The History Of Mary, Queen Of Scots (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt From The History Of Mary, Queen Of Scots The Five Kings Who Preceded Mary Stuart Upon The Throne, In Obedience To The General Tendency Which Prompted Every State To A Concentration Of Authority, Had Vainly Endeavoured To Subject This Formidable Nobility To The Monarchical Sway. A Political Struggle Had Then Commenced Between Them And The Great Barons, Which Took The Place Of The National Conict Between The Scotch And English. The Great Barons, Many Of Whom Were At Once Heads Of Clans And Feudal Lords, Had Considerable Forces At Their Disposal. The Chieftain Of The Black Douglas Clan Alone, Who Held The Scottish Marches In The South, Had From One Thousand To Fifteen Hundred Horsemen As His Ordinary Escort, And Could At Any Time Bring An Army Of Forty Thousand Men Into The Field. The Kings, On The Contrary, Possessed Neither Permanent Troops, Nor Financial Resources. Their Strength Consisted Entirely In The Royal Title, Which Was Not, However, Always Respected And Their Principal Means Of Action Was The eeting And Changeable Attach Ment Of The Great Families, Whom They Employed As Checks Upon Each Other. Notwithstanding This Limited Power, The Daring Dynasty Of The Stuarts, Who Had Succeeded, By Marriage, To The Throne Of Robert Bruce, Laboured Almost Incessantly, From 1423 Until 1542, To Diminish The Inuence And Humble The Pride Of The High Aristocracy. About The Publisher Forgotten Books Publishes Hundreds Of Thousands Of Rare And Classic Books. Find More At This Book Is A Reproduction Of An Important Historical Work. Forgotten Books Uses State-Of-The-Art Technology To Digitally Reconstruct The Work, Preserving The Original Format Whilst Repairing Imperfections Present In The Aged Copy. In Rare Cases, An Imperfection In The Original, Such As A Blemish Or Missing Page, May Be Replicated In Our Edition. We Do, However, Repair The Vast Majority Of Imperfections Successfully; Any Imperfections That Remain Are Intentionally Left To Preserve The State Of Such Historical Works.