"The greatest mistake for Mary Queen of Scots was to throw herself on the mercy of Queen Elizabeth" Explain?

Question

Can you explain this quote and describe it, please?

Uhh SERIOUS answers here guys ...

Answer 1

Queen Elizabeth the first was not exactly known for dispensing mercy.

Just look at what she did to Mary Queen of Scots' co-conspirators: Babington, Tichbourne and the rest.

Hung for a few seconds then cut down, castrated, disembowelled, and finally hacked into little pieces in front of a crowd of 50,000 people in St Giles Field.

There were seven of them, so just imagine if you were number seven and had to watch your friends being butchered in front of you.

Evil women!!

Answer 2

Throwing herself at the mercy of Elizabeth I was not Mary's greatest mistake. Allowing herself to be caught up in the intrigues and plots against Elizabeth was her greatest and fatal mistake. Mary was first in line for the English throne and would have been fine under the protection of Elizabeth if she had minded her own business and kept clear of plots against her protector's life. If you read a biography of Mary's life you will see she did not make very good choices very often. Its a lesson that one should consider the possible consequences of the choices one is about to make and not just go on your feelings at the moment.

The quote was not a well thought out one and did not fully consider all the aspects of the situation Mary had gotten herself into.

Answer 3

Elizabeth had to maintain her power at all cost, even if it meant the beheading of her cousin. Mary thought she might be imprisoned at the worst. She never dreamed liz would be so merciless toward her, or that she wanted her completely out of the way, or of all the backstabbing that was going on at that time. There was this protestant catholic war, going on and lies, and manipulations like you would not believe. Kind of like our government today. It is now and has always been about power, plain and simple. Remember the new 'Golden Rule, the one with the gold rules. Read Mary Queen of Scots,
and The six wives of Henry the VIII, ( I found them fascinating), or any books dealing with the Tudor era.

Answer 4

One's view of Mary is perhaps influenced by one's religion. Catholics probably view her in a more tolerable light, or even consider her a martyred saint.

But there are a few facts to consider. Mary wanted Elizabeth's throne and made no secret of it. Elizabeth also had plenty to worry about with Mary because Catholics didn't accept Elizabeth's right to the throne. Elizabeth wanted Mary out of the way, for sure. Whether or not Mary actually conspired to have Elizabeth assassinated is still open to debate. In any case, she was tried and convicted of treason, and eventually beheaded for it.

I don't recall Mary ever throwing herself on the mercy of her cousin, Elizabeth. I can't imagine that she would. She was at least savvy enough to know when the jig was up. Also, there had to be pretty substantial proof because Elizabeth knew she would suffer the consequences of assassinating one of Catholic Europe's favorites.

Elizabeth suffered the consequences anyway. Spain declared war on England (which, to me, just proves that they were behind Mary's acquisition of the throne all along).

Elizabeth was brilliant at balancing the contentious factions both in England and in the rest of the known world. She made up for her treatment of Mary, somewhat, by ensuring that her son, James, would succeed Elizabeth on the throne. (Besides, Mary would have been a disastrous queen.)

By the way, I love green eyes.

Answer 5

It is rubbish. Mary's greatest mistake was in believing that god would make her queen of england sooner than Elizabeth would kill her for rabble-rousing. Mary was not all that bright, and failed to understand that her treason would be dealt with as treason. Are you aware that Elizabeth tried to help Mary help herself, but Mary preferred to be a martyr.

Answer 6

Though her reputed grandfather, Henry VII, disposed of many of those with better claims to the throne than his own, there were just too many of them. Elizabeth surely recognized that Mary Stuart's claim was better than hers, and that alone would have been worth a death warrant once Mary was in her hands. The Babington letters were surely forgeries, but that hardly matters, as once Mary entrusted herself to Elizabeth, she was as good as dead, whatever the excuse.

Answer 7

Because after she married James Bothwell (who had been involved in the murder of her preceding husband, Darnley), the Scottish people turned against her, and she had to abdicate in 1568 in favour of her son James (who was still a baby). She then fled to England, where she was held captive in various castles. This is probably what is meant in your quotation by "throw herself on the mercy of Q.E.".

Answer 8

For the simple fact that Queen Mary had Elizabeth locked in the tower of london for several months.

That wouldn't have helped their relationship.

She was found to have scrathched into a window pane 'much accused, but nothing proved'.

Answer 9

Mary was a catholic and Elizabeth was a protestant in a country that was mainly anti catholic. Elizabeth wanted mary and her heirs to renounce their claim to the thrown and mary refused. Thats the way to go girl.

Answer 10

Because it isnt proper for a Queen to throw herself on anyone. She should have gone to dinner with her first.