Mary, Queen of Scots, was held prisoner by the
6th Earl of Shrewsbury at both Sheffield Manor Lodge and
Sheffield Castle (her
ghost is said by some to haunt the Turret House building). Wolsey's Tower was built to accommodate
Cardinal Wolsey, who then died after travelling on to
Leicester. Mary came to England in 1568 after her defeat at the
Battle of Langside seeking the support of the Catholic nobility. Mary's freedom was restricted after her cousin Elizabeth was advised of the threat that Mary posed to her own crown. She was handed over to the custody of
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury on 4 February 1569. Talbot had armed guards watching her constantly, however she was still able, with the help of the
Duke of Norfolk and others of the Catholic nobility, to plot against Elizabeth. Several times Mary had to be moved to places of greater safety and stricter control. On 28 November 1570 she was taken to the
Earl of Shrewsbury's castle at
Tutbury, where, apart from a few breaks at
Chatsworth and
Buxton, and more regular visits to Sheffield and the Manor House, she remained for 14 years. An escape plan made for Mary in February 1571 fell through when she was moved from the Manor to the Castle. She would have escaped from a window and joined riders in the Park led by
George Douglas of Helenhill and
Henry Percy who would take her to Scotland. Despite Mary's actions, Elizabeth still seemed to support her cousin's claim to the Scottish throne, and Mary wrote regularly to her supporters in Scotland asking them to be faithful and to await the help she believed Elizabeth would provide. Two of Mary's letters are preserved in the
Sheffield Archives. The
Duke of Norfolk, not long released from the
Tower of London, was caught in collusion with the papal agent
Roberto di Ridolfi plotting to bring about a
Catholic uprising in England. Parliament demanded the execution of both Mary Stuart and Norfolk. At this stage no action was taken against Mary, but the Duke of Norfolk was beheaded in 1572.
Material culture of a queen and her household in captivity Mary, Queen of Scots, wrote for turtle doves and
Barbary doves to keep in a cage as companions in her captivity at Sheffield. A type of portrait showing her standing beside a table became known as the "Sheffield Portrait" because of two references to artists at work at Sheffield. In March 1577, Mary's secretary
Claude Nau wrote that a painter was still working and had not yet perfected the Queen's image. Mary sat for a portrait painter at Sheffield in August 1577. She received a portrait of her son
James VI at Sheffield in October 1582, sent by the French ambassador
Michel de Castelnau. Later collectors and historians thought Mary's embroiderer Pierre Oudry was a painter, and his name "P. Oudry Pinxit" was added Mary's portrait at
Hardwick Hall. In 1582, while Mary was still being held at Sheffield, an inventory of all the household goods and furniture belonging to George, Earl of Shrewsbury was made. The inventory describes the castle and contents and gives an idea of the types of rooms in the castle at this date. These included a chapel, a
porch going into the
great hall from the
great chamber (which was probably the large dining room), a
wardrobe, the Lord's chamber and outer chamber, the Lady's chamber, a
bakehouse,
brewhouse,
pantry, washhouse and low washhouse, a round tower, a square tower and a
turret, round towers on either side of the
gatehouse and walls running along the waterside, a porter's lodge, a
dungeon, a square room, little kitchen, old kitchen, a
kennel and a range of
stables. There was a still and a serpentine for making distilled waters used in contemporary medicine. A 1582 inventory made by John Dickonson and William Catterall included the "stuff" of the "Queen of Scots and her people". Mary had a large entourage, which varied over time, made up of Scots, French and English friends and servants. The list of rooms for "her people" furnished by the Earl of Shrewsbury includes those of the
Master of the queen's "howsholde"; her secretary
Claude Nau;
Mademoiselle Rallay;
Mary Seton;
Mr Burgoing her doctor;
Gilbert Curle; Mr Jarvys her "surgion";
Bastian Pagez; the embroiderer Pierre Oudry (his name written as "Pyrawdrawe"); Dedier the pantryman; Hannibal; and Scottish servant Will Black. The 1582 survey also lists the furnishings "in the hawle at the Poandes", now known as the
Old Queen's Head, which included painted canvas hangings. There was a slight earthquake on 16 February 1584. Mary wrote that her ladies were sitting on boxes and chairs working (on sewing and embroidery) on the Saturday evening when the tremor occurred.
Letters and the Throckmorton Plot Mary kept up a secret correspondence with her allies. The letters, some encoded in
cipher, were carried by her supporters, including
George More, a local man whose uncle had a house near Sheffield Manor. In 1583,
Francis Walsingham investigated her letters and revealed the
Throckmorton Plot.
Mary leaves Sheffield In August 1584 Queen Elizabeth finally agreed to Earl George's petition releasing him from his duty of Mary's care. The task had broken his marriage, his health and his chances of further political advancement. After leaving Sheffield, Mary was taken to
Wingfield Manor in Derbyshire by her new gaolers, Sir
Ralph Sadler and
John Somers, and then to
Tutbury. From there she went to
Chartley Manor in Staffordshire, where she became involved in the
Babington Plot. ==Earl of Shrewsbury==