Lord darnley biography
Home / Historical Figures / Lord darnley biography
Legacy
Darnley was a royal consort at a tine when the role of a man whose wife was sovereign was not very clearly defined. A Study in Catholic Propaganda (Answer Commentary)
Why were women hostile to Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn? But in April 1565 he fell ill with measles at Stirling Castle, and it was Mary who took it upon herself to nurse him back to health.
Mary refused to consider divorce in case it threw doubts on the legitimacy of her son, and the Lords told her to leave the matter to them; she agreed to do so, with the elegant stipulation that nothing must be done that would stain her honour.
The terrific explosion that roused Edinburgh in the early hours of February 11 did more than blow up the house in which the invalid Darnley was lying: it brought down Mary's ambition in ruins.
Darnley: A Life of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Consort of Mary Queen of Scots. On their marriage, which took place July 29, 1565 in the chapel of Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Darnley was given the title of "King of Scots," but he was a king consort only, with no royal powers.
Ancestry
- Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
- Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox
- Margaret Douglas
- John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox
- Elisabeth Stewart
- Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus
- Margaret Tudor
- Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox
- Elizabeth Hamilton
- John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl
- Eleanor Sinclair
- George Douglas, Master of Angus
- Elizabeth Drummond
- Henry VII of England
- Elizabeth of York
References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Bingham, Colin.
The popularity of both Mary and Dranley also suffered because they were Roman Catholics while the country was now Protestant. Matters came to a head in March 1566 when Darnley was talked into taking part in a coup against Mary by a number of lords she was going to have tried for treason.
Biography
Darnley was born in 1545, at Temple Newsam, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, the son of the 4th Earl of Lennox, and his wife, Margaret Douglas.
On February 10, 1567, an explosion destroyed his lodging at Kirk o’ Field. And it soon became clear to everyone else that Darnley was a dim, immature, dissolute and thoroughly nasty young man. His story has become the subject of works of fiction and of drama, including Gulland (1903) and Dukthas (1994) among others. But after the murder, Mary outwitted Darnley and turned him against the other plotters, getting him to help her to escape from Edinburgh to Dunbar Castle, and the safety offered by James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell.
On 19 June 1566 Mary gave birth to a son who would become James VI of Scotland and I of England.Mary made very sure that Darnley publicly acknowledged that the child was his (which it probably was); but Darnley refused to attend the Christening at Stirling Castle later that year.
Queen Mary and Darnley: A Drama in Two Parts. On 9 February Mary visited Darnley in the evening, before returning to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Darnley's mother seems to have a clear early ambition that her son should marry Mary, Queen of Scots, who was four years older than him. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
Mary went to see him, and returned with him to Edinburgh, where he was lodged in the Provost House attached to a church called Kirk O'Field, just inside the city walls: and probably under what is now part of Edinburgh University.
At the beginning of 1567 Darnley fell ill in Glasgow, probably from syphilis picked up on one of his many forays into the seamier side of life in Scotland's cities.