历史上的 苏格兰女王玛丽

Mary, Queen of Scots was one of the most fascinating and controversial monarchs of the 16th century Europe. At one time, she claimed the crowns of four nations Scotland, France, England and Ireland. Her physical beauty and kind heart were acknowledged even by herenemies, Yet she lacked the political skills torule successfully in Scotland. Her life ended intragedy.

In November, 1542, King James V of Scotland, lay dying at his beloved Falkland Palace. He was devastated by his armys defeat by the English at Solway Moss and sawlittle hope for the future. At Falkland, he wastold that Mary de Guise, his French born wife once wooed by Henry VIII, had given birth to a daughter on December 8. James died within a week of Marys birth and, before she was evena year old, the child was crowned queen of Scots. Her mother acted as regent in her stead.

The regents of Scotland made a treaty with Henry VIII in which Edward, Henrys long-awaited and precious son, would wed Mary. But the treaty broke in the end. The scots sentthe five-year-old Mary to France, her mothershomeland. They had agreed to her marriage with Francis, the heir of Henry II, king of France.

Mary was given a royal welcome in France by King Henry II. She was educated in the traditional manner of French princesses； she spoke French and learned Latin, Italian, Spanish and a little Greek. She learned to dance, sing and play the lute. Exceptionally tall for a woman in the 16th century, Mary was considered to be the most beautiful princess in Europe. In 1558, she married the Dauphin in an incredible celebration and Francis becameking in 1559, briefly uniting the French and Scottish crowns. However, Francis died froman ear infection the following year.

A widow at just 18, Mary returned to Scotland where she faced many challenges. The Scots received their new queen with great joy and celebration. Mary was determined that there would be no religious persecution under her rule. She tried her best to help the poor. She also attempted to strengthen the power of the Crown against Scotlands notoriously difficult to control nobles. As a result, she was popular with the common people but not the nobility.

In 1565, Mary married her cousin, the Earl of Darnley. Their relationship quickly broke down and as the spoiled and petulant Darnley spent less time with Mary, she became increasingly close to her advisor, the Earl of Bothwell.

After the birth their son, James in June1566, Darnley and Marys relationshipcontinued to deteriorate. In February, 1567, his residence was destroyed by an explosion, and Darnley was found murdered in the garden.5D6F4EC6-F3DA-457C-BB98-97EE264847E2

By waiting mere three months before marrying the Earl of Bothwell, Mary turnedthe Scottish nobility against her. Bothwell wasexiled and Mary forced to abdicate in July, 1567. She was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle and her infant son James was made king. Having escaped from Lochleven in 1568, Mary fled to England to seek refuge from her cousin, Elizabeth 1.

Mary had hoped Queen Elizabeth would support her but her arrival in England put her cousin in a difficult position. The Catholic Mary also had a strong claim to the English throneso Elizabeth had her imprisoned for 19 years. Then in 1587, Mary was tried for treason and executed at the age of 44.

Marys son, James went on to succeed Elizabeth in 1603.

苏格兰女王玛丽是16世纪欧洲最令人着迷却也最受争议的一位君主。她曾有望继承四个国家的王位——苏格兰、法国、英格兰和爱尔兰。即便是她的敌人，也不得不承认她的美貌和善良。但她缺乏统治者所必需的政治才能，所以最终结局颇为悲惨。

1542年11月，苏格兰国王詹姆斯五世躺在他最喜欢的福克兰宫殿的病榻上，奄奄一息。在索尔维·摩斯一役中，他的军队被英格兰击败，他深受打击，对未来再不抱希望。也是在福克兰宫殿，他被告知他的妻子玛丽·德·吉斯——法国血统的她曾受到亨利八世的追求——12月8日给他生了个女儿。玛丽出生后不到一个星期，詹姆士逝世，不到一岁的她成為苏格兰的女王，她的母亲代为摄政。

苏格兰的摄政者和亨利八世达成合约，将玛丽嫁给亨利的宝贝儿子爱德华。但最后合约被打破。苏格兰人将五岁的玛丽送到了她母亲的祖国法国，决定将她嫁给法国国王亨利二世的继承人弗朗西斯。

在法国宫廷，玛丽得到了国王亨利二世的皇室级别的欢迎，受到了法国公主一样的教育。她学会了说法语、拉丁语、意大利语、西班牙语和一点希腊语，同时还学会了跳舞、唱歌和弹琴。她的个头比当时妇女高，被认为是欧洲最漂亮的公主。1558年，她和王储举行大婚，1559年弗朗西斯继承王位，短暂统一了法国和苏格兰的王权。但在接下来的一年，弗朗西斯因为耳朵感染逝世。

18岁就成为寡妇的玛丽回到苏格兰，而那里也有诸多挑战摆在她面前。苏格兰人热烈地欢迎自己的新女王归来。玛丽决心在她的统治下，苏格兰将不会有宗教迫害，她竭尽所能帮助穷苦人，同时还试图加强王权，对抗一直以来不太服管制的苏格兰贵族。结果，她受到了普通平民的拥戴，在贵族那里却不受欢迎。

1565年，玛丽下嫁其表兄达恩利伯爵，但他们的关系很快就破裂了。纨绔子弟达恩利和玛丽在一起的时间越来越少，于是她和她的顾问博斯维尔伯爵越走越近。

1566年6月，他们的儿子詹姆斯出生后，达恩利和玛丽的关系进一步恶化。1567年2月，达恩利的住宅发生爆炸，达恩利被发现死在花园里。

达恩利死后不到三个月，玛丽嫁给了博斯维尔伯爵，此举激怒了苏格兰的贵族们。1567年7月，博斯维尔被流放，玛丽也被迫退位。她被囚禁在列文湖城堡，她襁褓中的儿子詹姆斯成为国王。1568年，玛丽从列文湖城堡逃出，逃到英格兰，寻求她的表亲伊丽莎白一世的庇护。

玛丽原指望伊丽莎白女王会支持她，但她的到来却使她的表亲处境艰难。信仰天主教的玛丽同样有权继承英国王位，所以伊丽莎白将她囚禁了起来，这一囚禁就囚禁了19年之久。到1587年，44岁的玛丽还是以叛国罪被处死。

1603年，玛丽的儿子詹姆斯继承伊丽莎白之位，成为英格兰国王。5D6F4EC6-F3DA-457C-BB98-97EE264847E2