56. Special Episode: Darnley Murders Rizzio, Edinburgh, Scotland 1566

Hard to choose an image from among the many, no, really, many paintings of the murder of David Rizzio. This one, painted by Jean Lulvès in 1868, shows Mary, Queen of Scots, being restrained from helping Rizzio, who is surrounded by several assassins, and the mayhem caused by all the supper falling onto the floor. The room’s not this big — but making the room large emphasizes the importance of the horrible event. It’s the beginning of everything falling apart, really.

One evening in March of 1566, Mary, Queen of Scots, was sitting with one of her half-sisters and her secretary David Rizzio, eating supper. Suddenly, the door slammed open; Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and his cohorts burst in, stabbed Rizzio, and pointed a gun at the Queen.  Who was 6 months pregnant at the time, with the future James I/IV. Then the band of conspirators took Rizzio out, stabbed him 56 times, and threw him down the stairs. We’ll give you all the background to this, and also explain what happened to Darnley, but in essence, all the conspirators were in on a Stupid Plot, which was meant to get Darnley, Mary’s husband, declared King of Scotland. (That, by the way, did not happen.) So that was a very bad evening for Mary, Queen of Scots, though probably not the worst, since later on her cousin Elizabeth, Queen of England, was going to keep her in captivity and then cut her head off. Besides Rizzio’s demise, we discuss why the Nazis were all for Mary and not Elizabeth. Fun times!

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