Mary Queen of Scots at Carlisle Castle

On May 19, 1568, English Queen Elizabeth I had Mary, Queen of Scots held captive.

"Whatever Mary may have hoped, her decision to seek refuge in England was a disastrous mistake. It put Elizabeth in a difficult position. Privately she sympathised with Mary, as a fellow monarch who had been imprisoned and deposed. However, both she and her advisers – most forcefully her chief adviser, William Cecil – saw Mary as highly dangerous.

As a Catholic with a claim to the English throne, Mary’s presence on English soil provided both a potential rallying point for Catholic rebels at home and a possible cause for invasion by Catholic powers abroad. If she was restored to the Scottish throne, England would be surrounded by Catholic countries. It suited the English to keep the Earl of Moray, Mary’s half-brother and a Protestant, as regent in Scotland.

Looming over Mary was the suspicion that she had been involved in the murder of her second husband, Darnley. Cecil and Moray soon exploited this.

Although Mary hoped for a swift return to her throne, in late May Knollys told her that there was no prospect of this unless she was cleared of murdering Darnley. Mary protested her innocence and refused to stand trial, insisting that only God could judge a sovereign. Despite her impassioned letters to the queen requesting a face to face meeting, Elizabeth would not budge."