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70 free Mary, Queen of Scots trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Mary, Queen of Scots trivia quiz follows the Stuart queen from a cradle at Linlithgow to the block at Fotheringhay: queen of Scotland at six days old, raised at the French court, briefly Queen of France, widowed at eighteen, married to a jealous cousin who watched her secretary stabbed at dinner, then to the earl accused of blowing that cousin up, deposed, imprisoned in a loch, and finally held in England for eighteen and a half years until Elizabeth signed the warrant. The easy questions cover the outline: her country, her cousin, her husbands, her son and how she died. The harder half is for readers of Antonia Fraser and John Guy: the four Marys, the treaty of 1543, the priory she was hidden in, the port she sailed from, her height, the poet under her bed, the pistol on her saddle, the Crown Matrimonial, the house at Kirk o' Field, the tavern bond, the miscarried twins, the fishing boat across the Solway, the casket, the carts and dishes of her captivity, the spa she summered in, the words she embroidered on her cloth of state, the entrapment at Chartley, the number of judges, the colour of her petticoat, and the wig in the executioner's hand. Every answer was checked against Mary, Queen of Scots' encyclopaedia entry before publishing. If you enjoy this, try our Elizabeth I, Scotland and Tudors quizzes next.
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Q 01Where was Mary born on 8 December 1542?
Linlithgow Palace
She was said to have been born prematurely and was christened at the nearby Church of St Michael.
Q 02How old was Mary when she became Queen of Scotland on the death of her father?
Six days
Her father James V may have died of a nervous collapse after the defeat at Solway Moss.
Q 03In a tale first recorded by John Knox, what did the dying king say on hearing he had a daughter?
"It cam wi' a lass and it will gang wi' a lass!"
The Stuarts had won the crown through Marjorie Bruce; the prophecy was fulfilled by Queen Anne, not Mary.
Q 04Who was the queen's mother, who later served as regent of Scotland?
Mary of Guise
Her brothers, the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorraine, dominated France during Mary's brief reign as its queen.
Q 05Through which grandmother, sister of Henry VIII, did Mary derive her claim to the English throne?
Margaret Tudor
That made her Henry VIII's great-niece and, to many Catholics, the rightful queen of England.
Q 06The 1543 Treaty of Greenwich promised the six-month-old Mary in marriage to whom?
Prince Edward of England
When the Scots repudiated it, Henry VIII launched the Rough Wooing to enforce the match by force.
Q 07After the Scottish defeat at Pinkie in 1547, Mary's guardians hid her for up to three weeks where?
Inchmahome Priory
They then turned to the French for help.
Q 08From which castle did the five-year-old Mary sail for France in August 1548?
Dumbarton
The French fleet under Villegagnon landed her in Brittany a week or more later.
Q 09What were the surnames of the 'four Marys' who accompanied the queen to France?
Beaton, Seton, Fleming and Livingston
They were daughters of some of Scotland's noblest families, all named Mary and all her own age.
Q 10Which member of the French royal family notably disliked the young Mary at court?
Catherine de' Medici
Elisabeth of Valois, her future sister-in-law, became a close friend.
Q 11How tall was Mary as an adult, exceptionally so for the 16th century?
5 feet 11 inches
Her first husband, the Dauphin, stuttered and was unusually short.
Q 12Before her 1558 wedding, Mary secretly signed away what to France if she died childless?
Scotland and her claim to England
She married the Dauphin at Notre Dame de Paris on 24 April 1558.
Q 13How did Henry II of France die in July 1559, making the teenage Mary Queen of France?
From injuries sustained in a joust
Q 21What nickname did Elizabeth give Darnley?
The long lad
The English ambassador reported that Mary seemed bewitched.
Q 22What was the 1565 campaign in which Mary's forces and Moray's rebels never actually fought called?
The Chaseabout Raid
Mary rode with a pistol called a dagg on her saddle; Moray fled to England.
Q 23What did Darnley demand that Mary refused, souring the marriage?
The Crown Matrimonial
It would have made him co-sovereign with the right to keep the throne if he outlived her.
Fifteen-year-old Francis and sixteen-year-old Mary became king and queen.
Q 14What killed Francis II in December 1560, ending Mary's time as Queen of France?
A middle-ear infection that abscessed in his brain
Catherine de' Medici became regent for his ten-year-old brother, and Mary went home nine months later.
Q 15Which 1560 agreement recognising Elizabeth's right to rule did Mary refuse to ratify?
The Treaty of Edinburgh
She was still in France, grieving for her mother, and the refusal remained a sticking point with Elizabeth.
Q 16At which port did Mary land on her return to Scotland on 19 August 1561?
Leith
She had lived in France since the age of five and knew little of Scottish politics.
Q 17Which fiery reformer preached against Mary for hearing Mass, dancing and dressing too elaborately?
John Knox
She charged him with treason, but he was acquitted.
Q 18Which illegitimate half-brother did Mary keep as her chief adviser on her return?
The Earl of Moray
He led the Protestants, later rebelled against her marriage, and became regent after her abdication.
Q 19Which French poet was found hiding under Mary's bed in 1563 and was later beheaded for treason?
Pierre de Chastelard
Two days after being banished he forced his way into her chamber again; she cried out for Moray to stab him.
Q 20Whom did Mary marry at Holyrood on 29 July 1565, without a papal dispensation for first cousins?
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Elizabeth called him the long lad, since he stood over six feet tall.
Q 24Which Italian secretary was stabbed to death in front of the pregnant Mary in 1566?
David Rizzio
Darnley, jealous of the friendship, took part; he was rumoured to be the child's father.
Q 25Where was Mary's son James born on 19 June 1566?
Edinburgh Castle
He would be crowned King of Scots at thirteen months and King of England at 36.
Q 26In October 1566 Mary rode from Jedburgh to visit the wounded Bothwell at which castle?
Hermitage
Enemies later cited the ride as proof they were lovers, though she went with councillors and guards.
Q 27At which house was Darnley staying when it was destroyed by an explosion in February 1567?
Kirk o' Field
He was found dead in the garden, apparently smothered, with no marks of violence.
Q 28How long did the trial that acquitted Bothwell of Darnley's murder last?
Seven hours
Darnley's father was denied time to gather evidence and did not attend.
Q 29What did over two dozen lords and bishops sign backing Bothwell's plan to marry the queen?
The Ainslie Tavern Bond
He then abducted Mary on the road from Stirling and took her to Dunbar.
Q 30According to which rites was Mary married to Bothwell on 15 May 1567?
Protestant
Catholics rejected both his divorce and the service, and everyone was shocked she married the man accused of killing her husband.