Why did mary queen of scots pose a problem to queen elizebeth 1st?
Under the ordinary laws of succession, Mary was also next in line to the English throne after her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, who was childless. In the eyes of many Catholics Elizabeth was illegitimate, making Mary the true heir. Mary Stuart was the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, the older sister of Henry VIII of England. In the view of many Catholics, the divorce of Henry VIII from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and his marriage to Anne Boleyn were invalid, and the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth, was therefore illegitimate. Mary Stuart, in their eyes, was the rightful heir of Mary I of England, Henry VIII’s daughter by his first wife.
