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Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens by Anna Turnham

British Library Exhibition 8 October 2021 – 20 February 2022

 

 

 

Image: Signature of Mary in letter from Mary, Queen of Scots to Elizabeth I, 8 November 1582, British Library, Cotton MS Caligula C vii, f. 81v  1]

Image: Signature of Elizabeth in letter from Elizabeth I to Mary, Queen of Scots, 21 December 1568, British Library, Cotton MS Caligula C i, f. 367r.

Between 1558 and 1587, Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots’s relationship dominated English and Scottish politics. The queens’ rivalry and battle for supremacy within the British Isles profoundly shaped England and Scotland’s relations, both with each other and with their European neighbours, and also became inseparable from the national religious struggles of their respective kingdoms. Despite the attempts of both queens and their governments to organise a personal meeting, Elizabeth and Mary would never meet. Instead, they developed their relationship at a distance, mainly through their correspondence. They were finally united in death when they were both laid to rest in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

The British Library’s landmark exhibition Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens is the first to consider the two queens together, putting them both centre stage and giving them equal attention. The exhibition strips back the rumours and myths that have evolved over the centuries. Instead, it relies on the queens’ own words, from their autograph correspondence and parliamentary speeches, as well as their ambassadorial reports to tell their story. The British Library’s rich sixteenth-century collections make-up the majority of the items in the exhibition: letters, printed books, maps, memoirs, drawings, and proclamations. These are complemented with loans from twenty-six institutions across the UK and Spain, including letters, portraits, tapestries, 3-D objects and jewellery. Audio recordings of letters and speeches composed by Elizabeth and Mary are also incorporated into the exhibition to bring their words to life.

The exhibition is divided into five chronological sections with themes of gender, kinship, religion, and succession woven throughout. The first section introduces the two queens, explaining their shared Tudor heritage and exploring their contrasting childhoods. Elizabeth was bastardised by her father, Henry VIII, in 1536 and removed from English succession until 1544. In contrast, Mary inherited the Scottish throne in 1542 at just six days old after the death of her father, James V. In 1548, Mary was sent to France where she was raised in luxury alongside her future husband, the dauphin François.

The second section explores the queens’ personal relationship following Mary’s return to the Scotland in 1561, to take up direct rule after the death of her husband King François II. Elizabeth and Mary initially exchanged amicable letters and discussed their desire to meet in person as well as potential suitors for Mary. Following her disastrous second and third marriages to her cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, then to James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, Mary was deposed in 1567. This following year Mary escaped Scotland, fleeing to England to seek refuge from Elizabeth. Instead, for reasons of state, Elizabeth felt compelled to hold her Catholic cousin Mary prisoner, a situation which is explored in section three.

The fourth section focuses on the 1580s and unpacks the complex plots to depose Elizabeth in favour of Mary and restore Catholicism in England. Mary’s direct involvement in the Babington plot of 1586 sealed her fate and she was executed on 8 February 1587. The section ends with the events of the 1588 Spanish Armada, which was launched in response to Mary’s execution.

The final section gives a nod to the future of the succession of the English monarchy. On 24 March 1603, Elizabeth I died and Mary, Queen of Scots’s son James, was immediately proclaimed king, unifying the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland as James VI and I.

Image: False arms of Mary, Queen of Scots and Francois, Dauphin of France, British Library, Cotton MS Caligula B x, ff. 17v-18r.

If the above summary has not intrigued you enough, here are a few highlights, including some of my own favourites, to whet your appetite. The first is a drawing of the ‘false arms’ of Mary, Queen of Scots and her husband the French dauphin, François. As a great granddaughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, Mary had a strong claim to the English and Irish thrones. Following Elizabeth’s accession in 1559, Francois and Mary began quartering the royal arms of England and Ireland with their own. The accompanying verses read:

‘The Armes of Marie Quene Dolphines of france

The nobillest Ladie In earth, for till advance

Off Scotland queen / and of Ingland also

Off Ireland als / God haith providit so’.

The sketch was sent by Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, English ambassador to France, to Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth’s principal secretary as evidence of the threat that Mary’s heraldic pretention posed to Elizabeth.

Image: Elizabeth I’s speech to parliament, 1567, British Library, Cotton Ch.IV.38 (2).

The second item is Elizabeth’s draft speech dissolving parliament in January 1567. During this session, MPs had debated potential successors, including Mary, Queen of Scots and Lady Katherine Grey, and by doing so infuriated Elizabeth, who believed the succession to be a private matter for the queen’s prerogative alone. Her MPs complained that she had infringed the traditional liberties of parliament by ordering them not to debate the succession. Elizabeth’s draft speech with its multiple scoring-outs and sharp use of language clearly reveals her frustration – she had heard enough ‘lip-laboured orations’ from ‘jangling subjects mouths!’. This speech is a remarkable item because it is one of only two parliamentary speeches to survive in Elizabeth’s own hand.

Image: Elizabeth I to Sir Ralph Sadler, 31 October 1584, British Library, Loan MS 128 (3).

The final item is a letter that is on loan from the American Trust for the British Library. In 1584, Elizabeth wrote to Sir Ralph Sadler, Mary’s newly appointed jailer, responding to Mary’s appeal to Elizabeth for reconciliation. This is the only known instance when Mary’s request received a detailed response from Elizabeth, who declared  that she was open to hearing Mary’s proposal as ‘the good will we have heretofore professed to beare towardes her [sic] … is not yet so vtterly extinguished as no sparkes thereof remayn’. After this brief moment of hope, the talks came to nothing and just two years later Mary was executed.

These objects are just a few examples of the treasures in this landmark exhibition. To understand how Elizabeth and Mary’s  relationship turned from amicable beginnings to distrust and betrayal, make sure you head to the British Library before the exhibition closes on 20 February 2022 to gain new insights into the lives of two of the most famous queens in history.

Further Reading

Susan Doran, ed., Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens (British Library: London, 2021)

Anna Turnham is a CDP PhD candidate at the University of Kent and British Library. Her research focuses on Anglo-Scottish diplomacy between 1558 and 1568, specifically looking at the role and agency of the ambassadors commissioned between the English and Scottish courts. During her PhD, Anna organised placements that have allowed her the opportunity to work with the curatorial team of the Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens in the months leading-up to and during the run of the exhibition.