Who are you in the Scotland of Mary, Queen of Scots?
No Scottish monarch retains quite the same popular appeal as Queen Mary I (r.1542-67). Ruling during one of the most tumultuous periods in Scottish History, her reign encompassed profound changes, particularly in the religious sphere, that saw Scotland briefly thrust to the forefront of European affairs. But what Mary is probably best remembered for is the intense (and intensely human) drama of her personal rule, that brief period between 1561 and 1567 when, having grown up mostly in France, she was back in Scotland and personally running the kingdom. Over a breathless span of less than six years, the young and charismatic Queen came close to complete mastery over the country, before being dramatically felled by a combination of bad luck, bad judgement, and vicious factional rivalry, all mixed up with a liberal dose of disquiet about the very idea of female kingship.
But how would you have responded if you had been a participant in the drama of Mary's personal rule? Which of the key players in Marian Scotland do you most resemble? This quiz, brought to you by the University of Dundee's Centre for Scottish Culture, in partnership with History Scotland magazine, will allow you to find out. Would how have been a Marian loyalist? Or one of the Queen's unbending opponents among the so-called 'Confederate Lords'? Or perhaps you would have been Mary herself. There is only one way to know...
