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This is one of the finest biographies of Mary, Queen of Scots to be published in recent years. Miss Weir proves quite convincingly Mary Stuart's complete innocence in the murder of her scapegrace second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. While many historians try to blame Mary ("the murder was to her benefit; there was no way she could not have had foreknowledge of it"), Alison Weir has exhaustively pored over and analyzed contemporary records not only pertaining to the murder itself, but to Queen Mary. And then there was Darnley's own character; if ever a man brought murder upon himself, that man was Darnley. Mary, however, continually did her utmost to reconcile herself to him and to keep as much peace amongst her contentious nobles as possible, and to re-establish royal authority. Her nobles had their own agendas, however, with clan loyalties -- a decidedly feudal outlook -- often stronger than their support of the monarch, if it suited them; this included her ungrateful, treasonous half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray. (Having grown up in France -- of necessity -- Mary found the Scots lords much more difficult to understand than their French counterparts.) After Darnley's murder, Mary, who almost certainly had a nervous breakdown and post-traumatic stress disorder (on top of post-partum depression), made the fatal mistake of marrying Bothwell as her third husband. (Historians do not all agree as to whether Bothwell forced the marriage on her.) In fact, many of the principal part of her nobility -- including Moray -- had been involved in Darnley's murder and were looking to pin the crime on Bothwell, and eventually the Queen herself, which they did, via the "casket letters" and other totally fabricated evidence. While Bothwell was principally responsible for the gunpower plot which blew up Darnley's house, it was one of the latter's own cousins, Archibald Douglas, who suffocated him. And he lived to a good age, comfortably retired. With incredibly cruel irony, Mary, who was completely innocent of the crime, spent her last nineteen years in an English prison, her every effort to escape thwarted by Elizabeth I's ministers. No wonder she felt that death as a Catholic martyr was the only thing remaining to her. The only thing I really don't agree with is Miss Weir's statement that Mary was furious with Moray because he was suspicious, perhaps with some reason, of her relationship with her Italian secretary, Riccio. Having read many, many biographies of Mary Stuart, almost all of them agree that Riccio was a loyal friend, nothing more. (Besides, she was obviously in love with Darnley at this time.) Otherwise, it is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to know more about this much worked-over murder.Read full review
It's here! It's much bigger than Children of Henry VIII. I hope that means Alison went into great detail. I can't wait to read it.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned