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Marie GuiseQueen of Scots, wife of King James V
Date of Birth: 22.11.1515
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
Biography of Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was the Queen of Scotland, the wife of King James V, and the regent of Scotland from 1554 to 1560. Her regency was a critical period for the country, as it determined the future political and religious development. Mary was the eldest daughter of Claude, Duke of Guise, and Antoinette de Bourbon-Vendôme. In 1534, Mary married Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville, a close relative of the King of France. However, her first husband died three years later. Around the same time, the first wife of King James V of Scotland also passed away, and the king, loyal to the alliance with France, sought a new bride from the French aristocracy. On May 18, 1538, Mary and the King of Scotland were married in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. Soon after, the young queen arrived in her new homeland, leaving her son from her first marriage in France.
Mary and James V had three children, but their two older sons died in infancy before reaching one year old. Their youngest child, a daughter named Mary, became Queen of Scotland at just six days old upon the death of her father on December 14, 1542. To govern the country during the minority of Queen Mary Stuart, a regency council was formed, with James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, as its leader. The regent pursued a policy of alignment with England, initiated negotiations for the marriage of Mary Stuart and the son of the English King Henry VIII, and actively encouraged the spread of Anglican Protestantism. At the same time, a pro-French party formed around Cardinal Beaton, to which Mary of Guise naturally sided.
In late 1543, annoyed by Henry VIII's excessive demands, the regent removed the pro-English barons from power and severed the alliance with England. This provoked an invasion by the English army, before which the government was powerless. As a result, Arran was temporarily removed from power in the summer of 1544, and Mary of Guise took his place. She managed to unite a diverse range of groups around her, from fervent supporters of alignment with France led by Cardinal Beaton to moderate Anglophiles led by the Earl of Angus. The new government pursued a cautious policy, not giving in to Henry VIII's demands but also not rushing to fulfill France's wishes. The pursuit of compromises, however, led to the rapid spread of Protestantism in Scotland, especially in the cities of Fife and Kyle. On May 29, 1546, Cardinal Beaton was killed by radical Protestants in his castle, which triggered a serious political crisis. The murderers seized St. Andrews, holding hostages there, and protests by Protestants spread throughout the country, with many Catholic churches destroyed and many church lands seized. The government, led again by Arran, was unable to cope with the situation and was forced to seek help from France. On July 31, 1547, a French expeditionary force expelled the Protestants from St. Andrews and arrested the participants in the rebellion. In response, English forces under the Duke of Somerset invaded Scotland and defeated the Scots in the Battle of Pinkie in September 1547. English garrisons were stationed in the most important fortresses in the eastern part of the country.
The inability to unite the Catholic and Protestant forces in the country forced Mary of Guise and the Earl of Arran to once again seek help from France. The situation was favorable: in 1547, Henry II ascended the throne of France, determined to resume war with England to regain Boulogne and Calais. Representatives of the Guise family, Mary's brothers, took leading positions at the French court. On July 7, 1548, a marriage treaty was signed between Queen Mary Stuart and Francis, the eldest son of Henry II, and shortly after, the five-year-old queen was sent to France. French troops were introduced into Scotland, which pushed the English out of most fortresses, and according to the Treaty of Boulogne on March 24, 1550, which ended the Anglo-French war, the English troops left Scotland. In 1550, Mary of Guise made a trip to France, during which she managed to secure French subsidies and pensions for wavering Scottish barons. Upon her return to Scotland in 1551, the queen took advantage of the declining popularity of the Earl of Arran and in April 1554, she succeeded in removing him from the post of regent. Mary of Guise became the sole ruler of Scotland.
Mary of Guise's Policy of Pacification and Its Failure
Mary of Guise's policy from 1554 to 1560 was largely determined by France's interests. In relation to the Protestants, the queen initially adopted a peaceful attitude: not being a fanatical Catholic, Mary did not hinder the activities of Protestant preachers. She even tried to use them against England, where Queen Mary Tudor had established an ultra-Catholic regime since 1553. Several prominent Scottish magnates, such as the Earl of Argyll, Lord Lorne, and the Earl of Morton, switched to the side of the reformed church. Mary of Guise sought to appeal to as broad a range of people as possible - townspeople, moderate Anglophiles, and Protestants - by granting them various privileges and pensions.
However, this policy was largely undermined by French domination in Scotland: French troops were stationed in Scottish fortresses, and French advisors held important positions in the royal administration. The country's financial system could not meet the increasing needs of the government, and attempts to introduce taxes met with strong resistance from all segments of society. The recruitment of soldiers for the war against England also failed. Mary was increasingly reliant on French subsidies and material assistance, which forced her to make significant concessions. According to the secret clauses of the marriage contract in 1558 between Mary Stuart and Francis Valois, the queen would transfer Scotland to the French king in the event of no children from that marriage, which posed a threat of turning Scotland into one of the provinces of the French kingdom.
The final measure of Mary of Guise's pacification policy was the convocation of the Scottish Church Assembly in March 1559, aimed at reforming the church. However, its half-hearted decisions failed to satisfy both Catholics and Protestants.
The situation changed in late 1558 when Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne of England, once again turning the country towards Protestantism. Mary Stuart, considering Elizabeth, according to church canons, the illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII, declared her claims to the English throne. France, where Mary Stuart's husband Francis II became king, was ready to support the queen's claims. In early 1559, John Knox, a fiery Protestant preacher and fervent opponent of female rule, arrived in Scotland. Under the influence of his sermons, a Protestant uprising broke out in Perth on May 11. The rebels destroyed Catholic shrines, looted monasteries and abbeys. The Earl of Argyll and several other aristocrats joined their side. Protestant forces moved south and occupied Edinburgh. Mary of Guise was forced to retreat, but she managed to fortify herself in Leith, where French reinforcements soon arrived. In response, the Protestants sought help from England. Arran also joined the rebellion and declared the removal of Mary from the regent's post. However, French troops went on the offensive and soon expelled the Protestants from Edinburgh. In response, Arran and the leaders of the Protestant party signed an agreement with England on February 27, 1560, which included the deployment of English troops in the country.
In late March 1560, English troops entered Scotland. For the first time in history, they were greeted as liberators of the country, as religious unity now mattered more than national differences. The English besieged Mary of Guise and the French army in Leith. The situation was further complicated by events in France: the Guise faction was temporarily removed from power, meaning it was impossible to provide further military assistance to the queen. France was now leaning towards reconciliation with England. On July 6, 1560, the Edinburgh Treaty was signed between English and French envoys, and both countries pledged to withdraw their troops from Scotland. Shortly before its signing, Mary of Guise passed away. There is an opinion that she was poisoned by order of Queen Elizabeth I of England, but this viewpoint is not historically confirmed.
Mary of Guise's death and the Edinburgh Treaty marked a turning point in the political and religious development of Scotland: the traditional alignment with France lost its significance, and three hundred years of Anglo-Scottish wars were replaced by a period of peace and closer ties between the two British states. Protestantism triumphed in Scotland.
