BRITAIN

Mary, Queen of Scots: The cast of characters

By Susan Spano
12:02 PM PST, February 27, 2009

Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587): daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise; ruled Scotland from 1561 to 1568.

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell (circa 1534-1578): Mary's third husband and one of Scotland's greatest enigmas; he died insane and in chains in Denmark.

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1545-1567): Mary's disastrous choice for a second husband; handsome and weak, he had English royal blood through his maternal grandmother.

William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520-1598): Schemer, spymaster trusted advisor to Queen Elizabeth I and Mary's most dangerous enemy.

Elizabeth I (1533-1603): England's Virgin Queen, who ruled during its Golden Age, a cousin of Mary's through Henry VII.

Francis II (1544-1560): married to Mary in 1558 and briefly king of France before he died of an ear infection.

James VI (also James I) (1566-1625): Mary's son by Darnley; he was separated from his mother when he was 10 months old and never saw her again; he claimed the English throne after Elizabeth died childless in 1603.

John Knox (circa 1514-1572): the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland, virulently misogynistic and anti-Catholic.

The Four Maries: the Scottish queen's maids of honor, all noblewomen who went to France with her: Mary Fleming (dates unknown), Mary Beaton (1543-1598), Mary Livingstone (1541-1579) and Mary Seton (1549-1615). Seton was the only one of the four who never married and remained with the queen during most of her incarceration in England.

James Stewart, Earl of Moray (1531-1570): Mary's illegitimate half brother and counselor; a canny man who turned against her after her marriage to Darnley.

David Rizzio (1531 or 1533-1566): an Italian courtier and accomplished musician who became Mary's private secretary; distrusted by the Scottish lords, he was slain in Mary's chambers at Holyroodhouse.

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