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Rough Wooings

by Marcus Merriman

ISBN: 9781862320901
Imprint: John Donald
Publication Date: Mar 2000
Format: Hardback
Price: £12.99
Stock Status: in stock

The 'Rough Wooings' fought by major figures of sixteenth-century Europe for the hand of Mary Queen of Scots were wars as intense, wide-ranging and devastating as the wars of the three Edwards which ravaged fourteenth century Scotland.

But the Wooings were wars of independence as well. As the kings of England and France vied to control the bestowing of Mary's hand in marriage, so Scotland herself strove to remain free of them. And Scotland won. But it was a close-run thing. The politics and international diplomacy involved were as sophisticated and complex as the century provides; the warefare and political literature as revolutionary and and modern as for any part of Europe. Protestant zealots were forged on its anvil; massive navies ranged the North Sea; Italian military technology was brought to bear. All for one of the most fascinating queens in history.

This is the story of her beginning, a rich and vibrant epic involving many of the major figures of early modern history. Henry VIII of England, Francois I and Henri II of France bestride the canvas, but even they cannot obscure the beguiling figure of the young Mary Queen of Scots. Splendidly written and with a broad sweep of scholarship, this long-awaited study is a major contribution to the subject.

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