by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2025
François II, King of France and Mary, Queen of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia
On April 24, 1558, Mary, Queen of Scots, the only surviving child of James V, King of Scots and his second wife Marie of Guise, married François II, King of France, then the Dauphin of France, the eldest son of Henri II, King of France and Catherine de’ Medici, outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. James V’s first wife, Madeleine of Valois, daughter of François I, King of France, had died childless, from tuberculosis, six months after their marriage.
The Early Life of Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia
Mary, Queen of Scots was born on December 8, 1542, at Linlithgow Palace in Scotland. She was the third and the only surviving child of James V, King of Scots and his second wife, Marie of Guise, a French princess. Mary had two brothers who died in infancy. James V, King of Scots died on December 14, 1542, at the age of 30, and was succeeded by his only surviving, legitimate child, six-day-old Mary.
In July 1548, the Scottish Parliament approved Mary’s marriage to François, Dauphin of France. On August 7, 1548, five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, set sail for France, where she would be raised with her future husband. She would not return to Scotland for thirteen years. Ten years later, on April 24, 1558, Mary married François, Dauphin of France, at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. In November 1558, Catholic Queen Mary I of England died and was succeeded by her Protestant half-sister Queen Elizabeth I. Mary and Elizabeth, daughters of King Henry VIII by different mothers, were first cousins once removed of Mary, Queen of Scots. King Henry VIII’s will excluded from the English succession the descendants of his sister Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, the paternal grandmother of Mary, Queen of Scots. However, many Catholics considered Mary to be the rightful heir to the English throne.
François II, King of France
François II, King of France; Credit – Wikipedia
François II, King of France was born on January 19, 1544, at the Château de Fontainebleau in France. He was the eldest of the ten children of Henri II, King of France and Catherine de’ Medici. François became heir to the French throne and Dauphin of France in 1547 upon the death of his grandfather, François I, King of France. As a child, François II suffered from ill health and was considered to be less intelligent and easily distracted. Despite this, François received an education as befitted a prince of that time.
A little more than a year after François’s wedding to Mary, a great tragedy occurred in France. On June 30, 1559, a celebration and tournament were held in Paris in honor of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis with the Habsburgs, France’s longtime enemy. François’ father, King Henri II of France, at age 40, suffered from dizziness after physical exertion and was advised not to participate in the tournament. However, he jousted with Gabriel de Lorges, Comte de Montgomery, captain of the Scotch Guard, and had been almost unseated from his horse. Henri insisted upon a rematch despite the urgings of his wife and friends to stop. The Comte de Montgomery reluctantly agreed to a rematch. de Montgomery’s lance struck the king’s helmet, splintered, and went through the visor, going through the king’s right eye and his temple into the brain. King Henri II died due to his injuries, and his eldest son succeeded as King François II of France. Mary, Queen of Scots, was now also Queen Consort of France.
Reasons for the Marriage
The marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and François II, King of France was intended to strengthen the alliance between Scotland and France against England, especially given Mary, Queen of Scots’ claim to the English throne. Mary’s great-uncle, King Henry VIII of England, had tried to force an agreement of marriage between Mary and his son and Mary’s first cousin once removed, the future King Edward VI of England, to create a new alliance between England and Scotland. Scotland had an alliance with France called the Auld Alliance. When Scotland resisted, Henry VIII declared war, resulting in an eight-year war known as the Rough Wooing (1543 – 1551). Because of the English hostilities, Scotland abandoned the possibility of an English marriage. In July 1548, the Scottish Parliament approved Mary’s marriage to François, Dauphin of France, the son and heir of King Henri II of France. The marriage of François and Mary could have given the future kings of France the throne of Scotland and a claim to the throne of England through Mary’s great-grandfather, King Henry VII of England.
The Marriage Treaties
Two marriage treaties were signed, one official and public, and the other secret. The official treaty consisted of the following: Mary, Queen of Scots was bound to preserve the freedom, liberties, and privileges of Scotland. When she was out of the country, Scotland would be governed by the regency of the Queen Mother, Marie of Guise. If Mary died without children, the King of France and the Dauphin of France, and their successors, were bound to support the succession to the throne of Scotland of the nearest heir by blood, the Head of the House of Hamilton, at that time. The Dauphin would hold the title King of Scotland and be granted the crown matrimonial. When he succeeded to the French throne, the two kingdoms would be united under one crown. The subjects of both kingdoms would be naturalized with each other. The eldest son of Mary and François would inherit both crowns. If their children were only daughters, due to the Salic Law in France, which forbade female succession, the eldest daughter would only inherit the crown of Scotland.
A secret treaty was drawn up at the same time. The secret treaty consisted of the following: If Mary died without children, Scotland and Mary’s rights to the English throne were to go to the French crown. Scotland and all its revenues were to go to the King of France and his successors. France would be reimbursed for any money it spent on Scotland’s defense. In addition, Mary renounced in anticipation, any agreement she might make with the Scottish Parliament that might interfere with any of these arrangements.
The Wedding
Notre-Dame de Paris and the area nearby, where a platform connecting with the Bishop’s Palace was constructed for the wedding. Credit – Wikipedia
The wedding occurred outside the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on April 24, 1558. There are several contemporary accounts of the wedding. The site of the wedding was a raised platform connecting the Cathedral of Notre-Dame and the Archbishop’s Palace. The platform, described as an open-air theatre, had a twelve-foot-high arch. The royal fleur-de-lys was everywhere, including on the canopy covering the platform. Eustace du Bellay, Bishop of Paris, was insistent that the common people would have a clear view of the procession and the wedding.
The extensive procession began with the Swiss Guard, who entered the theater to the playing of tabourins and fifes. François de Lorraine, 2nd Duke of Guise, the maternal uncle of the bride and a French military hero, who was in charge of the wedding, entered next. He was followed by Eustace du Bellay, Bishop of Paris. A procession of musicians in yellow and red, playing all sorts of musical instruments, came next. They were followed by one hundred gentlemen-in-waiting of Henri II, King of France, the Princes of the Blood, and priests, bishops, and cardinals.
The groom, François, Dauphin of France, was accompanied by Antoine of Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme and King of Navarre, as the husband and co-ruler of Queen Jeanne III of Navarre, and François’s two younger brothers, Charles, Duke of Orleans (the future Charles IX, King of France) and Henri, Duke of Angoulême (the future Henri III, King of France).
Finally, the bride made her entrance. Mary, Queen of Scots was escorted by her soon-to-be father-in-law, Henri II, King of France, and her maternal cousin, Charles III, Duke of Lorraine. The bride wore a robe of white, rich material. Traditionally, white was the color of mourning for Queens of France, and Mary defied tradition by wearing it. She wore a diamond necklace and a golden crown with pearls, rubies, sapphires, and other precious stones. Two young girls carried Mary’s long train.
The bride was followed by her future mother-in-law, Queen Catherine, born a de Medici, who was escorted by Henri de Bourbon, 2nd Prince of Condé, Marguerite of Valois, Duchess of Berry (King Henri II’s sister), and other princesses and ladies.
The wedding service was conducted by Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, the brother of Antoine of Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme and King of Navarre. Eustace du Bellay, Bishop of Paris, gave the wedding oration and then celebrated a Mass with the groom’s parents, King Henri II and Queen Catherine, on one side of the altar and the newlyweds, François and Mary, on the other side.
Afterword
Mary, Queen of Scots, in white mourning for her first husband; Credit – Wikipedia
The remainder of Mary’s life went more and more downhill, ultimately ending in her execution by beheading. In the summer of 1559, there were false rumours that Mary was pregnant. Seventeen months after becoming King of France, Mary’s husband, François II, aged 16, died in great pain on December 5, 1560, possibly from mastoiditis, meningitis, or otitis, which turned into an abscess. François II died childless, so his ten-year-old younger brother succeeded him as Charles IX, King of France. Left a childless widow, Mary decided to return to Scotland. Catholic Mary returned to a Scotland very different from the one she had left as a child. During Mary’s thirteen-year absence, the Protestant Reformation had swept through Scotland, led by John Knox, considered the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Mary, Queen of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia
Mary needed an heir, so a second marriage became necessary. Mary became infatuated with her first cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were grandchildren of Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England. Mary and Darnley married at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 29, 1565. On June 19, 1566, at Edinburgh Castle, Mary gave birth to a son, later King James VI of Scotland/King James I of England.
Mary soon became disillusioned by Darnley’s uncouth behavior and insistence upon receiving the Crown Matrimonial, which would have made him co-sovereign of Scotland. Mary refused, and their relationship became strained. Mary’s marriage was all but over, and she began to be drawn to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Bothwell conspired with several other men to rid Mary of her husband. On February 10, 1567, Darnley was killed when the house he was staying at was blown up.
Mary and Darnley’s son (circa 1574), James VI, King of Scots after Mary’s abdication, and additionally James I, King of England after the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England; Credit – Wikipedia
In April 1567, Mary visited her son at Stirling Castle in Scotland. It was to be the last time Mary would ever see her son. On her way back to Edinburgh, Mary was abducted by Bothwell and taken to Dunbar Castle. Bothwell, who was married, divorced his wife on May 3, 1567, and Mary and Bothwell were married on May 15, 1567. The marriage angered many Scottish nobles who raised an army against Mary and Bothwell. On July 24, 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots was forced to abdicate in favor of her one-year-old son James, and Bothwell was driven into exile. He was imprisoned in Denmark, became insane, and died in 1578.
In 1568, Mary escaped from her imprisonment at Loch Leven Castle. Forced to flee to England, Mary was soon imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I of England, her first cousin once removed. Mary was moved from castle to castle, all of which were in the interior of England and away from the sea for security reasons.
In August 1586, Mary was implicated in the Babington Plot, a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. Shortly afterward, Mary was moved to her final place of imprisonment, Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, England. Elizabeth I was reluctant to sign the death warrant of an anointed queen. However, on February 1, 1587, Elizabeth signed the death warrant. Having found out she was to be executed the next day, Mary spent her final night praying in Fotheringhay Castle’s small chapel. She was beheaded on a scaffold in the Great Hall of Fotheringhay Castle on February 8, 1587. Mary was 44 years old and had spent the last nineteen years of her life imprisoned in English castles. She had requested to be buried in France, but Elizabeth I denied the request. Her remains were embalmed, placed in a lead coffin, and stored in Fotheringhay Castle until August 1, 1587, when they were interred at Peterborough Cathedral.
Tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots in Westminster Abbey; Credit – Wikipedia
In 1603, as Queen Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudors, lay dying, she gave her assent that Mary, Queen of Scots’ son James VI, King of Scots, should succeed her. By primogeniture, James was the next in line to the English throne. In 1612, Mary’s remains were exhumed upon the orders of her son and were reburied in a marble tomb with a beautiful effigy in Westminster Abbey in a chapel directly across the aisle from the chapel containing the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I. Mary, Queen of Scots is the ancestor of the current British royal family and many other European royal families.
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Works Cited
- 24 April 1558 – The Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Dauphin of France – The Tudor Society. (2018). www.tudorsociety.com. https://www.tudorsociety.com/24-april-1558-the-marriage-of-mary-queen-of-scots-and-the-dauphin-of-france/
- Flantzer, Susan. (2016). Mary, Queen of Scots. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/mary-queen-of-scots/
- Fraser, Antonia. (1969). Mary, Queen of Scots. Bantam Dell. New York, NY.
- Heritage History | Mary Queen of Scots by Jacob Abbott. (n.d.). www.heritage-History.com. https://www.heritage-history.com/index.php?c=read&author=abbott&book=mary&story=wedding
- Wedding of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Francis, Dauphin of France (2025). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Mary,_Queen_of_Scots,_and_Francis,_Dauphin_of_France
- Wertman, Janet. (2020). April 19, 1558 – Marriage Contract between Mary of Scotland and the Dauphin Francis. Janet Wertman. https://janetwertman.com/2020/04/19/april-19-1558-marriage-contract-between-mary-of-scotland-and-the-dauphin-francis/
