On this day was set into motion the process by which Scotland and England would be united under a single crown: on this day was born a girl, not a boy, to a king in need of an heir – a king who would be dead before the year was out.
Mary Stuart was the only legitimate child of James V of Scotland, himself the only legitimate child of James IV to survive infancy. Also like her father, Mary came to the throne of Scotland at a very young age (she was only six days old, her father had been seventeen months old) – and both their fathers were killed by the English. Interestingly, that made Scotland quite used to being ruled by regents – regents who in both cases were at odds with a larger coalition of lords who ended up taking control. Margaret Tudor worked to keep England as a friend during her son James V’s minority, but the pro-French lords ousted her when she married Archibald Douglas, the Earl of Angus. Marie de Guise rejected English overtures during her own pro-French regency, but on her premature death was replaced by a pro-English Council.
But I digress (you can’t really blame me – that’s one of those great parallels that are the hallmark of the Tudor era…). The point is, a female queen brings her country as a dowry to whatever man she marries. And while this was precisely what Henry VIII never wanted to have happen to England, it was what he was thrilled to see happen to Scotland. What better way to unite England and Scotland under a single crown? It was the perfect plan….for him, not for Scotland. The dream evaporated in when Mary married the boy who briefly became Francis II of France… but the next generation turned things back around and Mary’s son James ascended the English throne on Elizabeth’s death.
But that’s getting way ahead of ourselves. For today, Scotland welcomed a baby girl despite their prayers for a boy, the same way England had for years…
***
If you like my posts, you’ll love my books! My Seymour Saga trilogy tells the gripping story of the short-lived dynasty that shaped the Tudor Era. Jane the Quene skews romantic, The Path to Somerset is pure Game of Thrones (without the dragons), and The Boy King is a noir coming-of-age. Get them now through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple, or even your local independent bookstore!
(PS Already read them? Did you love them? Then please review them – even just a stars rating! It makes a huge difference in helping new readers find them and would mean the world to me!)
Be First to Comment