Mary, Queen of Scots Biography

Mary, Queen of Scots was Queen of Scotland from 1542 to 1567. She was the daughter of King James V of Scotland and his second wife, Mary of Guise, and was the only surviving legitimate child of the king. The untimely death of her father when she was just six days old made her the Queen of Scots as a tiny infant. In the chaos following her father’s death, Mary’s great-uncle King Henry VIII of England made an effort to secure control of the throne of Scotland but his attempt was thwarted in a timely manner by Mary’s mother who acted as a regent on behalf of her daughter. Her mother, who was of French origin, fixed Mary’s marriage with Francis, the four-year-old heir to the French crown, and sent her to live in France where she was raised in the court of Francis’ father, French King Henry II. She soon married Francis and when her young husband ascended to the throne upon his father’s death, Mary became the queen consort of France. However, the untimely death of her husband left Mary a widow at the age of 18 and she returned to Scotland. Mary’s reign as the Queen of Scots was fraught with political difficulties and her unwise personal choices only complicated the issues.