Alba Historical

  Regency of Mary of Lorraine. First Marriage of Mary Stewart. . In 1554, Arran, who had been created  Duke of Chatelherault  by the French king, went back to France, and  Mary of Lorraine  became  Regent . The league with France was drawn still closer by the marriage of the Queen with  Francis the Dauphin . Francis became  King of France  in 1559. The crown-matrimonial of Scotland was then granted to him, so that the two countries were for a short time united under one crown. On the strength of this the French began to give themselves airs of superiority which the Scots could ill bear from strangers, and before long they became well-nigh as unpopular as the English had been.  The Regent was unconsciously doing her best to foster this feeling of dislike by placing foreigners in offices of trust, above all by making  [Pg 93] Frenchmen keepers of the strongholds. But there was another influence now at work, the desire of religious reform, which wrought a change in the national life great

  Mary, 1542-1554. Arran's Regency. (Part 1 of 2) James Hamilton, Earl of Arran , next heir to the throne by his descent from James the Second, was chosen Regent, but, as it was the Scots custom that the nearest of kin on the mother's side should have the care of the minor, the infant Queen was left in charge of her mother,  Mary of Lorraine . The defeat at  Solway Moss , and the death of the King, had left the people nearly as dispirited and defenceless as they had been after Flodden, and Henry the Eighth determined to get the kingdom into his power by marrying  Mary  to his son  Edward, Prince of Wales . To carry out his plans the better, he sent Angus back to Scotland, and with him the Lords  Cassilis  and  Glencairn , and several other nobles, all pledged to do their best to place the Queen and the strongholds in the hands of Henry. These nobles were called by the English the  Assured Scots , because Henry thought he could be sure of their help, but they were either unable

  James V., 1513-1542 The news of the defeat at  Flodden  spread grief and terror through the country. The citizens of Edinburgh built a wall round their city, but its strength was not tried, for the English army dispersed instead of advancing. The Estates met at  Perth , and the Queen-mother was appointed Regent, for the King was an infant only two years old. But within a year the Queen married  Archibald , the young  Earl of Angus , and the Estates then transferred the regency to  John, Duke of Albany , High Admiral of France, son of the brother of James the Third. Peace was made with England; Scotland being taken in as the ally of France in a treaty between that country and England. Albany's government was at first very unpopular, for the national jealousy was roused by the number of his  French  followers. The Queen at first refused to give up the King, but she was besieged in  Stirling Castle  and obliged to yield. The country was distracted by the brawls of the two great fact