Mary, Queen of Scots, was buried at Peterborough Cathedral on 1 August 1587 with a heraldic funeral, following her execution at Fotheringhay Castle on 8 February 1587. In 1612, her son James VI and I ordered her reburial at Westminster Abbey.
At Fotheringhay Mary's servants who were held at Chartley were brought to Fotheringhay in February after the execution. Much of the furnishings and silver plate from Mary's lodging were sent to London. Amias Paulet described this as the "best stuff". Mary had made verbal bequests of many of her jewels and other items to her gentlewomen and male servants. These were retained at Fotheringhay in the custody of Andrew Melville, Dominique Bourgoing, and Jane Kennedy. Paulet sent an inventory of these latter items to Francis Walsingham which survives in The National Archives (TNA).Michael Bath, Emblems for a Queen: The Needlework of Mary Queen of Scots (London: Archetype, 2008), p. 6: William K. Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 9 (Edinburgh, 1915), pp. 279–280 no. 273, 304 no. 292.Alexandre Labanoff, Lettres de Marie Stuart, vol. 7 (London, 1852), pp. 254–274 The National Archives (TNA) SP 53/21 fol. 39: Samuel Cowan, Mary, Queen of Scots and Who Wrote the Casket Letters, 2 (London, 1901), pp. 287–288, 345–356
Adam Blackwood wrote that Mary's body was kept in a chamber near the scene of execution at Fotheringhay, and after a time Mary's body and head were sealed in a lead casket.Agnes Strickland, Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots, 2 (London, 1843), p. 315: La Mort de la Royne d'Escosse, Douairiere de France (1588), p. 107: History of Mary, Queen of Scots translated from the French of Adam Blackwood (Edinburgh: Maitland Club, 1834), p. 193. Some accounts mention that Mary's servants were able to peep through a gap in a partition and saw that the body was covered with a cloth from a billiard table.Samuel Jebb, History of the Life and Reign of Mary Queen of Scots, 2 (London, 1725), p. 309.John Morris, The Letter-Books of Amias Poulet (London, 1874), p. 314.
Henry III of France organised a funeral or commemorative service at Notre-Dame de Paris in March.David Templeman, Mary, Queen of Scots: The Captive Queen in England (Exeter: 2016), p. 263: James Emerson Phillips, Images of a Queen: Mary Stuart in Sixteenth-century Literature (University of California, 1964), p. 152: Alexandre Teulet, Relations Politiques, 4 (Paris, 1862), pp. 178–180 In June, the lead coffin at Fotheringhay was found to be ruptured and was mended by a plumber. The remaining servants petitioned for Mary's funeral to be held and their detention ended.James Emerson Phillips, Images of a Queen: Mary Stuart in Sixteenth-century Literature (University of California, 1964), p. 128: William K. Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 9 (Edinburgh, 1915), pp. 443–444 no. 357. John Mowbray of Barnbougle wrote to ask James VI if the body would be taken to Scotland for burial. Robert Melville replied that it was all "too recent" to ask the king. Melville trusted Elizabeth would soon release the servants.HMC Salisbury Hatfield: Addenda, vol. 13 (London, 1915), pp. 344–345.
Preparations John Fortescue, Master of the Wardrobe of Elizabeth I, was sent to organise the funeral at Peterborough. Mourning clothes were to be provided for Mary's household, who had remained at Fotheringhay. At first Mary's servants refused the new garments as they already wore mourning clothes and there was disagreement over the fashion of women's mourning hoods worn either in French or English style.Phillis Cunnington & Catherine Lucas, Costume for births, marriages & deaths (London, 1972), p. 224. A tirewoman, the wife of Hugh Rogers, was sent from London to make coiffures for the day of the funeral.La Mort de la Royne d'Escosse, Douairiere de France (1588), pp. 131–132.Cuthbert Bede, Fotheringhay and Mary, Queen of Scots pp. 147–150: Agnes Strickland, Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots, 2 (London, 1843), p. 308.Allan Crosby & John Bruce, Accounts and Papers Relating to Mary Queen of Scots (London: Camden Society, 1867), p. 35. She may have been the Elizabeth Rogers who made blackwork embroidery for Elizabeth.Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), p. 225.
Fortescue's account mentions "Paris heads" fashioned for the high-status female mourners, with "barbes and linen", "bongraces" and "kerchers" worn as headdresses and face-coverings.Allan Crosby & John Bruce, Accounts and Papers Relating to Mary Queen of Scots (London: Camden Society, 1867), pp. 28, 31.Elizabeth Goldring, Faith Eales, Elizabeth Clarke, Jayne Elisabeth Archer, John Nichols's Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth: 1579-1595, vol. 3 (Oxford, 2014), p. 376. A "Paris head" was a close cap with two lappets hanging at the back, worn in England (but now a name associated with Mary's white mourning cap and veil).Anna Reynolds, In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion (London: Royal Collection Trust, 2013), p. 66: Mary Ellen Bagnall-Oakeley, "Ladies' costume in the Middle Ages, as represented on the monumental effigies and brasses", Transactions of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 16 (1892), p. 122.Jemma Field, Anna of Denmark: The Material Culture of the Stuart Courts (Manchester, 2020), p. 217 fn. 157. Paris heads were worn at the funerals of Elizabeth of York in 1503 and Anne of Cleves in 1556.Phillis Cunnington & Catherine Lucas, Costume for births, marriages & deaths (London, 1972), p. 214. These garments were worn at other Elizabethan funerals; at the funeral of Katherine, Lady Berkeley at Coventry St Michaels in May 1596, two knight's wives wore similar mourning with "round Parys heads, boungrace, and barbes of fine lawne". A "barbe" was a covering or veil over the mouth and chin, or worn bib-like under the chin.Phillis Cunnington & Catherine Lucas, Costume for births, marriages & deaths (London, 1972), pp. 211, 220, 261: Thomas Dudley Fosbroke, Berkeley Manuscripts (London, 1821), p. 211. At Peterborough, one Scottish gentlewoman received a "large attire of lawn with a barbe", this was perhaps Barbara Moubray, the wife of Gilbert Curle, whose name is included in the order of procession.Allan Crosby & John Bruce, Accounts and Papers Relating to Mary Queen of Scots (London: Camden Society, 1867), p. 31. Some sketches of the funeral procession are held by the British Library (MS Add. 35324), these show conventional mourning dress.Asuka Kimura, Performing Widowhood on the Early Modern English Stage (Walter de Gruyter, 2023), pp. 22–25.
Fortescue bought 1599 1/2 yards of black cloth in seven different qualities. The herald William Dethick arranged the building of a wooden hearse in Peterborough Cathedral. This hearse was a stationary architectural heraldic display, not a conveyance for the coffin.Janette Dillon, The Language of Space in Court Performance (Cambridge, 2010), p. 199. It was 27 feet high, covered with black velvet set with escutcheons, and decorated with gold fringes.Allan Crosby & John Bruce, Accounts and Papers Relating to Mary Queen of Scots (London: Camden Society, 1867), pp. 29–32. Rooms in the Bishop's Palace and the nave of the cathedral were draped with black cloth and baize. Some of the baize was hired from a merchant, William Albany.Allan Crosby & John Bruce, Accounts and Papers Relating to Mary Queen of Scots (London: Camden Society, 1867), pp. 33–34
Mary's body was brought from Fotheringhay via Huntingdon to Peterborough on a chariot drawn by four horses at night on 30 July, a distance of 12 miles.La Mort de la Royne d'Escosse, Douairiere de France (1588), p. 126. William Dethick organised the procession.Allan Crosby & John Bruce, Accounts and Papers Relating to Mary Queen of Scots (London: Camden Society, 1867), p 43. The coffin was interred near the resting place of Catherine of Aragon, without ceremony. One reason recorded for this was that the hot weather might cause the solder of the lead coffin to fail.William K. Boyd, Calendar of State Papers Scotland, 9, no. 371. The graves of both Queens were dug by Robert Scarlett. The official mourners arrived on 31 July. Bridget Russell, Countess of Bedford was the chief mourner and representative of Elizabeth I. Among the chief mourners was William Cecil's sister Elizabeth Alington, as a substitute for Susan, Lady Cromwell. The names of the mourners and banner holders vary in contemporary lists.William K. Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 9 (Edinburgh, 1915), p. 457 no. 370.
There was a supper in the Great Hall of the Bishop's Palace,Cuthbert Bede, Fotheringhay and Mary, Queen of Scots p. 151. where a cloth of estate of purple velvet and a chair was installed, and used by the Countess of Bedford.Allan Crosby & John Bruce, Accounts and Papers Relating to Mary Queen of Scots (London: Camden Society, 1867), pp. 29, 32–33William K. Boyd, Calendar of State Papers Scotland, 9, no. 371. A large amount of food was bought for this meal, and for a dinner after the funeral on the following day. Richard Cox, clerk to Gregory Lovell, cofferer to Elizabeth's household, accounted for the expenses of the food and the cooks to Bryan Cave and Marmaduke Darrell.Allan Crosby & John Bruce, Accounts and Papers Relating to Mary Queen of Scots (London: Camden Society, 1867), p. 5
Funeral in the cathedral For the funeral on Tuesday 1 August, Lammas Day, a "representation" of Mary, thought to have been an either an effigy or a group of symbolic objects,Elizabeth Goldring et al., John Nichols's The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, 3 (Oxford, 2014), p. 366. was carried from the Palace into the cathedral and placed on the hearse. A British Library sketch of the procession depicts an effigy.Phillis Cunnington & Caroline Lucas, Costume for births, marriages & deaths (London, 1972), p. 222: Asuka Kimura, Performing Widowhood on the Early Modern English Stage (Walter de Gruyter, 2023), p. 25 fig. 1.6, BL MS Add. 35324 f.16r.
The procession from the Palace to the church was led by 100 or 120 poor women in black cloth gowns and white Holland linen head dresses (called "kerchers"), provided by Fortescue. Their appearance was traditional or old-fashioned.Phillis Cunnington & Caroline Lucas, Costume for births, marriages & deaths (London, 1972), p. 144. Next followed those in mourning cloaks and mourning gowns. Andrew Noel carried the banner of Scotland.R. Prescott-Innes, The funeral of Mary, Queen of Scots. A collection of curious tracts (Edinburgh, 1890), p. 4. Six gentlemen brought in the "representation" under a velvet canopy supported on poles by Thomas Manners, John or George Hastings, James Harington, and Richard Knightley. The train of the Countess of Bedford's gown was carried by Lucy Paulet, Lady St John of Basing or Elizabeth, Lady Mordaunt. Ten or eight women from Mary's household followed, wearing hoods with black taffeta at the front and white veils at the back in the French fashion.R. Prescott-Innes, The funeral of Mary, Queen of Scots. A collection of curious tracts (Edinburgh, 1890), p. 5: Calendar State Papers Scotland, 9, pp. 459 no. 371, 462 no. 373. Mabel Harington walked with her sister Elizabeth, Lady Montagu.The Funeral of Mary, Queen of Scots: A Collection of Curious Tracts (1890), pp. 4, 12, 63: Accounts and Papers Relating to Mary Queen of Scots (London: Camden Society, 1867), p. 46.