A tragic royal ‘under house arrest’ in Derbyshire

Mary,_Queen_of_Scots

In the second of our series on Derbyshire’s royal connections through the centuries, Deborah Barham Smith looks at the county’s role in the tragic life of Mary, Queen of Scots.

MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS is one of history’s most tragic figures. She was clearly a pawn in  16th century politics –  constantly exploited by rival pro-English and pro-French factions and  in the infighting between Catholic and Protestant factions. It is little surprise, therefore, that she ended up the victim of several conspiracies, including the Babington Plot…