Good-morning, kittens & dawgs! In 2013 The CW aired a new TV series based on Mary, queen of Scots called Reign. We tried following, but life’s demands got in the way. Thankfully, Netflix picked up Reign. We watched season one with each episode filled with elements of suspense, secrets, deceit, passion, or murder. What more can you ask of a series? BINGO! We’re totally hooked. A total surprise to us, too. Have you watched Reign?
I found this tidbit interesting about the real royal couple. According to Wikipedia, Mary was articulate and especially tall by 16th century standards reaching an adult height of 5′ 11″ and Francis was the contrast, he stuttered and was abnormally short. The magic of TV changes history a bit, wouldn’t you say?
Eager to pick up with season two, I was soon disappointed to find out HuluPlus no longer has episodes 1-7 for viewing. Can someone please tell me why HuluPlus does this? That’s just crazy! I think they should keep all episodes on their servers until a brand new season begins. Heck, it’s all digital anyhow so I don’t know what the big deal is in keeping all seasons and episodes ready for viewing. I’m ready to cancel my new HuluPlus membership because of this situation. I guess that’s a topic of discussion for another post.
That’s enough ranting on the subject. This brings me the point of why I am here. I’m from an Irish/Scottish decent and I became curious to know more about the queen of Scotland after watching Reign season one. Are you interested, too?
Is that a yes, I hear. Great! Thanks to various Internet sources, here is a general over-view pieced together of Mary, queen of Scots.
Mary Stuart was one of the most fascinating and controversial monarchs of 16th century Europe. At one time, she claimed the crowns of four nations – Scotland, France, England and Ireland. Her enemies acknowledged her physical beauty and kind heart.
Mary was the only legitimate child of King James V of Scotland. She became queen at 6-days old (1542) after the death of her father. In her early years as queen, appointed overseers ruled Scotland while protected by the French court. At age five, an agreement between the young queen and the oldest son of the King of France established their future alignment in marriage. In 1558, Mary wed Francis who became the next King of France the following year after his father’s death, making Mary queen consort of France until Francis’ death in 1560.
A widowed Mary Stuart returned to Scotland. In 1565, Mary married Lord Darnley, Henry Stuart, her first cousin. This union produced only one heir, James. Sadly, their marriage was unhappy. In 1567, an explosion destroyed Henry and Mary Stuart’s home with Lord Darnley found in the garden murdered.
Supposedly, James Hepburn the 4th Earl of Bothwell arranged the death of Darnley, but cleared of the charge in 1567 and soon afterward married Mary. Their quick decision to wed caused an uprising against the couple, Incarcerated, forced Mary to step down for the sake of her 1-year old son, James. She attempted to reign the throne again, but all efforts failed and she fled for protection of her second cousin, Elizabeth I, the Queen of England.
At one point, Mary laid claim of Elizabeth’s throne as her own and considered the legitimate monarch of England by many English Catholics, which included the rebellious uprising known as the Rising of the North. Elizabeth saw Mary as a threat and placed her in custody within the interior of England. After nearly 19 years locked away, Mary was found guilty of planning to kill Elizabeth and beheaded. She was only 44 years old. In 1612, upon Elizabeth’s death, Mary’s son, James I became King of England.
I would not like living in an era where so many things were not understood, or the threat of disease along is frightening, and then the burden to govern a nation(s) with men waiting in the shadows to kill you if it suits their agenda. No thank you! I’m happy living in the 21st century. 
There was so much turmoil and drama surrounding the life of a royal. Have you thought about what it was like to live in the time of Mary, queen of Scots? Would you like to be next in line as queen or king?
That’s it for this visit. Thank you for sitting with me for a while this morning. Have a terrific day and I hope you’ll stop by tomorrow for Flashback Friday.
Listen to Reign’s theme song by The Lumineers.
Discover more from Curious as a Cathy
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Hi Cathy. I’ve seen a couple of movies about Mary, but have never watched Reign. It would seem never a dull moment, when it comes to royal households. This is definitely entertainment for life. I didn’t remember Eliz.I locking Mary away for nineteen years. How did I miss that? This is always fun, Cathy. I walk away with some new tidbit! Thank you.
btw:
The group doing the theme song reminded me a couple you featured about a week ago. (Was it ‘Civil War’?). Anyway – I liked the song.(smile)
I’m glad you learned something new with my little trip in history with Mary, queen of Scots. I knew nothing about her when I started. History is a fascinating thing, but often times sad and tragic. Yes, it was The Civil War I featured a few weeks ago on Saturday Songsuasions. Now, that I think about I do see the similar in sound between the two groups. Maybe, this is why I was drawn to The Civil War because they reminded me of The Lumineers. Thanks for stopping by, Dixie!