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V. Offers made to Elizabeth by the Queen of Scots for her liberation, together with Sir Christopher Hatton's arguments against liberating her. April 21, 1583

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Extract

These two papers, though written in different hands and on different sheets, are embraced by a common indorsement and evidently belong together, The first is in a contemporary clerkly hand. It is a copy of certain offers made by Mary Stuart when a treaty for her release between her and Elizabeth was under consideration in 1583. Two other copies are preserved in the English Record Office (S.P. Mary Q. of S. xii. nos. 62, 63), upon one of which (no. 62) Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's Principal Secretary, has made marginal annotations indicating the answers which should be made to Mary's offers. These annotations are printed in Appendix II. For convenience of reference, the different articles of Mary's offers have been lettered and Walsingham's answers lettered to correspond.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1909

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References

page 19 note 1 The reference here is obviously to the murder of Darnley who, by his marriage with Mary, became King of Scotland. Mary was accused of being implicated in his murder. Elizabeth had pretended to investigate the matter shortly after Mary's arrival in England, but had in fact done nothing more than darken the suspicions entertained against her without establishing either her guilt or her innocence.

page 19 note 2 To the throne of England. There can be little doubt that Mary was the rightful heir presumptive to the throne of England, but Elizabeth would never admit the fact. Indeed, until the very hour of her death she refused to consider the question of her successor and would have no one else consider it.

page 20 note 1 Although Mary had renounced the Crown of Scotland at Lochleven, she maintained that she had done so under compulsion. She consequently refused to abide by her renunciation or to recognize her son's title to the Crown. However, in order to conciliate him she proposed to associate him with her upon the Scottish throne. On the 3rd of January 1581, she sent to the Duke of Guise powers to negotiate a treaty with James to this effect (Labanoff, , v, p. 185).Google Scholar

page 20 note 2 The meaning of this abbreviation is not clear.

page 20 note 3 James VI sent Col. Stewart and Jas. Colville to England late in April 1583 with instructions to ask Elizabeth's advice as to his marriage, to demand that the English estates of his late grandfather, the Earl of Lennox, be handed over to him, and to request the sum of £ 10,000 in ready money and a pension of £ 5000 a year (Thorpe, Scot. Calendar, ii. p. 440). This was the price James demanded of Elizabeth for an alliance with England.