In my end is my beginning : Families, Factions, Faith and Femininity as the Fatal Inheritance of Mary Queen of Scots

Mary Stuart Queen of Scotland’s long imprisonment and tragic execution has long overshadowed the brilliance of her early political strategy. Crowned and anointed Queen as an infant, raised in France, Mary had the disadvantage of returning to Scotland into a complex and contentious court at the height of the Scottish Reformation and noble power. As a woman, she faced the misogyny and discrimination of her nobles and the prominent preacher, John Knox. Her devotion to her Catholic faith only gave her enemies further ammunition against her. Despite these daunting factors, she managed to maintain a political strategy of factionalism, with measured religious tolerance, that required constant and careful maintenance. This closer look at selected primary sources, and at the some of the most iconic narrative historiography from the past and cutting edge recent scholarly work, reveals a woman of skill and daring whose infamous tragic end should not obscure the imagination and courage with which she managed the first years of her personal rule