The story of the Scottish ruler—and the mysterious death of her ambitious and controversial husband. In the early hours of February 10, 1567, a large explosion ripped through the lodgings at Kirk o’ Field, Edinburgh, where Mary Queen of Scotland’s consort, Henry, Lord Darnley, was staying. Darnley’s body was found with that of his valet in a neighboring garden the next morning. The queen’s husband had been murdered—and the ramifications for Mary and Scottish history would be far-reaching. Lord Darnley cuts an infamous figure in Scottish and Tudor history. In life, he proved a controversial character, and his murder at Kirk o’ Field remains one of British history’s great unsolved mysteries—the question of whether Mary was implicated has taxed historians ever since. In this engaging and well-researched biography, Robert Stedall reexamines Darnley’s life and his death. His investigation brings new light and compelling conclusions to a story surrounded by political betrayal, murder, falsified evidence, and conspiracy.

"In the early hours of 10 February 1567 a large explosion ripped through the Provosts lodgings at Kirk o' Field, Edinburgh, where Mary Queen of Scotland's consort, Henry Lord Darnley, was staying. Darnley's body was found with that of his valet in a neighbouring garden the next morning. The Queen's husband had been murdered and the ramifications for Mary and Scottish history would be far-reaching. Lord Darnley cuts an infamous figure in Scottish and Tudor history. In life, he proved a controversial character, and his murder at Kirk o' Field in 1567 remains one of British history's great, unsolved mysteries - solving whether Mary was implicated has taxed historians ever since. In this engaging and well-researched biography, Robert Stedall re-examines Darnley's life and his murder. It is not to be missed; his investigation brings new light and compelling conclusions to a story surrounded by political betrayal, murder, falsified evidence and conspiracy."--

Mary Queen of Scots: Catholic martyr or manipulative femme fatale On 10 February 1567, conspirators bent on killing Henry, Lord Darnley, King-Consort of Mary Queen of Scots successfully razed his Edinburgh residence at Kirk o' Field in a huge explosion. Soon afterwards, Darnley's partially-clothed body was discovered in a nearby orchard, strangled to death by an unknown assailant. Rumours of Mary's involvement in his murder quickly surfaced. Placards across Edinburgh implied that she had provoked the Earl of Bothwell into killing her husband in a crime of passion. This became more plausible when she tried to avoid having to prosecute him for the murder, and subsequently married him, encouraged by her most senior Protestant nobles. While Mary's motives for the marriage might be explained by her need for his protection, those of the Nobility who had encourage it are confusing. Why would they want a union, which would inevitably place Bothwell, a man they hated, as head of government? Was their motif to associate her in the murder plot? Mary's involvement in Darnley's murder has remained one of the great historical mysteries. Genealogist and author Robert Stedall has spent ten years researching the inter-marriages within Scottish peerage to provide an explanation for their motives in removing Mary from the throne. In this first volume, of his two volume history of Mary and James, he explains in vivid detail the switching allegiances of the nobility, and can reveal for the first time, the gripping true story of Mary's downfall and imprisonment.

"Superb.... A perceptive, suspenseful account." --The New York Times Book Review "Dunn demythologizes Elizabeth and Mary. In humanizing their dynamic and shifting relationship, Dunn describes it as fueled by both rivalry and their natural solidarity as women in an overwhelmingly masculine world." --Boston Herald The political and religious conflicts between Queen Elizabeth I and the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots, have for centuries captured our imagination and inspired memorable dramas played out on stage, screen, and in opera. But few books have brought to life more vividly the exquisite texture of two women’s rivalry, spurred on by the ambitions and machinations of the forceful men who surrounded them. The drama has terrific resonance even now as women continue to struggle in their bid for executive power. Against the backdrop of sixteenth-century England, Scotland, and France, Dunn paints portraits of a pair of protagonists whose formidable strengths were placed in relentless opposition. Protestant Elizabeth, the bastard daughter of Anne Boleyn, whose legitimacy had to be vouchsafed by legal means, glowed with executive ability and a visionary energy as bright as her red hair. Mary, the Catholic successor whom England’s rivals wished to see on the throne, was charming, feminine, and deeply persuasive. That two such women, queens in their own right, should have been contemporaries and neighbours sets in motion a joint biography of rare spark and page-turning power.

The trial of Mary Queen of Scots took place in the Star Chamber, and was the first formal trial of a crowned and accredited Sovereign in historic times. The unfortunate Queen was not tried, as many people think, for any deeds or misdeeds done during her reign in Scotland, but on account of her alleged complicity in the Babington plot which designed to free her and kill Queen Elizabeth of England. This volume gives the State Trial, the legal processes which led up to it, the tortuous policy of the English lawyers, and a rare account of the Queen's last miseries borne with such dignity and bravery.

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Alison Weir's Mary Boleyn. Handsome, accomplished, and charming, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, staked his claim to the English throne by marrying Mary Stuart, who herself claimed to be the Queen of England. It was not long before Mary discovered that her new husband was interested only in securing sovereign power for himself. Then, on February 10, 1567, an explosion at his lodgings left Darnley dead; the intrigue thickened after it was discovered that he had apparently been suffocated before the blast. After an exhaustive reevaluation of the source material, Alison Weir has come up with a solution to this enduring mystery. Employing her gift for vivid characterization and gripping storytelling, Weir has written one of her most engaging excursions yet into Britain’s bloodstained, power-obsessed past.