Quotes from John Guy

he had no desire whatever to marry Mary and live in Scotland.

Asked point-blank about Mary's opinion of him, Melville dissembled.

Cecil's minute is too good to be true. It is almost certainly misleading.

No woman of spirit," he said, "would make choice of such a man that was more like a woman than a man

Moreover, we have already seen that letters 7 and 8 were forgeries on the evidence of their contents.

he was very lusty, beardless and lady-faced.

Amid this dynastic turmoil, sudden shock waves reverberated around Europe

At most, a certain resemblance might have been observed.

Mary deplored the lost opportunity. Two women rulers, working together for the benefit of the British Isles

when the celebrations were ended, Darnley would be made king of Scotland

And what exactly was it that had been "collated"? Had all eight Casket Letters been scrupulously checked

Mary Tudor, the English queen, fell mortally ill at the age of forty-two.

Philip II had come to resent the fact that his wife was eleven years older than he was.

It was the classic dilemma for women rulers. Should they marry and have children

Darnley himself had insisted on this, even though Parliament was usually consulted before royal titles

Darnley was utterly confident that he had pulled off a coup.

Mary Tudor died on November 17, 1558

Or should they stay single and keep their independence?

The terms were a complete vindication of England and the rebel lords, and a betrayal of Mary and her mother.

She acted naively and impulsively

England, Scotland and France, it was actually between England, the Lords of the Congregation and the Guises

using it as an excuse to delay a decision until she could see whether he was going to be able to handle this sort of power.

France recognized Elizabeth to be the rightful queen of England.

She also sent away her confidential secretary and decipherer, Raulet. He was a Guise retainer