The Tudor Society

December 2 – Elizabeth I agrees to sentence Mary, Queen of Scots to death

On this day in Tudor history, 2nd December 1586, Queen Elizabeth I finally agreed to sentence Mary, Queen of Scots, to death.

The Houses of Lords and Commons had jointly petitioned the queen to issue a public proclamation of sentence against Mary, that sentence being death.

Mary, Queen of Scots, had been found guilty of high treason in October 1586, but Elizabeth I had stalled in doing anything about it. She did not want to commit regicide. Parliament, however, believed that if Mary was not dealt with, she would continue to plot against Elizabeth and would utterly "ruinate and overthrow the happy State and Common Weal of this most Noble Realm".

Find out what Parliament said and what happened next...

September 26 - The man Elizabeth I wanted to murder Mary, Queen of Scots:

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December 2 – Elizabeth I agrees to sentence Mary, Queen of Scots to death