|
Kirk o' Field in Edinburgh, Scotland, is best known as the site of the murder on 10 February 1567 of Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. The site was occupied by the collegiate church of St Mary in the Fields, or the Kirk o' Field. It was approximately ten minutes' walk from Holyrood Palace, adjacent to the city wall, near to the Cowgate. The site is close to location of the National Museum of Scotland. ==Darnley's murder== On his return to Edinburgh with Queen Mary early in 1567, Darnley took residence in the Old Provost's lodging, a two-storey house within the church quadrangle. The house was owned by Robert Balfour, whose brother Sir James Balfour was a prominent councillor of Queen Mary. Adjacent was the lodging of James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault. At first Darnley's household thought he would be accommodated in the Hamilton Lodging. Early in the morning of 10 February, the house was destroyed by a gunpowder explosion while Queen Mary was at Holyrood attending the wedding celebration of Bastian Pagez. The partially clothed bodies of Darnley and his servant were found in a nearby orchard, apparently either smothered or strangled but unharmed by the explosion. Another servant was killed in the house by the explosion, which it was said had such, "a force and vehemency, that of the haill ludgeing, walles and uthir, their is na thing left unruinated and doung in drosse to the verie ground stane."〔''Register of the Privy Council of Scotland'', vol.1 (1877), p.498, Proclamation 12 February 1567〕 Three witnesses made sworn statements on the following day. Barbara Mertine said she was looking out of the window of her house in Friar's Wynd, and heard 13 men go through the Friar Gate into Cowgate and up Friar's Wynd. Then she heard the explosion, the "craik rais," and 11 more men went by. She shouted after them that they were traitors after an "evill turn." May Crokat lived opposite Barbara, under the Master of Maxwell's lodging. May was in bed with her twins and heard the explosion. She ran to the door in her shirt (sark) and saw the 11 men. May grabbed at one man and asked about the explosion, receiving no answer. John Petcarne, a surgeon who lived in the same street heard nothing, but was summoned to attend Francis Busso, a servant of Queen Mary.〔Bain, Joseph, ed., ''Calendar of State Papers Scotland'', vol.2 (1900), pp.312–3〕 Later, James Melville of Halhill wrote in his ''Memoirs'' that a page said Darnley was taken out of the house before the explosion and was choked to death in a stable with a serviette in his mouth, then left under a tree. Melville went to Holyroodhouse the next day and spoke to the Earl of Bothwell, who told him that thunder or a flash had come out of the sky, "souder came out of the luft," and burnt the house and there was "not a hurt nor a mark" on the body.〔(Scott, George, ed., ''The Memoires of Sir James Melvil of Hal-Hill'', Robert Boulter, London (1683) ), 78, Anglicised edition.〕 Melville said that that the royal servant Alexander Durham (of Duntarvie) kept the body and stopped him seeing it.〔Thomson, Thomas, ed., (''Melville's Memoirs of his own life'', (1827) ), pp.174–175 Scots language〕 On 12 February the Privy Council issued a proclamation that the first to reveal the names of the conspirators and participants in the murder would be pardoned, if they were involved, and have a reward of £2,000.〔''Register of the Privy Council of Scotland'', vol.1 (1877), p.498〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kirk o' Field」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|