On this day in Tudor history, 29 October 1586, Parliament met to decide the fate of Mary, Queen of Scots, just days after she was found guilty of conspiring to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I.

Their verdict was clear: the queen’s own cousin and fellow sovereign must die.

But more than four centuries later, the question still burns: was Mary a martyr, a tragic heroine, or a traitor?

I’m historian and author Claire Ridgway, and in today’s episode we’ll revisit the tense weeks between Mary’s trial at Fotheringhay and her execution in February 1587. Elizabeth hesitated, torn between mercy and survival, while her councillors pressed for action.

Meanwhile, Mary, an anointed queen held captive for nineteen years, insisted she was dying for her faith, not her crimes.

So who was she really?

A dangerous conspirator caught by her own hand… or a doomed queen sacrificed to politics, religion, and fear?

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