Mary Stuart was born at Linlithgow Palace in West Lothian, Scotland. She was the daughter of James V, king of Scotland and Mary of Guise, from France. James V died a week after Mary was born and she became Queen of Scotland. The young Queen's safety was threatened by Earl of Arran who assumed the regency of Scotland. To ensure her safety, Mary of Guise took the child to Stirling Castle and never left her side.

James V of Scotland died. It is thought that the shock of the defeat of the Scottish army at Solway Moss a few weeks earlier led to his death. His daughter Mary was only a week or so old when he died and she became queen, known as Mary Queen of Scots. James Hamilton, Earl of Arran became regent of Scotland as Mary was too young to rule.

At Greenwich a treaty was signed by the Scots and King Henry VIII swearing firstly peace between the two nations and secondly the agreement that Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, should marry Henry's son Edward. Although these two treaties were initially agreed they had been rejected by the Scots by the end of the year. King Henry at first wanted Mary to be brought to England but two sides agreed that she should remain in Scotland until her tenth birthday.

The coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots, took place at Stirling. ^[1]

After the collapse of the Treaties of Greenwich, which were supposed to bring peace between England and Scotland and the marriage of Prince Edward to Mary, King Henry VIII tried to get agreement through force. The King sent the Earl of Hertford (Lord Hertford) with an army to Scotland and in May they attacked and destroyed Edinburgh. This was the first military action in a series of engagements between England and Scotland now known as the Rough Wooing.

King Henry VIII died at Whitehall Palace at the age of 55. He was buried in St. George's Chapel Windsor next to Jane Seymour, his favourite wife.

A condition of King Henry VIII's will was the marriage of his son Edward to Mary, Queen of Scots. It was his hope to unite the two nations. But the Scottish refused to comply. So Somerset, the Protector of England took an army in Scotland. These events were part of a series known as the 'Rough Wooing'.

Thousands of Scots gathered near the town of Musselburgh, just to the east of Edinburgh. They faced an English army led by the Duke of Somerset. The Scots had a good position on the battle field but wasted it when they attacked. The Scots were heavily defeated. The defeat at Pinkie Cleugh was a threat to Mary, Queen of Scots, and so she was secretly moved from Stirling Castle to the Augustinian Inchmahome Priory located on an island on lake Menteith. ^[1]

To comply with the agreement to marry Mary Stuart to the French Dauphin, the young queen was moved from Inchmahome Priory to Dumbarton Castle on the banks of the River Clyde on the west of Scotland. It was here that she waited before sailing to France. ^[1]

The request of the Scottish Regent, Mary of Guise, for help to fight the English was answered by the arrival of an army of several thousand French. The assistance came on condition that her daughter Mary Stuart should marry the French Dauphin, Francis and is known as the Treaty of Haddington. ^[2]

Queen Mary was placed aboard the French ship at Dumbarton with a large number of her attendants. Along with her went the four Marys. Although the English fleet were directed to stop her they did not manage to find the French ship. A stormy crossing to France left many of the travellers sick. ^[3]

Queen Mary arrived in France. Four girls all also called Mary and coming from noble families were chosen to accompany the Queen. Known as the 'Four Maries' the girls were Mary Beaton, Mary Fleming, Mary Livingston and Mary Seton. They landed, possibly, at Roscoff on the north-west coast of France. ^[1]

Mary Stuart arrived at a Dominican convent at Morlaix in northern France where she remained for a few days to recover from a tiring sea journey. From there she and her party travelled on to the palace of St. Gemain. ^[3]

A group of Scottish Lords signed a covenant promising to support the advancement 'the most blessed Word of God' and to push forward the Reformation in Scotland. This was a move against what they saw as the threat from France which came from the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to the French Dauphin. They called themselves the Lords of the Congregation. ^[2]

Henry II of France drew up some extra conditions for the marriage of his son to Mary Stuart. The princess was too young to understand the implications of them and signed in good faith. The secret conditions gave Henry II and his heirs a claim to the Scottish throne and England as well through Mary's claim. They also secured a payment from the Scottish revenue and a clause prevented Mary from trying to reverse the agreement in future. ^[3]

An agreement was reached between the Scottish commissioners and the French king Henry II for the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and Francis, the Dauphin of France. The terms of the agreement allowed the Scots to maintain their traditional rights and would become united with France when Francis became King of France. It was also agreed that if Mary died without having children the Scottish throne would go to the Earl of Arran. ^[4]

Mary, Queen of Scots married Francis, the Dauphin of France. A secret marriage agreement was signed by Mary giving control of Scotland to France if she died without having children.  ^[1]

Henry II, the French king, was accidentally injured during a tournament celebrating a wedding. He was taking part in a joust and the tip of a lance went into his eye. Infection set it and he died a short time afterwards. Henry was succeeded by his son Francis II, the husband of Mary Stuart. ^[4]

Francis II was crowned King of France at Reims Cathedral. The ceremony was subdued because of the untimely death of his father. ^[1]

In Scotland, the regent, Mary of Guise had designs to place put her daughter Mary on the throne of England. There were many Protestants in Scotland and Queen Elizabeth had been secretly helping them in their opposition of the regent and her daughter. There were fears in Scotland that Mary of Guise, a devote Catholic, would secure French assistance and make Scotland a French territory, The Lords of the Congregation, who by now now were a powerful force in Scotland, pushed for an agreement with England that English help would be provided against a French invasion. Queen Elizabeth agreed to this and the treaty was signed at Berwick by the Scots and the Queen's representative, Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk.

Mary Stuart's mother, Mary of Guise, died in Scotland leaving the country in a state of civil war. ^[4]

Francis II, King of France died at the age of sixteen from an abscess in his brain. He had suffered from poor health throughout his life. He was succeeded by his ten-year-old younger brother Charles IX. His mother, Catherine de Medici, took the role of Regent. ^[1]

Mary Queen of Scots spent her time visiting the many castles and houses of her country.

After the death of Francis II, Mary Stuart was approached by Spain with a marriage proposal to Don Carlos of Spain. Both being Catholic, the marriage was a prefect choice but it fell through. Mary turned her attention to a return to Scotland. ^[1]

Mary Stuart hoped that she could return to Scotland through England but Queen Elizabeth denied her request. Instead Mary and her entourage left France from Calais in a small flotilla of ships and set sail for Scotland. The voyage was hazardous as the English fleet were looking for her. But thick fog aided her escape and five days later the ships arrived at the port of Leith, now part of Edinburgh. Mary was met by her half-brother James Stewart ^[4]

George Gordon, the 4th Earl of Huntley rebelled against Queen Mary and at the battle of Corrichie his supporters were defeated by the Earl of Moray. Huntley died at the battle but not from a wound but because he was overweight and the strain of the events was too much for him. ^[1]

The relationship between the English Queen and Mary Queen of Scots became more friendly and Elizabeth proposed a marriage between Mary and Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester. In return for marrying an English noble Elizabeth promised to accept Mary's claim to the English throne. Not only did Mary reject the proposal but Robert did as well.

Mary, Queen of Scots, married Henry Lord Darnley in the chapel at Holyrood House. Henry then became King of Scotland but in title only as Mary still held all the power of the monarch.

Shortly after Queen Mary's marriage to Darnley, the true nature of the Lord's character became apparent. He showed disrespect to the Queen and was jealous of anyone who the Queen was close to. This included an Italian adviser called David Rizzio who Mary confided in and rumors said was the father of her unborn child. Darnley had Rizzio murdered in the presence of the Queen. He started plans to be given the right to rule Scotland as an equal to the Queen under the law known as Crown Matrimonial.

James the son of Mary Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart Lord Darnley was born at Edinburgh Castle.

Henry, Lord Darnley, was murdered as he tried to escape from his attackers as they laid gunpowder in his house. His house was destroyed in the explosion. The culprit was thought to be the Earl of Bothwell who was then very close to Queen Mary and it may have been the Queen herself who ordered the killing. ^[1]

The Earl of Bothwell abducted Mary as she returned from Stirling. She was taken to Dunbar. It is unclear if Mary herself arranged the abduction.

Mary married James Hepburn the 4th Earl of Bothwell, the man accused of murdering her former husband Lord Darnley. ^[5]

Many Scottish nobles rallied against the Queen and Bothwell. The armies of both sides met at Carberry, a few miles to the east of Edinburgh. Mary gave herself up in return for Bothwell's safe exile and no bloodshed occurred. Mary was first taken to Edinburgh and then on to Lochleven where she was forced to abdicate.

The infant son of Mary, Queen of Scots, was crowned in Stirling in an ordinary church called the Holy Rude. This wasn't the traditional location for the coronations of Scottish kings. The ceremony was led by the Bishop of Orkney and John Knox. ^[5]

James Stewart, the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland, and half-brother of Mary Stewart, was escorted from France through England to Edinburgh where he was declared Regent of Scotland to the young King James VI.

Queen Mary managed to escape from Lochleven Castle and found support from the Hamiltons. A large army was raised.

At the battle of Langside, the Hamiltons' army was defeated and three days later Queen Mary had fled to England. By the 18th of May Mary was at Carlisle Castle.

As a captive, Mary, Queen of Scots, was taken along with her many servants to Bolton Castle where she was held for six months. ^[6]

After spending six months at Bolton in Yorkshire, Mary, Queen of Scots, was moved to Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire. ^[6]

Led by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland and with support of the Spanish, a rebelion was started with the aim of freeing Mary Stuart from captivity and restablishing Catholicism. The rebels attacked and took the city of Durham but their plans failed when Royal forces advanced against them. The rebels fled north and Northumberland and Westmoreland took refuge in Scotland. Northumberland was handed over to the English while hundreds of suspected rebels were arrested and killed.

The regency of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox was ended when he was assassinated during a raid by forces loyal to Mary, Queen of Scots, in Stirling. The raid was part of the ongoing civil war in Scotland between the factions supporting Mary and those supporting her son James VI. His death was a blow to the pro-English faction and marked the continuation of political instability in Scotland.

Francis Throckmorton was found guilty of carrying messages with details of an assassination attempt to murder Queen Elizabeth, an invasion by Spain and the freeing of Mary Stuart from captivity. Along with the Earl of Northumberland, Throckmorton was put in the Tower of London before being executed for treason. Before his death, Throckmorton revealed that Queen Mary knew about the plot. ^[7]

In response to the assassination threat to Queen Elizabeth an agreement signed by her supporters was devised. Those who signed agreed to prevent those who plotted against the Queen to succeed to the throne if the assassination was successful. They also agreed to prosecute anyone who would benefit whether they were involved in the assassination or not. The third agreement promised to chase down and kill those who carried out the assassination attempt. This move was hoped to prevent supporters of Mary Stuart directly or indirectly taking part in any more plots against the Queen. ^[7]

A plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth was uncovered. The person accused and found guilty was Dr. Parry, a supporter of Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scots. It was found that he had been assisted by Thomas Morgan, Mary Stuart's assistant who was looking after her affairs in Paris. Parry was executed for treason but no other action was taken. ^[7]

John Ballard a Jesuit priest and an exiled soldier called George Savage arrived in England with a plan to kill Queen Elizabeth and place Mary Stuart on the throne. Their plot was made known to Anthony Babington. But the plot was uncovered by spies of Walsingham the Secretary of State and supporter of Queen Elizabeth. Walsingham arrested the plotters just before they attempted to put their plan into operation. When questioned, the plotters admitted that Mary Stuart knew of the plans. The ringleaders of the plot were executed horribly, while the others were put to death more quickly.

A plot against Queen Elizabeth was discovered when letters between Mary and Anthony Babington were found. The plot to assassinate the English Queen had been encouraged by John Ballard, a Catholic priest. Both men were executed for their involvement and Mary was tried and found guilty of treason. She was executed at Fotheringhay Castle.

On the order of Queen Elizabeth, Mary, Queen of Scots was buried in the Cathedral several months after having been executed at nearby Fotheringhay Castle.