July 24th: The Day Scotland was Ruled by a One Year Old

1567 was the year that Mary Queen of Scots and her lover the Earl of Bothwell were imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle after the mysterious death of Mary's ex-husband, her English cousin Lord Darley. In this slightly confusing situation, Bothwell was the prime suspect of Darley's death, and his intimate relationship with Mary led to her confinement too, and therefore her abdication. She was thus forced to resign from the Scottish throne, to be replaced by her one-year-old son James, who would become King James VI of Scotland. The official date of abdication was July 24th 1567.
    When her imprisonment got too much for Mary, she escaped captivity and led an army...to defeat. She failed in her uprising so was left with the option of fleeing to England. Mary went to her first cousin once removed (talk about last resort, eh Mary?!) Queen Elizabeth I of England, who took her in and protected her from the haters. Unfortunately for Mary, Elizabeth got all paranoid and suspicious that Mary was plotting something, due to the Scot being the focus of the English Catholic and Spanish plots to overthrow her. Elizabeth's worries led her to confine Mary to the Castle, as she was seen as too much of a threat. Turns out Elizabeth was probably right as in 1586, a larger plot emerged to overthrow her, and Mary was eventually trialed, sentenced and beheaded for treason. 
   Meanwhile, Mary's son was the King of Scotland, and in 1603 when Elizabeth died, became King James VI of England, Ireland and Scotland. They sure do start them young!