Hey, this is Heather from the Renaissance English History Podcast, and this is your Tudor Minute for July 24.
Today in 1567, while imprisoned at Lochleven Castle in Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots is forced to abdicate in favor of her one year old son, who became King James VI of Scotland (and even later, King James I of England).
Mary became the Queen of Scots when she was just 6 days old and her father, King James V, died. Her mother negotiated a French marriage, and she was raised at the French court, marrying the French dauphin who became King Francis II. He died after just a year, and Mary returned home to Scotland. But she hadn’t expected the politics of Scotland. She married her English cousin Lord Darnley, and then he was mysteriously killed.
Mary then quickly remarried the chief suspect in his killing, and while historians disagree on whether she was forced into this marriage by the said Earl of Bothwell (I think she was), there can be no disagreement as to the PR nightmare that it became. Bothwell was acquitted of the charge, but the nobility had had it. Mary was forced to abdicate today. A year later she would escape and flee to England where she hoped to receive help from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth. That, of course, is a different story.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Links:
Episode 085: Mary Queen of Scots
From the Shop:
The Mary Queen of Scots collection – save 15% off the collection today with code MQS
Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop.
She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
