What if Edward VI didn't die young, and he successfully married his widowed first cousin once removed Mary Queen of Scots after her French husband died?
Why would Mary agree to marry Edward? She was devoutely Catholic and he was an intense and not very flexible Priotestant.
Well, with the support of Presbyterians, it's not entirely impossible
What?Well, with the support of Presbyterians, it's not entirely impossible
I'm pretty sure there were no such thing as English presbyterians, do you mean Puritans?What?
Again, on the English side Edward, or atleast (probably) his handlers, were militantly protestant and the Scottish court is unformly Catholic and not going to agree to a protestant king.
The lowland Presbyterians were merchants mostly at this point, generally not the sort of people who can arrange a royal marriage.
Unless you mean Englsih Presbyterians, but it's not really the English that are going to be the biggest sticking point. A female monarch marrying would have been seen as her husband becoming defacto king, whatever the reality. Scottish nobles definately didn't want to see Edward VI up there.
Again, on the English side Edward, or atleast (probably) his handlers, were militantly protestant and the Scottish nobility is unformly Catholic and not going to agree to a protestant king.
How is Presbyterian support (whatever you mean by that) going to help overcome the irreconcilable differences RossN mentioned?
The Scottish nobility was far from uniformly Catholic, by this point a considerable number had gone Protestant, specifically the Lords of the Congregation who included 5 Earls among them the Earl of Argyll, head of Clan Campbell and the most powerful Highland Clan Chief.
Why would Mary agree to marry Edward? She was devoutely Catholic and he was an intense and not very flexible Priotestant.
Have you ever heard of a reigning monarch getting herself violated? Mary Stuart was so easy to manipulate, that the English could just play her like a fiddle.
Have you ever heard of a reigning monarch getting herself violated? Mary Stuart was so easy to manipulate, that the English could just play her like a fiddle.
She was forced into marrying Hepburn, and he had possibly raped her, do you really believe she's the kind of political animal that you imagined? What advantage does she have, besides being Catholic, if she's not Catholic, why would the English Catholics fight for her claim while Elizabeth was still alive? Of course, she has to have something to hold on to, but that doesn't make her master of mind games.I find that a rather ironic statement, since in reality she played the English like a fiddle. Elizabeth had to keep taking her away from the men she had been sent into the custody of - she was passed between various nobles to keep in luxurious imprisonment - because they kept falling in love with her and "accidentally" allowing her to leave confinement and start passing secret correspondence to other Catholics with whom she was plotting armed insurrections. Even the married ones, IIRC, kept being seduced by her.
Her French mother was pro-French and sent her to marry the French dauphin, her Parliament sent her to marry Darnley, none of them were decided by her.Yeah no. Mary was naive but not an idiot. She was very pro-French and had little love for Edward VI, so I can't see her deciding "Hay I'll marry cousin Edward of England".
She was forced into marrying Hepburn, and he had possibly raped her, do you really believe she's the kind of political animal that you imagined?