Random historical chatter about Scotland, Scottish or British history, the sixteenth century, the Reformation, or Mary, Queen of Scots. I may also throw in a thing or two about the Middle Ages.
Mary Queen of Scots & Queen Elizabeth I. If only they could have been friends.
I recently came across some gorgeous photos from Harper’s Bazaar with model’s posing as the rival queen cousins, Mary Stuart and Elizabeth Tudor. This got me thinking about the turbulent relationship between the two women and I thought I’d jot a quick blog about it.
Mary looked up to her dear cousin, Elizabeth, who was nine years older than she. She wrote to her often, entreating her for guidance and trying her hardest to please Elizabeth in her choice for a second husband.
The two queens exchanged gifts with their letters and Mary also attempted to arrange a meeting with Elizabeth but it never worked out.
But as Elizabeth dithered on her choices for Mary and drug her feet after suggesting Mary marry Elizabeth’s favorite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the Scottish queen decided to take matters into her own hands. Relations quickly deteriorated between the Cousin Queens when Mary exerted her right to choose her own husband. <enter Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley>
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Artist Unknown. Elizabeth put Dudley forth as a possible suitor because she knew he would be loyal to her and could keep an eye on Mary. When Mary reluctantly agreed to meet him, Elizabeth began having second thoughts.
Mary’s second husband, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. Artist Unknown. In Mary’s eyes Darnley was the perfect choice, as he also held a legitimate claim to the English throne. This made him a terrible choice in Elizabeth’s eyes.
Mary tried to persuade Elizabeth many times to name her as her heir, especially the older Elizabeth got and it became apparent that she would never marry and birth a child. At one point Elizabeth even admitted that she preferred Mary over another cousin and heir-in-line, the Protestant Lady Katherine Grey. Lady Katherine was the granddaughter of Henry VIII’s youngest sister, Mary.
Lady Katherine Grey. Artist: Michael Stinnett. Although a Protestant, Katherine angered Elizabeth by marrying without her consent, therefore putting her out of favor as a choice for Elizabeth’s heir.
When Mary fled to England to escape the wrath of her Scottish lords, she still held out hope that she would find favor with her cousin. But it was not meant to be.
Elizabeth had Mary arrested and held her under house arrest for the next 19 years before signing Mary’s death warrant. Mary was beheaded with her cousin’s approval, at the age of 44.
Although portrayed together in paintings, movies, and photos, the two queens never met.
Harper’s Bazaar U.S. retrieved from models.com
Photographer: Mark Seliger
Models: Julia Banas as Elizabeth and Lea Julian as Mary
To see the rest of the photos in this beautiful photo shoot, click here.
The North Berwick witch trials were held to examine several people who were accused of witchcraft in Scotland starting in 1590.
King James VI of Scotland married Anne of Denmark in a proxy marriage ceremony in 1589. But when it came time for Anne to sail to Scotland to meet her new husband, that is when the real trouble began.
Anne’s ship was delayed by storms for so many months that James decided to sail to Norway, where she was stuck, and retrieve her. He too, had issues with the storms, but they finally reached Scotland in 1590.
Portrait title: James VI and I, 1566 – 1625. King of Scotland 1567 – 1625. King of England and Ireland 1603 – 1625. Artist unknown but attributed to Adrian Vanson.
Portrait title: Portrait of Anne of Denmark(1574-1619) by Unknown Artist.
It was during this turbulent time that it was first brought to James’ attention that witches might be responsible for the storms that caused the delay in Anne’s travels (and also caused the death of one her maids). Witchcraft and the hunting of witches was very popular in other parts of Europe at the time and James began to make serious inquiries into the possibilities. Eventually a woman name Geillis Duncan who lived in the town of Tranent, was arrested. She went on to accuse several more people of being witches and a true witch hunt began.
Not All Accused Witches Were Women
At least three of the names that Geillis Duncan gave her accusers were men. One of these men was a schoolmaster from Prestonpans by the name of Doctor Fian, who went by the alias, John Cunningham. It was said he was the witches’ register, and that there was not one man who could come to the devil’s readings but only he.
Once he was arrested, Doctor Fian had his head thrawed, whereby a rope would be wrapped around the head and squeezed. This did not have the effect his accusers had hoped, and he confessed nothing. He was also put in the “boot” which was a wooden or metal device into which wedges were hammered thus crushing the feet and lower legs. Yet, he still would not confess. The other accused witches urged his accusers to search his tongue, whereby two pins were found underneath, pressing up into his tongue. The witches claimed that the charmed pins were the reason Doctor Fian could not confess. He was immediately released from the boots and brought before the king where his confession was taken, written in his own hand.
Love-Sick Schoolmaster?
Along with his admittance of recording the witches’ confessions of service and true oath to the Devil, he would write whatever the Devil commanded him. Doctor Fian also admitted to bewitching another man in town who had an interest in the same young woman that Doctor Fian did. He caused the man to fall into a state of lunacy for the span of one hour, every 24 hours. This young man was brought before King James to testify and it was witnessed that he did indeed fall into madness, bending himself and capering directly up, so high that his head would touch the ceiling. It took several men to subdue the man and once he was bound hand and foot, he was left to lie still until his fury had passed. Once the bewitchment was over, the man had no recollection of the events.
Doctor Fian was also accused of trying to bewitch the young woman that he was in love with. Having enlisted the help of one of his students, who happened to be the brother of the woman he was in love with, he attempted to obtain “three hairs of his sister’s privities”. Doctor Fian gave the young man a piece of paper to wrap the hairs in to be brought safely back to him. The young man pestered his sister so much that she brought it to her mother’s attention.
Her mother (who was said to also be a witch), began to inquire of the brother what he was trying to do. She finally beat a confession out of him and he told her all that Doctor Fian had asked him to do. Wanting to give the schoolmaster a taste of his own medicine, she then proceeded to snip three hairs from the utter of a heifer and wrapped them in the paper that Doctor Fian had given to her son.
When Fian used the hairs in an attempt to cast his love spell, you might imagine what happened next! According to contemporary accounts, he had no sooner done his intent to them, that the heifer appeared at the door of the church where the schoolmaster was. The cow came through the doors of the church and made toward him “leaping and dancing”, and followed him out of the church and wherever he went.
According to the writer of Newes from Scotland, this was witnessed by many of the townspeople who recognized that such acts could never have been sufficiently effected without the help of the Devil. It became such an ordeal that Doctor Fian came to be known amongst the people of Scotland as a notable conjurer.
An Apparent Change of Heart
Doctor Fian eventually recanted his allegiance to the Devil and renewed his confession of Christ. He pledged to live a godly life and eschew all that the Devil had asked of him. But the morning following his confession, Fian revealed that the Devil had visited him in the night and demanded that he continue his faithful service. The Devil had appeared to him dressed all in black with a white wand in his hand. Doctor Fian claims he rebuked the Devil, telling him that he would no longer take part in that lifestyle. He also claimed that the Devil then told him “once ere thou die, thou shalt be mine”. The Devil then broke the white wand and immediately vanished.
Doctor Fian told these events to his accusers the next morning and remained in solitary confinement throughout the day. He appeared to ponder the care of his own soul and would call upon God indicating a penitent heart. However, that very same night, Fian was able to apprehend a key to the cell in which he was kept and escaped the prison.
The king immediately issued public proclamations throughout the land in an effort to apprehend Doctor Fian. According to Newes from Scotland, a hot and hard pursuit ensued, and he was eventually recaptured.
Although the schoolmaster had confessed his sins in his own handwriting, he denied now that he had ever had such a pact with the Devil. The king, perceiving that Fian had renewed his allegiance to the Devil during his absence from prison, commanded he be searched again for a mark indicating his new pact. He was thoroughly searched, but no mark could ever be found. More torture was ordered and it was done in this manner:
**SENSITIVITY WARNING**
All his fingernails were split with an instrument called a Turkas (pincers) and two needles were pushed up under each nail up to the heads. The Doctor felt nothing and confessed to nothing from this torture.
He was then put to the boot again. He remained in the boots for a long time, enduring many blows insomuch that his legs were “crushed and beaten together as small as might be, and the bones and flesh so bruised, that the blood and marrow spouted forth in great abundance, whereby they were made unserviceable forever.” For more information about how the boot was used as a torture device check out this website here.
Example of a boot used for torture
Yet, he still would not confess.
His accusers claimed that the Devil had entered his heart so deeply that he utterly denied all that he had previously confessed. Doctor Fian claimed that he had only made such confessions for fear of pains which he had endured.
Pincers from the archaeological excavation at the Harburger Schloßstraße in Hamburg-Harburg, Germany. Dated to approx. 15th or 16th century. Photoraphed at Archaeological Museum Hamburg. Photo credit: Bullenwächter; Wikipedia CC
After great consideration by the king and His Majesty’s council, in the name of justice and “also for example’s sake”, Doctor Fian was soon condemned to death.
According to Newes from Scotland, he was strangled, carried in a cart to Castle Hill of Edinburgh and put into a great fire and burned.
Doctor Fian was the first accused witch executed in the North Berwick witch trials. There would be many more.
Woodcut featured as a scene from the life of Doctor Fian’s life, in Newes from Scotland, published 1591.
Robert the Bruce (also known as Robert I) is one of the most celebrated and respected kings of Scottish history. Even to this day, 700 years later, monuments and statues are still being erected in his honor, books are still written about him, and movies are still being made.
Monument to Robert the Bruce~Stirling, Scotland / photo: Tonya U. Brown, 2017
A Little Back History
In the late thirteenth century, Scotland was plunged into a period of political turmoil. The seven-year-old heir to the Scottish throne, Margaret, the Maid of Norway, had died before her coronation, leaving the throne empty and thirteen men vying for the position.
However, the
King of England, Edward I had other plans. He exerted a feudal superiority, treating
Scotland like a vassal of England. Edward appointed John de Balliol to take the
Scottish throne. John was heavily influenced by Edward, putting him out of
favor with the Scottish nobility.
The nobles deposed John and set up a council to rule instead. This, of course, angered Edward and goaded him to invade Scotland, starting the Wars for Scottish Independence. When Scotland was defeated in 1296, John abdicated, leaving Scotland without a king once more.
Enter Robert the Bruce
Robert was one of the many men who claimed a right to the Scottish throne. He was known to have led supporters of the rebel, William Wallace (of Braveheart fame) during the Wars for Scottish Independence. However, he was also known to be in good graces with the English king from time to time as well. But any goodwill that might have been shown to him by Edward came to an end in 1306, when Robert killed the cousin of the appointed Scottish king, John.
1797 painting of Robert the Bruce by unknown artist~The Granger Collection, New York
Questionable Actions
When Robert’s loyalty to Edward was called into question, he went right to the traitorous source: the cousin of John de Balliol, John (“The Red”) Comyn. Adamant opposer to English Rule, and another rightful heir to the Scottish throne, Comyn may have tired of Robert’s vacillations between English rule and Scottish rights. He met with Robert at a church at Dumfries on February 10, 1306. An argument broke out when Robert confronted Comyn on his reports to King Edward about Robert’s possible betrayal.
Here is
where history gets a little cloudy. Some say Robert met John Comyn with all
intentions of killing him. Other historians think that an argument broke out,
and in a fit of passion Bruce struck Comyn, taking him down. When he asked after
Comyn’s wellbeing afterward, one of Bruce’s supporters decided to take it upon
himself to make sure the job was done.
The difference in that time period is comparable to our current U.S. laws differentiating between murder and manslaughter. Was it cold-blooded premeditated murder, or a hot-blooded lashing out that resulted in someone’s death? Opinions vary and depending on which way you look at it could determine Robert’s popularity among the people, or lack thereof.
Either way,
one thing remained: he had taken someone’s life within the walls of a holy sanctuary.
This caused him to be excommunicated from the church and may have tormented
Robert for the rest of his life.
Death of a
Warrior
Many years later, the man who is most famous for breaking the English hold over Scotland at the Battle of Bannockburn, died at the Manor of Cardross, near Dumbarton. His body was buried in the Dumfermline Abbey, but his sternum was cut open and his heart removed so that it might be buried elsewhere. Some historians say that it was Robert’s one unfulfilled wish to go on a crusade. For this reason, his heart was put into a metal casket and borne about the neck of his close friend, Sir James Douglas as he set off for a crusade to Jerusalem. However, the crusade never came to fruition and instead Bruce’s men were sidetracked to Spain where Alfonso XI of Castile was instigating a campaign against the Moors of Granada. There, Douglas was killed, and Sir William Keith brought Robert’s heart back to Scotland. It was buried at Melrose Abbey, (a place repaired several times throughout Robert’s reign and with his funding), according to his wishes.
Other
tradition holds that Bruce wanted his heart to be buried at Jerusalem. The reason
for this wish could lead back to his excommunication from the church. Local
tradition believes that Robert the Bruce wanted his heart buried in Jerusalem
to atone for the sin of his murder of John Comyn at the Franciscan church 23
years earlier.
Whatever the reason, we know that his heart unfortunately did not make it to Jerusalem (unless you believe some conspiracy theories that hold that it was actually smuggled into Jerusalem hundreds of years later). However, what we do not know for sure is whether the small casket unearthed at Melrose Abbey in 1920, reburied, then unearthed again in 1996 are the actual remains of Robert the Bruce.
The heart was reburied again in 1998 and a marker has been set at the new burial place. For the most part people accept that it truly is Robert’s heart. Although it may have been Bruce’s wish to have his heart buried at Jerusalem, no one can deny that the rightful place for the heart of this beloved Scottish hero belongs in the soil of his hard-won land.
The heart of Robert the Bruce, buried at Melrose Abbey in Roxburghshire, Scotland / photo: Tonya U. Brown , 2017
The above inscription on the stone comes from a long, narrative poem by John Barbour called The Brus. It is a historic account of Robert the Bruce’s heroic deeds during the Scottish Wars for Independence. In Early Scots it reads: “A noble hart may have no ease, gif freedom failye” In English it is translated as: “A noble heart cannot be at peace if freedom is lacking”. Notice how the heart is entwined with the Saltire, the symbol used on the Scottish flag.
Here are a few more pictures I took at Melrose Abbey. You can click on the picture to open and expand for a bigger, better view. I hope you enjoy!
Scary climb to the top, but worth it for the view! Ahhhh!
Breathtaking
If Robert truly wanted his heart buried here, can you blame him?
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