破。蘇格蘭人將五歲的瑪麗送到了她母親的祖國法國，決定將她嫁給法國國王亨利二世的繼承人弗朗西斯。

在法國宮廷，瑪麗得到了國王亨利二世的皇室級別的歡迎，受到了法國公主一樣的教育。她學(xué)會了說法語、拉丁語、意大利語、西班牙語和一點希臘語，同時還學(xué)會了跳舞、唱歌和彈琴。她的個頭比當(dāng)時婦女高，被認(rèn)為是歐洲最漂亮的公主。1558年，她和王儲舉行大婚，1559年弗朗西斯繼承王位，短暫統(tǒng)一了法國和蘇格蘭的王權(quán)。但在接下來的一年，弗朗西斯因為耳朵感染逝世。

18歲就成為寡婦的瑪麗回到蘇格蘭，而那里也有諸多挑戰(zhàn)擺在她面前。蘇格蘭人熱烈地歡迎自己的新女王歸來?，旣悰Q心在她的統(tǒng)治下，蘇格蘭將不會有宗教迫害，她竭盡所能幫助窮苦人，同時還試圖加強王權(quán)，對抗一直以來不太服管制的蘇格蘭貴族。結(jié)果，她受到了普通平民的擁戴，在貴族那里卻不受歡迎。

1565年，瑪麗下嫁其表兄達恩利伯爵，但他們的關(guān)系很快就破裂了。紈绔子弟達恩利和瑪麗在一起的時間越來越少，于是她和她的顧問博斯維爾伯爵越走越近。

1566年6月，他們的兒子詹姆斯出生后，達恩利和瑪麗的關(guān)系進一步惡化。1567年2月，達恩利的住宅發(fā)生爆炸，達恩利被發(fā)現(xiàn)死在花園里。

達恩利死后不到三個月，瑪麗嫁給了博斯維爾伯爵，此舉激怒了蘇格蘭的貴族們。1567年7月，博斯維爾被流放，瑪麗也被迫退位。她被囚禁在列文湖城堡，她襁褓中的兒子詹姆斯成為國王。1568年，瑪麗從列文湖城堡逃出，逃到英格蘭，尋求她的表親伊麗莎白一世的庇護。

瑪麗原指望伊麗莎白女王會支持她，但她的到來卻使她的表親處境艱難。信仰天主教的瑪麗同樣有權(quán)繼承英國王位，所以伊麗莎白將她囚禁了起來，這一囚禁就囚禁了19年之久。到1587年，44歲的瑪麗還是以叛國罪被處死。

1603年，瑪麗的兒子詹姆斯繼承伊麗莎白之位，成為英格蘭國王。5D6F4EC6-F3DA-457C-BB98-97EE264847E2