On this day in Tudor history, 7th February 1587, a fateful message arrived at Fotheringhay Castle - the execution warrant for Mary, Queen of Scots. After years of imprisonment and political intrigue, her fate was sealed. But how did Mary react when she was told she would die the next morning? What did she do in her final hours?
Today, we’re travelling back in time to Mary’s last evening on earth—her defiant words, her final prayers, and the preparations she made for her death. This is the story of a queen who faced the axe with courage and unwavering faith.
Mary, Queen of Scots, had been tried for treason in October 1586 after being implicated in the Babington Plot, a plot to depose Queen Elizabeth I and to replace her with Mary. She had been found guilty and sentenced to death, but Elizabeth would not sign the execution warrant, not wanting the responsibility of killing an anointed queen. However, Mary’s gaoler, Sir Amias Paulet, would not agree to quietly doing away with Mary, and after pressure from her council and petitions from Parliament, Elizabeth finally signed the warrant, although she later said she had asked for it not to be sent to Fotheringhay yet.
The queen’s council, however, sent it immediately to Paulet, who wasted no time in arranging Mary's execution. On the evening of 7th February 1587, Paulet, his assistant Sir Drue Drury, and George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and Henry Grey, Earl of Kent, visited Mary. Shrewsbury, who had always treated the Scots queen kindly, went down on one knee in front of her, read out the warrant and informed her that her execution would take place the next day. A worried Mary was reassured by Drury that she would not be quietly murdered like Richard II, saying, "Madam, you need not fear it, for that you are in the charge of a Christian Queen." Mary then thanked the men, saying:
“I do not think the queen, my sister, would have consented to my death, as I am not subject to your law and jurisdiction. But, seeing her pleasure so, death shall be most welcome; neither is that soul worthy of the high and everlasting joys above, whose body cannot endure one stroke of the executioner. I thank you for such welcome news. You will do me a great good in withdrawing me from this world, out of which I am very glad to go… I am of no good and of no use to anyone.”
Mary crossed herself and continued: "I am quite ready and very happy to die, and to shed my blood for Almighty God, my Saviour and my Creator, and for the Catholic Church, and to maintain its rights in this country", seeing herself as a martyr. She then asked for her chaplain, a request which was denied her, and then set about preparing herself for her death.
After supper, where she drank to her servants’ health, Mary prayed, made her will, distributed her belongings between her ladies and servants, and then wrote some letters of farewell, including one to her brother-in-law, Henry III of France, in which she stated “I scorn death and vow that I face it innocent of any crime” and continuing: “The Catholic faith and the defence of my God-given right to the English throne are the two reasons for which I am condemned, and yet they will not allow me to say that it is for the Catholic faith that I die...”
Mary, Queen of Scots, met her death the following morning in what would become one of the most infamous executions in history, an awfully botched beheading. But on the night of 7th February, she was calm, composed, and ready. She saw herself as a martyr, a queen wronged, and faced her fate with dignity.
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