Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots
There are numerous books about Mary, Queen of Scots: whether you believe she was a tragic victim, or a wily temptress there is something to suit every taste. So what can a new book offer us? I am glad to say that Scott does have a new angle – the much more detailed knowledge we now have of the attempts made by Mary and her friends and supporters to release her from the long, tedious, and unlawful captivity in England in which she was kept, having gone there for succour and safety after the loss of the Battle of Langside. It has long been known that Mary was a copious correspondent and that the complex ciphers she and the other plotters used were miracles of cryptography – some still defying analysis.
In 2023 a new cache of letters was found in the Bibliothèque Nationale and the new material from these has been skilfully woven by Scott into a rich and detailed account of the queen’s years in England. Of course, some back story was necessary and Scott gives an overview of the torrid circumstances which led to Mary’s deposition. While Scott holds firmly to the theory that Mary was raped by Bothwell and coerced into their marriage, she is more ambivalent about Mary’s involvement in the death of her second husband, Henry, Lord Darnley, or, as he was known at the time, Henry, King of Scots. Scott implies, and I find this interpretation completely credible, that while not directly involved or responsible Mary chose not to know that something was afoot.
Mary’s positive relationship with her first English gaoler, Sir Francis Knollys, receives more attention than most biographies give and it is fascinating to learn that something akin to friendship subsisted between the earnest, puritan middle-aged Sir Francis, devoted both to his wife and to the service of his queen, Elizabeth I of England, and the young, Catholic, energetic Scottish queen. In fact, Mary’s energy and vivacity and its slow strangulation by increasingly rigorous confinement is one of the sub-texts of the book. We see the twenty-five year old queen who loved to ride and hunt lose more and more freedom over the years until the lack of exercise ruined her health and damaged her spirits.
However, the nub of the book is a detailed discussion of the various plots and the new information that the recently decoded letters add. It would have been interesting to know more about the cryptography itself, which is only lightly touched on, although the information about letter locking is fascinating, however Scott's focus is on the content. Much more has been revealed about the Throckmorton Plot and it is now apparent that, despite Mary’s denials, she was well aware of what was going on. In her own view, and that of many people before and since, Mary was quite justified in wanting to escape unjust imprisonment and attempt to regain her throne. It was not until she was pushed to desperation that she countenanced the idea of assassination of Elizabeth, her earlier attempts being focused, first, on a marriage to the Duke of Norfolk, which many of Elizabeth’s own councillors supported, then on a negotiated settlement for return to Scotland to rule jointly with her son, James VI. As these avenues closed, the queen became more desperate.
The impression I am left with from Scott’s detailed analysis of these years is of Mary gradually becoming more frustrated, beating her wings against an ever narrowing prison cell, and writing, writing, writing frantically, desperately, ever-optimistically. We can admire the spirit of the queen who, even after twenty years of captivity never gave up for a single day.
Tudor Times received a review copy of The Captive Queen from the publisher.
