I don't understand, why did Queen Elizabeth feel threatened by Mary Queen of Scots if she wasnt actualy Queen?

Question

I don't understand, why did Queen Elizabeth feel threatened by Mary Queen of Scots if she wasnt actualy Queen?

Answer 1

When Elizabeth I inherited the throne of England and Ireland, it was still a country that was divided between Protestantism  and Catholicism. Two most powerful Europe nations at the time were Spain and France, ruled by Catholic fanatics, and on top of that there was the Holy Father of Rome.

Mary Queen of Scot was a Catholic, and her close relations to the much powerful French court strengthen their powers against England. Elizabeth's first policy toward Scotland was to oppose the French presence there. She feared that the French planned to invade England and put Mary, Queen of Scots, who was seen as the rightful heir to the English crown, on the throne.

Note: At first, Elizabeth resisted calls for Mary's death. By late 1586, however, she had been persuaded to sanction her trial and execution on the evidence of letters written during the Babington Plot. Elizabeth did not want to execute her cousin because she was "God Anointed Queen" and to murder her was a sin and against God's wishes. However, pressure from her privy council and fear of Mary taking her crown finally led her to sign Mary's death warrant.

Answer 2

Because while Mary was around she knew her life and throne would be in danger, and the country as Mary was Catholic. And knew that Mary would take religious choice's away from  England. And of course as Mary was suppose to be in league with the Spanish there was always the threat of a Spanish invasion, to put Mary on the throne of England.

Answer 3

So everyone pretty much answered this . . . but I'll add this tidbit . . .  When Elizabeth died, since Mary was dead, the next in line was Mary's son.  He was heir to both the scottish throne and the english throne.  So, he became king of both, and the kindoms united, and have been united ever since.

Answer 4

The pope said it was the duty of every "good" catholic to kill the "b*****d" Elizabeth and put a good Catholic queen on the thrown--guess who that wold be?

There was also the possibility that Mary would marry the king of Spain and invade England--which after Mary's death Spain did

Answer 5

The clue is in the title Abdul...Mary QUEEN of Scots.  As Elizabeth had no heirs she felt threatened that Mary, or her successors might try to take over the English throne.

Answer 6

"Under the ordinary laws of succession, Mary was next in line to the English throne after her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, who was childless. In the eyes of many Catholics, Elizabeth was illegitimate, thus making Mary the true heir. However the Third Succession Act of 1543 provided that Elizabeth would succeed Mary Tudor on the throne.

The anti-Catholic Act of Settlement was not passed until 1701, but the last will and testament of Henry VIII, (given legal force by the Third Succession Act), had excluded the Stewarts from succeeding to the English throne. Mary's troubles were still further increased by the Huguenot rising in France, called le tumulte d'Amboise (March 6–March 17, 1560), making it impossible for the French to help Mary's supporters in Scotland. The question of the succession was therefore a real one."

Answer 7

Because she was next in line when Queen Elizabeth was dead. She tried and failed several times to eliminate Queen Elizabeth as the next heir to the throne.

Answer 8

to the Catholics of Europe, Mary was the rightful Queen of England (and while she was married to the Dauphin of France, her father-in-law & French relations proclaimed her briefly as "Queen of England" and put up the English coat of arms for her, a direct challenge).  She was the senior heir after Elizabeth, and the Catholic authorities saw Elizabeth as a b*****d, & thus not eligible to claim the throne.

After Mary of Scots came back to Scotland, she pushed Elizabeth to officially name her as heir, something Elizabeth did not want to do, and would not do until her deathbed.  The matter of the earlier claim had been settled, but Mary, by all accounts, wanted England.  She didn't do much about it then, being distracted with marriage woes and the Calvinists of Scotland, until she was booted out & forced to abdicate in favor of her young son (James).

She fled to England, & Elizabeth kept her at 1st in honorable & comfortable custody, trying to return her to Scotland in some fashion.  But eventually, Mary realized she was never going to be released & began plotting.  Both for her freedom & for the English throne.  Some of it was almost successful (one plotter actually had a painting made of him & the others involved.  The painting was intercepted by Elizabeth's spymaster.  She saw the painting & then reportedly recognized one of the young men in the garden while she walked.  She made some comment about being well-guarded, with no armed men about, and the would-be assassin ran)  This did not stop until Mary's execution in 1587.

Her son was smarter & was not so pushy about his claim, and eventually he became King of England.

Answer 9

Henry the VII (the father of Henry VIII) had several children and like most monarchs of the time tried to secure alliances with other nations by marrying off his kids.

His first born son, Arthur (born 1486), was married to Catherine of Aragon in the fall of 1501.  Arthur died in the spring of 1502.  Catherine claimed to her death that the marriage was never consummated.

The next oldest child, Margaret (born 1489), was first married to James IV of Scotland.  Before his death, she bore James V of Scotland.  James V was the father of Mary Stuart (Mary Queen of Scots).  

After the death of James IV, Margaret married Archibald Douglas.  Archibald and Margaret were the parents of Margaret Douglas.  Margaret married Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox (who had a distant claim on the throne of Scotland).  Their child was Henry Steward, Lord Darnley.

After the death of Arthur, England and Spain convinced the Pope that the marriage of Arthur and Catherine had never been consummated.  Catherine was therefore permitted to marry Arthur's younger brother Henry (born in 1491) --- who became Henry VIII.  Only one daughter was born of this marriage, Mary Tudor (Mary I a/k/a Bloody Mary).

With Catherine being unsuccessful in bearing a male heir.  Henry decided that the marriage was never legitimate and, when he could not get the marriage annulled by the Pope, he had himself declared the head of the Church of England by Parliament.  He then married Anne Boleyn and they had a daughter, Elizabeth.  

This playing fast and loose with the rules of marriage and annulment created a situation in which the Catholics did not recognize Elizabeth as a legitimate child (and thus eligible for the throne) and the Protestants did not recognize Mary as a legitimate child.

One of Henry's younger sisters (Mary, born in 1495) also produced children.  Mary's daughter Frances married Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk.  Frances and Henry were the parents of Lady Jane Grey.  When Edward VI (Henry's son from his third marriage) died without children, attempts were made to put Lady Jane on the throne.  

When Mary I died, Mary Queen of Scots was married to the Crown Prince of France.  At that time, Mary and her husband (later Francis II) proclaimed themselves to be King and Queen of England (though not much effort was made to enforce the claim).  After Francis II died, Mary Queen of Scots returned to Scotland where she married her half cousin, Lord Darnley.  Lord Darnley was assassinated while Mary was pregnant.  Suspicion that Mary might have been involved led to her being forced to flee Scotland with the title being passed to her and Lord Darnley's child James VI.

The long and short of the above convoluted genealogy was that Mary Queen of Scots was a potential Catholic claimant to the throne of England.  The situation in England had not completely stabilized after the War of the Roses, despite the best efforts of the two Henry's to build a stable dynasty with international support.  At times, Mary was rather vague in her exchange of letters with various people -- not saying anything that could expressly be seen as supporting an uprising against Elizabeth, but also not saying anything that indicated that she fully recognized Elizabeth as the legitimate ruler.

In short, a living Mary Queen of Scots was a symbol around which disaffected Catholics could rally.  There were enough minor rebellions that Elizabeth decided she was better off with Mary dead than Mary alive.