What would have happened if Mary Queen of Scots had given birth to a daughter by Francis II before he died? Given Salic law she obviously wouldn't have been able to inherit the throne of France, but would she have been allowed to return to Scotland with her mother, given she was heiress presumptive in Scotland, or would she have been made to remain in France?
 
What would have happened if Mary Queen of Scots had given birth to a daughter by Francis II before he died? Given Salic law she obviously wouldn't have been able to inherit the throne of France, but would she have been allowed to return to Scotland with her mother, given she was heiress presumptive in Scotland, or would she have been made to remain in France?

The French would have tried that, but at that point I'm pretty sure the REST of Europe all the way up to the King of Spain and the Pope would have put their collective foot down.

Effectively kidnapping a Queen when she's young to 'protect' her from heretics is one thing, but keeping a good and pious Mary I of Scots daughter hostage when that girl has NO claim on France? At that point even the Habsburgs would be sick of the French shenanigans. No, Mary I would leave with her daughter, let's say she was named Antoinette (after Mary's infamous aunt). Now things might play out a bit different in Scotland because the butterflies surrounding the existence of Princess Antoinette Valois of France and Scotland, but Antoinette inherited the Scottish throne would require her mother dying (or being overthrown) before she has a male heir and the Scottish lords deciding that they could tolerate another Queen... As long as they get to raise her a nice and pure Protestant Princess. :D
 
What would have happened if Mary Queen of Scots had given birth to a daughter by Francis II before he died? Given Salic law she obviously wouldn't have been able to inherit the throne of France, but would she have been allowed to return to Scotland with her mother, given she was heiress presumptive in Scotland, or would she have been made to remain in France?

Welcome to the board

All things considered, I don't think that France would've junketed Salic Law - they didn't for Charles IX's daughter, and the move wasn't even popular when the subject was broached of having Isabel Clara Eugenia succeed. That said, she would possibly be a powerful pawn on the board - she's far more important than Tante Margot, king's daughter opposed to a king's sister, so she'd probably get a match with D. Sebastiao of Portugal instead (if it still comes down to it) if she remains in France.

However, as to her staying in France, two things: Scotland is becoming more Protestant daily, and would not want their little heiress presumptive schooled by the "Jezebel of our age" Catherine de Medicis - so Mary and baby Margaret (I saw a TL where Mary named her daughter after her grandmother, but Antoinette seems too foreign) are onboard the first ship back. Also, Mary has a crown in Scotland, much as she loves France, she doesn't there, so, should her marriage ambitions to Charles IX fail, off she pops to Edinburgh. Princess Margaret would go with her.

But, Mary is in a more volatile situation here. OTL, until James VI was born, she had no heir. Here, she does, and like the one biographer put it "a queen who has produced an heir has both done her duty and dispensable". If Mary doesn't do what the Scots' lords like, there's a reasonable chance that they use little Margaret as the stick to keep her in line, perhaps even to the extent of deposing Mary in favor of Queen Margaret II.
 
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