Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587), Elizabeth's greatest rival, became queen of Scots when only six days old. Throughout her youth, Scotland was ruled by regents, including her mother, Mary of Guise. Mary herself was raised at the French royal court, and married the heir to the French throne, who was crowned Fran�ois II in 1559. He died a year later, leaving Mary a widow at age eighteen.

Mary returned to Scotland and began her period of personal rule over the country. She married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who, like Mary herself, was a descendent of the first Tudor king of England, Henry VII. Their child James was born in 1566. Mary entered into a bitter feud, that ended when Darnley was murdered. Mary then married James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, his likely murderer. Faced with outrage in Scotland, Mary fled to England. There she spent nearly twenty years in confinement, during which she engaged in diplomatic attempts to be restored to the Scottish throne, alternating with conspiracies to assassinate Elizabeth, seize the throne of England, and restore Catholicism.

Mary was tried and convicted by an English court in 1586, and the death sentence was carried out in 1587. Her execution caused an uproar throughout Europe. Subsequent accounts have portrayed Mary as a romantic heroine, a martyr for her faith, and a political simpleton.