Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587) became Queen of Scotland when she was six days old. Raised in France, she returned to Scotland in 1561 a devout Catholic queen of an increasingly Protestant kingdom. Forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son James VI, she fled south to seek the protection of her Protestant cousin Elizabeth I.
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In England she was held under guard for nineteen years while Catholic plotters repeatedly tried to put her on the throne. She was eventually tried for treason and beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587. After Elizabeth's death in 1603 it was Mary's son who united the crowns of England and Scotland as James VI and I.
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