This Day in History: 1542-12-14
In 1542 Mary became Queen of Scotland
Mary became Queen of Scotland on the 14th of December 1542, aged six. She was sent to France to be educated and married the French dauphin on the 24th of April 1558. The Dauphin became King Francis II of France on the 10th of July 1559 and reigned for less than a year with Mary as his queen when he died on the 5th of December 1560 of what started as a chronic ear infection. Mary returned home as queen of Scotland and in 1565 she married her cousin, Lord Darnley who was of House Tudor. This wedding was a way for Mary to enforce her claim to the English throne (her great-uncle was Henry VIII and her aunt was Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland). Mary was Catholic and had many supporters to her claim for the throne of England and who disliked Elizabeth who established the Protestant Church of England, but many Protestants in Scotland also distrusted Mary.
Mary became involved in various plots by Spanish and English Catholics to overthrow Queen Elizabeth, Mary was placed under arrest. In 1586 another foiled plot was directly started by Mary she was tried and convicted of treason. She was executed on the 8th of February 1587. Elizabeth never married and never gave birth to an heir. When she died in 1603 the son of Mary Queen of Scots became King James VI of England, Ireland and Scotland uniting the realm.