Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart: The Perils of Marriage

Double biography of the cousins Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) and Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587) and their approach to marriage in the age of absolute monarchies, as well as their personal and political relationships with suitors and courtiers. Marriage was a necessity for any monarch. No marriage, no offspring, no dynasty. Europe has never known a bachelor king. On the other hand, there have been queens who remained unmarried. Like Elizabeth who made the conscious choice never to marry, and therefore never subordinated herself and her power to a male consort, whilst at the same time using the possibility of marriage as a tool to manipulate the balance of power in Europe, In contrast, Mary, acting like a woman, and a woman in thrall to passion, married three times. These decisions affected their destinies, linked them inextricably, and culminated in Mary's execution at Elizabeth's behest.