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The manuscript that Mary signed, handed over control of the castle
at Wassy to Jacques de la Montaigne who was a close aide of
Francis, Duke of Guise, Mary’s uncle. The French written document
specifically states that ‘Captaincy’ of the castle would be passed
to Montaigne from Henri, who was the son of the Duke of Guise. It
is probable that Montaigne was present at the massacre.
The document is expected to fetch around £12,000 at auction and RR
Auction executive vice-president Bobby Livingston had this to say,
“When we saw it we were really thrilled. Its signed so close to her
execution- she is already been imprisoned and is awaiting her fate.
Our estimate is £12,000 but I wouldn’t be surprised if the price
exceeds this.”
What makes this story more astonishing, and as Bobby Livingston
points out, is that at the time that Mary signed the document she
was imprisoned, on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I, at Chartley
Castle in Staffordshire. Ten months after Mary put pen to paper,
she was beheaded.
A spokesperson for the auctioneers commented, “In 1560 Mary had
been granted the right to the profit of Wassy, located in eastern
Champagne, as part of her jointure as widow of the recently
deceased French King Francis III, and the rights were managed on
her behalf by her uncle, the Duke of Guise. In 1562 Wassy was the
site of a massacre of Huguenots by troops under Francis and sparked
the bloody French Wars of Religion.”
The manuscript seems to have an unknown seller although it has been
speculated that it is a private collector in Europe. The document
is known to have been part of a London exhibition in 1888 dedicated
to the Stuart dynasty.
Mary Queen of Scots was the only daughter of James V, King of Scots
and his French wife Mary. She became Queen at only six days of age
and went on to rule from 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
She was executed in 1587 after she was supposedly tricked into
agreeing to a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I.
photo credit: lisby1 via photopin
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