The rivalry between Elizabeth I of England and Mary, Queen of Scots, was one of the most dramatic political and religious conflicts of the 16th century. Elizabeth, the Protestant queen of England from 1558 to 1603, ruled a kingdom anxious about succession and vulnerable to Catholic plots. Mary, a Catholic monarch with a strong hereditary claim to the English throne, became a focal point for those who opposed Elizabeth’s rule. The famed Virgin Queen dealt with frequent assassination attempts by Catholics loyal to the pope who wanted to replace Elizabeth with Mary. Ultimately, Elizabeth’s government tried Mary for treason, and she was executed in 1587, an act that eliminated a major political threat but also intensified tensions between Protestant England and Catholic Europe.

Amy Leonard, a Georgetown University professor of history, covers the dramatic events of their relationship, focusing particularly on Mary’s soap-opera-like life. She reviews Mary’s time in Scotland, her house arrest in England, and the extent to which she did—or did not—participate in the conspiracies swirling around her. Leonard examines the real relationship between these two powerful yet diametrically opposed rivals, who never met in person but were linked by family ties, gender, and religious and political intrigue.

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