Lord Darnley Murdered

'Young Darnley was remarkably tall and handsome, perfect in all external and showy accomplishments, but unhappily destitute of sagacity, prudence, steadiness of character, and exhibiting only doubtful courage, though extremely violent in his passions.'

-Sir Walter Scott

The second husband of Mary Queen of Scots, and the father of James VI of Scotland/I of England, Henry Stuart was murdered on February 10, 1567.  Lord Darnley was found strangled at Kirk o'Field in Edinburgh while Mary was attending a wedding.  An explosion occurred at provost's house where Darnley had been staying, but it was not the cause of Darnley's death.  James Hepburn, who Mary married three months later was widely held to be responsible for the murder, but this was never proven.

Mary Queen of Scots Marries Lord Darnley

"This is the Castle of Crookstone," said the Lady Fleming, "in which the Queen held her first court after she was married to Darnley..."

Walter Scott refers to Lord Darnley, Henry Stuart, several times in "The Abbot", as above.  The story line of "The Abbot" however, begins with Mary's imprisonment at Lochleven Castle, long after Darnley's murder, and Mary's subsequent marriage to Bothwell.

Mary and Henry's wedding took place on July 29, 1565.  It was an ill-fated union, though it did produce an heir, James VI of Scotland/James I of England and Ireland.  The marriage ended less than two years after it began, with Darnley's murder on February 10, 1567.