Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley

Alison Weir's "Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley" is the fourth book of this author's that I have read. This one, at nearly 700 pages, kept me reading until the last page although it took a while to finish. Alison Weir's depth of research is so extensive that I rarely question anything about the historical information or her own opinions because she has gone to the original documents and sources as much as is possible.Mary, Queen of Scots had a difficult life once she returned from France and became Queen in Scotland. She and Elizabeth I of England were cousins and Mary relied on Elizabeth for support when things were falling apart for her, but Elizabeth knew that Mary felt that her rightful place was Queen of Scotland and England and Elizabeth would never let that happen. Mary had married Lord Darnley who turned out to be a philandering husband and was most likely bisexual, which didn't help their marriage. He was young, impulsive, drank, partied and more than anything else wanted the crown as King of Scotland which he could only achieve by Mary's grace. She knew he was power hungry and once he was king, her power would be gone. In those days, even a Queen submitted to a male sovereign.Lord Darnley was killed when the building he was staying overnight in blew up as a result of being mined with gunpowder. He was not liked by so many that a plot arose among those surrounding Mary to murder him. The question still remains whether Mary was in on the plot. She was very close to James Hepburn, the 4th Earl of Bothwell. Bothwell was part of the large group of men who had planned Darnley's murder. Bothwell himself was a power-seeker and was a confidante of Mary. Lord Darnley died on February 10,1567. Some questions about his murder are still being discussed by historians.One of the most important and intriguing parts of the history of Mary, Queen of Scots and her subsequent trial in Darnley's murder are what is known as the Casket Letters. They are called that because they were found in a silver box that was called a casket. They were apparently written by Mary but it is also apparent that the letters were tampered with and even changed so as to make Mary look guilty of being in on the plot to kill Darnley. I personally don't think she played a part in it. She had her son, who she had with Darnley, to think about and he was the only rightful heir to the throne. She certainly didn't want Darnley claiming it, but I don't think she was foolish enough to involve herself in murder. Mary went on to marry Bothwell, but it seemed a foolish move on her part to marry someone who she highly suspected of being in on the death plot and who also who had raped her.I was intrigued with this excellent history of Mary, Queen of Scots the entire way through the book and I learned so much about her. I felt sympathetic towards her but on the other hand, I wonder still why she did some of the things that she did, and about her poor decision-making. As it was, she wound up as Elizabeth's prisoner for so many years until her trial and death. It is a bittersweet story in history.

Her non- fiction is incomparable. I do love her novels too, so I have to remind myself how meticulously she writes non-fiction. There were far more culprits in Lord Darnley's death than I had thought.

I was a bit disappointed when I first began reading this book. It is a very detailed, footnoted history, well-researched and offers reasonable theories about the murder of Darnley and the subsequent ruin of Mary. I tend to like historical novels, and this is definitely straight history. However, as I got into it, I found it completely fascinating, a real page-turner. The only difficult thing was the huge cast of characters (the "lords"), difficult to remember, and confusing as well; since their names were often similar, and there was always the problem of the actual person's Name vs. the Duke of (Name). One does start to wonder why Mary was so intent upon gaining the throne of England when it was obvious that she was unable to function as the ruler of Scotland. Weir never really addresses this question, and I think it would be interesting if she were to do so. There are some nice illustrations included. If you are looking for a romantic historical novel, this is not for you. If you like history, and want to read an in-depth writing about the events leading up to Darnley's murder and the aftermath, including the imprisonment and execution of Mary by Elizabeth I, you will enjoy this book.

I listened to this book on Kindle text-to-voice because the Audible narrator was so bad. I found it to be an excellent in-depth biography of an important issue in Mary's life. Biographies that cover all of her life tend to skim over the end of her marriage to Lord Darnley because they have to leave space for the 18 long, slow years she spent imprisoned in England. I heartily recommend this book.

I love to learn about history. And I had thoroughly enjoyed one of historian Alison Weir's books about the Tudors. That's why I looked forward to reading about Mary, Queen of Scots, an historical figure about which I knew absolutely nothing. The book is 585 pages long and is very detailed with many footnotes. Many sources are quoted and there are alternative explanations and interpretations throughout. The writer obviously did a good job.However, I'm just an ordinary person with no background whatsoever in this period of time in history and therefore every page I read was a bit of a chore. I'm sorry to say that I stopped reading it after 325 pages. I just don't want to read anymore.That said, I must say that I did learn a lot. I learned that, in spite of her royalty, Mary really led a difficult life which wound up resulting in her execution by her cousin Queen Elizabeth at the age of 25. Life was hard for everyone in those time but even the comforts of material possessions could not protect her from a difficult childbirth and bouts of illness. There were always enemies plotting against her and her second husband, Lord Darnley, was a horrible person. I must say that most of the time the only feeling I had about poor Mary was one of pity.Alison Weir is a good historian. I don't want to fault her in any way. I like to stretch my mind and therefore am often willing to read a challenging book. I did learn a lot in the 325 pages I read and must thank the author for contributing to my sea of knowledge about this historical period. Without a doubt I would recommend this book to history buffs of that particular time period. But it was too challenging a read for me and I can't recommend it to a casual reader.

Is in the book 622 pages, 30 Chapters, List of Abbreviations, Notes and References, Bibliography, Genealogical Tables, Index, Maps, and two section of Illustrations, with 16 colour pages. The text itself is very detailed, dense but easily readable, and really interesting. Mary Stuart's life was a thriller, therefore this book is a "historical crime story" what is based real events, as read on the front cover: ’A monumental piece of historical detective work’ ObserverYet the real cause why I bought this book is Josie Rourke's 2018 movie, titled "Mary Queen of Scots" starring the exquisite Saoirse Ronan. That's a brilliant film, which is my personal favourite from Ms. Ronan, who is Mary Stuart herself for me! (Unfortunately most critics and a part of the audience not share my opinion.)Before buying, I checked the content of the book, and I made my decision, what I founded by only one part: Chapter 2 'The Most Beautiful in Europe' - from 23 to 38 pages. I quote from this, because the detailed descriptions and remembrance of contemporaries are perfectly fit to Ms. Ronan!"the people of Scotland, icluding many members of the Protestant establishment, welcomed their Queen. ’Her Majesty returning was gladly welcomed by the whole subjects,’ wrote the courtier and diplomat Sir James Melville. ’The Queen’s Majesty, after returning to Scotland behaved herself so princely, so honourably and discreetly that her reputation spread in all countries.’ Many were impressed by her beauty, charm and dignity, or felt compassion for her young widow. It seemed that she was going to be a success.Generally the Scots were impressed with their Queen. She certainly cut a striking figure for, at about six feet tall [Ms. Ronan is 5’6”], slender, graceful, and dignified in her bearing. She had a pale complexion, frizzy auburn hair [Ms. Ronan is originally blonde], heavy lidded eyes, an over-long nose inherited from her father [Ms. Ronan has proportionate, nice nose] and a ’very sweet, very lovely’ voice; she later aquired a ’pretty Scottish accent’. [Ms. Ronan is the ’master of accents’.] Her neck was long, her bosom like marble and her hands delicate.Ronsard, Brantôme and several other court poets lauded Mary’s beauty, and a Venetian ambassador called her ’personally the most beautiful in Europe’. This cannot have been mere flattery, for even her enemies praised her looks. George Buchanan wrote: ’She was graced with surpassing loveliness of form, the vigour of maturing youth, and fine qualities of mind.’Lennox called her a ’paragon’, and even Knox found her features ’pleasing’. (…) qualities known as charm and sex appeal, and it seems that Mary had her full measure of both. It has also been suggested that Mary was sexually frigid, but it is more probable that any reluctance in this sphere was a response to the behaviour of the men with whom she became involved. Yet there is evidence that she enjoy male attention, (…)To her friends and servants, she was kind, generous and loyal. Ambassadors praised her virtue, her discretion, her modesty and her readiness to be ruled by good consuel. She was spirited, vivacious and brave, majestic yet accessible. (…) in a crisis Mary could keep her wits about her and act decisively, resourcefully and courageously. Sir Thomas Craig claimed that he had often heard Mary ’discourse so appositely and rationally in all affairs which were brought before the Privy Council that she was admired by all’,"That’s really impressive, like Ms. Ronan herself.I recommend this reading, not just to Saoirse Ronan’s fan, as I am, but everyone, whom seriously interesting about Scottish history, which overshadowing by England all the time…

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When I pick up an Alison Weir book I know that I'm in for a good time (this is my 4th book by Weir in a row. The others: The Princes in the Tower, Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Wars of the Roses). This time I settled into the cockpit of my sailboat with her MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. I've read a lot of books on Mary and Elizabeth, her contemporary and nemesis, but not for the love of their eyes (as the French say, of whom I am one). Mary is of little real interest and Elizabeth too vain and indecisive. Even the times during which they lived lacked excitement. Leonardo Il Magnifico is dead. Charles VIII is no longer around for his twice-daily romp with a different woman. The greats, Henry II and Henry V, have exited life's stage. Magellan has already discovered a sea route around the world and Marco Polo China. There was even greater intrigue in Henry VIII's humping than in these two queens, neither of whom possessed the force of character of a Catherine de' Medici; a Margaret d'Anjou, the wife of the ridiculous Henry VI; a fabulous Eleanor d'Aquitaine; and the incredible Caterino Sforza. Perhaps I'm drawn to Raleigh's adventurousness or Darnley's assassination and the murder of Rizzio (during which I learned, for the first time, that a gun had been pointed at Mary's womb, containing the future king of England, James I, but misfired!). Weir describes Mary's husband, Darnley, as grossly uncouth, exceedingly handsome, promiscuous and sexually ambivalent (another source says that Rizzio liked to be sodomized by the big Darnley). At 6 feet 3 Darnley was incredibly tall, as was Mary at 6 feet. Weir offers us a truly unbelievable painting showing Mary and the sexually ambivalent Darnley side by side; one has to study the painting assiduously to tell which is which (so help me God!). At the end of the book came the final harrowing scene between the two women, Mary and Elizabeth, not unlike that between Davis and Crawford in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?But I'm being ridiculously judgmental. These two queens, Mary and Elizabeth, certainly had a hell of a more exciting life than I do on my gently bobbing boat. My own books can be found on Amazon under Michael Hone.

Alles in Allem liefert Frau Weir hier ein sehr schön und spannend geschriebenes Buch zum wohl bekannstesten Kriminalfall der schottischen Geschichte.Was ich besonder positiv finde, ist, dass hier nicht nur trockene Fakten geboten werden, sondern die Autorin den Leser mit einer spannenden Erzählweise in die Handlung hineinzieht.Man merkt, dass sie in Bezug auf die Hauptpersonen ihre Hausaufgaben gemacht hat. Oftmals bin ich sogar auf mir bis dato unbekannte Fakten gestoßen.Liebevoll und äußerst detailliert werden die Vorgänge und Umstände vor, zurzeit des und nach dem Tod von Lord Darnley beschrieben, bekannte und neue Informationen analysiert und z.T. äußerst interessante Schlüsse gezogen.Das einzige, was mich bie diesem Buch leicht gestört hat war Folgendes: Wie gesagt, wurde in Bezug auf die Hauptpersonen gut recherchiert - bei Nebencharakteren wurde dies jedoch öfter vernachlässigt und Gerüchte als Tatsache ausgegeben. Dafür gibt es von mir einen Stern Abzug.Insgesamt jedoch ein sehr interessanter Einblick in die Welt der Mary Stuart.

I have learnt so much from this book, it was a wonderfully good read, at the end I was very much in agreement with the author that Mary was probably one of the most wronged women in history, coming from a family where my mum is English and my dad was Scottish, I have a foot in both camps as it were, so when I read about Elizabeth 1st and also about Bess of Hardwick I wanted to learn more than what I had been taught from school and my dad about Mary. Having read this book I now understand the complexities of the era and of two women, both queens, both with the same intelligence, yet one survived and the other was executed, this book explains why, it is an excellent book and I thoroughly recommend it