Elizabeth I ordered the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic claimant to the English throne, on this day in 1587 ...

Mary had spent a great deal of her early years in France at the court of the French King, Henri II. She was married to the Dauphin Francois and would become Queen of France. Meanwhile Mary of ...

Conscious of the benefits of an alliance with France, the Scots betrothed ... but eventually did and Mary was executed at Fotheringhay Castle, on 8 February 1587 at the age of 44.