Wedding of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Francis, Dauphin of France
[2] Mary was sent to France, taking ship at Dumbarton, following an agreement contracted at Haddington on 7 July 1548 by Henri Cleutin and André de Montalembert with the Regent Arran.
[9] Henry II of France had a role in the decision as protector of Scotland, and in the French court a party, including the Constable of France, Anne de Montmorency, 1st Duke of Montmorency, opposed the marriage and the power it would give to Mary's uncles, Francis, Duke of Guise, and Charles, Cardinal de Guise.
According to James Melville of Halhill, the brothers argued that the marriage would enable Henry II to build more fortresses and hold stronger garrisons in Scotland.
After gaining the support of the Scottish Parliament, Mary of Guise was able to frame her arguments in March 1557 for the wedding as a measure in Henry's military interests.
[18] They signed a contract in which Mary declared her wish and consent to marry, with the advice of the representatives of the Three Estates of Scotland and her grandmother, Antoinette of Bourbon, the Dowager Duchess of Guise.
[20] The Venetian ambassador, Giovanni Michiel, wrote that during the first dance, Antoine of Navarre whispered to him about controversy at the French court concerning the marriage plan.
[22] The Scottish negotiators and commissioners for the marriage contracts included James Stewart, Commendator of St Andrews and the Earl of Cassilis, who took out personal loans with an Italian financier Timothy Cagnioli to pay their travel costs.
[23] Cassilis, Rothes, Lord Fleming, and Robert Reid, Bishop of Orkney died in Paris or in Dieppe while returning to Scotland later in the year.
[27][28] The surviving diplomats returned to Scotland in October in a ship commanded by Captain Delaforce, who was rewarded with a gold chain made by John Mosman.
[39][40] Another account mentions her gown of Persian velvet, une robbe de velours pers, sewn with jewels and white embroidery.
[51][52] Mary's uncle, Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, had a role in the refurbishment and decoration of the royal palaces, Notre-Dame, and the Grand Salle for the wedding.
He discussed the design of displays of heraldry with De Pierceville, including Mary's blazons and depictions of her crown for the Louvre and other locations in March 1558.
[57][58] The ships were draped in Stewart colours of red and yellow (or gold) and carried members of the court and royal family disguised in masks as Turkish sailors.
[60] The report of Julio Alvarotto, envoy of Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, mentions that the pageant ships with sails of silver tinsel cloth (tocca d'argento)[61] had been designed by an Italian artist, goldsmith, armourer, and military engineer Bartolomeo Campi of Pesaro, who had previously worked for Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino.
[68] The burgh council and Mary of Guise organised an entertainment on Edinburgh's High Street to celebrate this renewal of the Auld Alliance on 5 July 1558.
[74] The lawyer and poet Richard Maitland wrote Of the Quenis Mariage to the Dolphin of France, a poem exhorting the people of Scotland to rejoice in traditional ways, "as wes the custome in our eldaris dayes".
[80] It seemed that the Scots had given control of their Queen and country to France,[81] but opposition to pro-French and Catholic policy grew in Scotland, and the Lords of the Congregation challenged Mary of Guise's rule as Regent.
In August 1559, at Horsley in Surrey, she seemed more interested in watching her courtiers "running at the ring" than hearing about French policy, an impression calculated to assert her authority.
[93] Michel de Seure, the new French ambassador in London, wrote to Mary of Guise in Scotland about the friction caused by the controversial heraldry.
[96] In Paris, the Great Hall or Grand' Salon was redecorated with designs supplied by Primaticcio for the weddings of Elisabeth and Margaret of Valois in January 1559.
