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| Mary of Guelders | |
|---|---|
 Mary of Guelders depicted in the 1591 Seton Armorial | |
| Queen consort of Scots | |
| Tenure | 3 July 1449 – 3 August 1460 |
| Queen regent of Scotland | |
| Regency | 1460 – 1463 |
| Monarch | James III |
| Born | (1433-01-17)17 January 1433 Grave, Duchy of Brabant, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 1 December 1463(1463-12-01) (aged 30) Roxburgh Castle, Roxburghshire, Scotland |
| Burial | 1463 |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| House | Egmond |
| Father | Arnold, Duke of Gelderland |
| Mother | Catherine of Cleves |
Mary of Guelders (Dutch:Maria van Gelre; 17 January 1433[1] – 1 December 1463) wasQueen of Scots by marriage toKing James II. She ruled asregent of Scotland from 1460 to 1463.[2]
She was the daughter ofArnold, Duke of Guelders, andCatherine of Cleves.[3] She was a great-niece ofPhilip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
Philip and his wifeIsabella of Portugal at first planned to have Mary betrothed toCharles, Count of Maine, but her father could not pay the dowry.[4] Mary stayed on at the Burgundian court, where Isabella frequently paid for her expenses. Mary attended Isabella's daughter-in-lawCatherine of France, while she herself was attended upon by ten people.[4]
The duke and duchess then started negotiations for a Scottish marriage. Philip promised to pay her dowry, while Isabella paid for hertrousseau.William Crichton came to the Burgundian court to escort her back to Scotland.[5] A tournament was held at Bruges to celebrate her departure; the victor wasJacques de Lalaing, a Burgundian knight.[6]
Mary landed in Scotland in June 1449. Her arrival was described byMathieu d'Escouchy.[7] She first visited theIsle of May and the shrine ofSt Adrian.[8] Then she came toLeith and rested at the Convent of St Anthony.[9] Both nobles and the common people came to see her as she made her way toHolyrood Abbey inEdinburgh. Mary married KingJames II of Scotland at Holyrood Abbey on 3 July 1449.[10][full citation needed] A sumptuous banquet was given, while the Scottish king gave her several presents. Immediately after the marriage ceremony, she was dressed in purple robes and crowned queen by Abbot Patrick. It had been agreed that any sons they might have would have no right to the duchy ofGuelders.[citation needed]
Queen Mary was granted several castles and the income from many lands from James, which made her independently wealthy. In May 1454, she was present at the siege ofBlackness Castle, and when it resulted in the victory of the king, he gave it to her as a gift. She made several donations to charity, such as when she founded a hospital just outside Edinburgh for the indigent; and to religion, such as when she benefited the Franciscan friars in Scotland.[citation needed]
After her husband's death, Mary ruled asregent for their sonJames III of Scotland until her own death three years later. Mary was drawn into theWars of the Roses taking place in England at this time. She appointedBishop James Kennedy as her chief advisor; their companionship was described as well-functioning despite the fact that the bishop favoured an alliance with theLancastrians, while Mary at first wanted to continue playing off the warring parties in England against each other.[11]
While Mary was still mourning the death of her husband, the English queen of theHouse of Lancaster,Margaret of Anjou, fled north across the border seeking refuge from the Yorkists. Mary sympathetically aided Margaret and tookEdward of Westminster into her household to keep them out of Yorkist hands. Mary's dealings with Margaret were mainly to provide aid to the deposed queen. Mary gave a number of Scottish troops to help Margaret and the Lancastrian cause. Mary and Margaret also organised a betrothal between Margaret's son,Edward, and Mary's daughter Margaret in 1461. In return for her support, Mary asked for the town ofBerwick on the Anglo-Scottish border, which Margaret was willing to give up. Relations between the two women deteriorated, however, with the increasingly friendly alliance between KingEdward IV of England and Duke Philip of Burgundy. Any support by Mary for Margaret, Edward IV's enemy, threatened the alliance that Philip wanted with Edward IV against KingLouis XI of France.
Edward IV tried to put a stop to Mary's support of Margaret by proposing marriage to the widowed queen, which Mary rejected. Mary's uncle, Duke Philip, pressured her to call off the betrothal of her daughter and Margaret's son, to Margaret's disappointment. In 1462, she paid the Lancastrian royals to leave Scotland and made peace with Edward IV. She also hinted at the possibility of a marriage between herself and the new English king. Mary, reportedly, had several affairs during her period as regent, notably one with the Lord Hailes.[12]
Mary went ahead with James II's plan to build a castle on land atRavenscraig,[13] designed to withstand the use of artillery, and lived in it while it was under construction until her death.[14]
Mary foundedTrinity College Church c. 1460 in memory of her husband.[13] The church, located in the area now known as Edinburgh'sOld Town, was demolished in 1848 to make way forWaverley station, although it was partially reconstructed on a different site in 1870 under the name Trinity Apse.
Upon her death, Mary was at first interred at Trinity College Church, but her body was moved toHolyrood Abbey in Edinburgh when discovered in 1848.David Laing, a member of theSociety of Antiquaries of Scotland, stated that the move was made on July 15 of that year. However, Laing raised the possibility that the skeleton discovered at Trinity College Church and assumed to be the queen was not, in fact, Mary of Guelders. He argued that another female skeleton, discovered in a more prominent location in the church, and more likely to have been the site of a royal burial, could well have been Mary. That person was also reinterred at Holyrood.[15] The first reinterment was in the royal vault; the second, near the entrance.[16]Daniel Wilson disputed Laing's theories and maintained that the first reburial was indeed that of Mary of Guelders.[17] Wilson noted that since Mary died before the building of thecollegiate church was finished, her obsequies had been held atBrechin Cathedral before the burial at Trinity College Church.[18]
James and Mary had seven children together:
| Scottish royalty | ||
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| Preceded by | Queen consort of Scotland 1449–1460 | Succeeded by |
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