Home » World » Centuries after the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots, 57 secret letters have been found

Centuries after the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots, 57 secret letters have been found

Using various encryption methods, the team was surprised to discover the identity of the writer.

“This discovery is a literary and historical sensation,” historian John Guy said in a statement. “This is the most important new discovery about Mary Queen of Scots in 100 years.”

Stuart’s letters were deciphered, mentioning her cousin Elizabeth I’s alleged assassination plots, which eventually led to Stuart’s beheading in 1587.

Secrets like on a tray

Mary Stuart was born in 1542, but she spent most of her life in prison. After a failed attempt to reclaim the throne, Mary went into exile with her second cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.

English Catholics saw Mary as a legitimate claimant to the English throne, so Queen Elizabeth kept Mary imprisoned in various palaces for several years.

During her lifetime, Mary was involved in several attempted Catholic rebellions, which she supported with heavily coded letters.

This particular correspondence was discovered to have been with Michel de Castelnau de Movisier, a French diplomat and known Catholic ally. Historians have long suspected that the two corresponded, but their letters have never been discovered until now.

Photo: Mary and Chateauneuf/”Twitter”

Maria’s communication with the outside world was practically an open secret at the time. Even officials in England knew what she was doing, and several times her letters simply disappeared.

For example, on April 16, 1583, Mary wrote a coded letter thanking the diplomat for her constant support. Maria was accused of “treason” and executed on February 8, 1587.

“We have provided only preliminary summaries of the letters in the hope of providing sufficient incentive for historians with relevant knowledge to engage in an in-depth analysis of the content,” the experts say.

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