Mary, Queen of Scots was moved to Fotheringay Castle, in the great hall of which, on 14th October 1586, her formal trial began. Swathed in black velvet, Mary hobbled painfully into the room and prepared to conduct her own defence. Noticing a grandiose chair sitting on the dais, Mary presumed that this was to be her seat throughout the proceedings and made to sit in it. She was told that this chair was in fact nothing less than a symbol of the Queen of England, and that she [Mary] was to occupy a small crimson seat.
As she faced her accusers Mary held the floor with panache confidence. She denied all knowledge of the Babington plot and insisted that she had not endorsed harming her cousin. “I would never make shipwreck of my soul” she lied “by compassing the death of my dearest sister”.
But the eloquence of her defence was far outweighed by the evidence against her and the outcome was a foregone conclusion. The proceedings, though not the defendant, were adjourned to London where, on the 29th October 1586, Mary Stuart was convicted. Parliament now petitioned the Queen that a “just sentence might be followed by as just an execution”. But Elizabeth prevaricated, and it took three months before on the 1st of February 1587, she finally signed her cousin’s death warrant. Six days later a weeping Scottish courtier informed Mary that she to be executed the following day.
