Who Were the Queen's Maries?
Mary, Queen of Scots, was five years old when she was sent to France to be raised with her future husband, Francis, the dauphin. Four other girls about her own age were sent as maids of honor to keep her company. These four girls, two with French mothers and all with Scottish fathers, were all named Mary -- in French, Marie. (Please be patient with all these Mary and Marie names -- including those of some of the girls' mothers.)
- Mary Fleming
- Mary Seton (or Seaton)
- Mary Beaton
- Mary Livingston
Mary, also known as Mary Stuart, was already Queen of Scotland, because her father had died when she was less than a week old. Her mother, Mary of Guise, stayed in Scotland and maneuvered to gain power there, eventually becoming regent from 1554 to 1559 until deposed in a civil war. Mary of Guise worked to keep Scotland in the Catholic fold, rather than letting the Protestants take control. The marriage was to have bound Catholic France to Scotland. Catholics who did not accept the divorce and remarriage of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn believed that Mary Stuart was the rightful heir of Mary I of England, who died in 1558.
When Mary and the four Maries arrived in France in 1548, Henry II, Mary Stuart's prospective father-in-law, wanted the young dauphine-to-be to speak French. He sent the four Maries to be educated by Dominican nuns. They soon rejoined Mary Stuart. Mary married Francis in 1558, he became king in July of 1559, and then Francis died in December of 1560. Mary of Guise, deposed by Scottish nobles in 1559, had died in July of 1560.
Mary, Queen of Scots, now a childless dowager Queen of France, returned to Scotland in 1561. The four Maries returned with her. Within a few years, Mary Stuart began looking for a new husband for herself, and husbands for the four Maries. Mary Stuart married her first cousin, Lord Darnley, in 1565; thee of the four Maries were married between 1565 and 1568. One remained unmarried.
After Darnley died in circumstances that pointed to murder, Mary quickly married a Scottish noble who had kidnapped her, the earl of Bothwell. Two of her Maries, Mary Seton and Mary Livingston, were with Queen Mary during her subsequent imprisonment. Mary Seton helped Queen Mary to escape by impersonated her mistress.
Mary Seton, who remained unmarried, was with Queen Mary as a companion when she was imprisoned in England, until ill health led her to retire to a convent in France in 1583. Mary Stuart was executed in 1587. A few have speculated that two of the other Maries, Mary Livingston or Mary Fleming, may have been involved in forging the casket letters, which were supposed to have confirmed that Mary Stuart and Bothwell played a role in the death of her husband, Lord Darnley. (The authenticity of the letters is questioned.)
- What about Mary Hamilton?
