1. Mary Queen of Scots’ Allegedly Exacted Revenge on her Abusive Husband… by Blowing Him Up, Then Strangling Him to Death
A leading ally in the ensuing plot to get rid of Lord Darnley revealed himself. James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, organized a plot to assassinate the queen’s husband. On February 19, 1567, Darnley’s bedroom exploded with him inside it. He survived the blast and managed to stagger out of the wreckage. He was then seized and strangled to death. Three months later, Mary married Bothwell. The marriage turned out to be extremely unpopular. It united both Catholics and Protestants in denouncing the queen for marrying the man who had murdered her husband.
Mary and Bothwell raised an army against their opponents. But before they fought the battle, the royal couple’s forces evaporated; their men deserted them. They permitted Bothwell to leave, provided he left Mary behind. He jumped at the chance, and abandoned his wife to the tender mercies of her enemies. They took Mary captive to Edinburgh, where she was denounced as an adulteress and murderess, then imprisoned. On July 24, 1567, Mary abdicated (by force) in favor of her one-year-old son, James. She fled to England, where more political intrigues sucked her in. Those ventures ended with her beheading two decades later.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Amazing Women in History – Sayyida al Hurra, Islamic Pirate Queen
Ancient Origins – The Spirit of Beatrice Cenci: A Tale of Terrible Injustice in Ancient Rome
Ancient Origins – Tomyris, the Female Warrior and Ruler Who May Have Killed Cyrus the Great
Atlas Obscura – The Femme Fatale Whose Tragic End Festers in the History of Rome
British Heritage Travel – Did Mary Queen of Scots Kill Her Husband Lord Darnley?
Cottrell, Leonard – The Great Invasion (1958)
Cassius Dio – Roman History, Book LXII
Devi, Phoolan – I, Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India’s Bandit Queen (1996)
History Today – The Murder of Darnley
Milestone Rome – The Tragic Story of Beatrice Cenci
Tacitus – The Annals, Book XIV