Mary Queen of Scots Executed: A Catholic Martyr's End
Elizabeth I hesitated for months before signing Mary Queen of Scots' death warrant on February 1, 1587. She understood the precedent: executing an anointed queen would shatter the doctrine of divine right that protected her own throne. Mary had been imprisoned in England for nineteen years after fleeing Scotland following the murder of her second husband Lord Darnley, a crime in which she was widely suspected of complicity. The Babington Plot of 1586, in which Mary endorsed a plan to assassinate Elizabeth and seize the English throne with Spanish help, finally sealed her fate. Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle on February 8. The executioner required three strikes to sever her head, and when he lifted it by the hair, her auburn wig came off and the head rolled away. Elizabeth publicly blamed her secretary William Davison for dispatching the warrant without her final permission, a claim nobody believed.
February 8, 1587
439 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Mary, Queen of Scots
Wikipedia
Babington Plot
Wikipedia
Queen Elizabeth I of England
Wikipedia
Elizabeth I of England
Wikipedia
Mary, Queen of Scots
Wikipedia
Babington Plot
Wikipedia
Elizabeth I
Wikipedia
List of Scottish monarchs
Wikipedia
1542
Wikipedia
1567
Wikipedia
England
Wikipedia
Capital punishment
Wikipedia
Scotland
Wikipedia
Assassination
Wikipedia
What Else Happened on February 8
Constantius III ascended to the throne as co-emperor of the Western Roman Empire, formalizing his transition from a dominant military general to a legitimate im…
Mongol forces breached the walls of Vladimir, systematically incinerating the city and slaughtering its inhabitants inside the cathedral. This brutal conquest d…
The Seventh Crusade failed because Louis IX of France couldn't resist a tactical opportunity. His brother Robert charged the Egyptian camp at Al Mansurah withou…
The Byzantine civil war ended when both sides ran out of money to pay their armies. John VI Kantakouzenos had hired Turkish mercenaries. John V Palaiologos had …
The Dutch gave themselves a university as a thank-you gift. Leiden had just survived a year-long Spanish siege — people ate rats, then leather, then died by the…
Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex, marched his followers through London in a desperate, failed attempt to seize power from Queen Elizabeth I. His swift def…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.