Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, is a historically tragic figure who secured the Scottish throne and bolstered the position of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Her plotting and involvement in the murder of her husband led to her flight and imprisonment by Elizabeth of England. This masterly study shows Mary as she really was, not a romantic heroine, but the ruler of a European kingdom with greater economic and political importance than its size or location would indicate. Her downfall was not simply due to the 'crisis years of 1565–7, but because of her way of dealing with the problems facing her as a renaissance monarch.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 288 pages
\n Publication date: 01 November 2018
\n Publisher: Birlinn General
\n

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, has been portrayed as one of history's romantically tragic figures. Devious, naïve, beautiful, and sexually voracious, she secured the Scottish throne and bolstered the position of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Her plotting, including probable involvement in the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley, led to her flight from Scotland and imprisonment by her equally ambitious cousin and fellow queen, Elizabeth of England. Yet, when Elizabeth ordered Mary's execution in 1587, it was an act of exasperated frustration rather than political wrath.

Unlike biographies of Mary predating this work, this masterly study set out to show Mary as she really was – not a romantic heroine, but the ruler of a European kingdom with far greater economic and political importance than its size or location would indicate. Wormald also showed that Mary's downfall was not simply because of the 'crisis years of 1565–7, but because of her way of dealing, or failing to deal, with the problems facing her as a renaissance monarch. She was tragic because she was born to supreme power but was wholly incapable of coping with its responsibilities. Her extraordinary story has become one of the most colourful and emotionally searing tales of western history, and it is here fully reconsidered by a leading specialist of the period.

Jenny Wormald's beautifully written biography will appeal to students and general readers alike.

\n Weight: 292g\n
Dimension: 194 x 128 x 22 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781780275529\n \n