FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2023-24 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (February 8, 2023) – After a brief hiatus Monday and Tuesday for medical reasons, (Not to worry, all is well for Loveland Beacon and Steve Kovacs) we return with today’s edition of Fun with Map from Steve Kovacs, and learn the sledding can be tough when you’re born into royalty.

IT CAN BE TOUGH BEING ROYALTY

Mary, Queen of Scots lived a colorful and unusual life.

At the age of six days, on December 14, 1543, she became Queen of Scotland upon the death of her father, King James V.  Regents ruled on her behalf, and she was sent to France at age 6, to avoid the invading English.

She married three times in her 25 years of being free…  Her first marriage at age 16 was to Francis, King of France, and thus becoming queen consort of France.  She returned to Scotland upon becoming a widow two years later, and eventually married her half-cousin, Henry Stuart at age 23.   He was murdered two years later, most likely orchestrated by Earl James Hepburn.  She, of course, married the Earl after he was acquitted of the charges soon after the murder.

Things got messy then.  She had to abdicate her Scottish throne to her one-year-old son after an uprising based on protests of her marriage to the Earl (do the math about the father).   She fled south to England seeking protection by her first cousin once removed, Queen Elizabeth I.

Elizabeth felt threatened and had Mary confined to various castles for many years. Eventually she had Mary beheaded on February 8, 1587.  It can be tough being royalty.

Scotland’s map by Tallis from 1851 is shown here.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.