Journée d'étude "Mary of Guise as a conduit between Lorraine, France and Scotland"

This one-day conference is the last of a series of three dedicated to Mary de Guise (1515-1560) on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of her birth. The first two, initiated by the Universities of Reims and Lorraine, explored some biographical aspects of Mary of Guise's life : the first part, held in Bar-le-Duc in October 2015, focused on her upbriging in Lorraine and her life in France before her marriage to James V of Scotland, while the second one, which took place in Reims in February 2016, dealt with her years in Scotland first as Queen Consort (1538-1542), then as Queen Dowager (1542-1554) and finally as Regent (1554-1560).

This third conference aims at reuniting botth perspectives by looking at Mary of Guise as a conduit between France and Scotland and vice versa in the crucial years of the Auld alliance. Part of Mary's failure was attributed to her attempt tot introduce a French approach to government through, for instance, the aborted French-style tax reform suggested by Yves du Rubay, the French Vice-Chancellor. But her French background also accounts for her success in moving Scotland from the Middle Ages to Renaissance through, for example, the refurbishment of several Scottish castles with the help of craftsmen from Lorraine.