On this day in history : 9th September 1543 – Mary Stuart is crowned Queen of Scots at the age of just nine months…. She had become Queen when she was less than a week old….
The ceremony was conducted by Scotland’s most senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal David Beaton, Archbishop of St.Andrews – and took place in the Chapel Royal of Stirling Castle…. Mary had officially become Queen when she was six days old, after the death of her father, James V of Scots…. Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise, ruled as regent – aided by Cardinal Beaton….
Mary of Guise came from one of the most powerful of aristocratic families in France…. As a Roman Catholic she was faced with the rising tide of Protestantism in Scotland – and was also under pressure from the English throne to force a marriage between her baby daughter and the young heir to the English throne, Edward Tudor…. Mary Guise had no intention of allowing such a union and when little Mary was 5-years-old she was sent to live with her French grandmother, Antoinette of Guise…. Mary was brought up in the French court as a Catholic with French as her first language….
Cottage Capers 