So I’ve been digging into this whole Marie of Guise thing recently, right? Like everyone knows Mary Queen of Scots, but her mom? Total ghost story. Saw her name pop up in some footnote last Tuesday night while I was half-asleep scrolling through some ancient history forum post after my third beer. Seriously, why does nobody talk about this woman? Figured it was time to actually look.
Where It Started (AKA Down the Rabbit Hole)
Grabbed my laptop first thing Wednesday morning, still in pajamas, coffee brewing. Typed “Marie of Guise Scotland” into the search bar. Predictable disaster. Page after page of stuff about her daughter Mary. Historical SEO fail, I tell ya. Tried the library website next – put in a loan request for two dusty old academic books promising “French influence” in Scotland. Fingers crossed they weren’t drier than the Sahara. Ended up reading some guy’s thesis online about 16th-century regency governments instead. My eyes glazed over twice.
Hitting the Books (Literally)
Saturday afternoon, books finally arrived. Thick as bricks. Dumped them on the kitchen table, crumbs from breakfast still there. Flipped through the first one. Half the chapters were titled like “The Road to Mary Queen of Scots”. Annoying! Started skimming chapters, looking for her name. Stumbled over the messy parts after King James V croaked. Babies dying, nobles squabbling like toddlers over the last cookie.
Then I found it:
- Marie basically looked at the mess Scotland was in (bankrupt, nobles at war, baby daughter shipped off to France) and went “Screw this, I’m running things.”
- Didn’t just sit around crying. Signed documents, made agreements, told people what to do.
- Played the French card hard. Her brother was like a big shot back in France? You bet she used that. More troops, more money, more clout.
- Found this bit about her touring Scotland for like a whole year. Imagine that, bouncing around in a carriage on those roads? Just to show people she was actually there, present and paying attention.
The Lightbulb Moment (Over Cold Pizza)
Sunday night, eating reheated pepperoni slice #3. Staring at my messy notes. It clicked. Everyone talks about the Scottish Reformation like it was some unstoppable force. But Marie? She was the roadblock. The speed bump. The big French gatekeeper.
- She kept that French alliance alive and kicking. That meant soldiers, money, political pressure. Kept the Protestants on their toes.
- She kept Scotland OUT of the mess England was having with all its religious flip-flopping. No small feat!
- Without her stubbornly holding the line, keeping things pro-French and Catholic? Scotland might have flipped to Protestantism years earlier. Mary Queen of Scots would have come home to a completely different country.
- Essentially, she bought time. Made it possible for the whole tragic Mary-Elizabeth drama to even happen later on. No Marie holding the fort? Different game entirely.
Why History Forgot Her (My Rant)
Shutting the books, feeling kinda mad for her. Obvious why she gets erased:
- She died. Right when the religious explosion happened. Knox and the Protestant crew won the narrative war after she was gone. Winners write the history books, losers get footnotes.
- She wasn’t born Scottish. She was French. Scots later didn’t exactly want to trumpet about a French regent running things smoothly.
- Her daughter’s story is all romance and beheadings – way juicier gossip than competent administration.
She wasn’t perfect, sure. Made enemies, backed the wrong horses sometimes. But keeping Scotland from imploding or getting swallowed by England or religious chaos for over a decade? That’s leadership. She wasn’t just “Mary’s mom”. She was the manager keeping the shop open against all odds, fighting fires everyone else pretended weren’t there. Classic example of how important someone can be without being “the main character.” Honestly, feels like so much of history – the loud voices drown out the ones actually doing the work in the background. That’s how corporate middle management works too, come to think of it!
