Mary Queen of Scots, though a powerful and influential figure in Great Britain's history, had always been on the periphery of my historic vision. I had always been a Tudor enthusiast, and I had only seen Mary as a rebellious conspirator who was beheaded for her crimes against the Crown (and the awesome Queen Elizabeth I). Those thoughts all drastically changed after I got hooked on the CW's addictive show, Reign. Seriously, this show is super dramatic and the one time that I can claim that the fictional lives of historic figures are more gripping than their truthful lives.

You watch as France is torn apart by feuding nobles, blood-thirsty pagans, rebellious subjects, traitors, greedy men, women with a vast knowledge of poison, and the constant schemes and plots of the French court. Or in the words of Bash (the best/ most swoon-worthy character on the show who never even existed in real life):

See, look at all that drama going on...

Those stakes really have been raised...

And don't forget all of that steamy romance...

But what was really going on in France and Scotland when Mary Queen of Scots ruled?

Mary Queen of Scots became Scotland's youngest ever queen at just 6 days old when her father died. However, you can't really rule a country when you're not even a week old, so Mary's mother took over as regent (the person that rules the country because the heir is too young or injured). She was set to marry Edward, King Henry VIII's only son, but the Scots thought that deal was a little shady after Henry kept attacking Scotland. Her mother and the Scots agreed that it would be safer to arrange a more advantageous marriage for Mary in a place with some distance from the steady English threat...so when Mary was just five years old she was shipped off to France to grow up with her future husband, Francis, the future king of France.

Mary received a rigorous and well-rounded education: she could speak French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, and Greek, she was an avid dancer and musician, and she was knowledgable about her Catholic faith.

When she was just 13 years old, she was already signing documents as queen. She married Francis when she was 15 years old, and she became the joint-queen of France and Scotland when she was just 16. This girl really does have a way of making you feel like an underachiever.

Her happy life, however, wouldn't last as she entered into the very messy and tragic portion of her life. When she was 18, her mother died (it had been nearly 10 years since Mary had seen her last), and her husband died six months after that. After her appropriate grieving period ended, Mary decided to use all of her strength and resolve and make her mark in a man's world.

She sailed to her homeland of Scotland and ignored the dangers that prowled in the animosity of English-controlled waters (Mary wasn't exactly on the then-ruling Queen Elizabeth I's good side after she was heralded as the rightful queen of England and put the English crest into her own crest).

The home that she came back to wasn't exactly safe either. Protestants and Catholics fought a high-stakes battle for control of the country. Mary did not enter with judgement or strict rules; she strove to allow all men to practice the religion that they wished. Religious toleration required a vast amount of courage in that opinionated era, and it spoke to Mary's strength of character.

Not all of Mary's decisions were good ones, and that leads us into the super messy and tragic time. Mary needed to get remarried because she needed an heir to provide stability and to keep her royal line going. So of all of the eligible bachelors available, she decided to pick...her cousin. Henry Stewart was an incredibly undesirable match. He was equal parts arrogant, greedy, angry, and vain...but he had his wonderfully good looks going for him.

Mary's marriage was struggling mostly because her husband was power-hungry and prone to heated arguments...and because he orchestrated the murder of Mary's secretary, David Rizzio, right in front of her when she was six months pregnant. Mary was trapped in the castle where the Julius Caesar-style murder went down, and she was lucky to escape unscathed.

Mary gave birth to a healthy baby boy a few months later, but her happiness was (you guessed it) short-lived again. The house that her husband was residing in was blown up, and her husband's strangled body was found outside of the wreckage. Historians are still debating whether or not Mary planned to off her husband, but we do know for sure that her ally, James Hepburn, was in on the plan. Hepburn, being the great friend that he was, decided to "bring Mary to safety" aka kidnap her, rape her, and force her to marry him. This third marriage didn't sit well with the Scots. They quite reasonably made the assumption that Mary had plotted to kill her second husband because she married his presumed killer quite soon after the murder.

Mary tried in vain to rally enough supporters to defeat the angered Scottish lords. After giving herself to her superior enemies' mercy, she was imprisoned and forced to abdicate her Scottish throne to her infant son. She managed to escape from her imprisonment, but she made a grievous error as she tried to win back her rightful throne. She thought that Elizabeth would aid her in her time of need and would forget how Mary acted like she would seize the English throne back when she was the French queen....Elizabeth did not forget and she certainly didn't forgive.

Mary was kept as a prisoner in England for 19 years. She never stopped trying to rebel against her captors and trying to regain her power. She was accused of treason and beheaded when she was 45 years old, and she certainly left an impression on the gathered spectators. She was adorned in red (the traditional color of Catholic martyrs), and she chose to wear an auburn wig to mask the heavy age that settled upon her once beautiful features...this wig didn't stay on her head long once her head was severed from her body.

Her little son grew up to ironically become Elizabeth's heir. Young James became the joint-king of Scotland and England, and he held the laudable and awe-inspiring power that previous monarchs only dreamt of. When he ascended to the English throne, he ordered the construction of two memorials: one for Elizabeth and one for Mary. Mary's memorial was more grand than Elizabeth's, and Mary's legacy is the one to live on to this day. The line of British monarchs descends directly to the fiery Scottish queen.

Englishhistory.net is an excellent resource to start learning more about Mary Queen of Scots fascinating life!

Stay tuned next week as we take a peek into the life of Martha Washington!!!