Regicide: Mary, Queen of Scots

When she was barely six years old, she was engaged to Edward VI, the frail son of Henry VIII. Had she married Edward, she would have been Queen Consort of England. Instead, Catholic forces inside Scotland, including Mary's mother, pushed for an engagement to the French heir, the dauphin Francis.

Henry VIII fought a war over the issue - called the "Rough Wooing" War. In the end, the French won that battle. As a young girl, Mary went to France to be raised in the French court. When she was sixteen, she married Francis who was two years younger than she. When her young husband became King Francis II, Mary was also Queen Dauphine of France. It was a happy time for her.

Happy times never lasted long in Mary Stuart's life. ("Stuart" was the French spelling of her name.) Within two years, the marriage was over. Francis II had died, and Mary was a widow at eighteen. No longer useful to her French relations, Mary returned to Scotland. Her mother-in-law, the powerful Catherine di Medici (this is a PDF link), wanted the young queen out of France. Mary returned to her homeland which, after twelve formative years in France, was unfamiliar to her. She settled into the royal palace of Holyroodhouse ("Holy Cross House") in Edinburgh.