The Renaissance was a time known for tremendous cultural strides. The art scene seemed to be thriving, the architecture was more detailed and extravagant, and philosophy and science exploded. These advancements in society, however, created the facade that the Renaissance was a perfect, flourishing environment. Behind all of the glamour, men ruled viciously over women, limiting their freedom and individuality. Wars raged between countries as Europe became divided between Protestants and Catholics. Yet, despite all this, the Renaissance era saw some of the most powerful women come to rule their empires. But it came at a price of scrutiny and criticism on the basis of sex and religion. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, was no exception. Throughout her reign, she would find herself under constant criticism as a Catholic and as a woman from Protestant minister John Knox. Through the use of Catholicism and corruption, Knox would ultimately destroy Mary Stuart's reputation by contradicting her authority through her sexual history --surrounding her and her court -- and refuting her honor and nobility. His outspoken criticisms of the ruling Queen would soon influence her development as a historical figure in the early modern era.
John Knox's opinions on female monarchies stemmed from his Protestant study of scripture and the patriarchal society in which the Renaissance thrived in. For Knox, a female rule was opposed by God and no justification for it could be found in his teachings. Mary Stuart was the figure of this phenomenon. Not only was Mary a woman, but she openly practiced Catholicism as well. Knox made these sentiments known, publishing "The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women," where "Knox had proved to his own satisfaction that the very existence of a regnant Queen was a violation of the divine and natural order of the world. In addition to the gender issue, the Queens were Catholic rulers..."¹ Paradoxically, during the Renaissance, the right to rule came down to claim of divinity and connection to God. Mary Stuart, therefore, was connected to God through her succession onto the throne. For Mary and her Catholic followers, she had a 'divine right' to claim the throne as well as God's will.
image: John Knox (1510-1572) on engraving from 1838. Scottish clergyman. Engraved by H.T.Ryall and published by J.Tallis & Co. Credit: Georgios Kollidas/Istock
This issue of 'divine right' to rule did play into the opinions of Mary Stuart for John Knox. At the beginning of Mary's rule, Knox attempted to justify God's hand in the secession of Mary Stuart to rule Scotland. In Robert M. Healey's article "Waiting for Deborah: John Knox and the Four Ruling Kings," Healy claims that Knox turned to the story of Deborah, who was a judge in ancient Israel as evidence that God would make an exception for a female ruler, and that Isaiah had prophesied that Queens should be the mothers of the Church. ² Unfortunately for Knox, idea was short lived because Mary Stuart was Catholic and not Protestant. This presented an issue with his studies and the prophecy that Queens should be the mothers of the Church. Knox found her religion more threatening than her gender, as the Scottish Reformation had just taken place a few years prior to Mary taking the throne. Her openness to the Catholic faith undermined his study and work as a Protestant minister, as well as threatened his following.
Within the first week of Mary's rule, she had openly attended Mass, which Knox retaliated by publishing The First Blast, citing "that one Mass...was more fearful to him than if ten thousand armed enemies were landed in any part of the realm, of purpose to suppress the whole religion." ³ For Knox, many of the crimes he accused Mary of would simply be because she was Catholic. Knox also saw Catholicism in a woman equated to "unbridled sexual lust." ⁴ Knox's criticisms during and after her reign often focused on Mary's sexual history -- whether it was her, or those around her -- since he connected Catholicism with sexual desire. By limiting Mary Stuart to her sexual history of herself and her court, Knox diminished Mary Stuart's authority has a ruler. This limitation that Knox put against Mary would later be seen towards the end of her reign in Scotland and ultimately influence her narrative as a Queen in the early modern period.
Sexual desires and scandals often were blamed on Mary and her practice of Catholicism by Knox. In the beginning of her reign, Knox utilized a scandal within Mary's court to preach against her authority as a ruler. Parliament in Scotland had issued an act that gave the act of adultery the sentencing of the death penalty. Simultaneously, one of Mary's French chaplains was discovered in bed with another man's wife. Knox contributed this act as a direct result of Mary's court participating in Mass and practicing Catholicism. He stated after the event, "The queen's idolatry, the queen's Mass, will provoke God's vengeance...Her house, whither her subjects must resort, is become the haunt of dancing and carnal concupiscence..." ⁵ This use of Catholicism as a way of corrupting individuals, especially young women associated with Mary Stuart, paints Mary as a figure of corruption herself. As a Queen and more importantly, a woman in the Renaissance, Mary's image depended on the idea that her entity was pure and divine.
Honor and purity were also extremely important aspects of a woman during the Renaissance. For Mary Stuart, her honor and purity were continually questioned by her male counterparts, especially Knox. Obtaining a pure and divine image would be the defining moment of her reign. Knox expertly used religion in ways to find her dishonorable and unpure. She was a Catholic Queen in a largely Protestant country, which meant her effort to remain in the image of purity was a much harder than her English contemporary, Elizabeth I, who was Protestant. For Mary, she had to be seen as honorable and pure in order to maintain her prestige and dignity. As Knox continually discredited her, it diminished her power. Knox periodically compared Mary to her Elizabeth in an effort to disempower her, proclaiming once that "Elizabeth ruled from the head and Mary from the heart," because in Knox's eyes a Protestant queen acquired an 'exceptional' personality, able to overcome the frailty of her gender, whereas Catholic queens could not. ⁶ Elizabeth had the ability to become an honorable ruler, pure and divine because of her faith and commitment to Protestantism. Elizabeth was also pure in a sense that she never took up a husband, therefore was deemed to be a virgin and married to the throne of her country. On the contrary, Mary Stuart -- who was often played as a pawn for political gains -- was a Catholic who had been married three times. Mary's honor and 'pure' essence had already been taken from her.
Sexual corruption within Mary's marriages was also used by Knox in an attempt to reduce Mary's authority in Scotland, as well as infringe upon her purity. Her second marriage to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnely, was highly opposed by Knox. He was vigorously against a Catholic marriage, as he believed it would weaken Scotland and create further corruption within the monarch. This marriage would the the pulpit of Knox's allegations against Mary Stuart. When her husband was killed, Knox vehemently blamed her for the murder after Mary married the Earl of Bothwell who was suspected to be the killer. He "felt vindicated in the condemnation he had poured on the Queen’s head. He preached vociferously against her, and urged that she be executed, as an adulterer and murderer." ⁷ Knox successfully reduced Mary Stuart down to her sexual history and connection with a man through her practice of Catholicism. For Knox, Catholicism corrupted her, and she could no longer rule Scotland because of it. Mary's reputation was destroyed as Knox preached to his large Protestant following that she was unholy, therefore had no claim to the throne that brought her divinity. Ultimately, Mary Stuarts marriage to Bothwell had labeled her as an adulteress which was largely contributed to Knox. She would be labeled as a 'whore' by the Protestant population and forced to abdicate her throne as a result.
Individuals such as John Knox played a momentous role in the development of Mary Stuart's figure as a Queen during her rule. Mary's role as a ruler was challenged on the basis of her being a woman -- through her sexual connections and honorability -- and the role her Catholicism played in the corruption of these two factors. Knox created Catholicism as an evil force working against Mary which made her unfit to rule. His use of discrediting her and manipulating her connections to a man, whether directly or indirectly, ultimately led to her abdication of the Scottish throne. He successfully painted Mary as an adulterer, corrupted by Catholicism while demeaning her through the comparison of her Protestant counterpart, Elizabeth. Mary Stuart would continue to be defined by her faith and connection to men for the following years after her reign ended, and men like John Knox would be credited for that.
Endnotes:
¹ Jane E A Dawson, “John Knox and Mary Queen of Scots,” History Scotland, last modified April 20, 2015, https://www.historyscotland.com/history/john-knox-and-mary-queen-of-scots/
² John Knox and Robert M. Healey. "Waiting for Deborah: John Knox and Four Ruling Queens." The Sixteenth Century Journal 25, no. 2 (1994): 371
³ Knox and Healey, "Waiting for Deborah," 382
⁴ John Guy, Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) 170
⁵ Guy, Queen of Scots, 173
⁶ Ibid, 195
⁷ "John Knox: Life Story," Tudor Times, last modified on June 2, 2017, https://tudortimes.co.uk/people/john-knox-life-story/the-general-assembly