MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS LIFE IN FRANCE

 

 MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS LIFE IN FRANCE 

.
 On 15th August 1548, Mary Queen of Scots arrived in France to await her betrothal to the Dauphin, Francis.

Mary was just five years old.
She would go on to spend the next thirteen years at the French court.

 Mary was accompanied by her own court, including two illegitimate half-brothers, and the "four Marys"

These were four girls of Mary's age, and all named Mary.
They were the daughters of some of the most noblest families in Scotland.

 Mary had a promising childhood.
Often described as vivacious, beautiful, and clever, she soon became a favourite with everyone at Court.

Except Henri II's wife Catherine De Medici....
Although they would grow closer in later years.

 The young Mary learned to play the lute and virginals, which is a type of harpsicord.

Mary was accomplished in poetry, horsemanship, falconry, and needlework.

She was taught French, Italian, Latin, Spanish, Greek and her native Scots.

 Mary formed a close bond with her future sister-in-law, Elisabeth of Valois.

Mary's maternal grandmother, Antoinette de Bourbon, was another strong influence on her childhood, and acted as one of her principal advisors.

 Portraits of Mary show that she had a small, oval-shaped head, a long, graceful neck, bright hair, hazel-brown eyes under heavy lowered eyelids, finely arched brows, smooth pale skin, a high forehead, and regular, firm features.

She was considered a pretty child and later, as a woman, strikingly attractive.
At some point in her childhood, she caught smallpox, but luckily, it did not leave any lasting scars.

 Mary was especially tall by 16th-century standards.
She attained an adult height of 5 ft 11" while Henri II's son and heir, Francis, stuttered and was unusually short.

Henri II commented:

"From the very first day they met, my son and she
got on as well together as if they had known each
other for a long time"

 On 4th April 1558, Mary signed a secret agreement bequeathing Scotland, and her claim to England, to the French crown, if she died without having any children.

Twenty days later, she married Francis at Notre Dame de Paris.

Francis became king consort of Scotland.

 When Henri II died on 10th July 1559, from injuries sustained in a joust, fifteen-year-old Francis and sixteen-year-old Mary became king and queen of France.

Sadly, their young marriage ended in tragedy.

King Francis II died on 5th December 1560, of a middle ear infection that led to an abscess in his brain.

Queen Mary was now a widow.
Mary was grief-stricken, and returned to Scotland nine months later.

 Having lived in France since the age of five, Mary had little experience of the dangerous and complex political situation in Scotland.

As a devout Catholic, she was regarded with suspicion by many of her subjects.

With Scotland torn between Catholic and Protestant factions, the next volatile chapter in Mary's life was about to begin.......

The Tudor Intruders (and more)

.
 Sources ~ BritishMonarchs/Wiki
.
 Mary Queen of Scots by John Österlund
C.1900/1911
Glasgow Museum.