Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley

Henry was the son of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox and Margarita Douglas . Through his great-grandmother on his father (on the female line), Henry led his descent from the kings of Scotland from the Stuart dynasty, and on his mother he was the great-grandson of the English king Henry VII Tudor and Elizabeth of York .

In his youth, Henry Stuart lived with his mother in England (where he was born), but at the beginning of 1565 , at the age of 19, he came to his father in Scotland. The tall, slender and sophisticated prince from the first meeting impressed the young Scottish queen Mary Stuart. Perhaps, according to Stefan Zweig , he reminded her of an exquisite French courtyard, where Mary spent her childhood, and which contrasted so much with the harsh customs of the Scottish nobility. Be that as it may, on July 29, 1565 the wedding of the Queen of Scotland and Lord Darnley took place. The wedding was performed according to the Catholic rite, in the Holyrood chapel of Mary. Heinrich Darnley formally belonged to the Catholic Church, although he did not have firm religious convictions.

This marriage, on the one hand, caused sharp discontent of the English Queen Elizabeth I , who was afraid to allow the two closest applicants to the English throne to join. In retaliation, Elizabeth arrested Darnley's mother Margarita Douglas and threw her into the Tower . On the other hand, a hasty marriage and the collapse of hopes of rapprochement with England led to the resignation of the leading Scottish statesmen - James Stewart, Earl of Morey , and William Maitland , who until then determined the country's politics. The uprising of Morea, raised by him at the end of the summer of 1565, was, however, quickly suppressed by the royal troops.

The marriage of Henry and Mary Stuart was unsuccessful. Being a rather mediocre person and not possessing the makings of a statesman, Lord Darnley, nevertheless, claimed the first place in the kingdom. Frustrated, Maria did not want to cede a share of royal power to her husband. Gradually, the Queen moved away from her husband, relying more and more on foreigners from her retinue, in particular, her personal secretary David Riccio . Annoyed, Darnley became close to extreme Protestants , led by Earl Morton , who were unhappy with the continuation of Catholic services at court. The result was a conspiracy against the queen. On March 9, 1566 , the conspirators broke into the chambers of Mary Stuart and, in front of the pregnant queen, brutally murdered her favorite, David Riccio.

Despite the murder, the conspiracy as a whole failed. Maria managed to split the ranks of the conspirators and reconciled with her husband. In response, Count Morton, outraged by Darnley's betrayal, sent the queen documents confirming the prince's involvement in the murder of Riccio. But even without this evidence, the gap between the spouses became a fait accompli. Henry settled in Glasgow and ignored the birth of his son, the future king James VI . Maria meanwhile fell in love with the bright and energetic James Hepburn, Earl of Botwell . There are rumors about the imminent divorce of Mary and Henry . However, a divorce could mean declaring their son illegal, which the queen could not allow.

As a result, by the beginning of 1567, a system of conspiracies had developed against Darnley and Mary Stuart. On the one hand, the elimination of Darnley was the main task of Botwell, seeking to marry the queen. On the other hand, after the betrayal of his accomplices in the murder of Riccio, the consort king became the enemy of Morton and the extreme Protestants. They also adjoined the group of Count Morea, who saw in the possible murder of Darnley a way to overthrow Queen Mary (there is even a version that Darnley himself planned a plot against his wife). Which of these groups actually organized the assassination of the prince has not yet been established. It is known, however, that on the night of February 9-10, 1567, a house full of powder kegs exploded in Kirk-o'Fild, where Darnley stopped and where he met the Queen the day before. In the garden at the house, the body of a prince was found, apparently killed while trying to escape from a burning house.

The assassination of Darnley, in which popular rumor accused the queen, was the first step towards the overthrow of Mary Stuart in late 1567.

In literature

• Stefan Zweig . Mary Stuart. Marie Antoinette. - M .: Thought, 1992. - S. 3-352. - 830 s. - ISBN 5-244-00654-1 .
• Margaret George . The Mystery of Mary Stuart = Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles. - M .: Eksmo, 2014 .-- ISBN 978-5-699-74507-4 .
• Margaret George . Mary Stuart's mistake = Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles. - M .: Eksmo, 2015 .-- ISBN 978-5-699-75839-5 .
• Margaret George . The last dance of Mary Stuart = Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles. - M .: Eksmo, 2015 .-- ISBN 978-5-699-82952-1 .

In the cinema

• In the 1936 film Mary of Scotland , the role of Lord Darnley was played by Douglas Walton.
• In the 1971 film Mary the Queen of Scotland , Timothy Dalton played the role of Lord Darnley.
• In the 2004 film Conspiracy Against the Crown , the role of Lord Darnley was played by Paul Nicholls .
• In the 2013 film Mary is Queen of Scotland , the role of Lord Darnley was played by Aneyrin Barnard .
• In the series “ Kingdom ” 2013-2017, the role of Lord Darnley in the fourth season was played by Will Kemp .
• In the 2018 film Two Queens , the role of Lord Darnley will be played by Jack Lauden .