alternatehistory.com

A month after the death of Henri II of France in 1559 there were rumours that Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland and Queen Consort of France, was pregnant by her husband Francis II of France. These rumours were strong enough that they were reported to the English Queen and Mary took to wearing the floating tunics of pregnant, highborn women. However, by September the rumours ended and there was never even a hint that the young woman was pregnant. But what if she actually was.

This seems unlikely, given that the conventional way to understand the illnesses of Francis II of France was that he was physically underdeveloped and most likely had failed to undergo puberty by the time of his death. There is another train of thought, however, that says that the marriage had to be consummated for 2 reasons:

1) Officially and unofficially it was noted at the time of their marriage the two had consummated their union. Multiple reports say it was so.

2) The mere rumour of a pregnancy means that there would have been some form of consummation and thus reason to suspect.
There are arguments against these, but in this case let's say Francis, 15 at this time, had just begun the transition through puberty and by some miracle had impregnated the Queen of Scots. Now we know that Mary herself was extremely fertile, her 2 sexual relationships both culminated with children fairly quickly and both seem to have been normal pregnancies [1], so we can assume that, even with the faulty genes of the Valois/Medici children, the child will be healthy.

Now we have a child, due between January and March of the next year, so let's say late February at full term. This child, if it's a girl, is heir to the Scottish Throne but not the French Throne. If it's a boy it's heir to both [2]. So, for the sake of continuing this train of thought, we'll give Mary a little son, most likely names Henri after both the recently deceased French King and the English King from which Mary gets her claim to the English Crown. This child would hopefully be generally healthy, though it would probably inherit problems from both sides. Let's say this Dauphin/Duke of Rothesay is healthy but has gained the Stewart/Stuart tendancy for hysterical spells [3] and a club foot [4].

Looks wise, we can make a few educated guesses. Height ran through the Guise family strongly, judging by Mary, her mother and the rest of her various uncles and cousins. However, it was not noted from the Valois or Medici families, although only Francis II of France was noted as especially tiny. So, with a little but of luck, we can make the choice that little Henri will be tall, perhaps bewteen 5 ft. 9 in. and 6 ft. [5]. In the child's colouring, we can guess that it will have the dark Medici eyes and darker hair, either the dark ruddy brown of Mary of the plainer brown of the French royal family. For the sake of the argument let's give it dark eyes and dark hair. Most likely it will be fairly attractive, with regular features like it's mother and grandfather, although there is the distinct possibility of a few unattractive Medici features creeping in. So we have a tall, mostly healthy man with dark colouring and pretty decent features.

He'd be Catholic, and most likely somewhat intelligent. Neither of his parents were huge intellectuals, but we know both could read and write well and Mary could speak at least 4 languages [6]. I doubt we'd be getting a male Elizabeth, but we could definitely see a man with a good head on his shoulders. However, there would most likely be a high romantic streak with him. Both Mary and Francis were highly romantic in their attitudes and even with the realistic viewpoints of the Queen Dowager Catherine de' Medici there will be that overall atmosphere that will feed into the personality of our Dauphin. But in counterpoint, he would also most likely be influenced by his mother's merciful attitude to religion. In an age of fanatics, I hope that Mary's attitude would be inherited.

Now onto what happens when Mary is ultimately made a widow. Francis II, even if he has a child isn't the healthiest of men and so I'm going to make the call that he'll die around the same time as OTL. Now Mary has 2 choices. Stay in France to raise her child and possibly lose Scotland for him, or do what her mother did for her and hold onto Scotland for her son, who is now King Henri III of France. I would say that, ultimately, duty would have her return to Scotland and thus the Queen of Scots would have to leave her son in France, becoming a romanticized figure to him while she's away and a fun visitor when she comes to the French Court.

Mary would, of course, end up remarrying, although who to is an entirely different question. She probably won't marry a Hapsburg, due to her now unbreakable bond with the Valois monarchy. I'd say something similar to OTL will happen and she'd end up with Lord Darnley. If she goes as OTL and has a son around 1566, who we shall name James, this creates serious tensions for the future. Mary has now given birth to what is a strong counter to King Henri III, with a Scottish born, fully royal alternative. James, who we shall make the Duke of Albany, will be raised at first to respect his brother's legitimacy as future-King of France and perhaps to expect a role as Regent once his mother dies. However, if the Darnley Plot goes as OTL, Mary now has a more obvious escape route. Back to her son.

Let's say Mary escapes without James. The young woman, now almost 26 years old, is no longer the innocent, pretty girl who left to fulfill her duty to her son but an attractive woman in her mid-20s, with a somewhat scandalous reputation and a free position as King of Scotland by her side. I'd say any eligible bachelors at the French Court will be clamoring for her hand and I can see anyone particularly handsome catching her eye and thus I believe we'd have Mary now in France. For this I think I'll marry her to François, Duke of Montpensier, who would be single around the return to France and seems to be her type. He only had 1 son OTL so Henry and James will have a little brother or sister shortly after, perhaps 2 children before she's 30 and the relationship inevitably ends. Let's call these little children Francis and Marie de Bourbon.

Mary would attempt to retake Scotland and regain her child, but I see her ultimately failing. Thus, eventually she's return to France and take up court there as the "Real Scottish Monarch", while little James is toted as James VI of Scotland. Ultimately I think that Elizabeth would agree to allow this child to succeed her as King of England and thus Great Britain and France are going to war for another 100 years.

[1] The miscarriage of twins has been generally attributed to the outside events and pressures of the time and prior to the actual miscarriage it seems to have been a generally healthy pregnancy.

[2] Salic Law applies to France but not Scotland.

[3] The Stewart/Stuart hysteria can be seen in both James V of Scotland and Mary, Queen of Scots. They both tended to high, nervous energy and thus also to massive drops that culminated in sudden ill-health and, in Mary's case, short fainting spells.

[4] The club-foot was something inherited from Anne, Duchess of Brittany and continues throughout the French Royal family. Claude, Duchess of Brittany had one, as did her granddaughter Claude de Valois, Duchess of Lorraine. It seems to have skipped Henri II's generation, but with the various problems his children with Catherine de' Medici had, it is most likely to show up in our Prince Henri too.

[5] Mary herself was 5 ft. 11 in.

[6] French, Scots, Latin and Greek.
Top