Mary, Queen of Scots in six castles: from Saint-Germain-en-Laye to Bolton, the French queen turned captive of England

Historical portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots across six castles in France and England, from her childhood at the Valois court to her English captivity, centred on her

Mary, Queen of Scots in six castles: from Saint-Germain-en-Laye to Bolton, the French queen turned captive of England

Born on an 8th December, widowed of a king of France on a 5th December: Mary, Queen of Scots grew up in Saint-Germain, reigned between Blois and Amboise, then endured captivity in Carlisle, Bolton and Tutbury. Six castles to trace her life.

Editorial journal · Carte des Châteaux ·

December is the month of Mary, Queen of Scots. She is born at Linlithgow Palace on an 8th December (the Lothian register says the 7th, but the 8th is the date that has been retained), and it is on a 5th December, in 1560, that she loses her husband François II in Orléans, just three days before her eighteenth birthday. Between these two events, a childhood spent in the Valois residences, seventeen months on the French throne, then a return to Scotland that would end in disaster. In May 1568, defeated, she crosses the Solway Firth to seek asylum with her cousin Elizabeth I: she will never see freedom again. Much has been written about her death; far less about the walls where she lived. This portrait traces six castles still standing, three along the Seine and the Loire, three in England, each telling a chapter of this life in reverse: from the most dazzling court in Europe to the borrowed chambers of her gaolers.

Bolton Castle

North Yorkshire · Castle Bolton

Bolton Castle

Standing on the northern slope of Wensleydale, above the small village to which it gave its name, Bolton Castle is one of the most complete fortified residences in northern England. Its massive silhouette of four ranges and corner towers dominates the landscape of the Yorkshire Dales, within the boundaries of the national park. Built in the late 14th century for Sir Richard le Scrope, chancellor to Richard II, the building illustrates the transition from the defensive castle to the great seigneurial residence: behind thick walls it housed hierarchically arranged apartments, a chapel, lodgings for the lord's retinue and all the outbuildings needed by a noble household. Its interest also lies in its history: Mary, Queen of Scots was held there in 1568-1569, and later the Royalist stronghold withstood a long siege during the Civil War before being partly slighted. Still in the hands of the Scrope descendants, it is now open to the public, with re-created gardens and events.

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Interior of Bolton Castle, in North Yorkshire
Inside Bolton, the Scrope fortress where Mary, Queen of Scots, lived from July 1568 to January 1569. — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Carlisle Castle

Cumbria · Carlisle

Carlisle Castle

Carlisle Castle stands at the northern end of Carlisle city centre, on a steep spur overlooking the confluence of the Eden and the Caldew. Rooted in the Anglo-Scottish border, for more than eight centuries it was one of the major strongholds of northern England, so much so that it was besieged on a great many occasions, first by the Scots, then during the Wars of the Roses, the Civil War and the Jacobite rising of 1745. The site combines several layers: remains of the Roman fort of Luguvalium, a 12th-century Romanesque keep, medieval gatehouses, Tudor-era artillery works and 19th-century barracks. This continuity of military use, until the departure of the regimental depot in 1959, makes it an exceptional witness to the evolution of fortification in England. Managed by English Heritage, the castle is open to visitors: medieval rooms of the keep, graffiti carved by prisoners in the late 15th century, and the wall walk along the ramparts. It also houses the regimental museum, Cumbria's Museum of Military Life, heir to the Border Regiment.

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Did you know? Those who guarded and served her

Sir Francis Knollys

vers 1512-1596

Vice-Chamberlain to Elizabeth I and a staunch Protestant, he is sent to Carlisle in May 1568 to take charge of the Queen of Scots. His letters describe a prisoner who impresses him; he grants her a few freedoms at Carlisle, then accompanies her to Bolton, where he teaches her English.

Henry Scrope, 9e baron Scrope de Bolton

vers 1534-1592

Warden of the Western March and lord of Bolton, he shares the guardianship of Mary with Knollys and cedes her his apartments in the south-west tower. The two men are reprimanded for allowing Catholics from the neighbourhood to approach the prisoner.

Mary Seton

One of the ‘Four Marys’, childhood companions who came to France with the queen in 1548. She follows her to England, where she styles Mary’s hair with remarkable artistry after the latter cuts it following her defeat at Langside.

Retracing her steps today

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Sources

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English Heritage – Mary Queen of Scots at Carlisle Castle ↗Bolton Castle – History (official website) ↗Wikipedia – Bolton Castle ↗Wikipedia – Mary, Queen of Scots ↗Wikipedia – Amboise Conspiracy ↗Wikipedia – François II of France ↗Hérodote – 17th March 1560, the Amboise Conspiracy ↗Wikipedia – Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye ↗Elizabethi.org – Mary Queen of Scots, residences of captivity ↗Historic England – Tutbury Castle (1006112) ↗