On 10 February 1567, Darnley died when his residence was destroyed by a bomb whilst his wife, Mary, Queen of Scots, attended a party for the wedding of her servant Bastian Pagez. 04 July 2022 | The story of the three husbands of Mary Queen of Scots: Francis II of France, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Time would prove to Mary that Darnley's beauty and courtly accomplishments were only skin deep. He was staying at Kirk o' Field, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, when there was an explosion. [55], Mary was kept in captivity until she was implicated in the Babington plot against Elizabeth, after which she was convicted of treason and executed. Mary, Queen of Scots Flashcards | Quizlet I have a question about the murder of Darnley: where did the gunpowder that blew up Kirk o Field come from? Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Indeed, Bothwell notwithstanding, less than a year after Darnley's death the Scottish lords forced Mary to abdicate and flee to England. The murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, took place on 10 February 1567 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, Stewart also spelled Stuart, also called (156567) Earl of Ross, Duke of Albany, (born Dec. 7, 1545, Temple Newsom, Yorkshire, Eng.died Feb. 9/10, 1567, Edinburgh), cousin and second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, father of King James I of Great Britain and Ireland (James VI of Scotland), and direct ancestor of all subsequent British sovereigns. Omissions? While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He became the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots and the father of the future James VI of Scotland and I of England. Mary wrote and allegedly said some unkind things about Darnley after he stabbed Rizzio, one of her friends, and an Italian ambassador to death. Curiously, he appeared not to have been killed by the explosion but by strangulation. Many people did not like Mary, a) because she was a woman, and had no heir and b) because she was a Catholic. Cause of Death Asphyxiation Killed By Lord Bothwell Mary Stuart (indirectly) Relationship Information Relatives Mary Stuart (wife) James VI and I (son) Lady Lennox (mother) Lady Keira (ex-lover) Series Information Season (s) At first Darnley's household thought he would be accommodated in the Hamilton Lodging. Interestingly, however, it seems that Darnley was not killed by the explosion that night. He stayed with his family in Glasgow, until Mary brought him to recuperate at Old Provost's lodging at Kirk o' Field, a two-storey house within the church quadrangle, a short walk from Holyrood, with the intention of incorporating him into the court again. On arrival at Dunbar at midnight, Bothwell took Mary hostage and allegedly subjected her to a violent rape so that she would marry him. The couple had become acquainted in France shortly after the death of Marys first husband, the French king Francis II. I have always been suspicious of the Casket Letters, although I feel it was foolish of Mary to marry Bothwell when he was implicated in her husbands murder. These explosions were later attributed to two barrels of gunpowder that had been placed in the small room under Darnley's sleeping quarters. Predictably, within days of the wedding Mary was reduced to suicidal despair by Bothwell's abuse. Mary and Lord Darnley met in February 1565 at . He died in 1495 and was succeeded by the following descendants: Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox (1488- ob Flodden, 1513) John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox (ob 1526) Soon after Mary married Darnley, she became aware of his vain, arrogant and unreliable qualities, which threatened the wellbeing of the state. Everyone loves a good whodunnit and the question of who killed Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, the dashing but dastardly husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, has remained unanswered since his death in 1567, though, for many, his royal wife has remained the prime suspect. It could well be that "old and new pages were spliced together to make up a composite document"13 to convince Cecil and Elizabeth of Mary's guilt. However, these letters, also could have been forged. On 27 March, the Earl of Morton and Lord Ruthven, who were both present at Rizzio's murder and had fled to England, wrote to Cecil claiming that Darnley had initiated the murder plot and recruited them, because of his "heich quarrel" and "deadly hatred" of Rizzio. "Mary, Mary, quite Contrary." Updates? Riccio was the son of a musician. "[24] After a brief visit to his father at Dunkeld, Darnley returned with Mary and the court to Holyrood on 24 February. Murder of Lord Darnley - Wikipedia Fearful of the conspiracy he considered taking ship at Leith. Well, he wanted to divorce his wife, but the Pope said no, so he then created a new church: the Church of England. The murder of Darnley 1567 - The reign of Mary - Higher History Revision - BBC Bitesize The reign of Mary Mary returned to Scotland in 1561 after the death of Francois. After 18 years, Elizabeth had Mary killed for plotting to take her throne, after letters allegedly from Mary were intercepted, and it was found she was plotting to take the throne. Perhaps something had awoken Darnley and he had attempted to flee the house, with his groom, using the chair and rope, which were also found in the garden, to escape from a first floor window. Darnley was the author of 'Darnley's Ballet', 'Gife langour makis men licht', and potentially 'Quhair luve is kendlit confortless' [attribution uncertain] printed in the Bannatyne manuscript (1570 ca.).[63][64]. Less than a year after the wedding, Darnley, unhinged by immature jealousy, became involved in the murder of David Rizzio, his wife's private secretary. With Darnley's death, she had, in fact, become a widow for the second time. [16] Yaxley was employed by the Countess of Lennox. The author of the mermaid placard was never identified, and again a copy was sent to England. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Now that points to some of the Protestant lords in Scotland and it points to south of the border to Queen Elizabeth I as well., That was what the explosion could tell us, and that was important, because it asks the question: why would the queen set off an explosion in her own premises where she was most likely to be the victim? King Henry VIII ruled England for 36 years, yet his reign remains k London gangster William 'Billy' Hill helped shape the criminal care 2023 Irish Studio. Mary had growing enemies; she needed to escape, Bothwell offered protection. [8] Another schoolmaster to the young heir was Arthur Lallart, who would later be interrogated in London for having gone to Scotland in 1562. They were in their nightclothes, suggesting they had had to escape with very little time. John Knox claimed the surgeons who examined the body were lying, and that Darnley had been strangled, but all the sources agree there were no marks on the body and there was no reason for the surgeons to lie as Darnley was murdered either way. It is unclear whether Darnley himself did the dragging or the stabbing or whether one of his henchmen performed the actual slaughter. She created him successively earl of Ross (a rank previously reserved for a son of the Scottish king) and duke of Albany. The Murder of Lord Darnley: Who Killed Henry Stuart? - Wizzley ', in, Goodare, Julian, 'Queen Mary's Catholic Interlude', in. The conclusion was that the Edinburgh skull could not be Darnley's, but the Royal College of Surgeons' one (which had been destroyed in the Blitz) was a good match. In 1559 Nicholas Throckmorton, the English ambassador in Paris, warned Elizabeth that Elder was "as dangerous for the matters of England as any he knew. A set of Mary's letters might have the answerif they're authentic. Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester - Wikipedia [45] Darnley stayed at Kirk o' Field while Mary attended the wedding of Bastian Pagez, one of her closest servants, at Holyrood. [14] Melville said that the royal servant Alexander Durham (of Duntarvie) kept the body and stopped him seeing it. Everybody had their own slant. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Stewart-Lord-Darnley, Spartacus-Educational - Biography of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Undiscovered Scotland - Biography of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. She couldnt send her back to Scotland, that would be a disaster for both of them and she couldnt provide her with ships to go to France, not without risking her return at the head of a French Armarda. He was described as having deformed pocks upon his face and body. Bothwell escaped to Shetland and Norway. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). In the political power game playing out around her, she needed a strong ally to protect her from rebellious noblemen. Yet she was in every sense one of the most unhappy Princesses that ever lived, from the moment she came into the world, in an hour of defeat and danger, to that in which a bloody and violent death closed weary captivity of 18 years. We decided that, first of all, we needed to have a historian, so Dr Karly Kehoe, whos from Glasgow Caledonian University, very much set the political and the religious and the societal backdrop, so people were aware of who the major players were, who stood to gain from a fatal event, who stood to benefit the most and who was likely to be the victim. Lord Darnley | Reign CW Wiki | Fandom Darnley was dressed only in his nightshirt, suggesting he had fled in some haste from his bedchamber. On the 20th June 1567, a few days after Scottish rebels apprehended Mary Queen of Scots, servants of James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, allegedly found a silver casket of eight letters, two marriage contracts (which apparently proved that Mary had agreed to marry Bothwell before his divorce) and twelve sonnets in the possession of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell and third husband of Mary Queen of Scots. On this day in 1819, Queen Victoria was born. There is no other proof. Barbara Mertine said she was looking out of the window of her house in Friar's Wynd, and heard 13 men go through the Friar Gate into Cowgate and up Friar's Wynd. [25] From then on, he was constantly in Mary's company.[3]. Lord Darnley was murdered at his home in Scotland the home was known up but Darnley and a few serveants escaped through the window. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute("id","a00636551bf3b160070a3c90563555bc");document.getElementById("b2348bb89a").setAttribute("id","comment"); The Executions of Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildfor, An examination of the letters, said to be written by Mary queen of Scots, to James Earl Bothwell: Volume II, Collections Relating to the History Of Mary Queen of Scotland: Volume II, My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots, https://www.tudorsociety.com/10-february-1567-murder-henry-stuart-lord-darnley/, June 28 An execution in the reign of Henry VII, June 27 William Bradbridge, Bishop of Exeter, Monday Martyr The mysterious fall of Blessed Adrian Fortescue, June 25 Catherine of Aragon and Prince Henry get betrothed, June 24 Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, June 23 Mathematician and physician Thomas Hood, June 22 The execution of John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Tudor and Renaissance Artists and Composers, 10 February 1567 The Murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. How did he die? [50], A soldier under the pay of Bothwell, Captain William Blackadder of the Clan Blackadder, was one of the first non-participants to happen upon the scene, and for that reason was treated as a suspect. These explosions were later attributed to two barrels of gunpowder that had been placed in the small room under Darnley's sleeping quarters. On a Sunday morning in February 1567 Darnley lay sleeping on the upper floor of an Edinburgh house known as Kirk o' Field. It is thought that Lord Darnley's murder and Mary's links with Bothwell were factors in her eventual trial and execution. After making himself thoroughly unpopular with just about everyone who mattered in Scotland, Darnley was murdered, probably with the knowledge of his wife, and probably by the man who would then . As a preliminary to the marriage, Darnley was made a knight, Lord of Ardmanoch and Earl of Ross at Stirling Castle on 15 May 1565. Complying with royal protocol, Queen Mary observed 40 days of official mourning for her husband. This charge does not make sense though as Darnley was already ill at this time. I write that there were rumours Mary was involved, I write that Bothwells name soon becamse linked to the murder, I write that letters were said to implicate Mary in the murder but that these are now thought to be forgeries, and I conclude It looks like we will never know whether Mary Queen of Scots played a part in the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley, father of James I of England.. He included the detail that as they were carrying the empty chests back up Blackfriar's Wynd, they saw the Queen and her party, "going before thame with lit torches. The kirk's hospital, built against the north boundary of the grounds, succumbed to the Burning of Edinburgh in 1544, the kirk building itself to the Reformation, in 1558. There are two points of view about the circumstances: in the first, Bothwell kidnapped the queen, took her to Dunbar Castle, and raped her. The drawing shows the town wall and the open door to the lodging (mentioned in Thomas Nelson's statement) in the background. The Casket letters were produced as evidence against her, alleged to have been written by Mary, they seemed to indicate her support for the killing. The eldest son of Alan Stewart of Darnley (d.1439) was John Stewart, Lord Darnley, head of the House of Stewart of Darnley, who was created Earl of Lennox. In February 1565 Darnley, who had been living in England, went to Scotland with the permission of Queen Elizabeth I. While there is no definite answer to the question of who murdered Lord Darnley, most historians agree that Bothwell - with or without Mary's complicity - concocted the plot. Excellent article, thanks. Did Lord Darnley Have Syphilis? Records of the subsequent trials with statements from the accused and witnesses are an important source of information on the events of February 1567. What's your opinion on Lord Darnley, David Rizzio and their - Reddit [54] Before Morton's execution in 1581, he admitted having knowledge of the murder plot, and that Bothwell and Archibald Douglas were "chief actors" in Darnley's murder. She did not ratify the Reformation Act of 1560, but she made no attempt to revoke it. Mary did not restore Lennox to his Scottish earldom, but she did give 1,000 crowns to Darnley and invited him to her coronation. On reporting the events to London, Sir William Drury noted that although it looked as if Mary had been forced into the marriage by Bothwell, things were not as they appeared. Melville went to Holyroodhouse the next day and spoke to the Earl of Bothwell, who told him that thunder or a flash had come out of the sky, saying "souder came out of the luft", and burnt the house and there was "not a hurt nor a mark" on the body. To be sure there was no direct evidence establishing Bothwell as the murderer, but for those associated with the royal court, it was only too easy to guess. Such speculation would also distract them from favouring the more alarming claim of the Queen of Scots Thirdly, and most significantly, the elevation of the Lennoxes presented an obstacle between the Queen of Scots and the English throne. John Guy writes of how the sonnets found in the casket "were said to be Mary's own reflections on her adultery"3 with Bothwell and proof "that her consuming passion for Bothwell gave her a powerful motive for murder. The murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, took place on 10 February 1567 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley lived from 7 December 1545 to 10 February 1567. The murder of Darnley 1567 - The reign of Mary - Higher History - BBC What a cruel and insensitive man, divorcing his wife, Jean Gordon who welcomed Mary into her home and then marrying the Queen!..I can see why the Puritan Lords now saw Mary as a hussy and believed that she had married her lover and accomplish. Perhaps Elizabeth feared that these investigations could also be directed at herself, or her inaction was intended to ensure the survival of the monarchy by not reducing the number of potential heirs. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. She planned to secure her sons succession in England by his marriage with the other candidate, Mary. Around 2am on the night of 910 February 1567, while Mary was away, two explosions rocked the foundation of Kirk o' Field. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, died on February 10, 1567. David Riccio, original Italian Davide Rizzio, (born c. 1533, Pancalieri, near Turin, Piedmontdied March 9, 1566, Edinburgh), secretary to Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots; he helped to arrange her marriage to Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. Darnley's sexuality has been subject to debate. The National Archives have a wonderful report entitled "Kirk o'Field - What happened in 1567" which was produced for teachers but which contains a contemporary sketch of Kirk o'Field (and zoomed in sections), extracts from letters from Mary to Bothwell, and an extract from a letter from Elizabeth I to Mary. [35], Mary and Darnley's son James (the future King James VI of Scotland and I of England) was born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle. [6]:503511, One longstanding theory is the suggestion that the Earls of Morton and Moray were behind the murder, directing Bothwell's actions, to forward Moray's ambitions. Darnley and his groom were found . Well, the eight letters found in the casket were allegedly written by Mary to Bothwell and one was said to implicate the couple in the murder of Mary's second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who had been murdered in February 1567. For a time Queen Mary seemed in control of her realm, circumspection, and intelligence consistently informing her royal decisions. This gave way to indolence, arrogance, drunkenness, and jealousy of Marys secretary, David Riccio, in whose murder (March 9, 1566) Darnley was involved. She tried to explain, but she didnt ask or demand action against Bothwell. But, in an adjoining garden beside a pear tree, townsmen found Darnley's nightgown-clad corpse. Darnley, indeed, was close in line to the thrones of both England and Scotland. -February 1567 When did Mary Queen of Scots abdicate? "[21], On 3 February 1565, Darnley left London and by 12 February, he was in Edinburgh. Queen Mary married Bothwell the following month, three months after Darnley's murder. [30], .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}555644N 31052W / 55.9456N 3.1811W / 55.9456; -3.1811. [48], Suspicion quickly fell on James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, and his supporters, notably Archibald Douglas, Parson of Douglas, whose shoes were found at the scene, and on Mary herself. What caused the downfall of Mary, Queen of Scots? | HistoryExtra Egland was protestant at the time, however there were many people who dissaproved of the new religion and would like to see a Catholic queen in charge. It was offensive to the Scottish Protestant ministry, for whom John Knox was the spokesman; to the political ambition of James Stewart, earl of Moray (Marys illegitimate half brother); and to the Hamilton claim to the Scottish throne. Some of the nobles claimed that Rizzio was a secret agent of the Pope and had usurped their proper places beside the Queen. When they arrived at the Provost's Lodging, Mary made her servant Servais de Cond provide hangings for the chamber and a new black velvet bed. Mary, Queen of Scots, was barely one week old when she succeeded to the throne in 1542. On a Sunday morning in February 1567, Darnley lay sleeping on the upper floor of an Edinburgh house known as Kirk o' Field.