Editing Mary of Guise (section)

==Regent of Scotland==
[[File:YoungMaryStuart.jpg|thumb|170px|right|[[Mary, Queen of Scots]], Mary of Guise's daughter, for whom she acted as regent from 1554 to 1560]]
In December 1552, [[Mary of Austria, Queen of Hungary]], sister of [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], pointed out to Mary that her diplomatic complaints had no force and must come from Arran. Furthermore, she was dissatisfied by Mary's evident friendship with France.<ref>''Calendar State Papers Spanish'', vol. 10 (London, 1914), 608–609, Queen Dowager to Mary of Guise, 23 December 1552.</ref> Mary's power was increasing. In May 1553, the imperial ambassador in London, [[Jean Scheyfve]], heard she had challenged Arran's regency and proposed [[James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray]], her illegitimate step-son, as a replacement.<ref>''Calendar State Papers Spanish'', vol. 11 (London, 1916), pp.&nbsp;41–42.</ref> From August 1553, she wrote to the French ambassador in London, [[Antoine de Noailles]], using cipher code.<ref>Valérie Nachef, Jacques Patarin, Armel Dubois-Nayt, "Mary of Guise's Enciphered Letters", Peter Y. A. Ryan, David Naccache, Jean-Jacques Quisquater, ''The New Codebreakers: Essays Dedicated to David Kahn'' (Springer, 2016), pp. 1–24.</ref>

Mary herself became regent on 12 April 1554 at a meeting of Parliament.<ref>Pamela Ritchie, ''Mary of Guise'' (Tuckwell, 2002), p. 94.</ref> [[Henri Cleutin]] is said to have placed the crown on her head, although the nature of any ceremony is uncertain.<ref>Lucinda H. S. Dean, "In the absence of an adult monarch", Kate Buchanan, Lucinda H. S. Dean, Michael Penman, ''Medieval and Early Modern Representations of Authority in Scotland and the British Isles'' (Routledge, 2016), pp. 152–154: Rosalind K. Marshall, ''Scottish Queens: 1034–1714'' (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2007), p. 120: Rosalind K. Marshall, ''Mary of Guise'' (London: Collins, 1978), p. 68.</ref> The eleven-year-old Queen Mary sent her congratulations to "la Royne, ma mere" ("the Queen, my mother") from the [[Château de Meudon]] at Easter, where she was staying with her grandmother and her uncle, the [[Charles of Guise|Cardinal of Lorraine]].<ref>''HMC Reports on various collections: Manuscripts of Robert Mordaunt Hay at Duns Castle'', vol. 5 (London, 1909), 90–91.</ref>

In many affairs, Mary of Guise consulted her brothers in France—the Cardinal of Lorraine, and [[Francis, Duke of Guise]], both of whom held government positions in France—so that Scotland and France worked as allies in dealing with other nations.<ref>Michaud & Poujoulat, ''Nouvelles collection'', vol. 6 (Paris, 1839), letters from Mary of Guise to her brothers: Wood, Marguerite, (1923), letters to Mary of Guise</ref> Henry II's representative in Scotland from 1546 to 1560 was an ambassador resident, [[Henri Cleutin]], who had been effectively in charge of Scotland during her trip to France.<ref>Pamela Ritchie, ''Mary of Guise'' (Tuckwell, 2002), pp. 127–128.</ref> During her regency (1554–60), Frenchmen were put in charge of the treasury and the [[Great Seal of Scotland|Great Seal]], while the French ambassador sometimes attended the [[Privy Council]]. Yves de Rubay was Master of Requests and [[Keeper of the Seals]]<ref>Joseph Bain, ''CSP Scotland'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 203 no. 426, 21 January 1558.</ref> and [[Bartholomew de Villemore]] was [[Comptroller of Scotland|Comptroller]] and Receiver-General of Revenue. Although Cleutin seems to have been universally popular, the resentment of the Scottish nobility at these appointments fuelled the coming crisis.

Mary quickly began to deal effectively with Scottish affairs. In July 1554, she travelled to [[Jedburgh]] to hold a [[Justice Ayre]] for a fortnight, hoping to quell the longstanding feud between the [[Clan Scott|Scott]] and [[Clan Kerr|Kerr]] border clans. She was escorted by armed horsemen commanded by Cleutin.<ref>Pamela Ritchie, ''Mary of Guise'' (Tuckwell, 2002), p. 154.</ref> In the autumn she paid for a ship, troops and a cannon to help the [[John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland|Earl of Sutherland]] arrest [[Clan Mackay|Iye du Mackay, Lord Reay]], who had caused mischief in Sutherland. With much less success the Earls of [[George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly|Huntly]] and [[Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll|Argyll]] were despatched to pass with fire and sword to [[Moidart]] and [[Isle of Lewis|Lewis]]. Huntly's failure led to his imprisonment. During another progress in 1556 she visited [[Inverness]], Ross, [[Elgin, Moray|Elgin]], [[Banff, Aberdeenshire|Banff]] and [[Aberdeen]].<ref>Pamela Ritchie, ''Mary of Guise'' (Tuckwell, 2002), p. 166.</ref>

One measure made by Parliament in June 1555 was ineffective and caused problems and resentment. The offices of Deacon of the Crafts in [[burgh]] councils was abolished. This may have pleased influential merchants. Mary of Guise went to Perth to meet dissenters who disputed the right of craftsmen to be elected to the burgh council. Subsequently, the legislation was repealed.<ref>Michael Lynch, "The Crown and the Burgh", ''The Early Modern Town in Scotland'' (Croom Helm, 1987) pp. 60–61.</ref><ref>Mary Verschuur, "Merchants and Craftsmen in Sixteenth-Century Perth", ''The Early Modern Town in Scotland'' (Croom Helm, 1987) pp. 44–47.</ref><ref>Robert Renwick, [https://archive.org/details/extractsfromreco01stir/page/n203/mode/2up ''Extracts from the records of the Burgh of Stirling'', 1 (Glasgow, 1887), pp. 65–66]</ref>  Scotland's burgh craft incorporations rewarded Guise for this reverse in policy by agreeing to contribute to a tax used for defence, including the fortification of [[Inchkeith]]. Some contributions were paid directly to the [[Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland|master of works]], [[William MacDowall]].<ref>Pamela E. Ritchie, ''Mary of Guise'' (Tuckwell, 2003), pp. 131–132: ''Extracts from the Council Register of Aberdeen'' (Spalding Club, 1844), p. 297.</ref> Mary of Guise employed an Italian military engineer from Siena, Lorenzo Pomarelli, during the six years of her regency.<ref>Amadio Ronchini, 'Lorenzo Pomarelli' in ''Atti e memorie delle RR. Deputazioni di storia patria per le provincie Modenesi e Parmensi'' (Modena, 1868), pp. 264–5, 271: Ciro Birra, "Lorenzo Pomarelli, un architetto del XVI secolo tra Siena e Napoli" in ''Rendiconti della Accademia di Archeologia Lettere e Belle Arti'' (Giannini Editore: Napoli 2016), pp. 287–302.</ref>

Domestic efforts were hampered by the outbreak of international conflict in January 1557 and war with England. An apparent set-back to Guise's command occurred in October, when she went south to [[Hume Castle]] and sent an army towards England. Instructed to cross the border and attack Wark Castle, the Scottish lords held their own council at [[Eckford, Scottish Borders|Eckford]] and returned home.<ref>Pamela Ritchie, ''Mary of Guise'' (Tuckwell, 2002), pp.&nbsp;126–9; 153–155; 163–7; 182–187, citing Lambeth Talbot MS 3195.</ref> Efforts for peace between England and Scotland were helped by the efforts of Christophe d'Assonleville, a diplomat sent to England and Scotland by [[Philip II of Spain]] who was joint ruler of England at that time (husband of Queen Mary Tudor). The Scottish armed presence on the border was reduced in the first months of 1558.<ref>Gonzalo Velasco Berenguer, 'The Select Council of Philip I: A Spanish Institution in Tudor England, 1555–1558', ''The English Historical Review'', 139:597 (April 2024), pp. 326–359. {{doi|10.1093/ehr/cead216}}: William B. Turnbull, ''Calendar State Papers Foreign, Mary'' (London: Longman, 1861), pp. 335–336 no. 665.</ref>