Mary, byname Mary, Queen of Scots, original name Mary Stuart or Mary Stewart, (born December 8, , Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian, Scotland—died February 8, , Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire, England), queen of Scotland (–67) and queen consort of France.
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- Mary Queen of Scots
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- Mary | Biography & Facts | leondumoulin.nl
- Mary, Queen of Scots
Royal Road to Fotheringhay by Jean Plaidy. The haunting story of the beautiful and tragic Mary, Queen of Scots. Bestselling novelist Plaidy, who died in , was also known as Victoria Holt. Novel about Mary, Queen of Scots's imprisonment in England. The courageous, spirited queen tell her own story. A novel about Mary's life. The Galliard by Margaret Irwin. First published in under the title The Gay Galliard. The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory. The newly married Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, become jailers of doomed Mary Queen of Scots, and their home becomes the epicenter of intrigue and rebellion.
Blood Between Queens by Barbara Kyle. The Flower Reader by Elizabeth Loupas. Novel set at the start of the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. After a dying queen gives Rinette Leslie a casket full of Scotland's darkest secrets, she is surrounded by ruthless men who will do anything to possess it. A Question of Guilt: Her investigation could endanger her life and disgrace her family. An early 19th century German play.
Darnley by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton. A 19th century English play. Mary Stuart by Alexandre Dumas. I am very much interested in Mary's story, but haven't studied any history of the period since I was at secondary school. I chose to read Fraser's account of hers because she is so well revered; I thought that if anyone could present her tale in a fascinating and memorable way, it would be her. Alas, I have a few issues with the book. Mary Queen of Scots held my attention for the first pages or so, but I felt as though it shifted after that point, losing some of its initial sparkle.
Fraser's I am very much interested in Mary's story, but haven't studied any history of the period since I was at secondary school. Fraser's effort is also a little protracted; it would have been better, and far more successful, had it been presented in a book of half this size. As it is, Mary Queen of Scots book, not person - although she did stand at the height of five foot eleven The entirety is very repetitive; there is so much emphasis placed upon the frankly largely unimportant details of Mary's appearance and height, and the reiteration of such things feels unnecessary.
Fraser's writing is not bad, but given her stature as a biographical historian, I had expected that it would be far tighter, better structured, and more expansive. Much of the vocabulary is used again and again, sometimes in the same sentence. The book could have been riveting - indeed, I thought it would be after reading the witty and amusing introduction - but it felt flat.
Mary Queen of Scots
I would like to pick up another Fraser in future to see how it compares, but I shouldn't think I will be doing so for quite some time. After all, the wrist ache needs to subside first This tome represents an impressive amount of research--too much if one expects a quick and easy read. While the portrayal is sympathetic, the picture which emerges of Queen Mary is not very positive. She was, as might be expected, spoiled, selfish and adolescent, certainly not one who might have been competent as an autocrat unless shepherded by ministers. As it was, she was poorly guided, both by her supposed allies and by her own unregulated desires.
I was reminded of the late Princess of Wale This tome represents an impressive amount of research--too much if one expects a quick and easy read. I was reminded of the late Princess of Wales, another sad figure unequal to her role. Of course, when one thinks of the roles such as Mary and Diana were expected to fulfill, one wonders if, in comparison, those who do well fill them aren't the real monsters.
If taken out of the inflated context, both of these women were actually rather normal and it is to this that Fraser is sympathetic. A sad biography of the Queen of Scots. I have given this book three stars though my enjoyment was edging towards two stars. My interest lagged even though I love Fraser's writing style, I never felt pulled into this sad account of the misunderstood queen of Scots. I plan on reading her other books and I hope that I can enjoy them much more than I had of this one.
Aug 10, Carolina Casas rated it really liked it Shelves: One of the best biographies on Mary, Queen of Scots. It is well researched and detailed; you don't have to be a history buff to enjoy this book. Fraser's writing style is very good, she keeps you hooked from the start. I do have some minor criticisms, one of them is how she presents Mary at tragic moments in her life. I felt like she was romanticizing her there. Other than this however, the book was great.
Queen of Scotland
I highly recommend it. Mar 06, Kelly marked it as to-read Shelves: I want to read this because I want to answer the question, 'Why is everyone so fascinated by this damn woman?? I've never liked her. I've always thought she was stupid, petty, petulant and self-indulgent.
I pity her, but I've never respected her in the least. She seems to have some rabid fans. I'm curious as to why. BBC R4 Now for the film: Mary Queen of Scots Glenda Jackson Queen Elizabeth Patrick McGoohan James Stuart Timothy Dalton Henry - Lord Darnley Nigel Davenport Lord Bothwell Trevor Howard William Cecil Daniel Massey Robert Dudley Ian Holm View all 4 comments. Sep 22, Maia B. Once again, I have dithered for minutes over what rating to give this book.
Four, for its excellent research, bright writing, and obvious love of history? Or two, for its sometimes slow pace, untranslated French and Latin, and positively biased viewpoint on Mary herself? So I settled on three, as so often before.
That said, it may deserve more than that. It really is written very well; Antonia Fraser is not only a marvelous historian, she's a great writer. She writes easily and cleverly; the dry Once again, I have dithered for minutes over what rating to give this book. She writes easily and cleverly; the dry lack of humor can be excused by the sprightly style.
Sprightly is a word which ought to be mostly applied to energetic eighty-year-olds. Maybe it's not the best adjective here. She has also obviously done her homework - she puts facts in the book which I would never think to wonder about, but which I love to know. On the other hand On the other hand, Fraser is clearly utterly in love with her subject. She writes reams about how lovely Mary is and conveniently forgets the ravages of old age when it's better to portray Mary as a strong, courageous woman than a crippled old hag ; in the context of the Babington plot, she presents Mary as a hapless victim trapped in the large and sticky spider-web of Walsingham.
Instead of saying straight out that Mary agreed to the murder of Elizabeth," she says something like "In her letter, Mary did not directly address the subject of Elizabeth's death [note: I don't mind that she forgives Mary her disastrous second marriage to Darnley, but I do mind that she so completely exonerates Mary from the stain of planning his death. Early in the book, she starts talking about things like "the tragedy at Kirk o'Field" and compares trauma in Mary's life to that of "the trauma after the murder of Riccio.
By the time anything actually happens, Fraser has already, tacitly or otherwise, told us what happened and when it happened and who was the perpetrator. If I had not known a bit about Mary before reading the book, I would have been completely baffled. Despite Fraser's very sympathetic view of Mary, I find myself disliking her extremely.
She relies on everyone around her for advice, assistance, and direction; she cries when something doesn't go her way after she was incarcerated illegally by Elizabeth, this doesn't bother me, but it does when she's having a discussion with Knox and when she starts to lose the argument, takes refuge in tears ; she lets everyone else push her and pull her wherever they may.
She never stood up for herself until it was much too late. Towards the end of the book I started to admire her more. At her joke of a trial she was not allowed counselors or notes to use, and had to defend herself , she spoke loudly and strongly. Though Fraser has emphasized her ill looks up to now to vilify Elizabeth's harsh treatment of her, she now forgets about that and presents Mary as tall, strong, and if not beautiful, at least attractive once more. When she was told afterward that she was to die, she resigned herself bravely to the execution. Then my admiration waned again.
She chose to think that by dying under the executioner's sword, she would become a martyr, and that's why she was resigned to that kind of death. Her attitude was something like "Yay! I'm going to be a martyr!
Mary | Biography & Facts | leondumoulin.nl
Despite her contrariness, vanity, and occasional cruelty, she took charge of her own life, and she led it the way she wanted it to be led. Mary, unfortunately, did no such thing. If she had, who knows what might have happened? Well I have finally finished this book; it only took me 28 days that was pure sarcasm by the way.
Antonia Fraser loves detail and it comes through, she really does her research and that definitely impressed me. I learned things about Mary Queen of Scots that I probably would have never thought to look up, but was nice to know, the subtleties which really bring a character from history to life. Not to mention I enjoyed learning of all the h Well I have finally finished this book; it only took me 28 days that was pure sarcasm by the way.
The quartering of people after they have been condemned to death!
Mary, Queen of Scots
The way they would treat a corpse after someone has been executed. I just could not understand how these people thought about these things and that was kind of fascinating to me. I like to know what makes people tick. Also I really loved how neutral Antonia Fraser stayed in the writing of this book.
She was not pro Mary or Elizabeth which sometimes we all get sucked into. We also get to see the relationship her and Elizabeth had and the thinking that went into Elizabeth finally signing the execution warrant. These were definitely two very strong women of their time, and there was a lot of corruption and plots that went on around them. This book is so detailed that we start of in the very beginning, a quick overview of her parents and then Mary is born. From there we follow her to France, her schooling and all the way through to her death at the very end.
I enjoyed that Antonia Fraser set it up in to chapters. Each chapter represents an important stage in her life. Antonia Fraser is so focused on giving us all the facts which leaves the book very dry and begging for more of a story to excite us, especially since the book is close to pages. The book took me 28 days to read as I found myself constantly falling asleep on the couch after getting about 15 pages read, this was very frustrating. I got very frustrated with all the French and Latin quotes and the fact that there was not always a translation for them.
A translation would have been nice, especially when they were occasionally scattered throughout the book, why not translate all of them? I could paint her bloody portrait by mind now, is that what you were aiming for? I will give Antonia Fraser a chance to redeem herself as I do love how factual she is, I just hope that she has learned to tell more of a story since when this book was first released.
Oct 29, David rated it it was amazing. Mary is cast in a very understandable and sympathetic light. The author is outstanding in the research depth under-girding this book, and yet she does not flaunt the scholarship, or overburden the reader with her erudition. Still, the author covers this short life in great depth, requiring pages supported by useful relevant illustrations and charts of the families involved in the Scottish and English throne successions of the 15th to 17th centuries.
The pace gracefully carries the reader along through the varied trials and tribulations of royalty. Through the entire story there is the strong ever-present religious background, the severe contest of Protestantism versus Catholicism during the years of the Reformation, when countries and thrones are won and lost over religious stringencies and freedoms. In the broadest terms, the religious conflicts of these ages is positively overwhelming. They destroy people and tragically build prejudice of monumental proportions.
Mary, Queen of Scots is shown in rich absorbing detail to be a classic case. A heavy read for sure The story of this sad, unfortunate queen is of great interest to all lovers of history. It is riddled with tragedies and injustices and while reading one perhaps asks himself how much more this queen could have endured especially during A heavy read for sure It is riddled with tragedies and injustices and while reading one perhaps asks himself how much more this queen could have endured especially during her very long confinement in an English prison, being driven from one English castle to another.
What I did not particularly care for and the reason for my 3 star not 4 rating, is the very intricate detail that is present in the book. I do understand the difficulty Fraser must have had to cut details and keep the sense of the story, but at times I felt certain information did merit a boring stance to the read. A good and very interesting biography nonetheless, especially for the history lover out there. Jul 08, Charlotte Liebel rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Detailed historical drama of Mary Queen of Scots.
Gripping story of a brave woman who had to endure an end sentence in death and who, ultimately, lived in squalid surroundings. I loved reading this book. Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval.
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Learn More in these related Britannica articles: Religious questions and the fate of Mary, Queen of Scots. Elizabeth restored England to Protestantism. The Act of Supremacy, passed by Parliament and approved in , revived the antipapal statutes of Henry VIII and declared the queen supreme governor of the church, while the Act of Uniformity established a slightly revised….
Mary began her reign —67 as another Stewart child ruler in the hands of factions. The pro-French party upheld the old church, while the pro-English desired reform.
David Beaton, archbishop of…. Therefore, Knox defied her in person on matters of religion and, though a commoner, addressed her as if he were all Scotland. He very nearly was, because in the period…. The woman ruler in a patriarchal world In Elizabeth I: Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered.
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