Mary of Guise also known as Marie de Lorraine was a French noblewoman who became the second wife of James V of Scotland. A woman who was known for her resilience and strength amidst the challenges of life. So buckle up, as we go on a journey into the life of Mary de Guise.

Early life of Mary de Guise

Mary of Guise was born on 22 November 1515 in Lorraine, France. Born into one of France's most powerful and prominent Catholic families, Mary was the eldest daughter of her father Claude, Duke of Guise, and her mother Antoinette de Bourbon. Mary was described as having a striking figure with good looks, red-gold hair and quite the height, which many considered unusual at that time. Her emblem was the phoenix, indicating her strong and ambitious character.

Mary went to live with her grandmother, Philippa of Guelders, who lived in a convent in Northeastern France. She was to be educated there, possibly to become a nun. But things took a turn when Mary was fourteen, her uncle visited the convent and was pretty impressed with Mary. He decided that if Mary were to stay at the convent, then she’d be wasting her time, for she seemed more suited for nobility than being a nun, and so he brought her to court.

Mary easily made friends at court, and Madeleine and Marguerite became her new friends and they just so happened to be the king’s daughters. So, Madeleine, Marguerite, and Marie were all best friends. .

 

Mary de Guise: A Life Touched by Tragedy

And then comes King James V of Scotland, the son of Henry VIII’s sister, Margaret, who needed a wife, and, just like a lot of other royals, he decided to marry a French lady to ensure an alliance. And so, his choices were Madeleine, Marguerite, or Mary, and, because Madeleine was the oldest and her family was more powerful than Mary’s, he chose her. Although, Mary wasn’t too sad about that and moved on with her life, her uncles were frustrated.

Later, Her family arranged for her to marry the Duke of Longueville, Louis II d’Orléans. She was only eighteen when she first married. Eventually, Mary had two sons with Louis; the first one was Francis, Duke of Longueville, and Louis of Longueville, who died in childhood. But alas, along with the loss of her child, tragedy struck as Mary's husband,too had passed away. So, after not being married for a long time, at only twenty-one, Mary was a widow.

Now there was no issue in finding a suitor since many nobles wanted to form an alliance with the French, but one thing to mention before we talk about Mary getting married again: she liked Louis, her first husband, and kept his last letter, which is still around.

Soon enough, Mary was off to Scotland. She wasn’t particularly excited to go to Scotland, because she would have to leave her son behind. Her husband and other son had just died, and she’d lived in France her whole life, so she wasn’t enthusiastic about having to leave. But whether she liked it or not, she had to go, and so, she was off to Scotland to become Queen.

Mary was expecting her marriage to go like everyone else’s, weird, bad and just not good, and have her husband’s family hate her. But that was quite the contrary to the reality, Mary’s new mother-in-law, Margaret of England, sister of Henry VIII, became her new best friend. Mary also got along well with her husband.
And as Mary was expected to, she started having children. She gave birth to a son, James, and another son, Robert. They both died in childhood, but there was another child. And who was this child? Her name was Mary, Mary Stuart.

Soon another tragedy struck, shortly after all these children were born, James V died. He was still pretty young and nobody expected he’d die so soon. People thought there would be plenty of time for Mary to have a son and for that son to grow up before James died, but there wasn’t. The new Queen of Scots, Queen Mary, was only six days old, so guess who was ruling Scotland? Well, none other than Mary de Guise who became a Regent in place of her young daughter.

 

Mary de Guise : From Scotland to France

Mary decided not to marry Henry VIII because well let’s just say he didn’t have a good reputation with his wives. And marrying her daughter to King Henry’s son, Prince Edward, was not an idea Mary was fond of, so she arranged for her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, to marry Francis, the son of King Henry II of France. After Mary Stuart went to France, Mary also went there to see her family. However, her joy was short-lived as her son from her first marriage passed away. Mary spent some happy time in France before eventually going to England, where King Henry VIII had died, and his son, Edward VI, had taken the throne.

Now remember how I mentioned King Henry VIII as one of the suitors earlier? Well, at this point, Jane Seymour had passed away and Henry was looking for a political marriage as he had with Catherine of Aragon years ago. Mary made it onto his list of potential wives and she was aware of this fact. But since he didn’t have a good reputation with his wives, especially adding to the fact that Anne Boelyn, his famous second wife, was beheaded, Mary said:
“I may be a big woman but I have very little neck.”

Implying that she has very little neck for him to chop off her head. Seems like our Queen has got good humour, I wonder if it made Henery speechless but of course, the French king decided to not let her marry Henry, much to her joy.

Mary de Guise : The closing chapter

Mary de Guise, serving as regent, faced a rebellion due to the Catholic influence in England and Scotland, leading to a conflict between Protestants and Catholics. With support from France, Mary initially achieved a significant victory in Fife. However, the English intervention turned the tide against her. Despite her remarkable leadership and courage, Marie fell ill and passed away on June 11, 1560, at the age of 44. There were speculations about her illness, but she was buried in France, as she had wished, and her funeral was attended by her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots.

With her death, the Catholic cause in Scotland was finished. The Treaty of Edinburgh enforced the removal of all French troops from Scotland, and in July 1560, a Protestant Regency Council was established to rule the kingdom.

A life struck by countless tragedies but still rose like a phoenix from the ashes, there are no words to describe Mary de Guise for the sheer strength and bravery she had, Her remarkable courage in the face of adversity left a lasting impression on those around her. It was even noted that an English man said she was “a woman with a man’s courage” a testament to her extraordinary fortitude.

 

Written by: Stella Lockwoods
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