Can we please (and thanks) be nicer to Mary Queen of Scots?
It is debated that the reign of Mary Queen of Scots is one of the most infamous in history; not just Scottish history, but worldwide. Through the years, I have seen historians with divergent opinions about her life and rule; she is either categorized as a strong monarch in unfortunate circumstances or a tragic and complete failure. I tend to believe the former.
Mary was a strong young woman who faced difficulties from the get-go. She lost her father at six-days old and was shipped to France at five years old- an age that modern kindergarteners are still learning their ABC’s. She was known to be intelligent and quick-witted. Queen Elizabeth called her "the daughter of debate."
She never failed to challenge her strongest critics. When John Knox once told her "Men will never bow down to the weaker sex" she refuted with "And they will suffer greatly for it."
*CUE. ALL. THE. SNAPS!!!*
Through a rough childhood, and into difficult (at best) adulthood, she was berated continuously by people around her for every decision made; no matter if it was personal or private. She suffered loss, betrayal, constant public smearing of her character by John Knox; various attempts to take away her throne, and a love-hate relationship with her cousin Elizabeth I. Through all of that, she tried to lead her country the best that she could, and was tolerant to all forms of religon. She didn't always make the best decisions, and some things she did were seen downright shady (was she or wasn't she involved in the murder of her second husband, Lord Darnley??) Regardless, she was sharp, strong-headed, and a woman in a man's job. The odds were stacked against her, not just for the unfairness in the cards she was dealt in life.
All of these elements make me believe that you cannot just look at Mary and her reign and judged based solely on the decisions she made. She had is hard, she was a young woman, who grew up in a different land than her native home, ruling a deeply divided country, in which some believed her right to rule was deplorable because she was not only a woman but a Catholic.
I will probably never know everything about Mary. I'll never know if she helped to engineer the murder of Lord Darnley, I'll never know if Mary actually wanted to marry the Earl of Bothwell (her third husband). What I do know that she was a woman in a difficult circumstance, and for that, I am more inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.
