The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots, is famous for being executed by her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England. Her execution was much, much more brutal than you might think. We’ll get to that part in a minute, but here’s the how a Queen of Scotland ended up on the scaffold.
Since childhood, Mary had been engaged to Francis, heir to the French throne. She was briefly Queen of France, but her husband died after about a year. After possibly being involved in a plot to murder her second husband, James Stuart, Lord Darnley, Mary quickly married her third husband, James Hepburn, Earl Bothwell. That too was short-lived, and Mary was soon forced to abdicate in favor of her son.
She fled to England, where her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, imprisoned her. As Mary was a close relative of Elizabeth, and technically next-in-line to the throne, there were many plots to replace Protestant Elizabeth with Catholic Queen Mary.
After nineteen years of captivity, Queen Elizabeth’s secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, found evidence of Mary’s involvement in the Babington Plot, yet another plot against Elizabeth. Elizabeth reluctantly signed the death warrant. The evening before her execution, she was told that she would be dead by the next morning.
When the next morning arrived, Mary was led to the scaffold. The executioner asked for forgiveness, and Mary granted it with a bittersweet smile, saying, “For now, I hope, you shall make an end of all my troubles.”
Her servants helped her take her outer garments off. Mary was blindfolded, and she obediently put her head on the chopping block. Once she had said “Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit”, the executioner raised his axe, but missed. He instead hit Mary’s head, which must have hurt.
The executioner tried again. He missed.
As they say, third time’s the charm. This time, the axe struck Mary’s neck, and the Queen was dead. The executioner picked up Mary’s severed head and held it up so that the crowd could see.
After just a second, Mary’s head fell, leaving her red wig in the executioner’s hand, and Mary’s white-haired head on the ground.
Oh, and that’s not all. Mary kept many dogs for comfort during her time imprisoned. One of them had been with her the whole time. He crawled out from under her skirts, soaked in blood and quivering.
Finally, the event was over.
Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, claimed that she didn’t think Mary would have actually been executed, and was deeply saddened by the death of her cousin and fellow Queen-Regnant.
