There has always been a fascination about Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Her life has been written about in novels and in the movies. However, the story of Mary is a great tragedy in history. It was not unheard of back then to be executed for a crime even if there is no proof to link you to it. Countless people on the other hand, do not know who Mary is despite the publicity. Her life was hard and she was taken from this earth because of a false accusation against her but, because there is not much talk about Mary now, many people do not really understand who she was or how she lived her life. In order to determine whom Mary Queen of Scots was it could be seen through her early years, her marriages, and her death. .
Everyone of great importance has had challenges to overcome. Some of Mary's greatest challenges took place during her early years. Mary Stuart was born at Linlithgow Palace on December 8, 1542. She suffered a huge loss at a young age when her father James V died, with no other legitimate children Mary became queen at just 6 days old. (Haws, pg1) "From her infancy, Scotland's rival pro-English and pro-French factions plotted to gain control of Mary." (Haws, pg1) "Mary was sent to France at the age of five for her safety." (Mary Queen of Scots, pg1) Her "Guise relations, becoming thoroughly French in education, language and sympathy", brought up Mary at the French court. (Loades, pg1) "Many Roman Catholic's recognized Mary Stuart as queen of England, after Mary I died and the protestant Elizabeth I succeeded her to the throne in November 1558. Mary Stuart's claim to the English throne was based on the fact that she was the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, Sister of Henry VII who is Elizabeth's father. To the Roman Catholics, Mary's claim appeared stronger than Elizabeth's because they viewed Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn as illegal." (Haws, pg 1) As one can see through Mary's early years, she lived a tragic life.
