Thomas Imbach (Mary Queen of Scots) - Interview
7:05 | Uploaded on Sep 11, 2013
Named Queen of Scotland shortly after her birth in 1542, Mary Stuart was born in Scotland but grew up in France. At 15, she married the 14-year-old future King of France – Francis II, but he died of an ear infection shortly after ascending to the throne at the age of sixteen. At 18, when Mary returned to Scotland, she was plunged into religious conflict. Despite believing in religious tolerance, Mary, a Catholic, was considered an outsider.
The young sovereign married Lord Darnley, who turned out to be an anti-Protestant fanatic. Jealous of Mary’s secretary, David Rizzio, Darnley and a gang of men murdered Rizzio, stabbing him over 50 times in front of Mary, who was pregnant at the time. Horrified, she wanted nothing more to do with her husband. Darnley was mysteriously killed in an explosion several months later. Just three months after her husband’s death, Mary married the Earl of Bothwell, who was the prime suspect in Darnley’s murder. The Scottish nobility rose against her and she fled to London to seek her cousin Elizabeth’s protection. Instead, Queen Elizabeth, fearing Mary would try to claim the crown of England, had Mary imprisoned.